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5 Interesting Things You May Not Know About Black History in Comic Books

Most people do not know that there have been Black creators in comics since the 1940s. Most don’t know that there have also been Black characters appearing in the pages of comic books that precede the creation of Black Panther and the Falcon by Marvel Comics. The reality is that Black people have been part of the process, and they could have been just as influential as Jack Kirby and Stan Lee under different circumstances.

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Orrin C. Evans 

Evans crossed racial boundaries in the comic industry and the world of journalism. He was the first Black person to cover news at an all-white news outlet in the United States. Evans worked at the Philadelphia Record, a now-defunct publication.

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Analysts Predict Changes, Upgrades for iPhone 6S

The new iPhone 6S will introduce at least 11 new features that will enhance the product’s functionality, according to many analysts.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has reported Apple leaks in the past and has been right on the money previously. According to Forbes, Kuo spoke with investors about the possible 11 features the new model(s) will have when the phones are released in September.

“This year’s iPhone upgrade will feature a rose gold casing color, matching the Apple Watch Edition, according to one well-connected insider, who also revealed it will feature a 12-megapixel camera and 2-gigabytes of RAM, among other changes,” reports Appleinsider writer Neil Hughes.

These are still rumors right now, and nothing has been released from Apple about the new upgrades, official release or price. Everything is speculation and hearsay at this time.

There are few other specifications being thrown out. Kuo believes that there will be an A9 processor powering the iPhone 6S that will give the phone more processing speed and more power. The force touch feature will make the phone more applicable for handwritten signatures. There could also be another microphone added to enhance sound. On top of all of the upgrades, there is speculation that the casing materials will be stronger to prevent bending and wacky Internet hysteria.

The iPhone 6S and possible 6S Plus will continue Apple’s process of giving consumers a little at a time.

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5 Black Women Who Could Shake Up the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Marvel continues to dominate the movie theaters with its dynamic characters and elaborate cinematic universe. However, there are issues. Recently, Avengers director Joss Whedon left Twitter over a fan backlash over Black Widow. The reasons he left are still unclear. The situation brings up the problem of character diversity. There is very little diversity in terms of race and gender up to this point. Here are five cool female characters who can shake up the mostly male and mostly white films.

misty-marvel-s-newest-agent-of-shield-misty-knight-incomingMisty Knight

Misty Knight is a former cop who is a hero with a robotic arm. What makes her interesting is that her arm was created by Iron Man aka Tony Stark. She is a hero-for-hire who works on the streets of the Marvel Universe. It is possible she might be on one of Marvel’s Netflix series.

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MESSENGER Spacecraft Uncovers New Information About Mercury

The planet Mercury has been a mystery to astronomers for a long time. NASA spacecraft MESSENGER has revealed new information that will help future generations understand the planet.

The closest planet to the sun may have a liquid core and ancient magnetic field that is an estimated 4 billion years old. That means that the magnetic field is older than the Earth itself.

“MESSENGER was launched in 2004 and spent a decade in space, orbiting Mercury for a total of four years. It has provided more data about the planet than any other mission to date, sending vast quantities of data back to Earth until it ran out of fuel. The mission had only been meant to last a year,” explains Dan Taylor for the National Monitor.

The planet does not change as much as others in the solar system. The elevation relatively goes unchanged for long periods of time. This contrasts with the landscape of Mars.

According to Tony D. Booth for Market Business, “The planet’s crust is large relative to the planet, comprising 85 percent of the planet’s radius, much more than Earth. The findings suggest that a layer of liquid iron sulfide lies beneath Mercury’s crust, which would make the planet much different from the other terrestrial planets.”

It is quite possible that what we know about Mercury will change in the very near future. Its behavior requires much more attention and observation.

 

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10 Top Historically Black Colleges and Universities That Receive the Most Alumni Financial Support

As college tuition costs rise nationwide, predominately white institutions continue to see a spike in attendance. However, historically Black colleges and universities are suffering from a lack of funds and lower attendance rates. Even in these hard times, HBCU alumni still stand by their schools by opening their pocketbooks and giving back what they can. According to a 2014 analysis by U.S. News & World Report, “more than 12 percent of alumni, on average, donated to each school.” The report is a sample of alumni donations for both 2010-11 and 2011-12. The schools below were the top institutions with active alumni donors out of 45 ranked schools by U.S. News & World Report.

574-Tingley Hall - Sandy AndrewsClaflin University 

In the two-year period, 43 percent of alumni donated to the university. Claflin University is located in Orangeburg, South Carolina, and has 1,834 undergraduates, according to 2015 data. The university also has an estimated $200 million endowment.

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Spelman College

Atlanta-based Spelman College has an estimated $330 million endowment and has 2,200 undergraduates as of 2015. The college received donations from 37.3 percent of its alumni, according to U.S News & World Report.

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Oculus Rift Headset to Make Its Debut in 2016

In 2016, the Oculus Rift headset hits store shelves for virtual reality enthusiasts everywhere to enjoy.

In August 2012, the Oculus Rift began as a Kickstarter project that raised $2.4 million. The project was created by Palmer Luckey who wanted to create a device that would jump-start the virtual reality community.

According to Mashable writer Chelsea Stark, “The original Oculus Rift development kit (known as the DK1) featured a 1280 x 720 resolution screen, a 60-hertz refresh rate and no positional tracking. It was a working proof of concept, but Oculus VR iterated and released a second-gen development kit (the DK2) in summer of 2014.”

The 2014 version was a more improved model that included 1920 x 1080 screen resolution and a camera for positional tracking. That was just the beginning stage of the creation of the consumer model.

The changes will be on full display when the Oculus Rift is released. A specific date has not been announced for the release, and there is little known about the exact specifications the headset will have. There is only speculation at this time.

What we do know is that the Crescent Bay 2014 prototype has been receiving very good press.  “Oculus’ Crescent Bay prototype blew our mind when we first tried it at Oculus Connect last September — a VR alien waved at our man Hayden Dingman and he instinctually waved back, reports Brad Chacos, senior editor for PCWorld.

The goal of the headset is to be compatible with video game consoles to provide an immersive experience. According to Oculus co-founder Nate Mitchell, it is very possible for the headset to be used for the X-Box and PlayStation.

Anticipation will continue to build as everyone waits for the release date to be revealed.

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9 Awesomely Talented Blerds Behind The Scenes of Your Favorite Animation

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James Tucker 

Tucker is a prominent animation producer for DC Comics and Warner Bros Animation. He has worked on projects such as Justice League: The Animated Series (2001), Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2008) and Superman: Unbound (2013). He also worked on comedy animated series like Pinky and the Brain (1997).

 

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Floyd Norman

Norman is one of the most important animators in Black history. He worked at Walt Disney Animation Studios, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Ruby-Spears, Film Roman and Pixar. He was the first Black artist/animator to work for Disney, opening the door for many animators to come. He worked on Sleeping Beauty (1959), Toy Story 2 (1999), and Monsters, Inc (2002). He also has writing credits on Mulan (1998) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996).

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Liquid Processor Cooling Innovation May Save Consumers Billions

University of Alabama in Huntsville researchers have developed a new cooling apparatus that could bring many changes.

Dr. James E. Smith Jr., Cuong Nguyen and Xiaolin Wang have invented a way to cool down processors without electricity, using liquid, and is more cost-efficient than the everyday cooling systems currently being used.

Cooling is possible because of the excellent heat-transfer characteristics of Fluorinert FC-72.

TechRepublic writer Michael Kassner explains that the process works because “heat from the computer processor vaporizes the Fluorinert liquid. Then the vapor being lighter moves upward to the heat exchanger. The FC-72 transfers its heat load to the exchanger, which in turn transfers the heat to the surrounding air. Removing heat causes the FC-72 to condense into a liquid that flows into the holding tank below the heat exchanger. From the holding tank, the liquid FC-72 travels to the processor where the cycle is repeated.”

The researchers made progress due to a $10,000 grant from UAH Charger Innovation Fund last year. The team has estimated that computer manufacturers could save up to $600 million and consumers could save more than $6.3 billion per year if the cooling innovation is used in future computers.

“Our system can absolutely work, and it can work for 12 hours in a stable condition,” Nguyen said.

This type of cooling system could possibly be used for propulsion systems for space travel and 21st century power delivery systems. Since the project is in the early stages, there are a large number of people who still need convincing.

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6 Things You Should Know Before Watching The New ‘Dragon Ball’

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The new series Dragon Ball Super will be written by creator Akira Toriyama himself. Toriyama is an active mangaka who has created works such as Dr. Slump and has worked in the gaming industry on games such as the Dragon Quest series and Chrono Trigger. 

majin-buu-2Dragon Ball Super will follow the aftermath of Goku’s battle with Majin Buu. At this time, there is very little information on the other villains Goku and company will fight. We can only assume that older villains like Cell could return.

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NASA Tests 10 Engine Plane That’s Half Copter and All Awesome

NASA revealed a new prototype drone with the capabilities of a helicopter and airplane. The Greased Lightning or GL-10 is a concept for a future aircraft with the goal to make drones and unmanned planes more efficient in the years to come. It uses 10 engines to maximize speed and mobility.

The prototype was developed at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Aerospace engineers Bill Fredericks, David North and Zack Johns are some of the members of the team that developed the drone. As they worked on the project, they had many different ideas about how it could be utilized.

“It could be used for small package delivery or vertical take-off and landing, long endurance surveillance for agriculture, mapping and other applications. A scaled-up version — much larger than what we are testing now — would make also a great one- to four-person-size personal air vehicle,” Fredericks said.

With news of Amazon starting a drone delivery service (Amazon Prime Air) to its customers, The Greased Lightning’s innovation may make attract other companies to join the drone delivery service.

According to Kathy Barnstorff for the NASA Langley Research Center, “The GL-10 is currently in the design and testing phase. The initial thought was to develop a 20-foot wingspan (6.1 meters) aircraft powered by hybrid diesel/electric engines, but the team started with smaller versions for testing, built by rapid prototyping.”

The plane is also very quiet even though there are 10 engines at work. Fredericks goes on to say that the plane is quieter than a lawn mower.

The Greased Lightning prototype will be the main attraction at the Association for Unmanned Vehicles Systems International 2015 conference in Atlanta through Thursday.