.::REALITYRECALL::.

BHP Billiton withdraws its takeover bid to acquire Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan.

In order to meet tough new federal regulations that raise fuel economy requirements to 30 mpg for light trucks and SUVs by 2016, Ford is considering radical ways to reduce weight in the next-generation F-150, sources have told PickupTrucks.com.

In 2007, Ford CEO Alan Mullaly pledged to reduce the weight of all of the company’s vehicles by 250 to 750 pounds through the use of aluminum and high-strength steel. We’re told that Ford is considering replacing the F-150’s conventional steel-ladder-frame with an all-new platform featuring extensive use of an innovative magnesium-aluminum alloy to shed pounds.

Why magnesium? It’s 36 percent lighter than aluminum and 78 percent lighter than iron. It's also plentiful. Magnesium is the eighth-most-common element on Earth and highly recyclable.

Auto manufacturers have increasingly turned to magnesium over the last decade. BMW has used the material to lighten its engine blocks and the Chevrolet Corvette uses magnesium in its front suspension. Ford shaved 22 pounds of weight from the 2010 Lincoln MKT by combining separate aluminum and magnesium panels in the crossover's liftgate instead of using steel.

Frame stiffness is important in a pickup truck for towing and hauling; to ensure the alloyed frame can perform its job, the F-150 is expected to use limited elements of unibody construction, though the cargo box and cab will be separate, instead of joined as in the Honda Ridgeline. A similar approach, we're told, was considered for the shelved Ford F-100 program.

Beyond the frame, the future F-150 is also expected to use aluminum body panels to save weight over a steel skin. The interior of the cargo box is expected to still be constructed of steel, to retain the durability required of a pickup truck.

Ford has introduced three all-new engines for the 2011 F-150 that the automaker says give its half-ton pickup class-leading fuel economy. Reducing the truck’s weight is expected to further improve mileage, which could open the window to new engine opportunities that keep the power-to-weight ratio the same as the current F-150. Those engine choices might include an inline five-cylinder engine, a source said.

See a video of the demolition below.

Four people were injured when an out of control bull leaped into a crowd at Rexall Place in Edmonton.

Lenovo led us to believe that our LePad chances weren’t terribly good, but CEO Yang Yuanqing recently told the Wall Street Journal that the Android tablet is indeed slated for a 2011 US launch. Though Lenovo’s COO Rory Read was pretty clear that the LePad wouldn’t ship stateside until a tablet-ready version of Android was ready to go, it seems the company’s now confident that Google will deliver the goods. However, our gain is apparently China’s loss, as the publication reports that the slate’s been pushed into 2011 (as opposed to this December) in its country of origin as well. What’s a multinational computer corporation to do?

Confirmed: Lenovo LePad headed to US in 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Nov 2010 16:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Look out, here come more tablets: Archos is debuting the Archos 101 and the Archos 70. The Archos 101 has a 10.1-inch screen and is less than half an inch thick. If that’s too big, the Archos 70 has a 7.0-inch screen. Both tablets allow Web surfing similar to that on a desktop or notebook computer. Also, both tablets play all the music, video, and photo formats as you’d get on your regular computer.

The Archos 70 comes with 8GB or 250GB of storage, while the Archos 101 comes with 8GB or 16GB. Archos isn’t saying why the larger screen model doesn’t have a large hard drive option. Both tablets can be used for mobile phone tethering by using a Bluetooth connection or a USB cable. You can get the Archos 101 starting at $299.99, or the Archos 70 starting at $275.99. The Archos 70 (8GB) is available now through the Archos online store; the Archos 101 will be available the week of November 18.

We’ve featured a few Chrome extensions for Google services before, but today Google released three official extensions. With them, you can view your Google Calendar, clip web pages to Google Docs, and view your YouTube feed right from Chrome’s navigation bar. More »

Filed under: Happy Hour Hero, Weird Science

Our happy hour fact to amaze your drinking buddies with. .

There is evidence to suggest that those with high I.Q.s stay up later and sleep later.

Researchers from the London School of Economics have found that people with high I.Q.s are more … Read more

 

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The use of a second key to unlock extra potential in a vehicle isn’t exactly new: Bugatti’s mind-blowing Veyron has a special tumbler-tickler that will let it hit 253mph; the Segway PT offers different fobs for different speeds. But such high-tech foppery on a Mustang? Yes, Ford continues to impress as the domestic marque with the techiest toys, announcing that buyers of next year’s Boss 302 can purchase an optional TracKey package, shown after the break. Take the standard black key and you’ll have a rip-roaring, 444hp monster. Take the red key, though, and you’ll see how fast that pony can run down the rabbit hole. The car detects a different RFID chip in the fob and loads a secondary, track-specific engine tune, tweaking 200 ECM parameters to boost everything from throttle response to engine braking. It’ll turn a semi-civilized muscle car into a completely track-ready beast, including launch control. When it’s time for a more leisurely cruise users can just switch back to the black key, return to daily driver status, and leave Wonderland — for a little while, at least.

Continue reading Ford adds race-ready TracKey to Mustang Boss 302, leaves no doubt about who’s in charge

Ford adds race-ready TracKey to Mustang Boss 302, leaves no doubt about who’s in charge originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Nov 2010 10:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Solemn ceremonies were held across the country and as far away as Afghanistan and South Korea to remember Canada’s war dead on Thursday.

Zooey Deschanel might be starring in the new Spider-Man movie! Sources say director Marc Webber — who worked with the actress on Days of Summer

“Gimme a ride dad..”

Six days. That’s how long it took to build this level 9 Earthquake-resistant, sound-proofed, thermal-insulated 15-story hotel in Changsha, complete with everything, from the cabling to three-pane windows. The foundations were already built, but it’s just impressive. More »

Georg Szalai
Simpsons did it, again.

Fox has officially ordered a 23rd season of The Simpsons, ensuring…

Full story at The Live Feed

Call of Duty: Black Ops sold-through an estimated $360 million in the first 24 hours in North America and the UK alone, Activision has announced, leading the publisher to declare the November 9 launch the new “biggest entertainment launch ever.” It had previously bestowed the title upon Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Treyarch’s Cold War-era shooter sold through approximately 5.6 million copies in North America and the United Kingdom, according to Activis…

Just a few weeks ago, we got word (by way of a few Tweets) that Jolicloud was seemingly — if the images were any indication — in the final stages of developing a netbook of its own. Well, we’ve just gotten some official news on just that topic. The Jolibook, as it’s going to be known, is of mostly unknown specifications at this point, but here’s what we do know: the Jolicloud 1.1-powered laptop will boast an Atom N550 CPU, and a 250GB hard drive. Jolicloud also says that the netbook’s display will boast a “gorgeous” screen and an affordable price. Sadly, that’s all we know for now, though the company is promising that all this is going down this month, so we’re going to keep our eyes peeled for you.

Jolibook is the official netbook of Jolicloud, coming this month? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 10:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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