The HyperLoop Dream just one step closer to Reality

It was over in 1.9 seconds.

A skeletal metal sled accelerated down a track at 2.5 times the force of gravity, hit 116 miles per hour, and crashed into a sand pit, sending a cloud of dust dramatically into the air.

It was the first public test of Hyperloop One's acceleration technology, an early step toward building a new kind of high-speed transportation system.

"I would really like to note that all of that happened on purpose!" said a giddy Brogan BamBrogan, Hyperloop One's cofounder, after the test was over.

First proposed by Elon Musk in 2013, the Hyperloop envisions sending passengers on levitating pods through partially pressurized tubes at more than 700 miles per hour. Musk open-sourced the idea and now a number of startups are competing to make the technology their own.

Hyperloop One was cofounded in 2014 by BamBrogan, a former SpaceX propulsion engineer, and venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar. The company recently raised $80 million in funding and has more than 150 employees. It changed its name from Hyperloop Technologies this week to avoid confusion with the next closest competitor, Hyperloop Transportation Technologies.

Based in Los Angeles, the company started building its test track on a patch of desert 30 minutes north of the Las Vegas Strip just six months ago. On Wednesday, it bussed in reporters, employees, partners and family members to watch the blink-and-you-missed-it test run from a grandstand.

Down the hill, a control room of engineers counted down the launch. All employees cleared the track area, which was alive with 7,000 volts of electricity.

The 1,000-yard open-air track is just the first part of a larger test track that Hyperloop One is building here. Sections of giant empty tubes sit nearby, each 3.3 meters in diameter and branded with the Hyperloop One logo.

They'll be used to build a 1.5 kilometer enclosed track. Then the company will start testing technology that will allow the sleds to levitate. Because the sleds will glide, passengers will feel only feel the initial acceleration, similar to the start of an airplane ride.

The company is moving fast.

"All of this is to get us into a position to run this full scale, full system test later this year," said Pishevar.

Hyperloop One's ambitious plan is to start moving cargo by 2019, and carrying passengers by 2021. It recently announced partnerships with a number of well-known transportation companies around the world and is looking into locations for its first commercial track.

Wednesday's test run didn't break any speed records or even look particularly dazzling up close, but for the Hyperloop One employees who have been working 12 hour shifts around the clock for months, it was a momentous occasion.

"This is rad, and it's going to get a lot radder from here," said BamBrogan.

Facebook is testing a massive change to your news feed

In a move that could be the biggest thing to happen to the Facebook news feed since it was introduced, it appears the social network is quietly testing a massive revamp that will add a lot more news to the feed.

As seen in screenshots that surfaced on Twitter on Friday morning, Facebook is experimenting with a new layout on mobile that highlights multiple news sections, with topics such as World & U.S., Sports and Food. However, the primary (and presumably default) section is still the classic news feed we're accustomed to seeing.

Facebook confirmed to Mashable that it's testing the new, sectioned news feed, in addition to the current format, though it's unclear if the feature will ever get an official launch.

While the feature being tested isn't entirely new — we've seen some versions of topic-focused feeds in the past on iOS — the format revealed in the latest Android-based screenshots haven't quite been seen before.

"People have told us they’d like options to see more stories on Facebook around specific topics they’re interested in," a Facebook spokesperson said via email. "So we have been testing a few feeds for people to view more and different stories from people and Pages based on topic areas."

IMAGE: MASHABLE/TOM CRITCHLOW

The sections appear at the bottom of the screen, accessible by tapping or swiping left or right. After tapping one of the sections, such as World & U.S. News, the news feed updates to news articles that are related to the topic.

In theory, this news reader-style approach takes users to all of the news they care about, housed in one massive hub. It would also certainly encourage users to get more news from Facebook rather than other sources like Twitter or Google News.

“There’s a lot more content now with multiple feeds, instead of one,” Tom Critchlow, a marketing consultant who posted images of the revamped feed to Twitter, told Mashable. “As for the news and sports feeds, they have posts from my friends too and it feels very much more like a news aggregator rather than a personal space.”

There's also a tool to edit which feeds you'd like to see — meaning if you weren't into Sports, you can remove it from the categories and include things like Music or Animals & Pets instead. Out of the gate, however, all topics are turned on by default, Critchlow said.

Critchlow, who saw the feature on his Moto X, says the article news feed also includes a prompt to add people he doesn’t know as Facebook friends.

“This feels like a huge departure from the traditional Facebook model,” he said. “There's no ‘two friends in common’ label or anything like that. Perhaps there's some intelligence behind the scenes but nothing immediately obvious.”

“I can't help but see a lot of Twitter ties here, such as turning the default feeds into places you go to get news with third-party content, while Facebook Groups, Instagram and Messenger places would be where you share personal content,” Critchlow said.

Lance Ulanoff contributed to this report.

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Google is testing a new way to login -without password

Passwords seem to be so yesterday. There’s a growing chorus of voices that want a painless yet secure alternate way of logging into your accounts that eschews the use of passwords altogether. Google is testing out a suitable replacement to attain this objective; using a smartphone as a key for logging into the company’s services online. However, in a region like Pakistan, where mobile theft is rampant, could it actually be used as a better alternative?

Can Google’s New Security Alternative Provide a More Secure Alternative?

Online security happens to be a very important aspect of our digital lives, and while keeping a track of passwords might be difficult, it is still considered a better approach compared to just using your entire smartphone to bypass the security wall. After all, in case the smartphone happens to be misplaced, or worst case scenario, stolen, then all those authentication processes will be gone with it as well.

However, it looks like Google has a trick up its sleeve in order to make passwords a thing of the past.

As you can see from the above image, it is possible to sign into Google services on a computer by using an Android smartphone as the primary authentication device. Details of the image state that the login process commences from the user logging into his/her Google account using their Gmail address, but instead of receiving a password prompt, the Android smartphone or tablet that is associated with that account will be contacted and asked whether the account login is to be authorized or not.

The smartphone or tablet will also need to be secured itself, through a password, a PIN, or even more secure features such as a fingerprint scanner. Google has not stated why it is attempting to make passwords a thing of the past, and neither has the company stated that when is the new security feature going to appear in mobile devices but we do know this. Google is not the only company working on getting rid of passwords, but it looks like some users will prefer to stick with the old, traditional ways.