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.

Amazing 360-degree Video give you Terryfying look of a giant Tornado

The giant tornado that rolled past the city of Wray, Colorado provided some stunning video and gave one teen couple a memorable prom photo. But now it's yielded one more gift: a mesmerizing, 360-degree view of the storm as it crosses a highway.

The video — be sure to spin the view to see the storm — gives you a fuller idea of what it's like to be this close to a large tornado. Not only can the viewer swivel around to see just how large the storm that spun the twister is, the video scans up to give you a look at the full length of the twister, right up to where it drops from the sky.

This is a rare look at the full, immense power nature churns up every year across the United States, and it's worth taking the video for a spin — literally.

APPLE Granted a new Patent that places a second screen on IPAD Cover

Despite its name, the iPad Smart Cover is not particularly smart; it folds well and wakes your iPad from sleep, but that's about it. 

Judging by a patent recently granted to the company by the U.S. Patent Office, dug out byPatently Apple, the Smart Cover might become a lot smarter in the future. 

SEE ALSO: Apple filed a patent for a MacBook keyboard without keys

Titled "Cover attachment with flexible display," the patent describes a foldable cover for a tablet device with a "flexible display" built in. 

Apple sees this approach as an alternative to making the actual tablet bigger.

"Increasing the display area could lead to a significant expansion in functionality. Unfortunately (...) device manufacturers generally choose between making the display and therefore the device itself larger, thereby reducing the portability or making the device and display smaller with the result of a less functional device," the patent text explains. 

The advantages of having a second screen are obvious: You could have it display auxiliary info, such as the title of the song or movie currently being played on the tablet, alongside touchscreen controls. It could be used as a full-fledged second display, comparable to that of the main display; alternatively, only a portion of the cover could be a screen, with the rest reserved for solar cells. 

As always, a patent does not necessarily means such a product will see the light of day soon, or ever. 

What's interesting about this patent is that it was originally filed in 2011 (we covered it in August 2012), and though some of the concepts from it actually came to life (the iPad Pro's smart connector is one example), some of them are still quite futuristic. We certainly hope Apple will continue to innovate in the tablet area, despite iPad's steadily dwindling sales. 

360-degree photos are coming to Facebook News Feed

Facebook photos are set to get a lot more immersive.

The social network will soon add support for 360-degree photos to its News Feed, Facebook announced Wednesday. 

The new 360-degree photos will function a lot like Facebook's 360-degree videos. You can change your view of the photo by dragging you finger (or cursor, if you're on a browser) around the screen or holding your phone at a different angle.

The feature will support images shot with 360-degree camera, like Rioch's Theta S, as well panoramic shots captured on smartphones. 

And, like their video counterparts, the 360-degree photos will also be viewable from Samsung's Gear VR headsets. 

Speaking of the Gear VR, Facebook also plans to make some changes to the Oculus mobile app. The app will soon be updated with a new "what's new" section, meant to highlight the latest games and videos. Later, in June, the company plans to revamp the design of Oculus' home screen on Gear VR to make it easier to find recently-downloaded items. 

The Oculus-powered Gear VR has only been out for about six months but Facebook says it has already exceeded many of their initial expectations. Though we don't know how many headsets Samsung has shipped since its launch, Facebook says more than a million people used the Gear VR last month alone. 

Facebook also revealed some new stats around Gear VR content. There are now more than 250 apps for the headset (one of our biggest initial complaints about the Gear was the lack of apps) and 21 games that initially launched on the Gear but are now also available for the Oculus Rift headset.

Of the apps and games currently available, VR video continues to be some of the most popular content, according to Facebook, with 80% of Gear users watching videos.

Youtube wants you to share more videos with new chat feature

YouTube is launching a new messenger service for its platform to boost video sharing even more.

The Google-owned video giant confirmed to Mashable that it is releasing "native sharing" to a small percentage of YouTube users beginning Wednesday.

Using YouTube's mobile app, select users will be able to chat about and share videos in message threads. 

The addition positions YouTube to face off against Snapchat and Facebook, both of which have upped their in-app messaging offerings in the last year.

The first crop of users to check out the new feature can invite their friends to conversations, according to Wired, which first reported about the new service. The conversations will show up in a tab on YouTube's mobile app.