grounded

There's been no shortage of publicity and investigation surrounding the grounding of the world's 787 Dreamliner fleet after recent battery fires aboard the Boeing airplanes. But there's one question that has gone unanswered: Where are all those Dreamliners?

Thanks to our friends at Airchive.com, we now know where all those planes are sitting as regulators, Boeing, and its battery suppliers work to once again get eager passengers aboard the much-hyped aircraft.

According to Airchive.com, there are currently eight carriers flying Dreamliners -- if you can call having a bunch of planes parked on tarmacs at … Read more

Boeing's 787 Dreamliner has suffered through a series of high-profile delays and setbacks, culminating in this week's grounding by the U.S. government, but thanks to its cutting-edge technology, it's almost certain the plane will thrive in spite of the repeated body blows.

The Dreamliner -- the much-heralded, next-generation plane that Boeing designed to offer airlines big fuel efficiencies and access to new intercontinental routes -- had already stumbled through more than three years of delays including an onboard electrical fire before the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration grounded the entire U.S.-based fleet this week … Read more

Google today said it had updated maps for 10 countries and regions in Europe, bringing the number of countries it has mapped through its globe-spanning Ground Truth project to 40.

The new maps cover the following places: Andorra, Bulgaria, Estonia, Gibraltar, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain.

The update comes as part of Ground Truth, the 4-year-old effort to combine licensed map data with algorithms, photography, and old-fashioned human labor to create the best map possible.

In addition to new roads and highways, the update encompasses walking paths, ferry lines, building outlines, park boundaries, and university campuses, Google said … Read more

If you're a city dweller who dreams of moving beyond growing mint on your kitchen windowsill, you can impress your friends with something more: oyster mushrooms.

As UC Berkeley students, the co-founders of "Back to the Roots" discovered they could grow mushrooms using recycled coffee grounds. Now their DIY mushroom kit sells at grocery stores across the country.

The pair developed a "grow it at home" kit where the soil is made from used coffee grounds and mushroom spawn, or seed, gets mixed in. Co-founder Nikhil Arora tells SmartPlanet how the idea grew and about … Read more

Anomaly Warzone Earth takes a different tack with the tower defense genre by having you play as the invading force, completing missions on a (somewhat) fixed path against a number of deadly turrets. Your heavily armored squad of vehicles and units has guns of its own, but as with every tower defense game, the more turrets you're up against, the harder it will be to stay healthy and reach your goal.

Fortunately, as you progress through the game, you'll gain abilities that will repair your vehicles and make it harder for enemies to hit you. You'll be … Read more

TowerMadness has been around for a while now, but the unique challenge and several updates over time make it a must-have for tower defense fans. Featuring 3D graphics that look great on the Retina Display, TowerMadness challenges you to defend a flock of sheep from an onslaught of attacking aliens. You can view the action from above or use a reverse-pinch gesture to zoom in on the action. You'll play on 49 included maps, but you can purchase 28 expansion maps from within the game. A recent update added 5 more maps, and two new weapon upgrades to add … Read more

Sentinel 3: Homeworld is the latest installment (released late in 2010) of the Sentinel tower defense franchise, offering more units to choose from, new maps, and new abilities that help you stave off wave after wave of alien enemies. The interface is like many in the fixed-path tower defense genre, letting you drag and drop units on the edges of a path to fortify your defenses against each wave of enemies. Sentinel 3 comes with a 20-level, 14-map campaign and an endless mode, and also offers in-app purchases if you want to add even more levels and maps.

Sentinel 3: … Read more

Toyota Motor Europe (TME) is one step closer to strengthening commitment to the European market by opening a new proving ground, in Zaventem, Belgium, the company said in a press release.

The new Zaventem Proving Ground features a 0.8-mile banked oval, a 300-foot skidpad, and test roads to evaluate and fine-tune comfort and performance of new models. The proving ground allows Toyota's engineers to perform a wide variety of tests, such as ride comfort, road noise and vibration, vehicle durability, cornering, engine performance, and brake performance, TME said.

"The European automotive market is one of the most … Read more

AUSTIN, Texas--Marketers are everywhere here at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival, but this year they've discovered some prime new territory: private transportation. The annual geek gathering is nominally headquartered at the Austin Convention Center, but in reality sprawls all across the city's downtown, and given the amount of late-night revelry taking place, cab rides are commonplace. Luckily for this year's attendees, a whole lot of those rides are free--or cheap.

Social-networking site Tagged decided to intercept travelers as soon as they landed at Austin's airport, setting up a display for a "Tagged Wheels" … Read more