LIVERMORE, California – It may look like one of Michael Bay's Transformers, but this mass of machinery could soon be the birthplace of a baby star right here on Earth.
Using 192 separate lasers and a 400-foot-long series of amplifiers and filters, scientists at Lawrence Livermore's National Ignition Facility (NIF) hope to create a self-sustaining fusion reaction like the ones in the sun or the explosion of a nuclear bomb — only on a much smaller scale.
Sci-fi-inspired End of Days jokes may follow this historic undertaking like they did for CERN's Large Hadron Collider, but the science behind this advanced laser system is profoundly serious.
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Tuesday, May 5, 2009
External Airbag Protects Pedestrians
Researchers at Cranfield University in England have developed an external airbag they say will significantly reduce pedestrian fatalities and injuries in the event of a crash.
The system deploys a hood - or bonnet, as the British call it - airbag at the base of the windshield, which research shows is where a pedestrian’s head is most likely to hit. The system uses radar and infrared technology to “pre-detect” a collision and inflates quickly enough to cushion the impact, said Roger Hardy of the university’s Cranfield Impact Centre.
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The system deploys a hood - or bonnet, as the British call it - airbag at the base of the windshield, which research shows is where a pedestrian’s head is most likely to hit. The system uses radar and infrared technology to “pre-detect” a collision and inflates quickly enough to cushion the impact, said Roger Hardy of the university’s Cranfield Impact Centre.
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Start-Up Promises 1 Billion Gallons of Algal Fuel By 2025
A California company is promising to deliver one billion gallons of algal biofuel a year by 2025, an aggressive goal for technology still in its infancy.
That’s the promise from Sapphire Energy, which is positioning itself to lead an emerging industry by working with airlines on test flights and ramping up its production facilities in New Mexico. If all goes as planned, the company says, it will be in the position to supply one million gallons of biofuel annually by 2011, 100 million gallons annually by 2018 and one billion gallons each year by 2025.
“Fuel from algae is not just a laboratory experiment or something to speculate on for years to come,” Dr Brian Goodall, a Sapphire vice president, told the New York Times. “We’ve worked tirelessly, and the technology is ready now.”
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That’s the promise from Sapphire Energy, which is positioning itself to lead an emerging industry by working with airlines on test flights and ramping up its production facilities in New Mexico. If all goes as planned, the company says, it will be in the position to supply one million gallons of biofuel annually by 2011, 100 million gallons annually by 2018 and one billion gallons each year by 2025.
“Fuel from algae is not just a laboratory experiment or something to speculate on for years to come,” Dr Brian Goodall, a Sapphire vice president, told the New York Times. “We’ve worked tirelessly, and the technology is ready now.”
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CDC: Virus-surveillance technology can cut H1N1 flu diagnosis time
A $20 chip can cut the time it takes to distinguish swine flu—aka the H1N1 influenza A virus—from days to hours, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today.
The technology—InDevR, Inc.'s FluChip—includes normal 0.8- by 2-inch (2- by 5-centimeter) lab slides featuring a pencil-eraser sized patch of tiny dots containing pieces of influenza's genome. Researchers place a drop of a solution containing a sample of chemically amplified RNA (which the viruses use to make proteins) from the virus they're studying onto the slide. Once the dots react with the solution, the FluChip is placed in a 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) IntelliChip Reader where it's scanned and a digital image is produced that can help physicians identify an influenza virus down to its subtype. The process takes about seven hours.
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The technology—InDevR, Inc.'s FluChip—includes normal 0.8- by 2-inch (2- by 5-centimeter) lab slides featuring a pencil-eraser sized patch of tiny dots containing pieces of influenza's genome. Researchers place a drop of a solution containing a sample of chemically amplified RNA (which the viruses use to make proteins) from the virus they're studying onto the slide. Once the dots react with the solution, the FluChip is placed in a 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) IntelliChip Reader where it's scanned and a digital image is produced that can help physicians identify an influenza virus down to its subtype. The process takes about seven hours.
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Everything You Need to Know About Intel's New Chip, the Core i7 Platform
The New Chip in TownFirst of all, the i7 is not necessary for a consumer who is interested in just surfing the Net—an Intel-atom-based netbook is more than powerful enough for basic tasks. But if you need to take on more intense processes, the i7 is the chip du jour. The new Nehalem family (Intel's internal name for the i7 micro-architecture) has three offerings in three price categories—the Core i7-920 2.66 GHz ($290), Core i7-940 2.93 GHz ($560) and the Core i7-965 Extreme Edition, which runs at a whopping 3.2 GHz ($1000).
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Send in the Rescue Robots
Earthquakes, tsunamis, cyclones -- disasters like these make the natural environment both unnavigable and dangerous for human search-and-rescue teams. That's when it's time for robots to come to our rescue.
Earthquakes are a recurring problem in Japan, an archipelago that rests on four tectonic plates. Japan also happens to be a hotbed of robotics research, so the two have come together in surprising ways.
Professor Satoshi Tadokoro of Tohoku University has recently developed a snakebot with a camera for eyes that can slither into the rubble of collapsed buildings to see if anyone's trapped there and to send images back to rescuers in real time.
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Earthquakes are a recurring problem in Japan, an archipelago that rests on four tectonic plates. Japan also happens to be a hotbed of robotics research, so the two have come together in surprising ways.
Professor Satoshi Tadokoro of Tohoku University has recently developed a snakebot with a camera for eyes that can slither into the rubble of collapsed buildings to see if anyone's trapped there and to send images back to rescuers in real time.
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Northrop plans October roll-out for Eurohawk prototype
An October roll-out is planned for Germany's Eurohawk high-altitude long-endurance unmanned air vehicle at Northrop Grumman's Palmdale, California facility. But its first flight could be delayed until early 2010.
A variant of Northrop's RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 20 UAV developed in conjunction with EADS, the Eurohawk's first flight had already been delayed by six months until December, and could now slip into January 2010, the US prime contractor says.
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A variant of Northrop's RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 20 UAV developed in conjunction with EADS, the Eurohawk's first flight had already been delayed by six months until December, and could now slip into January 2010, the US prime contractor says.
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EADS, Lockheed Martin team up for Army helicopter
EADS today announced signing Lockheed Martin as the weapons systems integrator for a newly-revealed Armed Scout 645 helicopter, a new contender for a major US Army contract.
The Armed Scout 645 would integrate a weapons and targeting system on the Eurocopter EC145 airframe already sold to the army as the UH-72 Lakota light utility helicopter (LUH).
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The Armed Scout 645 would integrate a weapons and targeting system on the Eurocopter EC145 airframe already sold to the army as the UH-72 Lakota light utility helicopter (LUH).
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Rockwell Shows Off Self-Healing UAV
Rockwell Collins plans to demonstrate the autonomous recovery and safe landing of an unmanned aircraft after severe damage to the wing and tail under an extension to its damage-tolerant flight control work with the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Under the previous phase, the company demonstrated its flight-control software could recover and land an F/A-18 scale model after 60% of its wing was blown off. "We'll expand on that to show more realistic damage," says David Vos, senior director of control technologies. "We'll take out a big fraction of the wing and horizontal and vertical tails."
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Under the previous phase, the company demonstrated its flight-control software could recover and land an F/A-18 scale model after 60% of its wing was blown off. "We'll expand on that to show more realistic damage," says David Vos, senior director of control technologies. "We'll take out a big fraction of the wing and horizontal and vertical tails."
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High-Tech Network Monitors Mexican Border
the U.S. passing through Mexico, and claims that many of the weapons seized from drug traffickers and at crime scenes in Mexico come from the U.S., it’s obvious that the border between the countries needs more security.
A major factor driving this deadly exchange is the power of Mexican drug cartels in areas abutting the border. Violence linked to the cartels has killed more than 6,200 people in Mexico over the past year, including 522 military and law enforcement personnel, more than double the number in 2007.
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A major factor driving this deadly exchange is the power of Mexican drug cartels in areas abutting the border. Violence linked to the cartels has killed more than 6,200 people in Mexico over the past year, including 522 military and law enforcement personnel, more than double the number in 2007.
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V-22 Faces Mission Capable Rates Issues
It may be flying every mission in theater, but the MV-22 is still facing reliability issues due to inaccurate predictive modeling, according to Lt. Gen. George Trautman, U.S. Marine Corps deputy commandant for aviation.
“We’re working on it, but that’s one concern I have in the Osprey program,” Trautman told Aerospace DAILY April 30. Reliability and maintainability are “not meeting my full expectations yet.”
The V-22 was sent into combat “sooner than we should have,” Trautman said. Typically, an aircraft is deployed only after its has passed its Material Support date, which the Osprey did Oct. 1, 2008. The first squadron was deployed a year prior, in October 2007. That early deployment had an effect on the way the Marine Corps purchased spare parts for the aircraft.
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“We’re working on it, but that’s one concern I have in the Osprey program,” Trautman told Aerospace DAILY April 30. Reliability and maintainability are “not meeting my full expectations yet.”
The V-22 was sent into combat “sooner than we should have,” Trautman said. Typically, an aircraft is deployed only after its has passed its Material Support date, which the Osprey did Oct. 1, 2008. The first squadron was deployed a year prior, in October 2007. That early deployment had an effect on the way the Marine Corps purchased spare parts for the aircraft.
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Shuttle Crew Prepares a Long-Delayed Last Goodbye for Hubble
NASA is set to try again to carry out one last long-delayed shuttle mission to the Hubble Space
On May 11, if all continues to go well, a crew led by Scott Altman will blast off on the space shuttle Atlantis on an 11-day maintenance and repair mission that they say is the most daunting yet. It will be the last of these voyages that have kept the storied telescope the pride of astronomy.
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On May 11, if all continues to go well, a crew led by Scott Altman will blast off on the space shuttle Atlantis on an 11-day maintenance and repair mission that they say is the most daunting yet. It will be the last of these voyages that have kept the storied telescope the pride of astronomy.
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Missile defense satellite launched from California
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Department of Defense officials say an experimental satellite for the U.S. missile defense program has been launched.
A Delta 2 rocket carrying the satellite lifted off Tuesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the central California coast.
Rick Lehner, a spokesman for the Missile Defense Agency, says the satellite is equipped with experimental sensors designed to detect, track and provide targeting information on missiles.
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A Delta 2 rocket carrying the satellite lifted off Tuesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base on the central California coast.
Rick Lehner, a spokesman for the Missile Defense Agency, says the satellite is equipped with experimental sensors designed to detect, track and provide targeting information on missiles.
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Five years after killing Comanche, army eyes new aviation shake-up
The US Army has launched the first major review of its aviation needs since the previous study led to canceling the Sikorsky/Boeing RAH-66 Comanche.
Lt Gen James Thurman, the army’s deputy chief of staff, says the “Aviation Study-2” will consider the results from the sweeping modernization programmes launched with the Comanche’s $14.6 billion budget.
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Lt Gen James Thurman, the army’s deputy chief of staff, says the “Aviation Study-2” will consider the results from the sweeping modernization programmes launched with the Comanche’s $14.6 billion budget.
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