The U.S. Army is caught in the middle of a debate over its future. Many politicians want to turn the army into a force specializing in irregular warfare (as seen in Iraq and Afghanistan). Many generals, and some politicians, warn that the army is still needed for conventional warfare, against a foe with lots of armor, aircraft and trained troops. While the army still contains many armored unit (about half the 45 brigades are equipped with tanks and other armored vehicles), many of the tank crews have gone to Iraq and served as infantry. In the last five years, very little mechanized warfare training has been done. The troops train for Iraq and Afghanistan, which means infantry fighting.
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Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Illusion Cloak Makes One Object Look like Another
Just when you thought invisibility cloaks couldn't get any weirder, researchers come up with this: a way to make one object look like any other.
Invisibility cloaks work by steering light around a region of space, making any object inside that region invisible. In effect, an invisibility cloak creates the illusion of free space. This is possible because of a new generation of artificial materials called metamaterials that can, in principle at least, steer light in any way imaginable. Indeed, various teams have built real invisibility cloaks that hide objects from view in both the microwave and optical bands.
Now Che Chan and pals from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology say that metamaterials could be used for an even more exotic effect: for cloaks that create the illusion that a different object is present.
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Invisibility cloaks work by steering light around a region of space, making any object inside that region invisible. In effect, an invisibility cloak creates the illusion of free space. This is possible because of a new generation of artificial materials called metamaterials that can, in principle at least, steer light in any way imaginable. Indeed, various teams have built real invisibility cloaks that hide objects from view in both the microwave and optical bands.
Now Che Chan and pals from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology say that metamaterials could be used for an even more exotic effect: for cloaks that create the illusion that a different object is present.
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ThinGap Announces: Exhaust-Based Generator System for Mass-Produced Automobiles Set to Improve Fuel Economy
Designed to fit into engine compartment of passenger cars, SUVs, and pick-up trucks, Turbo Generator generates electrical energy from vehicle exhaust gases before being emitted into atmosphere. System supplies electric power to vehicle's electrical system and drives engine accessories that are currently crankshaft-driven. In addition, generator can directly drive flywheel motor of semi-hybrid vehicles and supplement energy supply to battery system of full hybrid vehicles.
ThinGap Automotive, a majority-owned subsidiary of ThinGap LLC, today announced the Turbo Generator, a subsystem for increasing fuel economy of mass-produced vehicles by generating electrical energy from vehicle exhaust gases before being emitted into the atmosphere. The company expects significant fuel savings in the US and European fuel economy test cycles and all other vehicle operating modes as well.
"Up to 40 percent of fuel energy for internal combustion engines is lost through exhaust gas, a large portion of which the Turbo Generator converts to electricity, which can help Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM's) meet the new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulation that requires a 40 percent increase in fuel economy," said Rean Pretorius, CEO of ThinGap Automotive.
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ThinGap Automotive, a majority-owned subsidiary of ThinGap LLC, today announced the Turbo Generator, a subsystem for increasing fuel economy of mass-produced vehicles by generating electrical energy from vehicle exhaust gases before being emitted into the atmosphere. The company expects significant fuel savings in the US and European fuel economy test cycles and all other vehicle operating modes as well.
"Up to 40 percent of fuel energy for internal combustion engines is lost through exhaust gas, a large portion of which the Turbo Generator converts to electricity, which can help Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM's) meet the new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulation that requires a 40 percent increase in fuel economy," said Rean Pretorius, CEO of ThinGap Automotive.
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Better Place unveils robot battery swap station
Many have wondered what Better Place's vaunted automated battery changing stations might look like. So the company, a would-be pioneer in electric cars and their attendant infrastructure, has released a slick video showing how it’s done at a demonstration site in Yokohama, Japan.
Swapping out the discharged battery from an electric Nissan SUV for a fully charged one took slightly more than a minute, according to the video, or less time than it might take you to gas up your car. And you wouldn't even have to get out (talk about full service).
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Swapping out the discharged battery from an electric Nissan SUV for a fully charged one took slightly more than a minute, according to the video, or less time than it might take you to gas up your car. And you wouldn't even have to get out (talk about full service).
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New nanocrystal doesn't blink
Scientists at the University of Rochester (Rochester, NY) have created a nanocrystal that doesn't blink--in other words, after absorbing a photon, it will always radiate the energy away as another photon, rather than sometimes converting it to heat.
For more than a decade, scientists have been frustrated in their attempts to create continuously emitting light sources from individual molecules because of an optical quirk called "blinking," but now scientists at the University of Rochester have uncovered the basic physics behind the phenomenon, and along with researchers at the Eastman Kodak Company, created a nanocrystal that constantly emits light.
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For more than a decade, scientists have been frustrated in their attempts to create continuously emitting light sources from individual molecules because of an optical quirk called "blinking," but now scientists at the University of Rochester have uncovered the basic physics behind the phenomenon, and along with researchers at the Eastman Kodak Company, created a nanocrystal that constantly emits light.
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Engineers Evolve Transistors for Next-Gen Chips
Concepts gleaned from the study of evolution could help overcome manufacturing problems in future computer chips. That’s the hope, at least, of researchers in the Intelligent Systems Group at the University of York, in England, who will present their findings next week at the IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation, in Trondheim, Norway.
As key components of transistors shrink from 45 to 22 nanometers, tiny natural variations in manufacturing—which make no difference in larger devices—start to affect performance. For instance, there’s no way to control the exact arrangement of atoms of doping elements within a lattice of silicon, and different levels of dopant will alter electrical effects. At these tiny sizes, line edges and surfaces that define components also have a natural roughness that can’t be avoided and can trip up a transistor’s function.
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As key components of transistors shrink from 45 to 22 nanometers, tiny natural variations in manufacturing—which make no difference in larger devices—start to affect performance. For instance, there’s no way to control the exact arrangement of atoms of doping elements within a lattice of silicon, and different levels of dopant will alter electrical effects. At these tiny sizes, line edges and surfaces that define components also have a natural roughness that can’t be avoided and can trip up a transistor’s function.
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DARPA to Seek Underground Targets with Laser, Gravity Sensors
Raytheon is developing a new laser-assisted sensor system to demonstrate the detection and location buried land mines and tunnels. The system developed under a $19 million contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), will utilize a laser radar vibration sensor, (also known as LADAR vibrometer) to detect underground targets by measuring the reverberation of the ground-surface in response to artificial stimulus (vibration), measuring the anomalies created by underground objects or activity.
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ABL Boosters Look to Kills for Survival
Boeing plans to bolster support for the hard-pressed 747-based Airborne Laser missile defense program by quickly following an upcoming first full-scale missile shoot-down demonstration with laser interceptions of everything from short-range tactical weapons to intercontinental ballistic missiles.
“The intent is to go out and shoot another missile very quickly and demonstrate it’s not a one-shot wonder,” says Boeing ABL program director Michael Rinn. A follow-on contract to the current flight tests will include test shots against a wide range of targets, he asserts. “I’d like to shoot down short-range, intermediate-range, and intercontinental ballistic-range missiles,” Rinn says.
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“The intent is to go out and shoot another missile very quickly and demonstrate it’s not a one-shot wonder,” says Boeing ABL program director Michael Rinn. A follow-on contract to the current flight tests will include test shots against a wide range of targets, he asserts. “I’d like to shoot down short-range, intermediate-range, and intercontinental ballistic-range missiles,” Rinn says.
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New Tissue Scaffold Regrows Cartilage And Bone
MIT engineers and colleagues have built a new tissue scaffold that can stimulate bone and cartilage growth when transplanted into the knees and other joints.
The scaffold could offer a potential new treatment for sports injuries and other cartilage damage, such as arthritis, says Lorna Gibson, the Matoula S. Salapatas Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and co-leader of the research team with Professor William Bonfield of Cambridge University.
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The scaffold could offer a potential new treatment for sports injuries and other cartilage damage, such as arthritis, says Lorna Gibson, the Matoula S. Salapatas Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and co-leader of the research team with Professor William Bonfield of Cambridge University.
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USAF Developing New 3DELRR Long-Range Radar
The U.S. Air Force awarded firm-fixed-price contracts to 2 companies for radar engineering and design support during the technology development phase of the Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long Range Radar (3DELRR) Program. Lockheed Martin Corp. received a $24.9 million contract (FA8722-09-C-0003), and Sensis Corp. received a $21.9 million contract (FA8722-09-C-0001). The Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base, MA, is managing the contracts.
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GD-RAFAEL’s Reactive Armor Equips US Military
he USA’s M2/M3 Bradley Fighting Vehicles have played a central role in armed operations in Iraq. Many of them are now doing it with special reactive applique armor tiles that significantly improve their protection against anti-tank rockets. General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products Inc. in Burlington, VT is the main supplier, in conjunction with Israel’s RAFAEL who pioneered the design.
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