Over the past few years, researchers have developed several materials that bend light in ways that appear to violate the laws of physics, creating so-called superlenses, for ultra-high-resolution optical imaging, as well as invisibility cloaks. Now researchers have demonstrated that the same kind of images and cloaking devices could be made with sound instead of light. Using the first acoustic metamaterial ever produced, the researchers were able to focus ultrasound waves. This represents a significant step toward creating high-resolution ultrasound images and cloaking devices capable of hiding ships from sonar.
Read More
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Bye-bye Kindle, E-reader Screens Coming for Netbooks
Netbook makers will soon play a larger role in the e-reader market if start-up Pixel Qi has anything to say about it.
The company, founded by former One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) CTO Mary Lou Jepsen, will show off engineering samples of its first screen product at Computex Taipei 2009 next week, and IDG News Service was able to catch a first look on Friday.
Read More
The company, founded by former One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) CTO Mary Lou Jepsen, will show off engineering samples of its first screen product at Computex Taipei 2009 next week, and IDG News Service was able to catch a first look on Friday.
Read More
Avoid sinking feeling with bulletproof lifejacket
Here's a must-have accessory for any soiree off Somalia, the ArmourFloat personal flotation device.
Not only does the Armour Float Ballistic Vest keep even an unconscious wearer afloat, but its new lightweight, hard-plate armor is designed to defeat most assault rifle threats--with no negative effect on the vest's buoyancy, according to Armour of America, a division of Arotech Corporation.
This Underwriters Laboratory-certified PFD is approved by the US Coast Guard, and the Coasties use it as well, according to AoA.
Read More
Not only does the Armour Float Ballistic Vest keep even an unconscious wearer afloat, but its new lightweight, hard-plate armor is designed to defeat most assault rifle threats--with no negative effect on the vest's buoyancy, according to Armour of America, a division of Arotech Corporation.
This Underwriters Laboratory-certified PFD is approved by the US Coast Guard, and the Coasties use it as well, according to AoA.
Read More
Sharp develops five-color display
The "Multi-Primary-Color Technology" adds cyan and yellow to the usual red, green, and blue colors that make up an on-screen image.
Cyan and yellow (along with magenta and black) are two of the colors used in standard four-color printing as seen in magazines and newspapers.
According to Sharp, adding these to colors to the display expands the range of colors the it can reproduce (its "color gamut") to more than 99 percent of "real" surface colors.
Read More
Cyan and yellow (along with magenta and black) are two of the colors used in standard four-color printing as seen in magazines and newspapers.
According to Sharp, adding these to colors to the display expands the range of colors the it can reproduce (its "color gamut") to more than 99 percent of "real" surface colors.
Read More
QinetiQ Readies Aberporth UAV Centre for Watchkeeper
A key milestone in the GBP899m MOD project to develop the Watchkeeper Unmanned Air System has been reached on schedule. QinetiQ, working closely with other stakeholders, has delivered the necessary infrastructure and facilities at ParcAberporth, Ceredigion, South Wales, as part of its ongoing pound5m support contract - which means the Watchkeeper trials programme can commence here in the Autumn.
QinetiQ has established secure office accommodation plus enhanced other aspects of technical support and facilities at the existing UAV 'Centre of Excellence', originally created by the then Welsh Development Agency on the site of the former RAF Aberporth. Other key stakeholders in the Watchkeeper programme include the MOD's Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) Unmanned Air Systems Project Team, the Welsh Assembly Government, West Wales Airport and Thales, as the prime contractor.
Read More
QinetiQ has established secure office accommodation plus enhanced other aspects of technical support and facilities at the existing UAV 'Centre of Excellence', originally created by the then Welsh Development Agency on the site of the former RAF Aberporth. Other key stakeholders in the Watchkeeper programme include the MOD's Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) Unmanned Air Systems Project Team, the Welsh Assembly Government, West Wales Airport and Thales, as the prime contractor.
Read More
Raytheon Team to Demo GSE Tactical Awareness
The U.S. Army recently selected Raytheon Company's Ground Soldier Ensemble (GSE) team solution to demonstrate networked tactical situational awareness and communications capabilities for the dismounted warfighter.
The U.S. Army's TACOM Contracting Center awarded Raytheon $11.8 million to provide a GSE technology demonstration. The contract calls for early prototype testing in 2009 and refined systems delivery and testing in 2010.
"Raytheon's GSE will provide decisive tactical awareness to the infantry brigade combat team soldier through real-time display of networked battlefield information. In essence, GSE can make a fully networked theater of operations possible by finally linking the most important element, the dismounted soldier," said Glynn Raymer, vice president, Raytheon Network Centric Systems Combat Systems.
Read More
The U.S. Army's TACOM Contracting Center awarded Raytheon $11.8 million to provide a GSE technology demonstration. The contract calls for early prototype testing in 2009 and refined systems delivery and testing in 2010.
"Raytheon's GSE will provide decisive tactical awareness to the infantry brigade combat team soldier through real-time display of networked battlefield information. In essence, GSE can make a fully networked theater of operations possible by finally linking the most important element, the dismounted soldier," said Glynn Raymer, vice president, Raytheon Network Centric Systems Combat Systems.
Read More
Northrop To Test-fly Army Fire Scout Soon
Northrop Grumman may be hoping to convince the U.S. Army to field its Fire Scout vertical takeoff unmanned aerial vehicle earlier than scheduled by test-flying the unmanned helicopter in Yuma, Ariz., in June.
The Fire Scout, called an XM157 Class IV UAV by the Army, is part of the land service’s embattled Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. The Army does not plan to test fly the XM157 until 2011 under the official FCS timeline. But Northrop Grumman, whose Fire Scout is already being test-flown for the Navy, is taking its company-owned aircraft, called the White Tail, to Yuma next month for tests of its own.
Read More
The Fire Scout, called an XM157 Class IV UAV by the Army, is part of the land service’s embattled Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. The Army does not plan to test fly the XM157 until 2011 under the official FCS timeline. But Northrop Grumman, whose Fire Scout is already being test-flown for the Navy, is taking its company-owned aircraft, called the White Tail, to Yuma next month for tests of its own.
Read More
Selex Award Rugged Tablet Contract To Blazepoint
The ndura RUGGED® tablet, which was selected for its military pedigree and proven rugged design, is being adopted as the heart of a mobile target acquisition system.
Blazepoint, who design and manufacture a range of rugged mobile computers and rugged printers, was asked to supply a rugged handheld device with the advantages of low power consumption, high performance computing power and the ability to add customised user interfaces and I/O ports.
Read More
Blazepoint, who design and manufacture a range of rugged mobile computers and rugged printers, was asked to supply a rugged handheld device with the advantages of low power consumption, high performance computing power and the ability to add customised user interfaces and I/O ports.
Read More
Boeing Team Rebuilds B-1 'Backbone' for US Air Force
A U.S. Air Force B-1B bomber returned to flight last week after a team led by The Boeing Company replaced its catastrophically damaged upper-center boron longeron – the aircraft's "backbone."
The B-1, Swift Justice, was damaged during a routine training mission in December 2007. An engine-bleed air duct rupture triggered a temperature warning light, forcing the crew to land the aircraft at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D.
Replacing the upper-center boron longeron, which is essential for stability in flight, is not a simple task because the part is unique to each aircraft, with no spares available.
Read More
The B-1, Swift Justice, was damaged during a routine training mission in December 2007. An engine-bleed air duct rupture triggered a temperature warning light, forcing the crew to land the aircraft at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D.
Replacing the upper-center boron longeron, which is essential for stability in flight, is not a simple task because the part is unique to each aircraft, with no spares available.
Read More
Green Promise Seen in Switch to LED Lighting
To change the bulbs in the 60-foot-high ceiling lights of Buckingham Palace’s grand stairwell, workers had to erect scaffolding and cover precious portraits of royal forebears.
So when a lighting designer two years ago proposed installing light emitting diodes or LEDs, an emerging lighting technology, the royal family readily assented. The new lights, the designer said, would last more than 22 years and enormously reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions — a big plus for Prince Charles, an ardent environmentalist. Since then, the palace has installed the lighting in chandeliers and on the exterior, where illuminating the entire facade uses less electricity than running an electric teakettle.
Read More
So when a lighting designer two years ago proposed installing light emitting diodes or LEDs, an emerging lighting technology, the royal family readily assented. The new lights, the designer said, would last more than 22 years and enormously reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions — a big plus for Prince Charles, an ardent environmentalist. Since then, the palace has installed the lighting in chandeliers and on the exterior, where illuminating the entire facade uses less electricity than running an electric teakettle.
Read More
F-22 Raptor Program: Will we learn from it?
While Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ decision to halt production of the costly Lockheed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor low-observable/stealth fighter aircraft is perhaps not the best long-term strategic decision he could have made, it’s certainly understandable. Given the U.S. government’s–and thus DoD’s–current money crunch vs. the program’s high cost and lack of current combat-utility in Iraq and “Stan” (Afghanistan), cutting the Raptor program’s reported $3.5 billion per year cost certainly has some logic to it. Some programs simply have to go, and we might as well start with the expensive ones that don’t have any seeming immediate tactical or strategic utility for the two wars we’re currently fighting, right? Let’s face it, air superiority is not exactly an issue right now in either theater. We’ve got the air, and we don’t need F-22s to maintain it.
Read More
Read More
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)