A highly controllable rocket system with the ability to manoeuvre planetary landers on future space missions has been demonstrated by US engineers.
Project partners Advanced Technology Associates (ATA) and Alliant Techsystems (ATK) have developed a proposed solid-fuel propellant system designed to offer the precision control needed to land NASA's Mars Science Laboratory.
Minneapolis-based ATK is working with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to develop propellants for a low-cost lightweight solid-propellant control system that could be used in payload descent and spacecraft cruise phases for planetary exploration missions.
Read More
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Segway inventor builds shoe-controlled bionic arm
Famous inventor Dean Kamen has developed a revolutionary new bionic arm for use by US troops injured in combat. The arm, now in beta testing, is manipulated from a foot-operated control panel inside one of the user's shoes and employs a vibrating feedback mechanism.
unique feature of the advanced arm is its control system, which works almost like a foot-operated joystick. An array of sensors embedded in a shoe allows users to maneuver the arm by putting pressure on different parts of the foot. The current version uses wires to relay the signals to the arm, but future versions will be wireless.
Read More
unique feature of the advanced arm is its control system, which works almost like a foot-operated joystick. An array of sensors embedded in a shoe allows users to maneuver the arm by putting pressure on different parts of the foot. The current version uses wires to relay the signals to the arm, but future versions will be wireless.
Read More
Stolen Laptop can be Recovered by Data Backup Service
You can recover lost data by using a data backup program but it is also possible to get a stolen laptop back. A man who has recovered his stolen laptop after seeing photos the thief took of himself with the built-in camera via his Internet-based data backup program.
Read More
Read More
Largest laser lights Livermore
The world’s largest and most energetic laser system was just dedicated on Friday, May 29, 2009, at the U.S. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The mission of the National Ignition Facility is to better national security, provide breakthroughs in astrophysics, and create fusion energy.
The news release “Dedication of world’s largest laser marks the dawn of a new era” from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) states that the new laser-based inertial confinement fusion research device is called the National Ignition Facility (NIF) laser system.
Read More
The news release “Dedication of world’s largest laser marks the dawn of a new era” from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) states that the new laser-based inertial confinement fusion research device is called the National Ignition Facility (NIF) laser system.
Read More
Google Waves Goodbye to E-Mail, Welcomes Real-Time Communication
Google has set out to rewire the e-mail inbox with a new product called Wave.
Wave is a web-based application that marries multiple forms of communication and collaboration, including chat, mail and wikis, into a unified interface. Everything inside Wave happens in real time: You can even see a comment being made as the person is typing it, character-by-character.
Google Wave, which was demonstrated Thursday at the Google I/O developer conference taking place here, is now live as a private developer preview. Conference attendees can start playing with it now, and Google has its eye on a public beta launch within a few months.
Read More
Wave is a web-based application that marries multiple forms of communication and collaboration, including chat, mail and wikis, into a unified interface. Everything inside Wave happens in real time: You can even see a comment being made as the person is typing it, character-by-character.
Google Wave, which was demonstrated Thursday at the Google I/O developer conference taking place here, is now live as a private developer preview. Conference attendees can start playing with it now, and Google has its eye on a public beta launch within a few months.
Read More
Sweat = Threat? Army Looks at ‘Abnormal Perspiration’ as Sign of ‘Harmful Intent’
If you walk weird, make funny faces, or sweat a little too much — watch out, when you walk into an airport. The U.S. military wants to use those irregularities as “indicators” of “possibly suspicious and harmful intent.”
The Army recently asked for proposals for a new suite of biometric sensors that will hunt for bad-minded people by examining their “expressions, gait, and pose” from afar. The “Image Analysis for Personnel Intent” project is also supposed to spot would-be evil-doers through their “abnormal perspiration and changes in body temperature.” (Note to would-be Osamas: Don’t send the sweaty guy to hijack the plane.)
Read More
The Army recently asked for proposals for a new suite of biometric sensors that will hunt for bad-minded people by examining their “expressions, gait, and pose” from afar. The “Image Analysis for Personnel Intent” project is also supposed to spot would-be evil-doers through their “abnormal perspiration and changes in body temperature.” (Note to would-be Osamas: Don’t send the sweaty guy to hijack the plane.)
Read More
Virus detector
Researchers at University of Twente spin-out Ostendum have developed a prototype of a new system that can detect within minutes if an individual is infected with a virus.
The researchers claim that not only does the system carry out measurements many times faster than standard techniques, it is also portable, so it can be used anywhere.
Read More
The researchers claim that not only does the system carry out measurements many times faster than standard techniques, it is also portable, so it can be used anywhere.
Read More
The State of the Art of Nuclear Fusion: It's Not Easy
Of all the futuristic technologies scientists have sworn would change our lives forever, none is more promising, and more elusive, than fusion power. After decades of tangential research, false starts and downright hoaxes, the two most advanced fusion projects at present are America's National Ignition Facility (NIF) and the multinationally funded International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER).
Both projects use different technology and have different goals, and, as of this week, different trajectories. Today, scientists and politicians will officially dedicate NIF, signaling the beginning of full-scale work on the project. Conversely, the seven nations funding ITER announced this week that they would be scaling back the project's size and lengthening the timetable for activation.
Read More
Both projects use different technology and have different goals, and, as of this week, different trajectories. Today, scientists and politicians will officially dedicate NIF, signaling the beginning of full-scale work on the project. Conversely, the seven nations funding ITER announced this week that they would be scaling back the project's size and lengthening the timetable for activation.
Read More
Meet Ember, the Littlest Warbot
iRobot's multipurpose PackBot has helped lead the way among war-bots, disabling improvised explosives and carrying out recon missions for snipers. But soon paperback-sized robots such as the Ember prototype could join their larger cousins on the battlefield.
Ember's strength rests with numbers and disposability -- one soldier could theoretically carry around several of the bots and place them to create a networked mobile swarm. Each robot might carry several radios and sensors that make up a small part of the larger wireless network envisioned in the Army's now-gutted Future Combat Systems.
Read More
Ember's strength rests with numbers and disposability -- one soldier could theoretically carry around several of the bots and place them to create a networked mobile swarm. Each robot might carry several radios and sensors that make up a small part of the larger wireless network envisioned in the Army's now-gutted Future Combat Systems.
Read More
New US command to focus on cyber battlefield
he US military is moving ahead with plans to create its first "cyber command" designed to bolster America's potential to wage digital warfare as well as defend against mounting cyber threats, officials said on Friday.
After President Barack Obama announced Friday his plans to overhaul cyber security policy, Defense Secretary Robert Gates was expected to soon formally propose the new cyber command that will be overseen by a four-star officer, Pentagon officials told AFP.
Read More
After President Barack Obama announced Friday his plans to overhaul cyber security policy, Defense Secretary Robert Gates was expected to soon formally propose the new cyber command that will be overseen by a four-star officer, Pentagon officials told AFP.
Read More
$30M to Raytheon for SLAMRAAM Long-Lead Production
Raytheon announced that its Surface Launched Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (SLAMRAAM) program has received U.S. Army approval for a long-lead acquisition, not to exceed $30 million, for purchases leading to low rate initial production.
The SLAMRAAM is the Army’s future short-range air defense weapon.
Read More
The SLAMRAAM is the Army’s future short-range air defense weapon.
Read More
Up to $707M to Honeywell for Maritime Prepositioning Support
Honeywell Technology Solutions Inc. in Jacksonville, FL won a $14.5 million indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract with a cost-plus-award-fee pricing arrangement for logistics services for the Maritime Prepositioning Ships Program, the Marine Corps Prepositioning Program-Norway, and for operational logistics support to engaged Marine Corps and Department of Defense operating forces. This contract includes 9 one-year options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of the contract to $707 million.
Read More
Read More
Saturday, May 30, 2009
First Acoustic Superlens
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
Read More
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
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Vehicles That Drive Themselves
The autonomous vehicle navigation technology may make life more convenient if it allows people to enjoy a good book or movie while their cars guide themselves through rush-hour traffic.
Wende Zhang of General Motors designed the vehicle that drives itself, which has an average speed of approximately 13 miles per hour.
The GM team drew upon existing technology already offered in some of their vehicles that can assist in parking or detect lane markers and trigger alarms if the drivers are coming too close to the shoulder of the road.
Read More
Wende Zhang of General Motors designed the vehicle that drives itself, which has an average speed of approximately 13 miles per hour.
The GM team drew upon existing technology already offered in some of their vehicles that can assist in parking or detect lane markers and trigger alarms if the drivers are coming too close to the shoulder of the road.
Read More
Europe’s Fastest Supercomputer Unveiled in Germany
A new supercomputer having the power of 50,000 home PCs, the third worldwide and the fastest in Europe, was unveiled on Tuesday in Germany.
The new supercomputer “Jugene,” capable of 1,000,000,000,000,000 (one quadrillion) calculations per second, ranks behind the “Roadrunner” and “Jaguar” computers in the US, said Kosta Schinarakis from the Juelich research centre.
Read More
The new supercomputer “Jugene,” capable of 1,000,000,000,000,000 (one quadrillion) calculations per second, ranks behind the “Roadrunner” and “Jaguar” computers in the US, said Kosta Schinarakis from the Juelich research centre.
Read More
U.S. company finds "safer" way to make stem-like cells
U.S. researchers said on Thursday they had come up with the safest way yet to make stem-like cells using a patient's ordinary skin cells, this time by using pure human proteins.
The team at Harvard University and Massachusetts-based Advanced Cell Technology Inc said their technique involves soaking cells in human proteins that turn back the clock biologically, making the cells behave like powerful embryonic stem cells.
Read More
The team at Harvard University and Massachusetts-based Advanced Cell Technology Inc said their technique involves soaking cells in human proteins that turn back the clock biologically, making the cells behave like powerful embryonic stem cells.
Read More
AT&T, Verizon Racing To Rollout 4G Wireless
AT&T's decision to accelerate its ramp up of Long Term Evolution (LTE) will likely prematurely place it in a head-to-head competition withVerizon Wireless.
Verizon Wireless, which is already racing to install the super-high-speed LTE wireless infrastructure, is a year ahead in the deployment race.
AT&T this week put a favorable spin on its move by saying that "most industry overseers expect 4G LTE networks and device availability to scale" in the 2011 to 2012 timeframe. Verizon Wireless, of course, has said it plans to begin LTE rollouts later this year with widespread commercial deployment to take place in 2010.
Read More
Verizon Wireless, which is already racing to install the super-high-speed LTE wireless infrastructure, is a year ahead in the deployment race.
AT&T this week put a favorable spin on its move by saying that "most industry overseers expect 4G LTE networks and device availability to scale" in the 2011 to 2012 timeframe. Verizon Wireless, of course, has said it plans to begin LTE rollouts later this year with widespread commercial deployment to take place in 2010.
Read More
Trilliant Acquires SkyPilot Networks to Streamline Smart Grid Communications
There are few battles fiercer in the cleantech business than the holy war currently being waged over which communications and networking technologies will prevail in smart grid deployments.
Wide area networking technologies are integral to the fabric of smart grids, and will be essential elements of any electric utility's smart grid program. Current utility communication systems are highly fragmented, purpose-built for specific applications, and often based on proprietary technologies. However, the prevailing winds are blowing in the direction of more unified architectures that utilize two-way, low-latency, standards-based networking technologies that are scalable and flexible to support a variety of applications using varying bit rates.
Read More
Wide area networking technologies are integral to the fabric of smart grids, and will be essential elements of any electric utility's smart grid program. Current utility communication systems are highly fragmented, purpose-built for specific applications, and often based on proprietary technologies. However, the prevailing winds are blowing in the direction of more unified architectures that utilize two-way, low-latency, standards-based networking technologies that are scalable and flexible to support a variety of applications using varying bit rates.
Read More
The New Great Race - Tesla versus Clarity
Listening to battery enthusiasts wax poetic about the Tesla recently - - and seeing a few of them appearing on the streets of west Los Angeles - - I began thinking about the old Tony Curtis film “The Great Race” (remember every time he smiled, there was a shiny sparkle of superiority that gleamed from his teeth?). The roads and Holiday Inns have improved dramatically since the period depicted in the movie, but the idea of testing the claims of exciting new technology at the dawn of a new transportation age is very much the same. So let’s have a 21st Century “Great Race” and pit the Tesla against the other electric car on the market today, the Honda Clarity.
The Tesla is an electric sports car powered by batteries, while the Clarity is an electric sedan powered by hydrogen (a fuel cell converts the hydrogen to electricity). The range of each is rated by USEPA-approved testing at about 230 miles. The similarities end there however - - the Tesla is the fastest production car ever built at zero to 60 mph, giving the little hot rod a distinct advantage that would seem to make a race with a Clarity anything but “great”. Or would it?
Read More
The Tesla is an electric sports car powered by batteries, while the Clarity is an electric sedan powered by hydrogen (a fuel cell converts the hydrogen to electricity). The range of each is rated by USEPA-approved testing at about 230 miles. The similarities end there however - - the Tesla is the fastest production car ever built at zero to 60 mph, giving the little hot rod a distinct advantage that would seem to make a race with a Clarity anything but “great”. Or would it?
Read More
Metal Storm Completes MAUL Weapon Demonstration
Weapons developer Metal Storm Limited today announced that Metal Storm Inc. has successfully completed a Live Fire Demonstration under a contract with the Office of Naval Research (ONR). The demonstration was conducted at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada in front of United States military and key defence industry figures.
Read More
Read More
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)