Cast your vote! Who do you think is the greatest inventor of all times?
Continue reading… “Inventor’s Survey”
Innovation We Get Behind
When you have kids, you need eyes in the back of your head. Likewise, it helps if you have them in the back of your car too. The all-new Infiniti Q45 does — it’s the first car equipped with rear-view television. Shift into reverse, and a screen on the instrument panel — which doubles as the navigation display — shows what’s behind you so you don’t hit it.
http://www.popsci.com/bown/auto_57_infinitiq45.html
Continue reading… “Innovation We Get Behind”
Fuel Cells Take a Big Step
A major reason you don’t drive a fuel cell car already: There’s nowhere to get a tankful of hydrogen. This infrastructure problem is not lost on General Motors engineers, who’ve found a new source: the local filling station. They developed a catalytic device that strips hydrogen from regular gasoline. It’s not as efficient as pure hydrogen, but it produces 50 percent better fuel economy. Demonstrated in a prototype Chevy S-10 this year, the advance brings fuel cells one step closer to the family car.
http://www.popsci.com/bown/auto_60_gmcfuelcell.html
Continue reading… “Fuel Cells Take a Big Step”
Inflatables Catch Some Air
Not only are this plane’s wings made of plastic, they inflate like a balloon . . . in midflight. No, it’s not some daredevil stunt; it’s a NASA plane that may someday be dropped from spacecraft orbiting other planets. During a successful flight earlier this year, a nitrogen canister inflated the I2000’s 32-inch-long wings in a third of a second. It marked the first time an aircraft’s wings have ever been inflated in flight.
http://www.popsci.com/bown/aviation_51_wing.html
Continue reading… “Inflatables Catch Some Air”
King of the High Society
The world altitude record for nonrocket-powered aircraft, formerly held by the Air Force’s mighty SR-71 Blackbird, was shattered this summer by a flying wing. The unmanned Helios aircraft, made up of 14 propellers and 65,000 solar cells, averaged 25 miles an hour as it climbed 96,500 feet over the Hawaiian islands, three times the cruising altitude of a commercial airliner and 10,000 feet past the previous record. Next, engineers are planning to equip it with a fuel cell, allowing for multiday flights above 50,000 feet. http://www.popsci.com/bown/aviation_53_helios.html
Continue reading… “King of the High Society”
Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles
Boeing’s X-45 Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) is the first of its type — a fighter plane without a pilot. Military experts say UCAVs will play a key role in future warfare, because they are smaller, lighter, cheaper, and more agile than piloted aircraft. Unmanned combat planes are envisioned as a “first day of the war” strike force capable of attacking enemy air defenses without risking pilots’ lives. Boeing’s UCAV, sponsored by DARPA and the Air Force, underwent ground tests this year and may have begun flight tests by the time you read this. A Navy UCAV designed by Northrop Grumman will soon follow. UCAVs could enter service as early as 2010.
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New ‘Trek’ movie gets villain
“Star Trek: Nemesis,” the 10th installment in the sci-fi film franchise, has landed a beastly new villain, with Ron Perlman signing on to play the Romulan Viceroy, Variety reports.
Continue reading… “New ‘Trek’ movie gets villain”
