SpaceX booster explodes in test flight

SpaceX gave a dramatic demonstration on Friday of why spacecraft undergo such thorough testing. At its testing ground at McGregor, Texas, a SpaceX Falcon 9 Reusable Development Vehicle 1 (F9R Dev 1) exploded in midair during a test flight. Nearby residents saw the fireball and local television station KXXV caught the incident on video. Elon Musk tweeted that the vehicle "auto-terminated," but there were no injuries or near-injuries, and that “Rockets are tricky …” .. Continue Reading SpaceX booster explodes in test flight

Section: Space

Tags: Elon Musk, Falcon, Grasshopper, Spacecraft, SpaceX

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Largest ship ever built for the Royal Australian Navy begins final sea trials

The largest ship ever built for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) has taken to sea as it begins its final contractor trials. The 27,800 tonne (30,600 ton) Nuship Canberra is the first of two Land Helicopter Dock (LHD) ships under construction for the Australian Defence Force and is billed by the RAN as “one of the most capable and sophisticated air–land-sea amphibious deployment systems in the world.” .. Continue Reading Largest ship ever built for the Royal Australian Navy begins final sea trials

Section: Military

Tags: Australia, BAE Systems, Marine, Royal Australian Navy, Ships

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Whooshh Innovations' "fish gun" shoots salmon over obstacles small and tall

If you live in an area where salmon spawn, then summer treats you to a free nature drama as the fish battle against currents, fight through rapids, struggle up tiny streams, and leap up waterfalls to return to the calm pools where they were born. Unfortunately, however intrepid the odd salmon is, they weren't built to take on a 300-ft tall hydroelectric dam. That's why Whooshh Innovations has developed a system that sucks the fish up through a plastic tube and shoots them over obstacles low and tall like so many piscatorial projectiles. .. Continue Reading Whooshh Innovations' "fish gun" shoots salmon over obstacles small and tall

Section: Environment

Tags: Conservation, Environment, Fish, Transport

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DARPA seeks high-tech alternatives to armor

As a quick visit to any armored division will make obvious, tanks are big ... really big. A Challenger 2 main battle tank, for example, weighs 62.5 tonnes (68.9 tons) and costs about £4.2 million (US$7 million). And as anti-tank weapons get better, tanks can only get bigger. To avoid armies of tomorrow having to pay for land-going battleships, DARPA’s Ground X-Vehicle Technology (GXV-T) program aims at developing lighter, more agile successors to the tank that protect themselves with more than ever-thicker walls of steel... Continue Reading DARPA seeks high-tech alternatives to armor

Section: Military

Tags: Armor, DARPA, Tanks

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ExoLance project wants to use tunneling darts to hunt for life on Mars

If there’s life on Mars, it will have a great impact on Earth. But to answer the question, a group of engineers want to make an impact on Mars. Explore Mars, Inc., a private organization made up technologists and former NASA engineers, wants to look for signs of any present life on Mars not by scratching about on the surface, but by dropping supersonic lances on the planet that will penetrate deep into the Martian soil to seek out protected, potentially wet strata where life might still exist... Continue Reading ExoLance project wants to use tunneling darts to hunt for life on Mars

Section: Space

Tags: Crowdfunding, Curiosity Rover, Indiegogo, Mars, Prototype

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X-47B learns to share the deck with manned aircraft

Anyone who’s seen an aircraft carrier in full operation knows that everything needs to be carried out with absolute precision by a small army of sailors as one plane lands and is hurried aside to make room for the next. To show that its X-47B Unmanned Combat Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) can work in this hectic environment alongside manned ones, the US Navy sent it to carry out landing and deck maneuvers aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) in concert with an F/A-18 fighter... Continue Reading X-47B learns to share the deck with manned aircraft

Section: Aircraft

Tags: Aircraft, UAV, Unmanned, US Navy, X-47B

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MIT researchers propose recycling lead from old batteries to produce new solar cells

The world of modern technology is one of out with the old, in with the new. For battery technology, that means the expected demise of lead-acid batteries and replacement by a more efficient, cheaper, and environmentally-friendly alternative. This is good news, but leaves the problem of what to do with all the lead in the batteries currently in use when the time comes to dispose of them? Researchers at MIT have an answer – use it to make solar cells... Continue Reading MIT researchers propose recycling lead from old batteries to produce new solar cells

Section: Environment

Tags: Batteries, Energy, Environmental, MIT, Photovoltaic, Solar Cell

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Creation of functional 3D brain-like tissue could aid in study of the brain

One approach to studying the brain rather than working on the whole thing at once is to examine small bits of it. With that in mind, researchers at the Tissue Engineering Resource Center at Tufts University, Boston have developed a three-dimensional brain-like tissue that is structurally similar to living rat brain tissue, functions enough like it for experimental purposes, and one that scientists have been able to keep alive for up to two months... Continue Reading Creation of functional 3D brain-like tissue could aid in study of the brain

Section: Science

Tags: 3D, Brain, Tufts University

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Caterham lets loose two new cars on the US market

American devotees of the Caterham brand got a little love this week as the car maker presented two new models for the US market at Monterey Car Week. The Seven 480 and 360 are the latest variant on the classic, minimalist Caterham Seven sportscar introduced four decades ago, and are available to US customers directly through Caterham’s US distributor. .. Continue Reading Caterham lets loose two new cars on the US market

Section: Automotive

Tags: Cars, Caterham

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Bremont creates limited edition Jaguar Lightweight E-Type watch

Over at the Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance this week, Jaguar unveiled its continuation Lightweight E-Type sports car, and to keep it company, British watchmaker Bremont chose the same venue for the début of its Lightweight E-Type wristwatch. No prizes for guessing, but the bespoke watch with a limited run of six is a commemoration timepiece on offer to the buyers of the Jaguar replica racers... Continue Reading Bremont creates limited edition Jaguar Lightweight E-Type watch

Section: Wearable Electronics

Tags: Bremont, Concours d'Eleganza, E-Type, Jaguar, Lightweight, Pebble Beach,Watches

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Jaguar to unveil continuation Lightweight E-Type prototype at Pebble Beach

In May, Jaguar announced that it was making up for lost time by building the remaining six of the 18 Lightweight or Special GT E-Types that were originally planned in 1963 but never built. That turns out to be more than just talk, because the newly-completed prototype Car Zero of the new run is having its public début at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in California... Continue Reading Jaguar to unveil continuation Lightweight E-Type prototype at Pebble Beach

Section: Automotive

Tags: Concours dElegance, E-Type, Jaguar, Pebble Beach, Prototype

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How the Range Rover Sport SVR beat the Nürburgring

Last month, Land Rover claimed a new record for a production SUV as its 2015 Range Rover Sport SVR ran the 20.8 km (13 mile) Nordschleife circuit at the Nürburgring in eight minutes and 14 seconds. Now the company has lifted the bonnet and revealed the specs behind how a two and a half tonne Chelsea tractor is able to do a lap time like a stabbed rat. .. Continue Reading How the Range Rover Sport SVR beat the Nürburgring

Section: Automotive

Tags: 4WD, Cars, Land Rover, Nurburgring, Off-road, Range Rover, Sports

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ESA tests new rendezvous system as ATV-5 docks at Space Station

ESA’s last Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV)-5, Georges Lemaître, has arrived at the International Space Station. In what the space agency describes as a "flawless demonstration of technology and skill," the unmanned cargo ship autonomously docked itself while supervised by mission control in Toulouse, France and by ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Skvortsov inside the space station... Continue Reading ESA tests new rendezvous system as ATV-5 docks at Space Station

Section: Space

Tags: ATV, Autonomous, ESA, International Space Station, NASA, Spacecraft

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Disney algorithm has asymmetrical objects in a spin

Tops, yo-yos, and other spinning toys are amongst the oldest playthings created by man, with the earliest examples dating back to 3,500 BC. Paradoxically, they’re not very easy to make with their design requiring a lot of trial and error. One mistake and, instead of a pirouetting plaything, you get a clattering paperweight. That’s why spinning toys tend to be symmetrical – until now. In a blow for symmetry, Disney Research Zurich and ETH Zurich have developed a computer algorithm that can take any shape, no matter how cock-eyed, and make it spin like a top... Continue Reading Disney algorithm has asymmetrical objects in a spin

Section: Science

Tags: 3D Printing, Disney, Disney Research, ETH Zurich, Research, Toys, Weight

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ISEE-3 makes lunar flyby, heads back into deep space

A chapter of space history closed today as an ambitious project by a private organization to bring a 36-year old spacecraft back to life came to an end. Despite efforts by the ISEE-3 Reboot Project to restart the ISEE-3’s propulsion system, the unmanned probe has now been hurled back into deep space after a lunar flyby... Continue Reading ISEE-3 makes lunar flyby, heads back into deep space

Section: Space

Tags: Crowdfunding, Interactive, ISEE-3, Lunar, Moon, NASA, Spacecraft, Unmanned

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Mercedes-Benz to showcase restored 540 K Streamliner and 1914 racer at Pebble Beach

What might have been? That's the question posed by the newly restored Mercedes-Benz 1938 540 K Streamliner that will get its international public première at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elégance this month. The streamlined version of the 540 K was originally built to participate in a race that was cancelled due to a minor event called World War Two, but has since been restored to its original condition... Continue Reading Mercedes-Benz to showcase restored 540 K Streamliner and 1914 racer at Pebble Beach

Section: Automotive

Tags: Automotive, Grand Prix, History, Mercedes-Benz, Pebble Beach

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NASA selects proposals for advanced energy storage technologies

Once upon a time, energy systems for space missions were simple. You used batteries for very short missions, solar panels in the inner Solar System, nuclear power generators if you were beyond Mars or needed a lot of power, and fuel cells for manned spacecraft. However, as space exploration starts looking into lunar polar craters, comets, and the icy moons of Jupiter, new energy systems will be needed. To anticipate that need, NASA has made awards to four proposals to develop advanced energy storage technology for future manned and unmanned space missions.... Continue Reading NASA selects proposals for advanced energy storage technologies

Section: Space

Tags: Batteries, Energy, Engineering, Fuel Cell, NASA, Spacecraft

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First-ever 3D-printed space telescopes nearing completion

Telescopes are very simple devices in theory, but getting one to work in space means a complex assembly of mechanical parts that is expensive, difficult to build, and hard to operate in the hostile environment outside the Earth’s atmosphere. To simplify things, NASA aerospace engineer Jason Budinoff is working on the first space telescope made entirely from 3D-printed parts... Continue Reading First-ever 3D-printed space telescopes nearing completion

Section: Space

Tags: 3D Printing, CubeSat, Infrared, NASA, Space telescope, Telescope

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Brownsville, Texas named as site for SpaceX spaceport

The office of Texas Governor Rick Perry has revealed that SpaceX has selected Brownsville, Texas as the site of a new launch facility for sending commercial satellites into orbit. The plans were revealed as part of an announcement by the Governor’s office that the Texas state government is providing US$2.3 million to provide infrastructure for the project, which is expected to create 300 jobs and generate $85 million in capital investments. .. Continue Reading Brownsville, Texas named as site for SpaceX spaceport

Section: Space

Tags: Elon Musk, Infrastructure, Rocket, Satellite, SpaceX, Texas

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Rosetta becomes first spacecraft to enter orbit around a comet

The list of space firsts got a little longer this week. On August 6 at 11:30 am CET, ESA's Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany received radio signals confirming that Rosetta had begun its approach and was going into orbit around comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, making Rosetta the first spacecraft to go into orbit around a comet. .. Continue Reading Rosetta becomes first spacecraft to enter orbit around a comet




Section: Space




Tags: Comets, ESA, NASA, Rosetta, Solar System, Spacecraft, Unmanned




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Curiosity marks two years on Mars

Break out the party hats – NASA’s Curiosity rover is celebrating its second anniversary on Mars. On August 5, 2012 at 10:31 pm PDT (August 6, 05:31 GMT), the unmanned spacecraft touched down at Bradbury Landing in Gale Crater on the start of a multi-year mission to seek out areas where life could or may once have existed, and is now preparing to carry on for a third year... Continue Reading Curiosity marks two years on Mars

Section: Space

Tags: Anniversary, Curiosity Rover, Mars, Mars Science Laboratory, NASA, Spacecraft

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Rolls-Royce confirms it's working on new convertible for 2016

The Rolls-Royce stable is getting bigger by one more convertible, as the company has announced the development of a new luxury drophead design. Though exactly what will roll out the door isn't certain, it will likely be based on the Rolls-Royce Wraith Coupé, the smallest of the seven-model Rolls-Royce line. .. Continue Reading Rolls-Royce confirms it's working on new convertible for 2016

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Tags: Convertible, Luxury, Rolls Royce

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Wounded veterans set sights on South Pole microlight flight

If you think going outside to collect the mail isn't on because it’s a bit nippy, then you might want to give a thought to a squadron of disabled British servicemembers who plan to spend next January flying to the South Pole in little more than hang gliders. Organized by the charity Flying For Freedom, up to five open-cockpit microlights will be piloted by the veterans to show what severely disabled people can achieve, as well as inspire others to seek rehabilitation... Continue Reading Wounded veterans set sights on South Pole microlight flight

Section: Aircraft

Tags: Aircraft, Antarctic, British, British Antarctic Survey, Microlights, Soldiers, South Pole

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NASA releases 3D-printable models to the public

If you have access to a 3D printer, then you can build your own space fleet courtesy of NASA – provided you don’t mind spacecraft that are plastic and four inches long. As part of its continuing program of education and outreach, the space agency has released 22 printable models of NASA and European space probes, asteroids, and planetary landscapes for the hobbyist and space enthusiast... Continue Reading NASA releases 3D-printable models to the public

Section: Space

Tags: 3D Printing, Asteroid, NASA, Spacecraft

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MIT to test making oxygen on Mars

Oxygen is such an abundant resource on Earth that we rarely think about it unless we get locked in a cupboard. However, for space engineers, the question of how to get enough of the vital gas is constant, frustrating problem. To help future explorers of the Red Planet get enough oxygen for life support and powering spacecraft, NASA has included MIT’s MOXIE experiment on the Mars 2020 mission to study how to make oxygen out of the Martian atmosphere. .. Continue Reading MIT to test making oxygen on Mars

Section: Space

Tags: Carbon Dioxide, Curiosity Rover, Mars, Mars 2020, MIT, NASA, Spacecraft

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Tourbillon 1000% brings 3D printing to watches ... sort of

Buying a mechanical watch with a finely-crafted tourbillon movement can set you back tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, but if you don’t mind one made out of plastic and a bit larger than usual, 3D printing may be the answer. Computer scientist and watchmaking enthusiast Nicholas Manousos has created a printable version of the famous watch movement called Tourbillon 1000%. Fabricated from thermoplastic and ball bearings, it may not be practical, but it's certainly eye catching... Continue Reading Tourbillon 1000% brings 3D printing to watches ... sort of

Section: Wearable Electronics

Tags: 3D Printing, Thermoplastic, Tourbillon, Watches

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