Magnetic anomaly that cast doubt on Voyager 1's entry of interstellar space explained

One question that has been vexing space scientists for the past three years is whether NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft is or isn't in interstellar space. The unmanned explorer was supposed to have passed out of the sphere of the Sun's influence and into galactic space in August 2012, but a magnetic anomaly threw a question mark over the event. Using data from other space missions, a team led by the University of New Hampshire (UHN) has found a clue as to what may have caused the anomaly and produces new insights into the nature of the region where the Solar System and the outer Universe meet.

.. Continue Reading Magnetic anomaly that cast doubt on Voyager 1's entry of interstellar space explained

Section: Space

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University of New Hampshire
Voyager
Solar System
NASA

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Rosetta spacecraft detects molecular oxygen outgassing from Comet 67P

Despite being the third most abundant element in the Universe, molecular oxygen, or O₂, is relatively rare off Earth. That's why it raised a few eyebrows at ESA when the space agency's Rosetta spacecraft discovered oxygen molecules jetting out of the nucleus of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. According to the Rosetta team, the oxygen is outgassing in such abundance that its presence may date back to the formation of the comet over 4.6 billion years ago.

.. Continue Reading Rosetta spacecraft detects molecular oxygen outgassing from Comet 67P

Section: Space

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Comets
Rosetta
ESA

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Teforia infuser promises the perfect cuppa, whatever the blend

There are not only six basic types of tea, but a bewildering number of varieties and blends that often demand a very specific method of brewing to bring out their best flavor. The Teforia infuser from the eponymous Mountain View, California startup is designed to help users more easily navigate these waters, using a proprietary Selective Infusion Process (SIP) technology to not only tailor the brewing to the tea, but also allow the user to control factors like caffeine and antioxidant levels.

.. Continue Reading Teforia infuser promises the perfect cuppa, whatever the blend

Section: Around The Home

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Tea
Beverages

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Salt handgun is designed for non-lethal defense

Chicago-based startup Salt has launched a crowdfunding campaign for a less-than-lethal weapon designed as an alternative to firearms for home and personal protection. The pneumatic pistol is designed to stop intruders using an incapacitating powder that temporarily blinds them while drastically lessening the possibility of family members being killed in an accident.

.. Continue Reading Salt handgun is designed for non-lethal defense

Section: Military

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Non-lethal
Security

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Pico countertop craft automatic brewery for the inexperienced home brewer

In 2013, PicoBrew unveiled its Zymatic automatic beer brewing appliance, which was marketed to professional microbreweries as a way to create high-quality, repeatable test batches of new beer recipes. Now the Seattle-based startup has launched the PicoBrew Pico on Kickstarter. A smaller, more stylish version of the Zymatic, it's aimed at the home brewer with little or no experience, but a desire to make craft beer with as little effort and mess as possible.

.. Continue Reading Pico countertop craft automatic brewery for the inexperienced home brewer

Section: Around The Home

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Automatic
Kickstarter
Beer

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First digital computer installed on a manned spacecraft goes to auction

A Space Age collectible that not only represents a first in space, but also a first in computer history is on the auction block in Dallas, Texas. As part of its Space Exploration Signature Auction, Heritage Auctions is taking bids for a vintage random access, non-destructive readout 4,096 bit memory plane that flew on Gemini 3. This ferric memory unit was an integral part of the Gemini Spacecraft Computer, which was the first computer installed in a manned space capsule.

.. Continue Reading First digital computer installed on a manned spacecraft goes to auction

Section: Collectibles

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Computer
Auction
Spacecraft
NASA
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Northrop Grumman chosen to build next US strategic bomber

The US Air Force has awarded a US$21.4 billion contract for its Long Range Strike Bomber (LRS-B) to Northrop Grumman. The next generation of strategic bombers will replace the aging fleets of B-52s and B-2s, and will be capable of carrying heavy or nuclear payloads against new generations of anti-aircraft systems.

.. Continue Reading Northrop Grumman chosen to build next US strategic bomber

Section: Aircraft

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Northrop Grumman
US Air Force

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The MiniBrew works like an auto coffeemaker for beer

Just like its more formal sibling, craft brewing, home brewing has exploded in popularity in the United States in recent years, and if startups have anything to say about it, the category should keep on growing. Joining the Pico brewer on the crowdfunding circuit, the MiniBrew is another all-in-one countertop brewing system that makes brewing beer nearly as easy – though more time-consuming overall – as brewing coffee.


.. Continue Reading The MiniBrew works like an auto coffeemaker for beer

Section: Around The Home

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Beverages
Brewing
Indiegogo
Beer

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New Horizons changes course for next deep-space rendezvous

NASA confirmed today that the New Horizons deep-space probe has successfully carried out the first of four course corrections designed to culminate in a rendezvous with a Kuiper Belt object one billion miles beyond Pluto in 2019.

.. Continue Reading New Horizons changes course for next deep-space rendezvous

Section: Space

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Spacecraft
Kuiper Belt
Pluto
NASA
New Horizons

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Imperiali Genève's Emperador puts cardboard cigar boxes to shame

Most cigar boxes are cheap cardboard affairs that are useful for keeping bits and pieces in or turning into an inexpensive guitar. Definitely not in the homespun musical category is the Emperador cigar chest from Imperiali Genève. This is a high-tech container that holds two dozen bespoke cigars and clocks in at a cool one million Swiss francs (US$1,048,000) – making this both one of the most expensive and technologically advanced cigar boxes in history.

.. Continue Reading Imperiali Genève's Emperador puts cardboard cigar boxes to shame

Section: Around The Home

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Luxury
Tobacco

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Apollo 15 watch sells for US$1.6 million

A unique relic of the Space Age went on the auction block at RR Auction this week with the Bulova wristwatch worn on the Moon in 1971 by Colonel David Scott as Commander of Apollo 15 sold for US$1,625,000. The Bulova Wrist Chronograph was carried on the mission's third surface EVA as a backup timepiece to the NASA-issue Omega watch worn on US manned missions. The personal property of Scott, it is the only watch to return from the Moon to remain in private hands.

.. Continue Reading Apollo 15 watch sells for US$1.6 million

Section: Collectibles

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RR Auction
Auction
NASA
History
Watch
Apollo

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Insect-sized RoboBee robot can now fly and swim

Usually, when you dunk a tiny flying robot in the water you end up with a tiny sinking robot. Engineers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) want to change that with the RoboBee, which has claimed the title of the first insect-insect sized robot that can swim as well as fly.


.. Continue Reading Insect-sized RoboBee robot can now fly and swim

Section: Robotics

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Harvard
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Louis Moinet​ Vertalor wins Grand Prix of watches

The Louis Moinet Vertalor tourbillon wristwatch has just won the Tourbillon category of this year's International Chronometry Competition – an event described as "the equivalent of five Formula 1 Grand Prix races – without a single pit stop."


.. Continue Reading Louis Moinet​ Vertalor wins Grand Prix of watches

Section: Wearable Electronics

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Review gives NASA's Space Launch System the tick of approval

The first of three planned configurations of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), known as Block 1, has completed and passed the final Critical Design Review (CDR). This is the fourth and final review focusing on the concept and design of NASA's first man-rated launcher since the Space Shuttle and paves the way for full-scale fabrication of the first exploration-class rocket since the Saturn V and the most powerful rocket ever built.

.. Continue Reading Review gives NASA's Space Launch System the tick of approval

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NASA

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World View completes major flight test of Voyager spacecraft scale replica

Commercial spaceflight company World View came a step closer to carrying tourists to the edge of space with a successful test flight last weekend. At Page, Arizona, a one-tenth scale replica spacecraft was carried by high-altitude ballon to a height of 100,475 ft (30,624 m) to demonstrate the technology that is intended for use in a full-size version slated to begin commercial flights next year.

.. Continue Reading World View completes major flight test of Voyager spacecraft scale replica

Section: Space

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Lockheed Martin completes assembly of asteroid-sampling OSIRIS-REx

Lockheed Martin has completed final assembly of NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith EXplorer (OSIRIS-REx) deep-space probe. The unmanned spacecraft, designed to rendezvous with an asteroid and return samples to Earth, will now undergo five months of environmental testing at the company’s Space Systems facilities near Denver before delivery to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

.. Continue Reading Lockheed Martin completes assembly of asteroid-sampling OSIRIS-REx spacecraft

Section: Space

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Asteroid
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Team claims a transcontinental US record aboard Tesla Model S P85D with Autopilot

Earlier this year, Carl Reese and Deena Mastracci made a 3,011-mile (4,846-km) drive from Los Angeles to New York in 58 hours and 51 minutes in a Tesla Model S P85D to set a record for the coast-to-coast journey for an electric vehicle. Now Reese and Mastracci, joined by Alex Roy, have beaten that record with the help of Tesla's new Autopilot software.

.. Continue Reading Team claims a transcontinental US record aboard Tesla Model S P85D with Autopilot

Section: Automotive

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Tesla

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Oxia Planum firms at landing site for ExoMars 2018 mission

ESA has named the Oxia Planum region as the primary candidate for the landing site of theExoMars 2018 Mars mission. The Russo-European mission to the Red Planet is the second of two missions of the ExoMars program and is aimed at demonstrating new technologies and seeking signs of past or present life. Consisting of a lander and rover, the mission is scheduled to launch in May 2018 with a landing in January 2019.

.. Continue Reading Oxia Planum firms at landing site for ExoMars 2018 mission

Section: Space

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Roscosmos
Mars
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Stanford's autonomous DeLorean can't time travel, but can do donuts

It doesn't have a flux capacitor and may not be able to travel through time like its inspiration in the 1985 feature Back to the Future, but Stanford University's convertedDeLorean Multiple Actuator Research Test bed for Yaw (MARTY) can cut some wicked donuts without the aid of a driver. The creation of professor of mechanical engineering Chris Gerdes and his students, the autonomous, electric, drifting automotive research vehicle is part of a student-driven research project into the physical limits of autonomous driving that aims to improve the safe operation of self-driving cars under all conditions.

.. Continue Reading Stanford's autonomous DeLorean can't time travel, but can do donuts

Section: Automotive

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Autonomous
Stanford University
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Future Soldier Vision concept imagines the British soldier of 2025

What will the British infantry of 2025 look like? At the recent Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) exhibitions in London, Britain's Ministry of Defence (MOD) took the wraps off its Future Soldier Vision (FSV), which is the Ministry's vision of what the high-tech squaddie of the next decade will look like. Developed by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), the British Army, Kinneir Dufort, and SEA Ltd, the FSV is based on projections of today's commercial and military technology.

.. Continue Reading Future Soldier Vision concept imagines the British soldier of 2025

Section: Military

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U.K. Ministry of Defence
Future
British Army
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Drones face mandatory registration in the US

The US Department of Transportation (USDoT) Secretary Anthony Foxx announced today that drones in the United States will soon require federal registration. As part of this effort, Secretary Foxx and FAA Administrator Michael Huerta are putting together a task force made up representatives from the government, along with the UAS and manned aviation industries to provide recommendations on how to best implement a registration process.

.. Continue Reading Drones face mandatory registration in the US

Section: Drones

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Virgin Media turns pedestrian pavement into Wi-Fi hotspot

Virgin Media and Chiltern District Council have installed what's billed as the "UK’s first ever Smart Pavement" in the English market town of Chesham. The pilot system uses access points hidden under the pavement to provide broadband Wi-Fi.

.. Continue Reading Virgin Media turns pedestrian pavement into Wi-Fi hotspot

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Retrofittable unmanned system for navy boats takes to the water

In the waters near Portsmouth Naval Base, a small black boat recently roared about with no one at the controls. It hadn't run amok after the pilot fell overboard, but was instead a demonstration of a new robotic system developed by ASV and BAE Systems. The technology package can be retrofitted to the Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIB) used by the Royal Navy (RN) to turn them into high-speed, autonomous, unmanned reconnaissance and surveillance platforms.

.. Continue Reading Retrofittable unmanned system for navy boats takes to the water

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ESA's GomX-3 CubeSat goes online

The European Space Agency has declared that its miniature GomX-3 technology demonstration satellite is in good health and ready to begin its primary mission. Deployed on October 5 from the International Space Station, the CubeSat will spend six-months testing new radio technology for tracking civil aircraft in previously inaccessible regions of the world and measuring telecom satellite signal quality.

.. Continue Reading ESA's GomX-3 CubeSat goes online

Section: Space

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Lockheed Martin completes 60 tests of laser turret for high-speed warplanes

Last year, Lockheed Martin began testing a new tactical laser turret for future warplanes. After 60 test flights Lockheed says the 360° capability of the turret system has been verified, moving the technology a step closer to deployment on tactical aircraft flying at near-supersonic speeds.

.. Continue Reading Lockheed Martin completes 60 tests of laser turret for high-speed warplanes

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Battelle’s DroneDefender anti-drone beam gun grounds UAVs

There's recently been a run of new anti-drone systems introduced to deal with potential threats from UAVs, but these have been on the large and expensive side. To provide an affordable alternatives to plug the gap between shotguns and truck-mounted systems, national security research and development firm Battelle is introducing DroneDefender. Billed as the first portable, accurate, rapid-to-use UAV counter-weapon, it's a rifle-like raygun device that uses a radio beam to jam drone control systems and stop them in midair.

.. Continue Reading Battelle’s DroneDefender anti-drone beam gun grounds UAVs

Section: Drones

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Review: Ezviz Mini cloud-based wireless camera for home security on a budget

Whether it's for peace of mind while on holiday or to keep an eye on an elderly relative, security cameras are finding their way into more and more homes. Part of the reason for this increased popularity is the drop in price and ease of use and installation offered by an increasing number of systems. Looking to join this increasingly crowded marketplace is the new Ezviz Mini cloud-based, Wi-Fi camera that we recently got hold of and put on patrol.




.. Continue Reading Review: Ezviz Mini cloud-based wireless camera for home security on a budget

Section: Around The Home

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Video Cameras
Camera
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SkinSuit designed to reduce harmful physical effects of weightlessness tested on ISS

The crew of the International Space Station (ISS) got a fashion show with a medical twist last month as Denmark’s first astronaut, Andreas Mogensen, donned a SkinSuit designed to counteract the harmful effects of prolonged periods of weightlessness on the human body. Developed as part of an international effort led by RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, the new suit is designed to simulate the pressures of normal gravity to prevent unhealthy stretching of the spine.

.. Continue Reading SkinSuit designed to reduce harmful physical effects of weightlessness tested on ISS

Section: Space

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RMIT University
Clothing
International Space Station
ESA
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Asteroid Impact Mission sets sights on new laser communications record

Laser-based communications has the ability to beam enormous amounts of data at high speed, but the use of this technology in space is still in its infancy. To help push things along, ESA’s proposed Asteroid Impact Mission (AIM) will carry out a record-setting demonstration of space laser communications across a distance of 75 million kilometers while orbiting a binary asteroid.

.. Continue Reading Asteroid Impact Mission sets sights on new laser communications record

Section: Space

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Communications
Laser
ESA

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Cassini begins final flybys of Saturn's moon Enceladus

Launched in 1997, NASA's Cassini orbiter mission to Saturn has lasted 18 years and 3 months so far – a considerable extension of its original four-year timetable. As its mission draws to an end, the unmanned, nuclear-powered spacecraft will execute the first of its final three flybys of Saturn's moon Enceladus. To take place between now and December, the close encounters are expected to provide a better understanding of the moon's global ocean and its possible habitability.

.. Continue Reading Cassini begins final flybys of Saturn's moon Enceladus

Section: Space

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Cassini
Saturn
NASA

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DARPA's ICARUS program to develop self-destructing air delivery vehicles

Two years ago, DARPA started developing self-destructing electronics as a way to prevent advanced military gear falling into the wrong hands. Now the agency is expanding on the idea with its Inbound, Controlled, Air-Releasable, Unrecoverable Systems (ICARUS) program, which is tasked with developing small, unmanned, single-use, unpowered air vehicles that can can be dropped from an aircraft to deliver supplies to isolated locations in the event of disasters, then evaporate into thin air once their job is done.

.. Continue Reading DARPA's ICARUS program to develop self-destructing air delivery vehicles

Section: Military

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DARPA
UAV
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Anti-UAV Defense System uses radio beam to disable drones

Sophisticated, easy to fly drones are everywhere these days and like most new technologies, they have the potential for mischievous or malicious applications as well aspositive ones. It follows that there's an increasing demand for improved surveillance and countermeasures specifically tailored for this type of aircraft. Billed as the world's first fully integrated system designed to detect, track and disrupt small and large drones, the Anti-UAV Defence System (AUDS) from Blighter Surveillance Systems uses radio beams to freeze drones in midair by interfering with their control channels.


.. Continue Reading Anti-UAV Defense System uses radio beam to disable drones

Section: Drones

Tags:
UAV
Security

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US Army tests drone-killing 50 mm cannon

While civilian countermeasures to combat malicious drones is moving toward UAV-freezing radio beams, the US Army is taking a more permanent approach. Under development by the U.S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering Center (ARDEC) at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, the Enhanced Area Protection and Survivability (EAPS) system used steerable 50 mm smart rounds to shoot down two drones in recent tests.

.. Continue Reading US Army tests drone-killing 50 mm cannon

Section: Drones

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US Army
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The microoptic lenses behind BMW's Welcome Light Carpet

For the late-night reveler, the new BMW 7 Series has a feature that makes the walk through the carpark a bit less frustrating. At the press of a key fob, the Welcome Light Carpet lighting system shines a striped pattern of light on the ground to guide motorists back to their car thanks to a system of microoptic lenses developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering.

.. Continue Reading The microoptic lenses behind BMW's Welcome Light Carpet

Section: Automotive

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Fraunhofer
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Universal space docking system gets an upgrade

Not being able to charge your phone because you have the wrong USB cable is one thing, but imagine showing up at a space station with the wrong docking system. To prevent that from happening in the future, NASA has unveiled its new universal docking ports for the International Space Station and other spacecraft. Built by a consortium of international partners, a pair of the International Docking Adapters (IDA) are undergoing tests before delivery to the station. With the designation of IDA-2, they are an upgrade of two previous adaptors that were lost when the CRS-7 mission exploded shortly after liftoff.

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Section: Space

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Lockheed Martin begins manufacturing ATHENA laser weapon

Lockheed Martin announced this week that production of its Advanced Test High Energy Asset (ATHENA) laser weapon system has begun at the company's Bothell, Washington facility. The high-powered laser weapon modules will be used as the heart of a 60-kilowatt system designed to be fitted to a US Army vehicle.

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Section: Military

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NASA tests foldable cloth heat shield in Mars entry simulation

As spacecraft for manned and planetary missions get larger, so do their heat shields – which are becoming very big indeed. To avoid the day when the shield becomes too large for any existing or planned launcher, NASA’s Ames Research Center in California is developing the Adaptive Deployable Entry and Placement Technology (ADEPT) heat shield, which uses carbon-fiber cloth and can be folded up like an umbrella. The cloth heat shield recently completed tests that simulated entering the Martian atmosphere.

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Section: Space

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Moon Express and Rocket Lab team up for 2017 lunar mission

Space startup Moon Express has signed a contract with Rocket Lab to help carry out three lunar missions starting in 2017. Described as the first private contract between two companies to carry out a lunar landing, the agreement will see Rocket Lab provide launch services using its Electron rocket system for the Moon Express MX-1 lunar lander as part of Moon Express's attempt win the Google Lunar Xprize.

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Section: Space

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Swimsuits for sea turtles

If you're wondering what the best dressed sea turtles are wearing at the beach this season, then the University of Queensland has the answer. As part of a study to find the foraging areas of endangered loggerhead turtles, researchers there designed a bespoke swimsuit for the 120 kg (264 lb) animals that acts as a harness for a "giant nappy" to collect fecal samples.

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Section: Science

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University of Queensland
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US Army tests remote controlled weapon towers

One of the more unpleasant aspects of army life has always been guard duty. It's also very labor intensive. In the US Army, it takes four to six soldiers standing for up to 12 hours to man a single perimeter weapons system. To free up personnel for more important duties, the Army is testing the Tower Hawk System, which uses tower-mounted, remote-controlled weapons for base perimeter security... Continue Reading US Army tests remote controlled weapon towers

Section: Military

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Weapons
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TWEET

Rosetta explores the dark side

Earth isn't the only place with seasons. Other planets and even very small celestial bodies can have them, too, as ESA's Rosetta probe has shown in its explorations of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. When the unmanned spacecraft went into orbit about the comet, it revealed that the southern hemisphere of the dumbbell-shaped nucleus is shrouded in a dark winter that lasts over five years and, according to data collected by the Rosettas's onboard spectrometer,hides ice in larger amounts than the rest of the comet.

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Section: Space

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