Darren Quick
X-48C Blended Wing Body aircraft flight testing campaign comes to a close
The flight testing campaign of the X-48C Blended Wing Body (BWB, aka Hybrid Wing Body) research aircraft kicked off on August 7, 2012, at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center. Eight months later the campaign has come to a close with the 30th and final flight carried out on April 12. NASA plans to use the data gathered over the campaign to aid in the design of future “green” airliners that are quieter and more fuel-efficient than conventional aircraft, while Boeing is touting the design's potential military applications. Read More
Just a week after the first in-flight venting of its nitrous system, Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo has made an even more spectacular step on the way to its first powered flight. The craft's 25th glide flight on April 12 saw oxidizer flow through the craft’s propulsion system and expelled through the nozzle at its rear in what is known as a “Cold Flow” procedure. Read More
Bell Helicopter has thrown its tiltrotor hat into the ring for the U.S. Army’s Joint Multi Role (JMR)/Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program with the unveiling of its V-280 Valor tiltrotor concept at the 2013 Army Aviation Association of America's (AAAA) Annual Professional Forum and Exposition in Fort Worth, Texas. The aircraft is up against an X2-based design from Boeing and Sikorsky, a coaxial design from AVX Aircraft, and a still unknown proposal from EADS. Read More
The Global Positioning System (GPS) has proved a boon for those with a bad sense of direction, but the satellite-based system isn’t without its shortcomings. Something as simple as going indoors or entering a tunnel can render the system useless. That might be inconvenient for civilians, but it's potentially disastrous for military users for whom the system was originally built. DARPA is addressing such concerns with the development of a self-sufficient navigation system that can aid navigation when GPS is temporarily unavailable. Read More
Many will remember the colorless colas that came and went in the early 90s. While they were nothing more than a gimmick, Stanford University researchers have developed a clear technology that should prove a little more beneficial to humanity. They have developed a process called CLARITY that turns a normally opaque brain transparent, allowing postmortem examinations to be done without slicing and dicing and opening the doors to a wealth of information about our least understood organ. Read More
LG is making it easier for people to part with their cash from the comfort of their couches with the integration of PayPal into its Smart TV platform. The move is a first for a TV manufacturer and will allow viewers to purchase products, apps and games directly through the TV using the popular digital payment system. Read More
Back in 2011, scientists reported the creation of the “world’s first practical artificial leaf” that mimics the ability of real leaves to produce energy from sunlight and water. Touted as a potentially inexpensive source of electricity for those in developing countries and remote areas, the leaf’s creators have now given it a capability that would be especially beneficial in such environments – the ability to self heal and therefore produce energy from dirty water. Read More
Spectrolab, a Boeing subsidiary known for the manufacture of solar cells for satellites and spacecraft, has in recent years turned its attention to terrestrial solar cells to tap into the expanding alternative energy market. Now the California-based company has claimed a new solar cell efficiency record of 37.8 percent for a ground-based multi-junction cell without solar concentration. Read More
It’s that time of year again when university students need to start thinking about finalizing the designs of their world-changing concepts so they’re ready for submission to the annual James Dyson Award. Read More
After making its first successful vertical landing in 2010 and the first at sea in 2011 – both in the clear light of day – an F-35B Lightning II last week completed the first short takeoff and vertical landing under cover of darkness. Read More
