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Kyle Sherer
Raytheon and US Navy demonstrate submarine-compatible UAS
By Kyle Sherer
17:30 October 30, 2008 PDT
Raytheon and the US Navy have demonstrated unmanned aircraft system capability for submarines. The Submarine Over the Horizon Organic Capabilities (SOTHOC) program is developing a specialized UAS designed for collection of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance in a complex littoral environment. Read More
Solar Power Satellites could broadcast energy to Earth
By Kyle Sherer
15:03 October 29, 2008 PDT
Dusting off an old renewable energy proposal, president of the National Space Society Ben Bova recently published an article in The Washington Post calling for the next president of the United States to commission a US$1 billion solar power satellite from NASA before the end of their second term. The satellite would harness energy directly from the sun and broadcast it back to a receiver on Earth using microwave frequencies. Read More
PepperBall's FlashLauncher torch illuminates, hurts things
By Kyle Sherer
16:44 October 28, 2008 PDT
PepperBall Technologies has released a 100-lumen flashlight that doubles as a semi-automatic PepperBall launcher. The 2.2-pound FlashLauncher can fire up to five projectiles that, in addition to stinging like hell, release a hot pepper powder designed to subdue any assailant. Read More
Robot swarms could help colonize Mars
By Kyle Sherer
03:13 October 28, 2008 PDT
Hundreds of micro-robots will work together to carry out repairs inside machinery, explore deep-sea environments, and even colonize Mars according to predictions from the EU-funded I-SWARM project, which is developing centimeter-scale autonomous robots that co-operate like a colony of ants and therefore can compensate for the failure of individual members. Read More
NASA testing next-gen lunar rover in Arizona
By Kyle Sherer
17:06 October 27, 2008 PDT
NASA’s 12-wheeled Small Pressurized Rover raced (by lunar rover standards) across the moon-like Arizona outback at 6mph this week as part of the 11th annual Desert Research and Technology Studies (RATS). While the buggies on the Apollo missions only provided a 6 mile range, the presence of two or more SPRs on a lunar landing will provide a range of over 150 miles. Read More
India launches first lunar mission
By Kyle Sherer
18:32 October 26, 2008 PDT
The Indian Space Research Organisation has successfully launched Chandrayaan-1, the country’s first scientific mission to the moon. The two-year, USD$80 million mission will see the PSLV-C11 rocket enter lunar orbit in roughly two weeks, before descending to a final 100 km-high circular orbit. The Moon Impact Probe will land on the lunar surface, while the orbiter will continue gathering data with 11 scientific instruments. Read More
Smart fabrics and the future of healthcare
By Kyle Sherer
22:56 October 22, 2008 PDT
You don’t often hear fashion mentioned in the same sentence as cutting edge medical technology (unless you watch Grey’s Anatomy), but shirts that double as health monitors are just one type of garment under consideration in the emerging smart fabrics industry, a market that is estimated to be worth over €300 million, with a growth rate of roughly 20% per year. Read More
NASA launches Interstellar Boundary Explorer
By Kyle Sherer
16:41 October 20, 2008 PDT
NASA has launched the Interstellar Boundary Explorer, which will observe the edge of our solar system from a 200,000-mile Earth orbit and determine whether or not we’re... err, doomed. Over the next two years, the 23-inch high octagonal craft will study the area of space where solar wind hits the wider galaxy – hopefully it will also find out why the solar wind, which shields us from harmful cosmic rays, has decreased by 25% in the last ten years. Read More
Autonomous unmanned helicopters designed for disaster relief
By Kyle Sherer
04:35 October 16, 2008 PDT
European researchers are developing a squadron of co-operating, unmanned helicopters for use in disaster management, civil security, and filmmaking. In addition to ferrying critical supplies, the helicopters can deploy sensor nodes to gather information and establish a communications network in places where the infrastructure is damaged or absent. Read More
Zeppelin Airship travel makes U.S. comeback
By Kyle Sherer
17:23 October 14, 2008 PDT
Starting this month, Airship Ventures is offering tourists the chance to travel aboard a 246-foot long, semi-rigid Zeppelin NT – the first giant Zeppelin to grace the skies of the US since the Hindenburg tragically caught fire more than 70 years ago. Passengers can enjoy birds-eye views of the San Francisco Bay, Silicon Valley, Sonoma/Napa wine regions, and the Monterey/Big Sur coastline. Read More
Machine vision cameras powered via Ethernet cable
By Kyle Sherer
00:14 October 8, 2008 PDT
Baumer’s new line of GigE (Gigabit Ethernet) cameras receive power via a Cat6 Ethernet cable, eliminating the need for a separate power cord. The cameras provide machine vision for product lines and robotic applications- a process greatly simplified by the reduction of cables. Read More
Pterodactyl-based UAV design for urban combat scenarios
By Kyle Sherer
16:29 October 7, 2008 PDT
Scientists have designed a highly-maneuverable UAV modeled on a 228-million-year-old pterodactyl. The 30-inch robotic craft would alter its wing shape to “squeeze through confined spaces, dive between buildings, travel under overpasses, land on apartment balconies, and sail along the coastline.” Read More
Proterra's hybrid-electric zero-emission bus
By Kyle Sherer
18:48 October 6, 2008 PDT
Proterra is presenting a prototype of its HFC35 composite body, hybrid-electric bus at the American Public Transportation Association expo in San Diego. Scheduled to start service in early 2009 in a nationwide trial, the 37-seat HFC35 contains a fuel cell hybrid-electric powertrain that emits only water, qualifying the bus as a zero-emission vehicle. However, it can also incorporate diesel, gasoline, and compressed natural gas engines. Read More
Raytheon's KillerBee UAV tested in simulated combat
By Kyle Sherer
22:21 October 2, 2008 PDT
Raytheon’s KillerBee, a 10-foot wide UAV designed for surveillance and reconnaissance, has been successfully demonstrated in a simulated combat environment. A Raytheon flight operations crew delivered the 30 pound KillerBee system to a remote location using Humvees and achieved set up and launch within 45 minutes before executing the operational scenario and retrieving the aircraft with a net-recovery system. Read More
Volvo to introduce 7700 Hybrid bus in 2009
By Kyle Sherer
22:11 October 2, 2008 PDT
In addition to reducing the discharge of particles and nitrous oxides by 40-50% compared with a diesel-only bus, the Volvo 7700 Hybrid has 30% lower fuel consumption which the company estimates will allow bus operators to recoup the extra cost of the vehicle within seven years. Read More
Cinemizer video glasses offer quality portable viewing for Nokia N96
By Kyle Sherer
02:20 October 1, 2008 PDT
The 115-gram Carl Zeiss cinemizer video glasses simulate a one-meter wide movie screen at two meters distance, and when connected to the new Nokia N96 mobile phone there's an added bonus - the TV signal from the integrated DVB-H receiver is displayed on the video eyewear without loss of quality. Read More
SpaceX successfully launches Falcon 1 into orbit
By Kyle Sherer
19:48 September 30, 2008 PDT
With the Space Shuttle scheduled to retire in 2010, alternative transport vessels will need to be developed to keep the International Space Station manned, and to keep options open for possible manned lunar missions. After three failed attempts, the SpaceX Falcon 1 has successfully achieved Earth orbit – the first privately developed liquid fuel rocket to do so. Read More
Happy Birthday! NASA celebrates 50 years
By Kyle Sherer
18:42 September 30, 2008 PDT
Cochlear implants, ultrasonically welded swimsuits, DustBusters, and freeze-dried food. You owe more to NASA than you think. Fifty years ago today, NASA’s employees turned up for their first day at work. One-hundred and fifty manned missions, $810.459 billion present-day dollars, and 382 kilograms of moon rocks later, the ripples from the creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration have influenced society and the development of technology in ways we rarely detect. Kyle Sherer takes a closer look at the history and major achievements of the last half-century. Read More
Underwater exoskeletons mimic dolphins and penguins
By Kyle Sherer
17:45 September 25, 2008 PDT
The University of West Florida’s Institute of Human and Machine Cognition has released designs of biologically inspired aquatic exoskeletons – robotic suits that enhance the user’s strength and provide great advancements in speed, stealth and maneuverability, allowing the wearer them to mimic the efficient swimming styles of penguins, dolphins and turtles. Read More
Savant Systems' iPod media dock
By Kyle Sherer
18:31 September 24, 2008 PDT
Savant Systems’ ROSIE Media Dock connects compatible iPod and iPhone models with SAVANT multi-room AV systems allowing users to navigate their personal media players via a ROSIE user interface, which also displays artist, album and track information. Read More
Presidential helicopter achieves new milestone
By Kyle Sherer
00:46 September 24, 2008 PDT
The first operational pilot production aircraft in the VH-71 presidential helicopter program has successfully completed its 40-minute maiden flight. The PP-1 is the first of five VH-71 production aircraft that will be tested during phase one of the US$6.1 billion presidential helicopter replacement program. Read More
Sidelined 1950s mountain-climbing technology resurrected to help patients
By Kyle Sherer
18:39 September 23, 2008 PDT
in order to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Smiths Medical and University College London have resurrected the sidelined closed-circuit breathing system designed for a failed Everest expedition over 50 years ago. Closed-circuit devices, (also known as rebreathers), create a seal over the user’s mouth, retaining the exhaled air, scrubbing it of carbon dioxide, and allowing the user to inhale it again. Read More
MAVEN: NASA's post-Phoenix Mars probe
By Kyle Sherer
00:27 September 22, 2008 PDT
After the Phoenix lander has finished scraping away at Martian soil, the MAVEN spacecraft will examine the atmosphere of the red planet. The US$485 million Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN program is the second stage of NASA’s Mars Scout program, following the successful Phoenix mission. The MAVEN craft will study the planet’s atmospheric gases, upper atmosphere, solar wind, ionosphere, planetary corona, solar EUV and SEPS, and investigate past climate change. Read More
PAC-3 anti-ballistic missile successfully tested
By Kyle Sherer
01:08 September 19, 2008 PDT
Lockheed Martin and the Japanese Self Defense Force have successfully tested the PAC-3 Missile against a tactical ballistic missile target, at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. The PAC-3 Missile Segment is an upgrade to the Patriot air defense system, and is designed to detect, track, engage and destroy TBMs. Read More
BioSolar's renewable backsheet for solar panels
By Kyle Sherer
00:00 September 17, 2008 PDT
Currently, photovoltaic modules in solar panels employ petroleum-based plastics as a protective backing, increasing their overall carbon footprint and maintaining a reliance the fossil fuel economy. To free solar power from the uncertainties of oil prices, and to help make them a truly green power source, BioSolar has developed bio-based components that are ready to replace the backsheet, substrate and superstrate components of solar panels. The materials have a lifespan of 20-25 years, and, most importantly, they are 25% cheaper to manufacture than the plastic alternative. Read More
rob yates
- November 26, 2009 @ 12:49 UTC
