Blogs
Is the atmosphere a giant steam engine?
February 7, 2013 11:40 am | by M. Simon, Technical Contributor | CommentsAs a former Naval Nuke, I was intrigued by a recent paper on climate. It looks at atmospheric circulation in terms of water vapor condensation. A steam engine if you will. The paper claims that winds are driven by the condensation of water vapor, and the resultant variations in local atmospheric pressure that the condensation causes.
Iranian "stealth fighter" looks like a clown car
February 7, 2013 11:09 am | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | CommentsSo it turns out that the new Iranian stealth fighter may be as genuine as the Islamic Republic’s concern for human rights. The regime unveiled the jet, 'Qaher 313', on Saturday, and the blogosphere immediately went to work debunking what could be one of the laziest forgeries of all time.
Open Source Ecology: Using Open Engineering to Create Economic Benefit
February 7, 2013 12:39 am | by Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog | CommentsOpen Source Philosophy. from Open Source Ecology on Vimeo. I think the video’s message is overly simplistic and unrealistic (great innovations often seem unrealistic so I don’t mind people trying things I don’t think are likely to succeed in the … Continue reading →
In defense of crazy technology
February 6, 2013 4:22 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | CommentsAlright, I’ll admit it. I’m a bit of a technological dreamer. I’ve seen my fair share of pipe-dream technology—easily created, easily dismissed—but most days are a roving door of surprisingly innovative, potentially life-changing, incredibly awesome designs. In general, I tend to be a bit jaded, some might say curmudgeonly...
Health care reform: Will the medical device tax harm the industry?
February 6, 2013 3:57 pm | by Sean Fenske, Editor-in-Chief, Medical Design Technology | CommentsObviously, the overwhelming majority of the industry is not in favor of the medical device tax associated with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka, Obamacare). There are the remote pockets of support within the industry where people say that the tax, as part of the whole picture, will be a positive.
A new U.S. war: Restoring our competitiveness
February 6, 2013 3:26 pm | by Gordon Zuckerman | CommentsIf the United States economy is to restore itself to earlier levels of full employment, prosperity and financial soundness, the American manufacturing community must engage in a national effort to resurrect its global competitiveness.
FTC wanders down the wrong path
February 6, 2013 3:01 pm | by Andrew Berg, Senior Editor, Wireless Week | CommentsFriday’s announcement of Path's settlement is illustrative of the way regulation works when you're trying to safeguard consumers from technology that the regulators themselves don't understand. It's also the way regulation works when you're trying to drum up press that illustrates how you catch the bad guys and make them pay.
SSLs see bright future in automotive platforms
February 6, 2013 2:43 pm | by Chris A. Ciufo, Mouser Electronics | Mouser Electronics | CommentsThe world is positively aglow with rapidly changing technology trends in solid state lighting (SSL) LEDs. According to the Department of Energy (DOE), costs dropped by a third in 2011 to about $12 per thousand lumens and will be on their way down to $2 per thousand lumens by 2015 (Strategies Unlimited, August 2012).
Will 12V solar disappear in 2013?
February 5, 2013 3:08 pm | by Jon Gabay, Mouser Electronics | Mouser Electronics | CommentsThe established solar architecture based on 12V photovoltaic panels, batteries, charge controllers, and inverters will continue to give way to grid-tied inverter architectures. This approach to harvesting solar energy brings with it a lot of key benefits.
Online sales tax is immoral, runs contrary to the free markets
February 5, 2013 2:54 pm | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | CommentsThe central fallacy with crony capitalism is that it ignores the invisible hand of the free marketplace. This is precisely what the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) is doing with their support for "e-fairness" legislation (i.e., an Internet sales tax).
Mars or bust
February 5, 2013 9:10 am | by David Mantey, Executive Editor, PD&D | CommentsCould you go to Mars? Sacrifice everything; friends, family, and (possibly) future in order to be one of the first colonists on the red planet? Maybe if you were the first to plant a boot print in the dusty red sand, you would have some sort of historical notoriety....
Wireless networking in 2013
February 4, 2013 4:57 pm | by Jack Shandle, Mouser Electronics | Mouser Electronics | CommentsThe outlook for wireless networking keeps getting brighter as more devices — some as large as automobiles — become connected. Megatrends also drive wireless growth with the single most important being the conversion of electricity grids into Smart Grids, which in turn creates markets for smart meters and smart homes.
Top 10 posts for January
February 1, 2013 12:41 pm | by Kasey Panetta, Associate Editor | CommentsWe had a record-breaking January here at ECN online with our most trafficked month in the history of the website. So, without further delay, here’s a rundown of the most read, most popular, most awesome articles on the web. Take a look at what you missed the first time around or check up on an old favorite to see the conversation in the comments.
Homing Pigeons May Use Low Frequency Sound Maps To Locate Home
February 1, 2013 2:45 am | by Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog | CommentsMystery of Lost Homing Pigeons Finally Solved Prior research had shown that birds hear incredibly low-frequency sound waves of about 0.1 Hertz, or a tenth of a cycle per second. These infrasound waves may emanate from in the ocean and … Continue reading →
Enfeebled F-35 could impede military readiness
January 31, 2013 3:15 pm | by Jason Lomberg, Technical Editor | CommentsPicture a Swiss Army Knife with a blunted knife, rusty screwdriver, and a broken can opener. That’s what the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter has become — a jack of all trades and master of none. The F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) has — over the course of a highly tumultuous development period that personifies the phrase "requirements creep" — become the poster child for bloated government programs.
