Military & Aerospace
U.S. hypersonic aircraft crashes seconds into military test flight
August 16, 2012 8:45 am | by Alex Dobuzinskis, Reuters | News | CommentsAn unmanned experimental aircraft designed to fly six times the speed of sound broke apart over the Pacific Ocean seconds into a military test flight due to a faulty control fin, the U.S. Air Force said on Wednesday.
Hearing the telltale sounds of dangerous chemicals
August 15, 2012 4:12 pm | by Eurekalert! | News | CommentsTo warn of chemical attacks and help save lives, it's vital to quickly determine if even trace levels of potentially deadly chemicals—such as the nerve gas sarin and other odorless, colorless agents—are present.
Gamma rays from galactic center could be evidence of dark matter
August 14, 2012 11:42 am | News | CommentsGamma-ray photons seen emanating from the center of the Milky Way galaxy are consistent with the intriguing possibility that dark-matter particles are annihilating each other in space, according to research submitted by UC Irvine astrophysicists to the American Physical Society journal Physical Review D.
Aircraft shoots for 3,600 mph for 300 seconds
August 14, 2012 10:44 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Air Force plans a key test of an experimental aircraft designed to fly at six times the speed of sound, or about 3,600 mph.
More trial, less error: An effort to improve scientific studies
August 14, 2012 8:31 am | by Sharon Begley, Reuters | News | CommentsSo many scientific studies are making incorrect claims that a new service has sprung up to fact-check reported findings by repeating the experiments.
Wind farms: A danger to ultra-light aircraft?
August 13, 2012 1:28 pm | by Eurekalert! | News | CommentsFor a motorized hangglider or a one-seater weighing 300 kilograms: the business of flying by ultra-light aircraft is booming. That is also why numerous airfields are applying for the license to host these lightweight gliders.
Obama cheers 'mind-boggling' Curiosity mission
August 13, 2012 1:24 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) -- Hailing NASA's "mind-boggling" Mars landing of the Curiosity rover, President Barack Obama urged the scientists operating the craft on Monday to phone home immediately if they find any extra-terrestrials.
After Curiosity, uncertainty lingers on NASA's Mars program
August 13, 2012 9:07 am | by Irene Klotz, Reuters | News | Comments(Reuters) - This week's arrival of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity set the stage for a potentially game-changing quest to learn whether the planet most like Earth ever had a shot at developing life, but follow-up missions exist only on drawing boards.
US Navy defends renewable fuels strategy in Industrial Biotechnology Journal
August 10, 2012 2:45 pm | by Eurekalert! | News | CommentsDespite criticism from Congressional Republicans and other groups, the U.S. Navy recently completed its Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2012 international maritime exercises, featuring the "Great Green Fleet" powered by a 50 percent biofuels blend.
Autonomous robotic plane flies indoors
August 10, 2012 2:28 pm | by Eurekalert! | News | CommentsFor decades, academic and industry researchers have been working on control algorithms for autonomous helicopters — robotic helicopters that pilot themselves, rather than requiring remote human guidance.
Nobel prize-winning crystals fell to earth in meteorites
August 10, 2012 8:56 am | by Chris Wickham, Reuters | News | Comments(Reuters) - The only known natural examples of a Nobel prize-winning crystal, now used in everyday objects like razor blades and non-stick frying pans, arrived on earth in meteorites, scientists have found.
Medvedev says space failures cost Russia prestige and cash
August 9, 2012 3:02 pm | by Reuters | News | CommentsMoscow is losing prestige and money due to botched space projects, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday after Russia junked two satellites in the latest launch failure to dog the once-pioneering industry.
NASA test planetary lander burns and crashes
August 9, 2012 2:58 pm | by SETH BORENSTEIN, AP | News | CommentsWASHINGTON (AP) -- A prototype NASA lander crashed and burned in a test flight at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
University of Tennessee engineering team develops chip for Mars rover
August 8, 2012 3:26 pm | by Eurekalert! | News | CommentsNASA's Mars Science Laboratory Rover 'Curiosity' would have a hard time completing its mission if it were not for a successful partnership between the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a professor-student team at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Mars rover Curiosity sends home first color photo
August 8, 2012 8:34 am | by Irene Klotz, Reuters | News | Comments(Reuters) - NASA's newly landed Mars science rover Curiosity snapped the first color image of its surroundings while an orbiting sister probe photographed litter left behind during the rover's daring do-or-die descent to the surface, scientists said Tuesday.
Ten tips for smart battery implementation
August 7, 2012 4:47 pm | by Adam Hickerson, Raveon Technologies, www.raveon.com | Blogs | CommentsSmart battery design starts with knowing the details of the system that is using the battery power. A battery does not make a system battery-powered. For operational lifetimes measured in days, weeks or years, power must be a design consideration from the ground up.
The Golden Touch: Behind the Webb Telescope
August 7, 2012 4:06 pm | by HubbleSiteChannel | Videos | CommentsThe Webb Telescope's mirrors are coated in an extremely thin film of gold. This gold layer, only a few millionths of an inch thick, enables the mirrors to best reflect the infrared light the telescope seeks. The thinner the layer, the better off the telescope will be -- every bit of weight counts when a telescope as big as Webb is being lifted into space by a rocket. Join us at Quantum Coating in New Jersey, where engineers are vaporizing gold to apply a thin, even layer to the telescope's mirrors. - HubbleSiteChannel
This week from NASA: Landing Curiousity, test firings for project Morpheus, International space station
August 7, 2012 4:02 pm | Videos | CommentsThis week on @NASA Following a daring plunge through the Martian Atmosphere -- billed as 7-minutes of Terror, The Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity rover made a successful, on-target landing on the Red Planet in Gale Crater. Curiosity is scheduled to conduct a two-year mission to investigate the most intriguing places on Mars in an effort to determine if microbial life is possible on the planet. Also, engineers at the Johnson Space Center have conducted test firings of the Project Morpheus Lander, the quickest trip ever to the International Space Station of an unpiloted Russian Progress resupply ship, Marking History at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility and more! -NASA Television
California's hydroelectricity production is vulnerable to climate change
August 7, 2012 2:23 pm | by Eurekalert! | News | CommentsCalifornia's hydropower is vulnerable to climate change, a University of California, Riverside scientist has advised policymakers in "Our Changing Climate," a report released July 31 by the California Natural Resources Agency and the California Energy Commission (CEC).
PBS Off Book: Seeing Beyond the Human Eye
August 7, 2012 10:20 am | by PBS Off Book | Videos | CommentsTechnology defies the boundaries of human perception. From photomicrography to astrophotography, size and distance are no longer barriers, and through slow-mo and timelapse, we are allowed to see time and humanity in a new light. Through our curiosity and thirst for the unknown, the beauty of the universe can now be explored beyond the limits of the naked eye. - PBS Off Book
This week in Engineering: Inflatable Heat Shield
August 7, 2012 10:07 am | by Engineering.com | Videos | CommentsThis Week in Engineering - Paint absorbs weaponized chemicals; Pioneer anomaly solved; tires from dandelions; nanobots target Hepatitis-C; Japanese trashcan bot; and inflatable heat shield.
Disinformation flies in Syria's growing cyber war
August 7, 2012 8:55 am | by Peter Apps, Political Risk Correspondent, Reuters | News | Comments(Reuters) - On Sunday, it was a hijacked Reuters twitter feed trying to create the impression of a rebel collapse in Aleppo. On Monday, it was another account purporting to be a Russian diplomat announcing the death in Damascus of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Mars rover landing "miracle of engineering," scientists say
August 7, 2012 8:53 am | by Steve Gorman and Irene Klotz, Reuters | News | Comments(Reuters) - NASA scientists hailed the Mars rover Curiosity's flawless descent and landing as a "miracle of engineering" on Monday as they scanned early images of an ancient crater that may hold clues about whether life took hold on Earth's planetary cousin. The one-ton, six-wheeled laboratory nailed an intricate and risky touchdown late on Sunday, much to the relief and joy of scientists and engineers eager to conduct NASA's first astrobiology mission since the 1970s Viking probes.
In RI waters better known as playground for yachts, US Navy develops undersea drones
August 7, 2012 8:52 am | by MICHAEL MELIA Associated Press | News | CommentsNEWPORT, R.I. (AP) -- Just beneath the placid, sailboat-dotted surface of Narragansett Bay, torpedo-shaped vehicles spin and pivot to their own rhythm, carrying out missions programmed by their U.S. Navy masters.
Russian rocket fails to reach target orbit
August 7, 2012 8:50 am | by VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press | News | CommentsMOSCOW (AP) -- Russia's space pride suffered another blow Tuesday when a booster rocket failed to place two communications satellites into target orbits, a mishap that came a day after NASA successfully landed a robotic vehicle on Mars.
