News tagged with aerospace engineering

Heart-powered pacemaker could one day eliminate battery-replacement surgery

A new power scheme for cardiac pacemakers turns to an unlikely source: vibrations from heartbeats themselves.

Physics / General Physics

created Mar 02, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Engineers look to the birds for the future of UAVs (w/ video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Engineers at UC San Diego are mimicking the movement of bird wings to help improve the maneuverability of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

Technology / Engineering

created May 30, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Robot walks a 40.5-mile ultramarathon without recharge (w/ video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Pulling an all-nighter and then some, the Cornell robot Ranger set a new world record May 2 by walking 40.5 miles on a single battery charge without stopping or being touched.

Electronics / Robotics

created May 11, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

New Material Mimics Bone To Create Better Biomedical Implants

(PhysOrg.com) -- A "metal foam" that has a similar elasticity to bone could mean a new generation of biomedical implants that would avoid bone rejection that often results from more rigid implant materials, ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Feb 16, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers devise new means for creating elastic conductors

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a new method for creating elastic conductors made of carbon nanotubes, which will contribute to large-scale production of the material for use ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Jan 24, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Chemically scrubbing CO2 from the air too expensive

(PhysOrg.com) -- While it is possible to chemically scrub carbon dioxide from Earth's atmosphere in order to lessen the severity of global warming, the process is prohibitively expensive for now. Best to focus ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 12, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 63 | with audio podcast

Structured English brings robots closer to everyday users

(PhysOrg.com) -- Move over, Jetsons. A humanoid robot named Mae is traipsing around Cornell's Autonomous Systems Lab, guided by plain-English instructions and sometimes even appearing to get frustrated.

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Nov 23, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Vascular composites enable dynamic structural materials

Taking their cue from biological circulatory systems, University of Illinois researchers have developed vascularized structural composites, creating materials that are lightweight and strong with potential for self-healing, ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Jul 26, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers create tool to put the lid on solar power fluctuations

How does the power output from solar panels fluctuate when the clouds roll in? And can researchers predict these fluctuations? UC San Diego Professor Jan Kleissl and Matthew Lave, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Mechanical ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Jun 21, 2011 | popularity 3 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Best 'sweet spots' on the backboard

According to Larry Hunter, the act of banking a basketball off the backboard and into the hoop is becoming a lost art.

Technology / Computer Sciences

created Mar 10, 2011 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (6) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

New camera makes seeing the 'invisible' possible

(PhysOrg.com) -- The science similar to the type used in airport body scanners could soon be used to detect everything from defects in aerospace vehicles or concrete bridges to skin cancer, thanks to researchers ...

Technology / Engineering

created Mar 03, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Engineers study birds, bees to design unmanned vehicles

(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Arizona aerospace and mechanical engineers are studying bird and bee flight to develop unmanned vehicles that stay aloft longer and cope with sudden and severe changes in airflow.

Technology / Engineering

created Feb 08, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

UA engineers study hybrid systems to design robust unmanned vehicles

The UA College of Engineering's Hybrid Dynamics and Control Laboratory is developing mathematical analysis and design methods that could radically advance the capabilities of unmanned aircraft and ground vehicles, ...

Technology / Engineering

created Feb 02, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

The world's first Expansion/Deflection nozzle hybrid tested

(PhysOrg.com) -- Engineers at the University of Bristol and Airborne Engineering last month conducted a number of performance tests of their experimental hybrid rocket engine, called Firecrest.

Technology / Engineering

created Jun 08, 2010 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 7 | with audio podcast

On a roll: Designing the next rover to explore Mars

The concept of a wind-powered vehicle that can be used to explore the surface of Mars - a so-called "tumbleweed rover" that would roll over the surface of Mars like a tumbleweed - has been around for more ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Jun 02, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (6) | comments 13 | with audio podcast