How airlines are cutting their carbon footprint

The global aviation industry has pledged that by 2050, it will reduce its net carbon emissions to half its 2005 levels. Achieving this will require not only improved engine efficiency and aerodynamics, but also a turn to ...

How to build a 1,000mph car (by the scientists behind it)

It was a staggering feat, a car that went faster than the speed of sound. On October 15 1997, Andy Green travelled across the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, in the Thrust SSC at 763.035 mph, or Mach 1.02. Two decades on, that ...

Using cycling to explain why physics isn't a drag

Scientists and teachers have combined to develop a simple spreadsheet-based method of teaching aerodynamic drag to 14 and 15 year olds. By measuring the speed of one of their classmates riding a bike and taking a photo in ...

Bats use weighty wings to land upside down

Compared to birds and insects, bats have heavy wings for their body size. Those comparatively cumbersome flappers might seem a detriment to maneuverability, but new research shows that bats' extra wing mass makes possible ...

New glass almost as tough as steel

(Phys.org)—A team of researchers with The University of Tokyo and Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute has created a type of glass that is stronger than many metals. In their paper published in the journal Scientific ...

Scientists predict that rocky planets formed from 'pebbles'

Using a new process in planetary formation modeling, where planets grow from tiny bodies called "pebbles," Southwest Research Institute scientists can explain why Mars is so much smaller than Earth. This same process also ...

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