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Fire, frenemy of humanity since time immemorial. Typical extinguishing methods have involved water, chemicals and even blankets, but DARPA wanted to see if there was another, more pragmatic way. Starting with the understanding of fire actually being a cold plasma, DARPA then explored fire’s electromagnetic and acoustic qualities, and discovered two potential ways to quell the flame, one using electrons, the other, sound. The electron technique creates an oscillating field that separates the fire and fuel dubbed “ionic wind,” the other method creates an acoustic field that increases the air velocity (thinning the the flame boundary) and causes the flames to widen and drop in temperature, dispersing the fire’s energy. The concepts have been proven, but scaling these up to real world solutions is a whole different matter. Light up the videos after the break to see them in action.

Continue reading DARPA fights fire with sound and electricity, hopes ‘ionic wind’ could save lives in the field

Filed under: Science

DARPA fights fire with sound and electricity, hopes ‘ionic wind’ could save lives in the field originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Jul 2012 17:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This is the scar left by the terrible Waldo Canyon Fire that burned through 18,247 acres (74 square kilometers) in Pike National Forest, three miles west of Colorado Springs. With 346 homes incinerated, two lives lost and hundreds of millions of dollars in damage, it was the most destructive fire in Colorado history. More »

We knew that there would be another Kindle Fire at some point, but we didn’t know when it would arrive, or exactly what it’d look like. If the latest report from the China Times is true, however, we can expect Amazon’s new slate to ship around August 7th. Like the first Fire, this new version will be built by Quanta, with a metal chassis and displays provided by LG and Panasonic. Other details, like its size or the contents within said metallic frame, are still nowhere to be found. What we can tell you is that the new tablet can’t get here fast enough for Amazon given the Fire’s declining sales numbers and its fresh competition from Mountain View.

Update: Looks like something was lost in translation — it turns out the China Times report actually states that the new Kindle Fire is set to make its appearance in July or August, not specifically on August 7th.

Amazon’s new Kindle Fire set to debut in early August? (update: maybe July) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Jul 2012 18:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In theory you should be able start a fire with just a couple of sticks and some elbow grease. But those of us who only occasionally venture out into the great outdoors don’t have the time to perfect and hone our manual blaze starting skills. We need a little help. More »