What happens when you transfuse the 2,200 HP electric drive train from the world’s fastest and most powerful production electric car, the Mercedes SLS AMG Coupé Electric Drive, into a 38-foot racing hull? You get the world’s fastest and most powerful production electric speed boat. Duh. More »
Space is noticeably short on gas stations, requiring spacecraft to carry huge reserves of expensive and cumbersome propellant which limits their range. But with NASA’s newest Sun-powered propulsion concept, future astronauts could sail to the stars on solar winds. More »
Rugby football is no sport for old men. This free-flowing British sport has been practiced since the 15th century—kind of a cross of American football and football (aka soccer), except that everybody is the size of a linebacker and protective gear is verboten. In addition to torn ears and broken bones, players risk spinal damage when in the scrum, which is why this six-legged rugby-bot teaches the French National Rugby Team how to move the pile in unison without breaking their individual necks. More »
Even as the Northeast digs out after Nor’easter Nemo, New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority isn’t worried about maintaining service along its northern New Haven Line. That’s thanks to a fleet of turbine-powered, slush-slinging, jet trains. More »
In the age of super-sonic fighter jets, cruise missiles, and exo-atmospheric ballistic missiles, carrier fleets must be able to monitor as accurately and far afield as possible to avoid being caught unaware of incoming threats. Odd then, that the duty of watching over the most sophisticated aircraft carriers ever constructed falls to the last propeller-powered planes still allowed to land on them. More »
While chatter between the US Air Force is spoken exclusively in English, communications between their aircrafts’ electronic systems is more akin to the United Nations cafeteria—a “dog’s breakfast of different datalinks,” according to Lt. Gen. William Lord. Since the numerous competing defense contractors tasked with building military aircraft often install contradicting and incompatible systems, the USAF employs a pair of legacy NASA fliers to act as battlefield interpreters. More »
The Landsat program has revolutionized how we view the Earth during its forty continuous years of operation. The reams of data generated by seven generations of satellites has helped govern both public and private policies from agriculture and forestry management to cartography, geology, and urban planning. The eighth iteration of Landsat is slated for launch next week and is expected to deliver more detailed data than ever. More »
So what if Google designed a Prius that can guide itself along Nevada’s barren highways. The US Army has a helicopter that can guide itself through war zones. More »
The lives of British soldiers in the Brigade Reconnaissance Force just got a little safer. Rather than having to undertake the dangerous task of checking for ambushes, investigating potential enemy positions themselves (“Go see if there are a bunch of guys with guns in that house”), or just sticking their head around the corner, they can now send this fist-sized spy ‘copters to scout for danger ahead instead. More »
The Antarctic ice shelf is among the most hostile, uninhabitable environments on the face of the Earth. However, with virtually zero atmospheric pollution and low levels of electromagnetic interference, it is also one of the best places on the planet for climate, atmospheric, and geological research. But how do you keep a team of scientists from becoming meat popsicles in a place where temperatures rarely top 0 degrees? With a ski-wearing modular laboratory, of course. More »
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