A Tesla driver can now unlock his car without using his smartphone. Thanks to a chip implanted in his hand, he will never lose his keys again.
Category: transportation – Page 194
A 17-year-old Flordia high school student invents an electric motor that could one day make EVs more affordable.
Robert Sansone is 17 years old and wants to study at MIT. He recently won a $75,000 cash award for his electric motor invention.
Russia calculated that the Chinese side had sufficient financial resources and manufacturing capabilities, compensating for the Russian civil aviation industry’s financial problems. Moreover, the Russian side intended to use its advantage in engine technology to dominate production and thereby enter the huge Chinese civil aviation aircraft market. The Russians thought they had a strong selling point with the Central Aerodynamics Institute, known as TsAGI, which has more than a century of experience. Chinese technicians, however, did not share President Xi’s political calculations, and they did not think highly of Russia’s technological prowess. They believed that the Russian era of developing wide-body aircraft was part of a bygone Soviet legacy and that the real developers had already retired.
But a more fundamental problem is that Beijing’s motivation to cooperate with Russia was one-sided. China had hoped that money would entice Russia to share its engine technology, but Beijing had no intention of sharing its giant market with Moscow. With these conflicting interests from the start, it was only a matter of time before serious troubles began derailing the project.
The Russians originally wanted to use their own IL-96 aircraft as a blueprint for development. The Chinese, on the other hand, insisted on using the Boeing 787,777 and Airbus A350 as benchmarks for the development of jets with a two-aisle cabin layout, a range of 12,000 kilometers and 280 seats.
Society for Science.
As per Smithsonian Magazine, his new invention could one day transform the electric vehicle (EV) industry. It is a synchronous reluctance motor with improved performance over previous models.
Its creator Franky Zapata thinks so, as do the thousands of people who are likely signing up to test drive the JetRacer.
The French inventor and adrenaline junkie is no newbie when it comes to daredevil stunts—or wild inventions. A world champion jet skier several times over, his first invention was the Flyboard, a sort of jetpack/hoverboard combo powered by gas turbines. Next came the Flyboard Air, a similar device powered by jet turbines. Three years ago Zapata crossed the English Channel on a Flyboard Air; the journey took just 22 minutes, with a stop halfway to refuel.
Zapata has employed the same “micro-turbo-jet engines” from his Flyboard on the JetRacer. Though they’re relatively small, the engines pack a punch, perhaps because there are 10 of them. The vehicle can reportedly reach speeds up to 250 kilometers per hour (that’s 155 miles per hour), and an altitude of 3,000 meters/9,800 feet. Its speed and maneuverability come at the expense of range, though, which the website says is “relatively short” without specifying distances.
His new prototype had 39 percent greater torque over a traditional motor.
A young engineer called Robert Sansone won the first prize, and winnings of $75,000, at this year’s Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), the world’s largest international high school STEM competition.
As per Smithsonian Magazine, his new invention could one day transform the electric vehicle (EV) industry. It is a synchronous reluctance motor with improved performance over previous models.
Robert Sansone is a natural born engineer. From animatronic hands to high-speed running boots and a go-kart that can reach speeds of more than 70 miles per hour, the Fort Pierce, Florida-based inventor estimates he’s completed at least 60 engineering projects in his spare time. And he’s only 17 years old.
A couple years ago, Sansone came across a video about the advantages and disadvantages of electric cars. The video explained that most electric car motors require magnets made from rare-earth elements, which can be costly, both financially and environmentally, to extract. The rare-earth materials needed can cost hundreds of dollars per kilogram. In comparison, copper is worth $7.83 per kilogram.
Computer chip designers, materials scientists, biologists and other scientists now have an unprecedented level of access to the world of nanoscale materials thanks to 3D visualization software that connects directly to an electron microscope, enabling researchers to see and manipulate 3D visualizations of nanomaterials in real time.
Developed by a University of Michigan-led team of engineers and software developers, the capabilities are included in a new beta version of tomviz, an open-source 3D data visualization tool that’s already used by tens of thousands of researchers. The new version reinvents the visualization process, making it possible to go from microscope samples to 3D visualizations in minutes instead of days.
In addition to generating results more quickly, the new capabilities enable researchers to see and manipulate 3D visualizations during an ongoing experiment. That could dramatically speed research in fields like microprocessors, electric vehicle batteries, lightweight materials and many others.
The ‘Son of Concorde’ will bring back supersonic travel to the U.S…
American Airlines, the world’s largest airline, has committed to buying 20 supersonic aircraft from a Colorado-based aircraft manufacturer, whose design is still under testing, a press release from the airline said.
Traveling at speeds faster than that of the sound was a regular event before the turn of the millennium. However, when the aircraft manufacturer Concorde went under, airlines had no option but to stick with subsonic aircraft. This is the reason why flights across the world are long when with supersonic travel, they could take only a few hours.
American, the world’s largest airline, poised to have the world’s largest supersonic fleet with new Boom Supersonic aircraft.
FORT WORTH, Texas, and DENVER, Aug. 16, 2022 — American Airlines and Boom Supersonic today announced the airline’s agreement to purchase up to 20 Overture aircraft, with an option for an additional 40. American has paid a non-refundable deposit on the initial 20 aircraft. Overture is expected to carry passengers at twice the speed of today’s fastest commercial aircraft.
Boom Supersonic’s Overture would introduce an important new speed advantage to American’s fleet, which is currently the simplest, youngest and most efficient among U.S. network carriers. Under the terms of the agreement, Boom must meet industry-standard operating, performance and safety requirements as well as American’s other customary conditions before delivery of any Overtures.
QUT robotics researchers working with Ford Motor Company have found a way to tell an autonomous vehicle which cameras to use when navigating.
Professor Michael Milford, Joint Director of the QUT Center for Robotics and Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and senior author, said the research comes from a project looking at how cameras and LIDAR sensors, commonly used in autonomous vehicles, can better understand the world around them.
“The key idea here is to learn which cameras to use at different locations in the world, based on previous experience at that location,” Professor Milford said.
Turns out, they’re great navigators with some clever strategies for flight.
* The world-first study unlocked a century-old mystery of what insects are up to during migration * The current study followed radio-tagged insects in a light aircraft * It revealed that the hawkmoths are excellent navigators.
Insects are some of the most common migrating animals on Earth-a fact that is often forgotten. Insect migrants such as monarch butterflies, locusts, mosquitoes, and bees, far outnumber ‘popular’ migrants such as birds and mammals. Yet their migration is the least understood form of long-range animal movement.
Now, in a fascinating world-first study, researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (MPI-AB) and the University of Konstanz radio-tracked migrating hawkmoths for up to 80 kilometers—the longest distance that any insect has been continuously monitored in the wild. Their results revealed that the world’s smallest flying migrants are excellent navigators and can maintain perfectly straight flight paths even in unfavorable wind conditions.
Full Story:
A fascinating world-first study reveals that insect migrants are great navigators and can maintain perfectly straight flight paths.