Engineering news

Flight of fancy

Flight of fancy: MIT autonomous mini-helicopter solves one tough challenge

Technology / Engineering

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (13) | comments 2

In its first 18 years, the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International’s annual aerial-robotics competition posed four successive challenges, which robotics researchers had to meet using entirely ...


Shape shifters: Researchers create new breed of antennas

Shape shifters: Researchers create new breed of antennas

Technology / Engineering

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (13) | comments 4

Antennas aren't just for listening to the radio anymore. They're used in everything from cell phones to GPS devices. Research from North Carolina State University is revolutionizing the field of antenna design ...


Design chosen for British 1,000 mph car

Design chosen for British 1,000 mph car (w/ Video)

Technology / Engineering

created Nov 25, 2009 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (11) | comments 8

(PhysOrg.com) -- A British team hoping to be the first to get a car to 1,000 mph (1,610 km/h) has made its final design selection. The six-tonne car, known as the Bloodhound, will be powered by a Eurofighter ...


Road trains may be coming soon to Europe

Road trains may be coming soon to Europe (w/ Video)

Technology / Engineering

created Nov 13, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (18) | comments 23

(PhysOrg.com) -- Road trains linking vehicles together in a traveling convoy are planned for Europe. With only the lead vehicle being actively driven, the road trains would allow commuters to sleep, read a ...


New laser -- it's a gas, gas, gas... sensor

New laser -- it's a gas, gas, gas... sensor

Technology / Engineering

created 8 hours ago | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new generation of optical sensors is enabling the development of robust, long-lasting, lighting-fast trace gas detectors for use in a wide range of industrial, security and domestic applications.


Electromagnetic fields as cutting tools

Technology / Engineering

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (17) | comments 10

(PhysOrg.com) -- The bodywork on motor vehicles must be sufficiently stable, but processing the high-strength steels involved -- for example punching holes in them -- can prove something of a challenge. A new steel-cutting ...


Dutch PhD student develops device to combat noise

Technology / Engineering

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (7) | comments 10

Johan Wesselink of the University of Twente, The Netherlands, has developed a device to actively combat noise nuisance. This invention curtails sound waves and vibrations by producing anti-noise. The researcher is confident ...


Pickin' Up Good Vibrations to Produce Green Electricity

Pickin' Up Good Vibrations to Produce Green Electricity

Technology / Engineering

created Nov 30, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (11) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Vibrations from the environments we live and work in could be much more widely harnessed as a clean source of electricity, due to cutting-edge UK research.


National Taiwan University logo

Cellphone powers back pain chip in Taiwan

Technology / Engineering

created Nov 27, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Taiwanese researchers have developed a chip to treat backpain that is powered by mobile phone, a member of the team said Friday.


'Fingerprinting' RFID Tags: Researchers Develop Anti-Counterfeiting Technology

Technology / Engineering

created Nov 19, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (3) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Engineering researchers at the University of Arkansas have developed a unique and robust method to prevent cloning of passive radio frequency identification tags. The technology, based on one or more unique ...


Aircraft that can see for themselves

Aircraft that can see for themselves (w/ Video)

Technology / Engineering

created Nov 14, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (10) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Australian researchers have made two important advances in the development of unmanned aircraft capable of seeing for themselves as they fly fast and low over dangerous terrain.


This smart wheelchair has laser vision

This smart wheelchair has laser vision

Technology / Engineering

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Disability, John Spletzer believes, should no longer pose any obstacle to mobility. A blind person may not be able to see or a paraplegic to walk, but each can access the technology available ...


Ford to put air bags into back seat belts of SUV (w/ Video)

Ford to put air bags into back seat belts of SUV (w/ Video)

Technology / Engineering

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(AP) -- Air bags have long been mounted in the steering wheel, dashboard and sides of vehicles. Now, they're in the seat belts. Ford Motor Co. plans to introduce seat belt-mounted air bags in the back seat ...


basketball

Nothing But Net: The Physics of Free-Throw Shooting

Technology / Engineering

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Pay attention, Shaq: Two North Carolina State University engineers have figured out the best way to shoot a free throw - a frequently underappreciated skill that gets more important as the ...


Safe journey for works of art

Safe journey for works of art

Technology / Engineering

created 6 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Valuable paintings travel long distances when they are shipped from one place to another. To minimize damage, they are packed in special picture cases. In future, these will be equipped with sensors to detect ...