but even a state-of-the-art humanoid such as NASA's Robonaut has only 42 sensors in its hand and wrist,
. and with support from NASA. It incorporates commercially available fiber Bragg grating sensors, which detect strain by measuring shifts in the wavelength of light propagating through optical fiber.
Without it, blind people can have a tough time learning their way around a new space.
#A 3d printed, Battery-Powered Rocket engine Nothing demonstrates engineering prowess and technical knowhow quite like rocket science.
To launch even a lightweight rocket into space, the cost is easily upwards of $100 million
you quickly arrive at the rocket engine, Peter Beck, CEO of New zealand-based private spaceflight company Rocket Lab, tells Popular Science.
Its really difficult to build a low-cost rocket engine and one you can produce in large numbers.
To combat the exorbitant costs of space travel, Rocket Lab is reshaping both the way rocket engines are manufactured
and the way they function. Today at the Space Symposium in Colorado, the company unveiled its brand-new engine, named Rutherford--the first-ever battery-powered rocket engine.
The design, made almost entirely of 3d printed parts, will be used on Rocket Labs Electron orbital launch vehicle,
which will get its first test spin later this year. Rocket engines today more or less follow the same formula.
Liquid fuel and a liquid oxidizer combine within a combustion chamber and ignite. Ultimately its this combustion that thrusts the rocket forward.
However, feeding the propellants into the chamber is complicated a process, requiring separate turbopumps to transport the liquids at super-high speeds into a high-pressure area.
Typically, another engine is needed just to operate these pumps, requiring extra hardware and additional fuel.
which propel rockets by accelerating ions. Such an engine is currently being used on the Dawn mission to the dwarf planet Ceres. However,
Rutherford is the first to incorporate battery power in its engine. If that wasn't unique enough,
The Rutherford engine will be the main propulsion source for Rocket Labs Electron vehicle which the company hopes to use as a low-cost method for launching satellites and other small payloads of up to 220 pounds into space.
They estimate that their rocket, which is 65 feet long and 3 feet wide, will only cost about $4. 9 million for each liftoff.
As the nation closely watches Spacexs attempts to bring down the cost of spaceflight by reusing its rockets,
Rocket Lab hopes this new design will also alleviate some of the financial burden that comes with space travel.
The program is about reducing cost and increasing launch frequency to create a solid space infrastructure,
says Beck. And the more communication satellite constellations circulating our planet, the closer we get to a more connected world d
#Augmented reality Glasses Are Coming To The Battlefield Using a pair of augmented reality glasses, a Marine signals intelligence (SIGINT) specialist monitors web traffic while he lies on the ground,
can be hard to read when the Marine moves between bright sunlight and the shade of a building,
#MIT Invention Turns Salt water Into Drinking water Using Solar power From plants to people, every living thing on this planet needs water.
Using the sun instead of fossil fuels to power a desalination plant isn't a totally new idea.
But the movement of the earth's tectonic plates isn't like the smooth movement of gears in a machine.
the earth jerks in a sudden and devastating release, cracking along a fault, or fracture in the earth's crust.
is a fault where one part of the earth is pushed up and over another section of the earth.
a geologist who worked in the region told Kate Ravilious for Cosmos s
#Haptic Gloves Use Air pressure To Simulate The Feel Of Virtual Objects Virtual reality has focused typically on matters of sight and sound,
and perhaps even automatic parking in environments where space is limited. The good news is that
theye a great model for micro-robots, where all space is at a premium. Tiny rescue robots in the future may not have room for an accelerometer, even a small one,
with various rain clouds virtually scattered about the space and an immense funnel that darts about the room.
but also to squeeze into tight spaces as it moves forward (moving the aluminum component can change its direction).
since the sun's rays don't reach that far. But each GENESI node and sensor includes a miniature wind turbine that harvests energy from passing trains.
and they run a high risk of running into each other in confined spaces. Now researchers from The swiss Federal Institute of technology have created an artificial eye and navigation system for these drones based on insectsvision,
or changes in how light is reflectederfect for maneuvering drones through small spaces with lots of obstacles.
000 Years Your DNA holds an incredible amount of information in a very small space.
what could become an information black hole without realizing it. A team of swiss engineers hope to employ DNA as a method to store more data.
it no longer makes sense to throw our digitized cultural documents into an informational black hole
#Super-Strong Material Inspired By Squid Teeth Is Self-Healing A team of researchers led by engineers from Penn State university has created the first material that heals itself in the presence of water, according to a study published yesterday in Scientific Reports.
#Plug Your Toaster Into the Sun Sunport lets you use solar power at homeithout the panels.
or who don have the space. But a new device called the Sunport lets you use solar energy, anywhere,
and Phone for Outlet Space is No more Samsung has released a monitor with a charging station at the base where users can wirelessly charge their phones.
You step into the space expecting to see something new to lose yourself in stunning compositions anderhaps most importantlyivid colors.
The Hoope idea originated from a NASA camp where Damel team bested 80 other scientists in developing an impactful product.
but it will have the advantage of being able to continue producing power even after the sun goes down.
The 800 rows follow the sun as it tracks across the heavens, whirring quietly every few minutes as their shadows slip further east.
the four plants at Ouarzazate will occupy a space as big as Morocco capital city,
In contrast, water and sunlight are available in vast abundance. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research in Stuttgart and from LMU Munich have created now a material that uses light to produce the versatile energy source hydrogen from water.
What is needed is a substance that directly uses the energy of sunlight to split the hydrogen-oxygen bonds in water.
From the lab bench to practical applications Despite the early success, these materials are still far from being considered for industrial hydrogen generation using water and sunlight.
along with serving to increase natural gas-powered vehicle driving range within the limited cargo space. atural gas storage in porous materials provides the key advantage of being able to store significant amounts of natural gas at low pressures
and chilled to temperatures colder than outer space has revealed an unexpected phase transition that crosses two different phase categories.
an associate professor in Purdue's Dept. of Physics and Astronomy who led the research.""It is something like changing water from liquid to ice;
and the ultrapure crystals used in this research were grown by a group led by Michael Manfra, professor of physics and astronomy at Purdue.
The microwave-assisted strategy works by increasing the space, and therefore decreasing the interaction, between individual layers of Mos2 nanosheets.
and hydrogen fuel cells,"said Yugang Sun, a nanoscience scientist in Argonne's Nanoscience and Technology Div."
Earth-abundant materials that could provide low-cost alternatives to platinum-based catalysts. Platinum is an extremely efficient catalyst for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen
and offering new conceptual tools that can be applied more broadly in the quest to split water with sunlight.
"Excited electrons When building a sun-capturing electrode, scientists aim to use as much of the solar spectrum as possible to excite electrons in the electrode to move from one state to another,
In contrast to conventional solar photovoltaic cells that produce electricity directly from sunlight, solar thermal generation of energy is developed as a large power plant in
which acres of mirrors precisely reflect sunlight onto a solar receiver. That energy has been used to heat a fluid that in turn drives a turbine to produce electricity.
and protect our planet for future generations"said EPA Administrator Gina Mccarthy.""Today's announcement presents a major environmental, social and public health opportunity for the U s,
So, we have a much larger input space than current electronics allow for, "he said. The prototype is based on advances in so-called'electronic skin'that allow robots to better sense their environment,
of our increasingly fragmented forests Can a forest that exists only in the spaces between roads
"said Rob Shepherd, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, and senior author of a paper in Advanced Materials.
That 20 percent comes directly from sunlight, which is harvested by a flat solar panel on top of the battery.
#Amateur radio enthusiast makes contact with the International space station In the century or so since radio technology has been with us,
52 year-old UK resident Adrian Lane, who recently had a brief but exhilarating conversation with the astronauts on board the International space station (ISS.
Remember that the ISS is orbiting more than 320 km (200 miles) above Earth and travelling at around 29,772 km h (18,500 mph),
The radio enthusiast had spent several weeks trying to make contact with the space station after learning it was due to pass over his house."
It's not every day you get to talk to some guy out in space, "Lane told The Daily telegraph.
"I said to them how wonderful Earth must look from up there, "he added, saying the total conversation lasted around 50 seconds in total."
but when you look down at Earth it is full of colour. I basically asked who he was
"Astronauts on board the ISS spend much of their time taking care of more important and scientific tasks,
It's made possible thanks to a ham radio installed on board the space station for various educational projects
Most of the time, communications are approved officially by NASA. For example, schoolchildren from the UK are scheduled to talk to Britain's first fully fledged astronaut
Tim Peake, using the same ham radio technology later on this year. Lane says he spends most of his time communicating with fellow amateur radio enthusiasts around the world,
we have a much larger input space than current electronics allow for. The researchers say that iskin could be used as a remote control mechanism for other sorts of digital devices,
but says the potential of this research could radically change the way modern society derives its power. f we can convert all the human-made structures on the surface of Earth,
and we can have distributed food and fuel across the planet, he told Hall at the ABC
#A magnetic'wormhole'that connects two regions of space has been created Researchers in Spain have created a tiny magnetic wormhole for the first time ever,
and they've used it to connect two regions of space so that a magnetic field can travel'invisibly'between them.
"It changes the topology of space, as if the inner region has been erased magnetically from space, "lead researcher Àlvar Sánchez explains.
The research will have practical applications in areas that use magnetic fields-for example, it could lead to the creation of MRI machines that don't require people to lie inside the claustrophobic machine,
#This transparent lithium-ion battery charges itself with sunlight Researchers in Japan have invented a rechargeable lithium-ion battery that can charge itself using sunlight-no solar cell required.
when the battery is exposed to sunlight, it becomes tinted to about 30 percent light transmittance,
they were able to facilitate charging via sunlight or other bright sources of illumination. In testing
They are planned also for use in the next Mars rover vehicle, "said Laws.""But if they become easier and cheaper to make,
including as exceptionally strong components in personal electronic devices, in space exploration vehicles, and as hydrogen storage materials in next generation batteries,"he added.
NASA finds evidence of liquid water flowing on the surface of Mars NASA told us it was announcing something big today,
the space agency says images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) have revealed compelling evidence of liquid brines flowing across the planet's surface.
The seasonal rivers of salty water mean there's a greater chance of Mars being able to support life now or in the future.
As far as space exploration goes, it's one of the most significant and historical announcements in many years,
NASA scientists have known for some time about the appearance of gullies or dark streaks on the surface of Mars during warmer weather
-while it was suspected that trickling water was the cause, the new evidence means NASA is now almost certain.
What's changed is that the agency's scientists have managed to identify and track hydrated salts in these gullies-using an image spectrometer on the MRO,
the NASA team has been able to link these salts to areas where the slope gullies
According to the new model put together by the space agency the summer months on Mars see a shallow subsurface flow of briny water coming down from the planet's canyons and crater walls.
They appear in various spots on the surface when the temperature reaches about minus 23 degrees Celsius (10 degrees Fahrenheit) and then fade in colder conditions.
or it could be created by some kind of condensation process in the atmosphere of Mars."Our quest on Mars has been to'follow the water'in our search for life in the universe,
"said NASA's John Grunsfeld in a press statement.""This is a significant development, as it appears to confirm that water
-albeit briny-is flowing today on the surface of Mars."Perhaps the biggest potential consequence of the discovery is that visitors to the Red planet could use the water that's hidden away to support themselves
then these sites would be prime candidates for landing spots on the first manned mission to the planet."
-which is why the discovery that water is now likely to be regularly flowing across Mars is commented so stunning
"The brine on Mars might not directly support life but it suggests that the arid world isn't as dry as once thought.
when the sun isn't shining. The idea of a lithium-air or lithium-oxygen battery isn't new scientists have known for a while that these types of batteries can hold up to 10 times the charge of today's lithium-ion packs (imagine not having to charge your phone for a whole week.
It works with solar radiation and the cooling is achieved by means of a thermodynamic adsorption-desorption cycle lasting 24 hours.
but that's like scorching the earth,"said Reddy.""I wanted to develop tools to go in
-conjugated redox polymers will establish new design space in polymer chemistry and see widespread applications, especially in energy-related ones such as batteries, supercapacitors and thermoelectrics."
was led by Eric Pei-Yu Chiou, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and of bioengineering at the Henry Samueli School of engineering and Applied science.
whether in a communications tower or a mobile phone, is to launch energy into free space in the form of electromagnetic or radio waves,
and to collect energy from free space to feed into the device. One of the biggest problems in modern electronics,
but virtually everywhere throughout the three-dimensional space of the cells see image 1. Prevailing theory did not consider this a problem:"
The Synthetic Muscle could be used in robotics in deep space travel such as travel to Mars because of its radiation resistance."
"Based on the good results we had on planet Earth, the next step is to see how it behaves in a space environment,
"said Charles Gentile, a PPPL engineer who has worked closely with Rasmussen.""From there the next step might be to use it on a mission to Mars."Early Connection with PPPLRASMUSSEN began working with PPPL in 2007 just four years after she started Ras Labs. She received her first patent for a synthetic muscle in 1998.
It is a gel-like material called an electroactive polymer that can potentially mimic human movement
"We can't explore space without robots, "Rasmussen said.""Humans can only withstand a certain amount of radiation
so that limits the time that people can be in space, whereas robots particularly if they're radiation-resistant can be up there for long periods of time without being replaced."
and was equivalent to a trip from earth to Mars and back. A second test of 45 hours was enough to be equivalent to a trip to Jupiter
and beyondrasmussen and Gentile found that there was no change in the strength, electroacivity, or durability of the material due to the radiation although there was a slight change in color.
and the coupon will go into space, "said Gentile.""So I'll be up there with Gene Roddenberry."
a rocket carrying the Dragon, both produced by Space X, which will carry 4, 300 pounds of supplies and payloads, including material for research experiments, to the International space station National Laboratory.
The nine-engine rocket will propel the Dragon into orbit where it will meet with the Space station 33 hours after it is launched.
Astronauts will use the station's 57-foot arm to reach out and capture Dragon at 7: 15 a m. on April 15.
Additional information about the launch is available at https://blogs. nasa. gov/spacex/2015/03/31/spacex-targeting-april-13-for-station-resupply-launch/.
/The material will be kept in a zero gravity storage rack in the U s. National Laboratory on the space station for 90 days.
The astronauts will photograph the materials every three weeks. When the material returns to Earth in July, it will be tested
and compared with identical materials that remained On earth. The International space station is an international science laboratory in low Earth orbit where astronauts conduct scientific research in biology, human biology, astronomy, meteorology and other fields in a gravity-free environment.
It has operated since November of 2000 with the cooperation of the U s. Russia, many European nations, Japan, Canada, and Brazil.
It is staffed currently by two astronauts from NASA, three cosmonauts from Russia and an astronaut from the European space agency.
Use as a prostheticrasmussen is also exploring whether Synthetic Muscle#could be used as a prosthetic liner.
information necessary for early warning,"said study co-author Susan Owen of NASA's Jet propulsion laboratory, Pasadena, California a
#Taking aircraft manufacturing out of the oven Aerospace engineers at MIT have developed now a carbon nanotube (CNT) film that can heat
energy saving method for manufacturing virtually any industrial composite, says Brian L. Wardle, an associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT."
In initial experiments, the researchers investigated the film's potential to fuse two types of aerospace-grade composite typically used in aircraft wings and fuselages.
some of the highest-temperature aerospace polymers require temperatures up to 750 F in order to solidify.""We can process at those temperatures,
which plants use the energy in sunlight to synthesize carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water. However
"When sunlight is absorbed, photo-excited electron? hole pairs are generated in the silicon and titanium oxide nanowires,
the Berkeley team achieved a solar energy conversion efficiency of up to 0. 38-percent for about 200 hours under simulated sunlight,
wind turbines Karl A. Gschneidner and fellow scientists at the U s. Department of energy's Ames Laboratory have created a new magnetic alloy that is an alternative to traditional rare-earth permanent magnets.
"Previous attempts to use cerium in rare-earth magnets failed because it reduces the Curie temperature--the temperature above
and co-authored by Arjun K. Pathak, Mahmud Khan, Karl. A. Gschneidner, Ralph W. Mccallum, Lin Zhou, Kewei Sun, Kevin W. Dennis, Matthew
because of the radiation pressure the tails of comets typically point away from the Sun. Radiation pressure has also been proposed as the propulsion for the solar sails.
This is the first time that satellite-based fluorescence is validated by ground measurements, "Tang says.""This work has profound applications,
or satellite to detect plant photosynthesis on a large scale to assess ecosystem health, "says lead author Xi Yang, a postdoctoral associate at Brown University."
under the sunlight, a small portion of solar energy(<1 percent) captured by chlorophyll is emitted as fluorescence.
because it is obscured by the much higher intensity of solar radiation. The group discovered a few wavelengths of light that allow measuring the specific fluorescence signal from photosynthesis. The team's fluorescence measurement system can record radiation at high resolution with a frequency of 5 minutes,
"said Todd Humphreys, assistant professor in the Department of Aerospace engineering and Engineering Mechanics and lead researcher."
These limitations in both technologies mean that patients may see fuzzy, comet-like shapes or blurred outlines,
which each electrode produces a visible dot in space. Together, that collection of dots is intended to demonstrate what someone with restored vision will see.
Generating a magnetic field takes power and space, which is why magnets have not yet been integrated onto computer chips.
#Molecular cell cycle clock discovered that controls stem cell potency Singapore scientists from A*STAR's Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) have, for the first time,
#Depth-sensing camera gleans 3-D information in bright sunlight as well as darkness Depth-sensing cameras,
the inability to work in bright light, especially sunlight. The key is to gather only the bits of light the camera actually needs.
inspection of shiny parts and sensing for robots used to explore the moon and planets.
we're sending a lot more energy to that spot than the energy sent by the sun,
In polar regions of the moon, where the sun is always at a low angle, a vision system that is able to eliminate the glare is essential."
"Every watt matters in a space mission.""Narasimhan said depth cameras that can operate outdoors could be useful in automotive applications,
"says Phd candidate Daniel Hunter from the UNSW School of Biological, Earth and Environmental sciences.""The devil is the obvious answer.
In the aerospace industry, many components are made of titanium, which would be more resilient if treated with ultra-fast boriding.
Arraysince before Newton held a prism to a ray of sunlight and saw a spectrum of colour,
indicating they didn't recall the earlier shock in the space. However, when scientists put the mice back on the drug
They used a robotic system developed at SSRL to study the crystals at SLAC's LCLS, an X-ray laser that is one of the brightest sources of X-rays on the planet.
because more information can be collected in a shorter space of time.""Dr Gaur added:""This device could transform the way people with severe muscular weakness
supervised by Prof Andreas Fouras at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace engineering at Monash University.
#Artificial leaf harnesses sunlight for efficient fuel production Generating and storing renewable energy, such as solar or wind power, is a key barrier to a clean energy economy.
a cost-effective method of producing fuels using only sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide, mimicking the natural process of photosynthesis in plants
The photoanode uses sunlight to oxidize water molecules, generating protons and electrons as well as oxygen gas.
converts 10 percent of the energy in sunlight into stored energy in the chemical fuel,
"Our work shows that it is indeed possible to produce fuels from sunlight safely and efficiently in an integrated system with inexpensive components,
"It's just the same as wanting to look at Pluto in more detail or establishing that pentaquarks are out there,
#A humanoid robot to liaise between space station crews A team of French researchers from the Institut cellule souche et cerveau (Inserm/Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1),
This technological progress could notably be used for operations on the International space station, where the robot, which is the only permanent member,
which is becoming more and more of a reality in the field of space operations, with the humanoid Robonaut 2 2 now permanently flying aboard the International space station.
To test their system, the scientists imagined a scenario that could occur on the International space station.
The transmission of information on board is essential, since crews change every six months. In this scenario, an electronic card is damaged.
Researchers are now hoping to test their Nao robot in the real conditions of space operations, with zero gravity.
autobiographical memory helps build an individual's personal history. 2 Robonaut 2 is a humanoid robot resulting from the Robonaut program, a close collaboration between NASA and DARPA.
It was designed to assist the work of astronauts in complicated situations, especially during extra-vehicular outings g
#Paper tubes make stiff origami structures From shipping and construction to outer space, origami could put a folded twist on structural engineering.
"A lot of it was driven by space exploration, to be able to launch structures compactly and deploy them in space.
But we're starting to see how it has potential for a lot of different fields of engineering.
and microscale up to large scales and even structures that NASA would deploy into space, "Paulino said."
lightweight solar cells track the sun Solar cells capture up to 40 percent more energy when they can track the sun across the sky,
but conventional, motorized trackers are too heavy and bulky for pitched rooftops and vehicle surfaces.
but these roofs would need significant reinforcing to support the weight of conventional sun-tracking systems.
keeping their surfaces more perpendicular to the sun's rays.""The beauty of our design is,
the solar cell would split into tiny segments that would follow the position of the sun in unison."
"Solar cell researchers think of tracking in terms of how much of a solar panel the sun can"see.""When the panel is at an angle,
when the sun's rays are coming in at lower angles, they raise the effective area that is soaking up sunlight.
To explore patterns, the team of engineers worked with paper artist Matthew Shlian, a lecturer in the U-M School of art and Design.
a space-grade plastic, using a carbon-dioxide laser. Although the team tried more complex designs
leaving spaces for the cuts. Then Lamoureux patterned the Kapton with the laser cutter. The design with the very best solar-tracking promise was impossible to make at U-M
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