Round Lunar Pod Deemed Viable
Northrup Grumman has evaluated Golden Spike Company’s plans of a lunar landing pod, and determined the design is “viable.”
Golden Spike, founded by former NASA employees, plans to offer commercial moon flights to governments for $750 million a pop, using the “Pumpkin” pod, along with other technologies. Continue reading
Concrete Airplane Takes (Brief) Flight
Engineering students have a lot of experience building concrete canoes, as we documented back in 2012. Some students at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology have taken things a step further by designing a small-scale concrete airplane that can actually fly (sort of). Continue reading
Chinese Researchers Advance Printed Electronics
Printed electronics have the potential to make a significant impact on manufacturing by offering companies an inexpensive and relatively simple method of building electronic functionality into a number of different products. With some additional development, printed electronics could be used to produce cheap solar panels, interactive clothing and a number of other useful items.
Currently, most printed electronics require laboratory conditions and can only be printed at temperatures starting at 750°F (400°C). Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences may have boosted the appeal of printed electronics by discovering a method to print on ordinary paper at lower temperatures. Continue reading
No More Tangled Extension Cords
I like it when designers deploy advanced technology to make everyday tasks easier, that’s why this self-coiling extension cord caught my eye. My own collection of extension cords are a perpetual mess; even when I have the time to try to properly coil them, they wind up in a tangle anyway. Texas-based Great Stuff has motorized the coiling process using sensors to wind a 50-ft. cable in 10 seconds. Continue reading
Hieroglyph Project Brings Together Engineers, Sci-Fi Writers
Science fiction has provided plenty of inspiration for designers and engineers over the past century—that’s one of the reasons people are still working on invisibility cloaks and tricorders. Earlier this month, Arizona State University’s Center for Science and the Imagination launched something call the Hieroglyph Project, which aims to bring sci-fi writers together with scientists and engineers to generate optimistic visions of the future that are grounded in real science. Continue reading
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