TechBlog

In Arizona State University camera orbiting Mars has uncovered salt deposits on the cratered Martian surface, suggesting water was once widespread on the Red Planet.

Scientists say the more than 200 deposits likely formed through water evaporation and could be ideal places to look for past life because of salt’s preservative qualities.

The findings are being published Friday in Science magazine.

Continue reading ‘Salt on Mars? ASU helps scientists make discovery’ »

The Trev look might be a bit love-it-or-hate-it, but there’s no arguing with the specs: 0 to 60 in about 10 seconds, top speed of 75 mph, and a range of 100 miles per charge. Trev is being built by staff and students at the University of South Australia, and costs less than an Australian dollar per 100km to run — about 86 cents for every 62 miles. The car seats two comfortably in tandem, with room for a pair of overnight bags. No word on a production version.

The FB-111A, manufactured by the General Dynamics in December 1966, evolved in a bid to replace the B-58 and to have the mission flexibility the B-58 lacked.

The swing wing design of the aircraft was proposed to meet an Air Force requirement for a medium-range bomber capable of high and low altitude supersonic flight.

With a maximum takeoff gross weight of 114,000 pounds, the FB-111A was 75.5 feet long, 17 feet high, and had a wing span of 34 feet with the wings fully swept or 70 feet with the wings forward. The bomber version had a 3.5 foot extension on each wingtip for range improvement, additional avionics equipment, new engines, and a reinforced landing gear and fuselage to accommodate a heavier gross weight. The FB-111A was a two-engine jet bomber with afterburner. The engines ware integral to the fuselage. The variable geometry wings were attached high on the fuselage and can be swept back from 16 to 72.5. The crew consists of a pilot and a navigator sitting side by side in a cockpit that is designed as an emergency escape module.

The initial flight of FB-111A took the sky in July 1967 with the first production aircraft delivered in August 1968. The F-111 had cost overrun problems and bad publicity; so only 76 were built. It was later labeled as an interim bomber to provide a better, low-level penetration capability until a B-52 replacement was built.

Continue reading ‘FB-111 A Bomber’ »

Huntsville AL: Adversaries the U.S. currently faces in Iraq rely on surprise and apparent randomness to compensate for their lack of organization, technology and firepower. If one could find some method to their madness, however, the asymmetric threat could be made significantly less serious, according to scientists at The University of Alabama in Huntsville.

These UAHuntsville scientists hope to help provide a better intelligence posture on these asymmetric threats by developing computer models that identify trends in the behaviors of the adversaries.

“One way to combat these attacks is to identify trends in the attackers’ methods, then use those trends to predict their future actions,” said UAHuntsville researcher Wes Colley said. “Some trends from these attacks show important day-to-day correlations. If we can draw inferences from those correlations, then we may be able to save lives by heightening awareness of possible events or changing the allocation of our security assets to provide more protection.”

Continue reading ‘Computer Models To Provide Better Intelligence For Army’ »

The Springer journal Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry has chosen the Austrian chemist Thomas Lummerstorfer (31) as the recipient of its Best Paper Award 2007. Lummerstorfer’s paper “Monolayers at solid-solid interfaces probed with infrared spectroscopy” discusses an infrared technique which is expected to gain substantial importance in various fields of nanoscience. The winning paper will receive special prominence on an ABC cover. The Award is accompanied by EUR 1,000, sponsored by Springer.

Lummerstorfer’s paper is a review of his work establishing a new sandwich-like optical configuration for the measurement of infrared spectra of thin films and solid-solid interfaces. The study represents the first experimental demonstration of an enhancement effect that was theoretically predicted several decades ago but could never be verified experimentally.

This configuration allows not only the measurements of monolayer infrared spectra on a wide range of metal and nonmetal substrates with greatly improved sensitivity, but also allows reactions and processes taking place at the interface between two solid materials to be monitored spectroscopically.

Continue reading ‘Unique infrared technique finds applications in nanoscience’ »

Bacteria often get bad press, with those found in water often linked to illness and disease. But researchers at The University of Nottingham are using these tiny organisms alongside the very latest membrane filtration techniques to improve and refine water cleaning technology.

These one-celled organisms eat the contaminants present in water — whether it is being treated prior to industrial use or even for drinking — in a process called bioremediation.

The water is then filtered through porous membranes, which function like a sieve. However, the holes in these sieves are microscopic, and some are so small they can only be seen at the nanoscale. Pore size in these filters can range from ten microns — ten thousandths of a millimetre — to one nanometre — a millionth of a millimetre.

Continue reading ‘Bacteria and nanofilters — the future of clean water technology’ »

DETROIT–Drivers have never had so many distractions tempting them to take their eyes off the road and their hands off the wheel.

Talking on cell phones and typing text messages while driving has already led to bans in many states. But now auto companies, likening their latest models to living rooms on the road, are turning cars into cocoons of communication systems and high-tech entertainment.

Some drivers are packing their car interiors with GPS navigation screens, portable DVD players and even computer keyboards and printers.

Continue reading ‘More high-tech invitations to take your mind off road’ »