The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM), Army Research Laboratory researchers, University of Texas at Austin and Uber partnered to research the acoustic properties of electric vertical takeoff / landing aircraft that use distributed electric propulsion to power flight. These eVTOL aircraft could be used in future aerial surveillance and cargo transport missions using smaller rotors than traditional helicopters. Read more for a video and additional information.
Whether it be for Halloween or just any other special occasion, looking like someone else just became a lot more creepy, thanks to Japan-based Kamenya Omoto. This store specializes in masks and is actually paying Tokyo residents $380 USD for their faces. The only catch is that you’ll remain anonymous and they’ll create a hyper-realistic, 3D-printed version of your face to sell to anyone for $750 USD. Read more for a video, additional pictures and information.
Photo credit: Tobias Kempe/AUDI AG
The 2021 Audi E-Tron FE07 Formula E race car is sleeker and more efficient than ever, thanks to a new MGU05 motor-generator. This all-electric powertrain generates 335 horsepower that can be boosted to 382 horsepower in “attack mode,” which enables it to accelerate from 0-62 mph in 2.88 seconds, while topping out at 149 mph. The engineering team achieved an overall efficiency of over 95 percent for the powertrain and the new MGU inverter unit has an efficiency of even more than 97 percent in all relevant driving conditions. Read more for a video, additional pictures and information.
Researchers at Google and Saarland University unveil SkinMarks, an innovative smart tattoo that basically turns human skin into electronic touch interfaces. Put simply, they are temporary and users can easily apply or remove them. How so? Place the SkinMarks somewhere on your body, use a sponge to wet the surface, and then peel the paper off carefully. It uses conductive ink and dub-millimeter electrodes for touch sensing. Read more for a video and additional information.
The problem with electric bicycles is that their batteries need to constantly be charged, but that all changes with the SuperWheel. Put simply, this invention replaces a standard bicycle wheel and continually diverts the reactive force of your body weight to the springs on the upper section of the wheel during rotation. This compression and decompression on the rim section provides additional momentum for the rotation when combined with a patent pending Internal Drive system. Read more for two videos and additional information.
Named after NASA Earth Science Division Director Michael Freilich, the U.S.-European Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich Satellite has been successfully launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. After two minute, the main Falcon 9 engine cut off, and shortly after, the rocket’s first and second stages separated, followed by second-stage engine start. The first cutoff of the second stage engine started eight minutes after liftoff and fired second time 45 minutes later, at which point the launch vehicle and the spacecraft will be in a temporary “parking” orbit. Read more for two videos and additional information.
Photo credit: Ray Liu via Yanko Design
Every second counts in a water rescue, and sometimes, human lifeguards are just not able to reach someone fast enough before a current carries them out even further. Meet the Oasis Aeronaval Rescue Drone. These autonomous drones functions like a seaplane, as it can land in nearly any bodies of water, even in treacherous weather conditions. When the person is located, it transmits a signal to the appropriate agencies, so they can send a specialized team if they aren’t able to pull them to shore. Read more for additional pictures.
Diamonds are known for their extreme hardness, high thermal conductivity, quantum optical, as well as biomedical applications, but there are still many unanswered questions as to how they form, particularly at room temperature and without catalysts. Professor Bradby, RMIT Professor Dougal McCulloch and their team used advanced electron microscopy techniques to capture solid intact slices from the experimental samples to create better understand how nanocrystalline diamond and lonsdaleite formed. Read more for a short video and additional information.
Carvey Ehren Maigue, an engineering student at Mapúa University in the Philippines, unveils AuREUS, an innovative system that uses the natural scientific principles behind the northern lights to convert rotting fruit and vegetables into renewable energy. Technically speaking, luminescent particles from certain fruits and vegetables can be suspended in a resin substrate, which when hit by UV light, absorb these particles and re emit visible light along the edges due to internal reflectance. Photovoltaic cells are placed along the edges to capture the visible light emitted, which is then converted to DC electricity. Read more for a video and additional information.
A team of astronomers from the University of Texas at Austin have just proposed a liquid-mirror telescope installation on the moon to study some of the earliest stars in the universe. Instead of glass, the telescope’s mirror would be made of liquid, since it’s lighter, and more cost efficient, to transport to the moon. More specifically, it would be a spinning vat of with metallic liquid (ionic liquid salts) on top, thus making it reflective. It would most likely be installed in a crater at the north or south pole. Read more for a video on liquid-mirror telescopes and additional information.