The new type of armour will use pulses of electrical energy to repel rockets, shrapnel and other ammunition that might damage a vehicle. Researchers at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), which is the research and development arm of the Ministry of Defence,…
Read Full ArticleLearn to Fly a Jetpack. Yes, a Jetpack!
I figured when I wrote about flying cars last year that it would only be a matter of time before I got to write about…jetpacks! OK, I had no idea I was going to be writing about jetpacks because I had long believed they…
Read Full ArticleGoogle leaps language barrier with translator phone
GOOGLE is developing software for the first phone capable of translating foreign languages almost instantly — like the Babel Fish in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. By building on existing technologies in voice recognition and automatic translation, Google hopes to have a basic…
Read Full ArticleElectric Icarus: NASA Designs a One-Man Stealth Plane: Scientific American
A super-quiet, hover-capable aircraft design, NASA’s experimental one-man Puffin could show just how much electric propulsion can transform our ideas of flight. It looks like nothing less than a flying suit or a jet pack with a cockpit. On the ground, the Puffin is…
Read Full ArticleNew Cancer Detector Chip Works in About 30 Minutes
So there’s this period of time during a visit to the doctor’s when you’re left alone in the office. You just saw the nurse or PA, and the doctor is playing golf somewhere, so you have to wait in your little paper dress. I…
Read Full ArticleBomb-Proof Wallpaper Could Save You in a Natural Disaster
Imagine: a hurricane is barreling towards your house, but instead of hiding in the basement, you can stay safely and comfortably in your living room, all thanks to your X-Flex Blast Protection System wallpaper. It’s not a fantasy; the wallpaper, invented by Berry Plastics…
Read Full ArticleNASA Develops Tricorder: Adapts iPhone to Detect Dangerous Chemicals
A researcher at the NASA Ames Center has developed a proof of concept device which can convert an iPhone into a chemical sensor capable of detecting ammonia, chlorine gas, and methane. The chem sniffing device is a small silicon chip (no bigger than a…
Read Full ArticleFirst black hole for light created on Earth
An electromagnetic “black hole” that sucks in surrounding light has been built for the first time. The device, which works at microwave frequencies, may soon be extended to trap visible light, leading to an entirely new way of harvesting solar energy to generate electricity.…
Read Full ArticlePlasma Rocket Could Travel to Mars in 39 Days
Last Wednesday, the Ad Astra Rocket Company tested what is currently the most powerful plasma rocket in the world. As the Webster, Texas, company announced, the VASIMR VX-200 engine ran at 201 kilowatts in a vacuum chamber, passing the 200-kilowatt mark for the first…
Read Full ArticleRevolutionary discovery means world may not run out of crude
A team of scientists based at the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden have made a “revolutionary” discovery about how hydrocarbon is formed, learning that animal and plant fossils are not necessary to form crude oil. The discovery, the scientists say, means that the…
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