Aerospace News

Piezoelectric materials that create energy when flexed might go beyond recharging our smart phones and help make hydrogen fuel. Scientists have harnessed piezoelectric energy from nanocrystal fibers to split water into oxygen and hydrogen gas.

"This is a new phenomenon, converting mechanical energy directly to chemical energy," said Huifang Xu, a geologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He and his colleagues have dubbed it the piezoelectrochemical (PZEC) effect.

The usual brittle nature of crystals such as zinc oxide and barium titanate gives way to more flexible fibers at tiny scales. The Wisconsin researchers found that the tiny nanocrystal fibers can scavenge energy based on small mechanical "noise" such as vibrations or flowing water.

The chemical energy of hydrogen fuel also represents a more stable method of storage than an electric charge, Xu explained.

This represents perhaps another small (hah!) step toward squeezing energy from many tiny sources. People have harnessed mechanical energy for centuries on the large scale by using waterwheels and dams, but even raindrops should theoretically work in this case.

Perhaps the bigger question mark still hangs over the viability of a hydrogen economy. Other research teams have investigated ways of producing hydrogen through artificial leaves, as well as storing hydrogen within new types of solids. But even with hydrogen fuel-cell cars hitting the road, the supporting hydrogen infrastructure such as refueling stations remains in its infancy.

[via ScienceDaily]

Tiny manufacturing flaws on the atomic level might cause most companies to throw up their hands, but MIT-spinoff Verayo saw them as the key to creating the perfect anti-counterfeiting tags for everything from Walmart DVD shipments to futuristic passports. The company's radio frequency identification (RFID) tags rely upon no two chip being exactly alike on the atomic level, Technology Review reports.

Miniscule flaws because of a slightly thicker or thinner wire can mean tiny variations in how fast a circuit works on a chip. Srini Devadas, an electrical engineer at MIT and Verayo founder, saw that as as the key to creating physically unclonable devices.

Devadas realized that running a series of signals through the imperfect circuits can create a string of numbers unique to each circuit. The string of numbers became the basis for a whole series of mathematical equations that create many challenge and response pairs unique to the security of each chip.

That means a forger can't hope to copy an RFID chip even if he or she intercepts the RFID signals being transmitted, because it's literally impossible to perfectly replicate each and every flaw.

Someone could still beat the system by getting their hands on the challenge-response pairs for RFID tags. But these imperfect circuits should form just one part of a much larger defense against counterfeiting, experts say.

Verayo already has contracts for even more sophisticated systems with the U.S. Department of Defense, and other companies have begun developing physically unclonable security systems.

If you're not as worried about counterfeiters, and just want to keep track of all your personal gear, there are already DIY RFID kits that have you covered.

[via Technology Review]

Here's one genius computer program you might consider pushing virally for science's sake. The "Quake Catchers" program aims to make earthquake detection a lot easier and cheaper by taking advantage of accelerometers built into MacBooks and other newer laptops, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The accelerometers that are embedded in everything from iPhones to the Nintendo Wii aretiny devices that detect movement. Having software that takes advantage of the tiny devices on thousands of laptops could complement the current system of earthquake sensors installed along fault zones.

Elizabeth Cochran, an earth scientist at the University of California in Riverside, got the idea of harnessing accelerometers for an earthquake network by watching the "Seismac" program on a friend's MacBook. But whereas Seismac allows you to shake the MacBook and get accelerometer readings for giggles, Cochran hopes "Quake Catchers" can help science and maybe save lives.

The "Quake Catcher" software is designed to record all vibrations on a computer, but only uploads the info if many computers in the same geographic area record "dramatic shaking."

If the idea catches on in schools, businesses and homes, it might even become part of an early-warning system that detects the outward ripple of an earthquake. Even laptops that don't have accelerometers can get a $50 sensor with a USB cable that acts similar to an accelerometer.

About 1,000 people have already signed on as "Quake Catchers," and Cochran's group hopes to possibly blanket California and beyond. That doesn't mean we won't still need our quake-proof buildings, but the software represents readily adaptable technology that's available now. We'll just keep dreaming of our active cloaking that counters earthquakes.

Check out the Quake-Catcher Network here.

[via Los Angeles Times]

Perhaps it's time for Space Ghost to hand over his moniker to the International Space Station (ISS). The orbital outpost makes for an eerie blue shadow in this image taken by a German radar satellite, SPACE.com reports.

The snapshot was taken by Germany's TerraSAR-X satellite on March 13, 2008. But the German space agency only released the startling view of the then-incomplete space station this month.

This dates back to a time when the $100 billion space station still lacked its final set of solar arrays, and so it appears lopsided, SPACE.com notes. Since that time, astronauts have installed the solar arrays as well as new modules and laboratories, including a fine new observation deck.

Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi has already taken advantage of his ISS residence to send plenty of Twitpics featuring stunning Earth views, and has also made good use of the new cupola window. So it's only fair that the space station itself receive a bit of the spotlight, too.

[via SPACE.com]

Yes: this is, in fact, the largest video-game peripheral you've ever seen. The VirtuSphere is a new interface that captures movements in 360 degrees, and translates them into a video game. The gang over at Joystiq first caught wind of the human hamster ball in '06, but got to see it in the flesh just this week.

The system sees where and how fast you're running through a sensor panel it sits on top of. A series of cameras inside the ball track when you spin around, and reorient your in-game avatar. The demo that VirtuSphere had on the Game Developers' Conference floor was a simple, first-person shooter. The player holds a toy gun and wears a pair of goggles, which display the in-game experience in real time.

Since the sphere can detect more than just walking and running (think jumping, crawling, and rolling), the company sees its appeal spreading beyond video games and into more intense applications like personal gym training and military combat simulations.

There are currently about a dozen VirtuSpheres up and running across the globe (check out their Web site to see all the locations), but in case there isn't one close to you, you can at least check out the video demo below.

[via Joystiq]

Brain scan technologies still can't do mind reading as such, but they do provide a window into what the human brain is doing at a given time. Now a computer algorithm has used brain activity patterns to predict which of three activities human volunteers were remembering.

Scientists showed 10 volunteers three short films that featured women carrying out ordinary activities. Some of the footage included drinking coffee and then tossing the paper cup, as well as mailing out a letter.

The volunteers then recalled each of the films inside an fMRI brain scanner, which gauges brain activity based on changes in the brain's blood flow. That allowed the computer algorithm to study the brain activity patterns, and then start predicting purely based on the patterns.

University College London researchers at the Wellcome Trust Center for Neuroimaging focused specifically on the hippocampus region of the brain, which seems to play a crucial role in recording episodic memories. Three particular areas of the hippocampus lit up consistently in all participants -- but the scientists remain unsure as to the exact role for each.

Too bad the same computer probably couldn't predict which short films Oscars viewers were thinking of, if only because short films don't usually register for most moviegoers. But at least the shorts do get some center-stage attention, unlike the Sci-Tech Oscars hidden away in the cupboard under the stairs.

[via ScienceDaily]

Pop quiz. An asteroid the size of Manhattan is hurtling towards Earth, its impact is sure to result in mass extinction and the destruction of humanity as we know it. What do you do?

The traditional answers would be "blow it up". But new research from Los Alamos National Lab and the University of California, Santa Cruz, shows that if the asteroid isn't moving fast enough, or if the nuke isn't big enough, the asteroid will pull itself back together, T-1000-style, within a matter of hours.

According to the new simulations, the gravitational attraction between the various asteroid parts is strong enough to reconstitute a 3,281-foot-in-diameter asteroid in between 2 to 18 hours. To blow up the asteroid thoroughly enough to prevent its recombination, you would need a nuclear weapon with a yield of 900 kilotons -- which, luckily, is well within the range of current hydrogen bombs.

However, the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs was ten times larger than that, meaning it reform much faster after being nuked. So rather than blowing up the asteroid directly, many scientists advocate blowing the nuke up next to the asteroid. That explosion could shove the rock out of the way of Earth, without creating dangerous smaller meteorites or allowing it to come back together.

[New Scientist]

Tests for toxins or pathogens generally rely on chemical reactions. But a team of researchers at Cornell University have created a sensor that detects the presence of chemicals based on the mechanical disruption of a nanoscale system. The device can instantly detect as little as a single molecule of a substance.

The nanomachine takes the general shape of a diving board, a form called a cantilever. At one end of the cantilever sits a nanoelectromechanical oscillator; at the other end, a laser. When the laser strikes the oscillator, the whole cantilever vibrates at a specific frequency. If a particle lands on the cantilever, the frequency changes in a predictable way, revealing the identity of the particle.

An array of these sensors could analyze blood for the presence of viruses, or water for the presence of pollution. The super-high resolution of the device would allow for more accurate, and earlier, warnings than ever before possible.

[PhysOrg]

For the last five years, eVolo Magazine has hosted a futuristic skyscraper design competition. Usually, the entrants imagine giant buildings taller than anything under construction today. However, the most impressive entry in this year's competition goes the opposite route, by dropping the building straight into the sea. This floating building would generate its own electricity and food, house thousands, and plunge deep beneath the waves.

Designed by Sarly Adre bin Sarkum of Malaysia, the waterscraper would be about as tall as the Empire State Building, but with only a couple of stories exposed above the surface. The whole building would be a self-sufficient, floating, arcology. Wind, solar, and wave power would provide energy, hydroponics and the green space at the top would provide food and oxygen, and the structure would provide housing, work spaces, and areas for recreation.

Ballast tanks would keep the structure level, like in a submarine, as would the tentacles. The tentacles would also move around in the ocean tides, generating electricity from kinetic energy.

Adre bin Sarkum deliberately designed this building to contrast with the skyscrapers that dominate the rest of the competition, and to highlight sustainable architecture.

Obviously, no one has any plans to build anything remotely like this. But if global warming throws us into a WaterWorld like future, Adre bin Sarkum's aqua-condo looks like much sweeter digs than a rickety boat captained by a urine-drinking fish-man.

[eVolo Magazine, via Geekologie]

This week, we heard 24 cadets at the Air Force Academy received the first wings awarded in the institution's history for pilots specializing in unmanned aerial systems and other remotely piloted aircraft. Seeing as how this year the Pentagon will buy more unmanned aircraft than manned, we thought it quite significant that the first class of undergrads had hit this milestone, but-geeks that we are-what really piqued our interests were the unique wings themselves.

It turns out that new UAV pilots do have their own insignia, which was approved and handed out to pilots completing non-undergraduate training in unmanned aerial systems late last year (Note: for the cadets honored Tuesday, receiving their "wings" is more a turn of phrase; they still have some training to complete should they choose to pursue the same distinction as the actual Predator and Reaper pilots).

Designed by Staff Sgt. Austin May of the 100th Air Refueling Wing, the UAV occupational badge is meant to convey the same airborne-oriented aesthetic as the traditional Air Force Pilot badge (see below) while symbolizing the unique role unmanned aircraft have taken in America's surveillance and strike capability.

The actual wings are similar to those on the standard Air Force Pilot badge to signify that, while remotely piloted, UAVs are still planes in the air, subject to the same laws of physics and principles of flight as piloted aircraft. But the shield is wholly unique. Its shape mirrors that of the traditional design, but the insignia within is specific to the remotely-piloted aircraft mission.

The globe represents the world in which Airmen operate and the global reach of American air power, a reach facilitated by the unmanned aircraft. The rays of light symbolize both the dawn of a new age of aviation as well as the UAV's ability to shed light on far-flung corners of the planet. And the lightning bolt? It's just a reminder that though the primary objective of many unmanned missions is surveillance and reconnaissance, remotely piloted aircraft reserve the capability to rain down some fire (specifically Hellfire) if needs be.

As for Staff Sgt. May, his artistic talents aren't limited to occupational badges. For those of you who dig military humor, his "Air Force Blues" comic strip is updated weekly.

Every now and then, we like to gather three things that have gone bigger, better and faster this month. This time we're saluting airports that operate after strong earthquakes, giant cargo-hauling green airships, and artificial blood platelets that could save soldiers' lives.

Bigger: The Quake-Proof Airport

There's a 60 percent chance that an earthquake will level Istanbul by 2040. But when it does, the newest terminal at Sabiha Gökçen International Airport can soldier on. The world's largest earthquake-protected building, which opened last November, can absorb 80 percent of back-and-forth shaking, the most destructive movement. Designed by the engineering firm Arup, the building features a foundation with 300 dampers, each with a bearing sandwiched between sliding steel plates. In an event like the city's 1999 7.4-magnitude quake, the airport could be used to fly in emergency medical supplies and food, says Atila Zekioglu, a principal at Arup: "Transportation is what makes a city tick."

Faster: Bleeding Blocker

A soldier hit by shrapnel can bleed to death in 10 minutes. Now engineers at Case Western Reserve University have created artificial blood platelets-components that clump together to form clots. Last December they showed that the plastic platelets, which don't need refrigeration, can stop bleeding in rats 25 percent faster than donated natural platelets. Up next, the researchers hope to test them in larger mammals.

Greener: The Floating Freighter

Take a blimp, add plane engines and wings, and you get Dynalifter, a fuel-efficient aircraft. When the 120-foot airship prototype begins test flights this spring, its 20,000 cubic feet of helium-filled compartments will offset half its weight so the engines won't have to work as hard. The engines propel the craft at 80 mph, 30 mph faster than conventional blimps, says Robert Rist, the co-president of Ohio Airships, which is developing the ship. This year, the company will build a freighter-size Dynalifter that can haul at least 22 tons, which it's eyeing for cheaper, greener shipping in developing nations where rough roads limit traditional trucking.