Off-Highway
The Lead
One by One, Homes in Calif. Subdivision Sinking
May 13, 2013 10:06 am | by Tracie Cone, Associated Press | News | Comments
Scott and Robin Spivey had a sinking feeling that something was wrong with their home when cracks began snaking across their walls in March. The cracks soon turned into gaping fractures, and within two weeks their 600-square-foot garage broke from the house and the entire property — manicured lawn and all — dropped 10 feet below the street.
The Missing Piece of Einstein's Theory
May 17, 2013 1:43 pm | by Mike Wolterbeek, University of Nevada, Reno | News | Comments
A new window into the nature of the universe may be possible with a device proposed by...
Using Earthquake Sensors to Track Endangered Whales
May 17, 2013 1:33 pm | by Hannah Hickey, University of Washington | News | Comments
The fin whale is the second-largest animal ever to live on Earth. It is also, paradoxically, one...
Is It Possible to Bring Manufacturing Back to the U.S.?
May 17, 2013 9:33 am | by David Mantey, Executive Editor, PD&D | News | Comments
Several factors come into play when manufacturers make the decision to move or reshore (see...
ERA President: EDS 2013 ‘Very Productive’
May 17, 2013 11:07 am | by David Mantey, Executive Editor, PD&D | News | CommentsAfter the dust had settled, and most of the industry had returned to their native lands, ERA President Paul C. Nielsen of Brainard-Nelsen Marketing was able to put EDS 2013 in perspective. “I thought EDS was great,” Nielsen said. “It had a very high energy level with a lot of productive professional and personal meetings.”
After EDS: Q&A with John Knight
May 17, 2013 10:53 am | by David Mantey, Executive Editor, PD&D | Orion Fans | News | CommentsAccording to John Knight, Vice President of Knight Electronics/Orion Fans, EDS 2013 proved to provide an excellent venue for networking within the electronics industry, and it continues the highlight the trends in the ever-evolving electronics distribution industry. After the event, Knight had a chance to reflect on the event.
Honeywell Tackles Wireless Applications
May 17, 2013 10:27 am | by Kasey Panetta, Managing Editor, ECN | News | CommentsHoneywell, a global company constantly supplying solutions for macroproblems of the world, says its customers are clamoring for wireless solutions and the company is ready to deliver. Designers are looking for systems that are reliable, low-maintenance, financially viable, easy-to-use, rugged, and, perhaps most importantly, secure.
Can Math Models of Gaming Strategies be Used to Detect Terrorism Networks?
May 17, 2013 9:48 am | by The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics | News | CommentsThe answer is yes, according to a paper in the SIAM Journal on Discrete Mathematics. In a paper published in the journal last month, authors Anthony Bonato, Dieter Mitsche, and Pawel Pralat describe a mathematical model to disrupt flow of information in a complex real-world network, such as a terrorist organization, using minimal resources.
Young Computer Hackers Jailed
May 17, 2013 9:39 am | by Sylvia Hui, Associated Press | News | CommentsFour young computer hackers who masterminded cyberattacks on targets from the CIA to Sony Pictures and Rupert Murdoch's News International were sentenced to up to 32 months in prison on Thursday. The hackers, who were affiliated with the group Lulz Security, had all pleaded guilty to hacking charges.
Tech, Labor Spar on Immigration
May 17, 2013 9:36 am | by Anne Flaherty, Associated Press | News | CommentsTo the U.S. technology industry, there's a dramatic shortfall in the number of Americans skilled in computer programming and engineering that is hampering business. To unions and some Democrats, it's more sinister: The push by Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg to expand the number of visas for high-tech foreign workers is an attempt to dilute a lucrative job market with cheap, indentured labor.
Printing Guns
May 17, 2013 9:26 am | by Karl Stephan, Consulting Engineer, Texas State University, San Marcos | Blogs | CommentsSomebody was going to do it sooner or later. And we have Cody Wilson, a law student at the University of Texas at Austin, to thank for the fact that, when it was finally done for the first time, the news media learned about it right away. All the same, now that somebody has used a 3-D printer to make a functional gun, we face a whole array of questions that up till now were hypothetical ones.
Photo of the Day: Webb Undergoes Eye Surgery
May 16, 2013 12:38 pm | by NASA | News | CommentsMuch like the inside of an operating room, in the clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., engineers worked meticulously to implant part of the eyes of the James Webb Space Telescope. They scrubbed up and suited up to perform one of the most delicate performances of their lives.
World's Lightest Material a Possible Fix for Heavy Problems
May 16, 2013 9:28 am | by Reuters | Videos | CommentsA scientist in China has produced the lightest substance ever recorded, which he says could provide solutions to heavy problems, such as pollution control. Gao Chou says his carbon aerogel can absorb up to 900 times its own body weight, in addition to displaying other qualities that make it ideal for further development.
Solar Impulse - Behind-the-Scenes
May 16, 2013 9:18 am | by Solar Impulse | Videos | CommentsAfter winning the prize of the "Most Frequently Asked Question", Solar Impulse's favorite behind-the-scenes expert uncovers how the pilots go to, well... to the bathroom. Meet Brian and the challenges he's had to face to find the most appropriate solution for this very sensitive issue.
Cambridge Nanotherm Establishes First Step Towards Mass Manufacturing
May 15, 2013 5:24 pm | by Technology Strategy Board | News | CommentsElectronics thermal management innovator Cambridge Nanotherm is to build its first prototype manufacturing plant in Haverhill, UK following the award of £250,000 in matched funding from the UK Innovation Agency - Technology Strategy Board (TSB).
Top IN Wind Farm Drafts Bat-Protection Plans
May 15, 2013 3:55 pm | by Rick Callahan - Associated Press | News | CommentsThe operators of Indiana's largest wind farm are proposing changing the nighttime operations of the farm's 300-plus wind turbines to protect endangered Indiana bats from being killed by the turbines' spinning blades. Two of the mouse-sized federally protected species have been found dead since...
HotSpot Episode 12: 3D Microbatteries
May 15, 2013 2:40 pm | by Eric Sorensen, Multimedia Coordinator | Videos | CommentsThis week on WDD's HotSpot, a netbook-like combo that uses a smartphone for its computing power, new microbatteries for a balance between energy and density, satellites that listen in on ADS, and a sound camera that shows the location of troublesome noises in machinery.
Solutions for Energy-Efficient Repairs in Moscow
May 15, 2013 2:36 pm | by Satu Paiho, Senior Scientist | News | CommentsThere are many old and decrepit residential buildings in Moscow in need of refurbishment. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has developed three repair concepts for improv-ing the energy efficiency of both buildings and entire residential districts while also reducing their environmental impact.
Friction in the Nano-World
May 15, 2013 2:33 pm | by Prof. Dr. Thorsten Hugel, Technische Universitaet Muenchen | News | CommentsFriction is an omnipresent but often annoying physical phänomenon: It causes wear and energy loss in machines as well as in our joints. In search of low-friction components for ever smaller components, a team of physicists led by the professors Thorsten Hugel and Alexander Holleitner now discovered a previously unknown type of friction that they call “desorption stick.”
Ultraresponsive Magnetic Nanoscavengers Could Usher In Next Generation Water Purification
May 15, 2013 2:30 pm | by Andrew Myers, Stanford Engineering | News | CommentsAmong its many talents, silver is an antibiotic. Titanium dioxide is known to glom on to certain heavy metals and pollutants. Yet other materials do the same for salt. In recent years, environmental engineers have sought to disinfect, depollute, and desalinate contaminated water using nanoscale particles of these active materials. Engineers call them nanoscavengers.
Electronic Home Plate to Take the Field
May 15, 2013 9:50 am | by Don Aines, The Herald-Mail | News | CommentsCalling balls, strikes, and checked swings could be a thing of the past in amateur ball if the Eagle Eye Electronic Home Plate is all that inventor Jerry Spessard claims. He has enough faith in the product to begin construction of a plant in Hancock this June, with production expected to begin by fall.
TV-Over-Internet Service Hits Atlanta Next Month
May 15, 2013 9:42 am | by Anick Jesdanun, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsAereo, the startup that offers live television broadcasts over the Internet starting at $8 a month, said it will start service in the Atlanta market on June 17, following an expansion to Boston on Wednesday. Until this week, the service had been available only in the New York City area.
U.S. Launches Drone from Aircraft Carrier
May 14, 2013 5:33 pm | by Brock Vergakis, Associated Press | News | CommentsA drone the size of a fighter jet took off from the deck of an American aircraft carrier for the first time Tuesday in a test flight that could eventually open the way for the U.S. to launch unmanned aircraft from just about any place in the world. The X-47B is the first drone designed to take off and land on a carrier, meaning the U.S. military would not need permission from other countries to use their bases.
Ex-BP Engineer Claims Feds Withheld Evidence
May 14, 2013 5:24 pm | by Michael Kunzelman, Associated Press | News | CommentsA former BP engineer charged with deleting text messages about the company's response to its 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico claims that Justice Department prosecutors withheld evidence and should be sanctioned.
Galactic Thermal Management
May 14, 2013 3:09 pm | by Chris Fox, Associate Editor, PD&D | Articles | CommentsA prominent enemy of efficiency and functionality is heat. From bearings to computer systems to intergalactic hardware, rising temperatures have a tendency to make life a nightmare for design engineers. Thermacore recently experienced the rigors of temperature management while contributing to the design of the NASA’s Landsat Data Continuity mission.
High-Tech Pushes for More in Immigration Bill
May 14, 2013 10:00 am | by Erica Werner, Associated Press | News | CommentsHigh-tech companies looking to bring more skilled workers to the U.S. pushed Monday for more concessions in an immigration bill pending in the Senate. Labor unions said the Silicon Valley had already gotten enough in the legislation and further changes risked chipping away at protections for U.S. workers.
Environmentalists Praise Fed Ruling on Nuclear Plant Restart
May 14, 2013 9:55 am | by Michael R. Blood, Associated Press | News | CommentsA federal panel Monday sided with environmentalists who have called for lengthy hearings on a plan to restart the ailing San Onofre nuclear power plant — a decision that further clouds the future of the twin reactors. The plant between San Diego and Los Angeles hasn't produced electricity since January 2012, after a small radiation leak led to the discovery of unusual damage to hundreds of tubes that carry radioactive water.
Wind Farms Get Pass on Eagle Deaths
May 14, 2013 3:22 am | by Dina Cappiello - Associated Press | News | CommentsIt happens about once a month here, on the barren foothills of one of America's green-energy boomtowns: A soaring golden eagle slams into a wind farm's spinning turbine and falls, mangled and lifeless, to the ground. Killing these iconic birds is not just an...
Kickstarter of the Week: 128 Miles Per Gallon
May 13, 2013 2:23 pm | by Eric Sorensen, Coordinator of Multimedia Development | Videos | CommentsToday on PD&D's Kickstarter of the Week, we're exploring the northern reaches of Wisconsin on a gas-powered, DC Lowrider bicycle from Sunny Hill Cycles.
