• Questions raised anew about space elevator stability

    As we place more systems in space — soon, perhaps, weapon platforms to counteract China’s growing anti-satellite warfare capabilities — there is a growing need to service and maintain these systems; one way to do so relatively on the cheap is to build a space elevator, but the stability of such an elevator is raising questions

  • Southern California utility to push solar power

    Southern California Edison, largest utility in California, will place 250 MW of photovoltaic generators on 65 million square feet of roofs of Southern California commercial buildings

  • U.K.'s Future Soldier / Science and Engineering Week a success

    Two events — Future Soldier and National Science and Engineering Week — took place in London, showing how government, industry, and academia can fruitfully cooperate to promote science, engineering, and technology education

  • New generator for wind turbines

    To connect to the National Grid, large turbines often use a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) system comprising brushes and slip rings; these require regular maintenance which can be difficult to carry out, particularly offshore or in poor weather conditions; U.K. researchers offer solution

  • FIRST robotics competition comes back to UC Davis

    Robotic competition among high-school students aims to promote and reward students’ engagement in innovation and engineering, and encourage youngsters to become curious and interested in science and mathematics

  • Cat's eyes locate things underwater

    A new underwater cat’s eye can reflect back a tuned signal, revealing its location, to existing sonar systems; new device does not use batteries — and it does rely on toxic chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

  • Serious RFID vulnerability discovered

    A group of a Dutch university’s digital security researchers discovers a major security flaw in a popular RFID tag; discovery can have serious commercial and national security implications; as important as the discovery itself was how the researchers handled the situation

  • Benefits and risks of close science-defense collaboration

    This week was National Science and Engineering week in the United Kingdom — and the London events and exhibit emphasized the contribution scientists and engineers make to the defense of the kingdom; a venerable engineering magazine says we should be just a bit cautious here lest we turn the battlefield of the future into a publicly funded industrial testing ground, where commercial pressure would overwhelm the sober considerations of defense decision makers

  • With biological warfare, real-time detection is key

    The largest improvements in any biowarfare identification system’s performance will come in the form of smaller packages, more automated measurement, and faster measurement

  • European consortium to make RFID tags more affordable

    To make RFID more popular, there is a need to make them cheaper; a team of major technology companies is confident that the cost will be reduced once the tags can be printed because electrically conductive and semiconducting plastics can be used in high-volume printing processes

  • Fuel cell joint venture formed

    In an effort to accelerate the development of fuel cells, two companies form a JV to target the light industrial, commercial, and residential markets in the United Kingdom and Ireland

  • European consortium to improve ground-probing radar

    Effort aims to allow ground-based radars to penetrate deeper; scientists hope to create a new radar-based sensor that can be attached to drill heads to give operators real-time information about obstacles in the drill path

  • Pursuit Dynamics to install ethanol reactor tower in Oregon

    British specialist’s bioethanol system yields 14 percent more ethanol, while reducing overall fermentation time by more than 20 percent; system will be tested in Oregon

  • Fence to nowhere

    DHS received the keys from Boeing — behind schedule, it should be noted — to Project 28, only to find out that it fell short of the promise the department made to Congress, and that Boeing made to the department; Boeing has now received a three-year extension; the Arizona Republic says the failure of Project 28 has deeper meaning for technology and policy

  • DHS defends handling of Project 28

    Project 28, built by Boeing along twenty-eight miles of the Arizona-Mexico border, was meant to showcase advanced border security technologies which DHS would use in the more ambitious $8 billion border surveillance system along the U.S.-Mexico border; DHS initially said that the project’s technology failed to deliver on its promise, and gave Boeing a three-year extension; DHS now defends its handling of the project