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Europeans conduct final test of Galileo
The EU wants to compete in the lucrative positioning market, and wants its Galileo system to compete with the U.S. GPS system; project has been hobbled by delays and shortfall of funds, but the EU soldiers on
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UAVs on display at the Smithsonian
As the scope and breadth of UAV deployments grow, so is the public interest in them; the Smithsonian put some of them on display; “UAVs are the future of combat air forces,” says the curator, himself a retired Air Force pilot
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Advanced Nanotechnology Research, LANCER
Lockheed Martin and Rice University launch strategic partnership to develop center which will develop new technologies for a broad range of applications in electronics, energy, and security
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Straw power planned
With more and more companies turning to biofuels as an alternative to fossil fuels, a debate has erupted over the food-energy trade-off involved; a Welsh company bypasses this debate by planning to generate energy from straw
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Technological breakthrough in the fight to cut greenhouse gases
New, efficient method found to convert waste carbon dioxide (CO2) into chemical compounds known as cyclic carbonates; researchers estimate that the technology has the potential to use up to 48 million tons of waste CO2 per year, reducing the U.K. emissions by about four percent
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Modernizing the U.S. electrical grid
The U.S. Department of Energy will invest $50 million in demonstration project aiming to improve efficiency in the U.S. electricity grid
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Government scrapping virtual fence on Arizona-Mexico border
Boeing’s Project 28 — showcasing advanced technologies to be used in making U.S. borders more secure — was hobbled from the start by technological glitches and delays; it delivered much less than what was promised, and DHS decides to scrap it
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The WiMax interoperability solution // By Daniel Zubairi, CISSP
Conversation with Mark Adams, chief architect of mobility at Northrop Grumman, on using WiMax for public safety and civil defense
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How much water is needed to produce various types of energy?
Most of the energy we consume requires the use of water for its generation; water is a dwindling resource, so researchers wanted to know how much water is required to produce different types of energy
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Sustaining bridge infrastructure through Bridge Information Modeling
Bentley offers end-to-end bridge solution which will allow bridge engineers to create and renovate bridge infrastructure
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Robots in search-and-rescure competition
A robot competition takes place in Germany this week; the robots compete with each other in how well they traverse, autonomously and without any input from handlers, through a maze resembling the aftermath of a natural disaster; robots sniff out toy dolls that either emit CO2, give off heat, make noise, or move
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Patent "trolls" bill not likely soon
Patent trolls, who file patents without any intention of developing them, have been the bane of the technology sector (remember the Blackberry case?); a bill to limit the rights of trolls passed the House but stalled in a Senate committee
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Energía renovable en Aragón
Renewable energy in Spain: Iberdola Renewables, one of Spain’s largest alternative energy companies, forms a joint venture with an Aragón bank to develop clean energy installations in the Aragon region of northeastern Spain
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Army future combat technology demonstrated for Congress
The Army exhibited its future combat systems on Capitol Hill last week; among the items demonstrated: urban unattended ground sensors, land warrior, small UGV, and Class I UAV
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Shape-shifting skin to reduce drag on planes and submarines
Dolphins induce their skin to wrinkle so water would not stick to them, thus reducing drag and friction; researchers design shape-shifting skin for submarines and planes to reduce drag
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The long view
A Machine Learning-Based Solution May Help Firefighters Avoid Deadly Backdrafts
A lack of oxygen can reduce even the most furious flame to smoldering ash. But when fresh air rushes in, say after a firefighter opens a window or door to a room, the blaze may be suddenly and violently resurrected. Researchers have devised a plan for informing firefighters of what dangers lie behind closed doors.
A Drone Wing That Could Learn How to Sense Danger Faster
The small domes that you press on your soda’s to-go cup lid may one day save a winged drone from a nosedive. Patterns of these invertible domes on a drone’s wings would give it a way to remember in microseconds what dangerous conditions feel like and react quickly.
Battery Tech Breakthrough Paves Way for Mass Adoption of Affordable Electric Car
If new car sales are going to shift to battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs), they’ll need to overcome two major drawbacks: they are too slow to recharge and too large to be efficient and affordable. Researchers develop new technique that charges EV battery in just ten minutes.
Method for Decoding Asteroid Interiors Could Help Aim Asteroid-Deflecting Missions
Knowing how the density is distributed inside an asteroid could help scientists plan the most effective defense. For instance, if an asteroid were made of relatively light and uniform matter, a DART-like spacecraft could be aimed differently than if it were deflecting an asteroid with a denser, less balanced interior. Astronomers have found a way to determine an asteroid’s interior structure based on how its spin changes during a close encounter with Earth.
Why Not Use Space Mirrors for Reflecting Sunlight to Cool the Planet?
Given the potential consequences of climate change and a danger of reaching irreversible “tipping points,” there is an argument to be made that all options should be carefully considered. Sending giant mirrors into space to reflect solar radiation away from the Earth is one such option. The problem is that the many such geoengineering approaches have been so taboo that there is not enough information from researchers to definitively decide what options are still viable.