Lifeboat Foundation

Spent rockets are dangerous space trash, but they could be the future of living and working in orbit.

Using a material that only responds to changing light like a human retina would, a new digital sensor could let robots or self-driving cars better observe moving scenes.

Get ready to dive into the Virtual Cave Worlds next Tuesday 11/17. Watch as 16 teams navigate the virtual environments with natural terrain and dynamic rock falls — all from the comfort of your home! www.subtchallenge.com.

Your weekly selection of awesome robot videos.

It’s easy to forget that Kawasaki is much more than a motorcycle company. While its famously crazy motorcycles are certainly the most visible part of the brand outside Japan, Kawasaki Heavy Industries is a 124-year-old industrial colossus that brought in US$15 billion in revenues last year. Only $3.2 billion of that came from the motorcycle and engine division – a further $2.5 billion came in from energy systems and plant engineering, and $2.2 billion from precision machines and robotics.

The largest segment of the Kawasaki empire, contributing $4.6 billion, is its aerospace systems division. Kawasaki makes a small range of military and civilian helicopters, as well as large turbofan engines for various Airbus and Boeing airliners.

Continue reading “Kawasaki’s K-Racer helicopter targets high speeds with H2R motor” »

The African continent is slowly separating into several large and small tectonic blocks along the diverging East African Rift System, continuing to Madagascar—the long island just off the coast of Southeast Africa—that itself will also break apart into smaller islands.

These developments will redefine Africa and the Indian Ocean. The finding comes in a new study by D. Sarah Stamps of the Department of Geosciences for the journal Geology. The breakup is a continuation of the shattering of the supercontinent Pangea some 200 million years ago.

Rest assured, though, this isn’t happening anytime soon.

Circa 2019

A full-scale mock-up of the Jetcopter vertical-takeoff-and-landing concept vehicle will be shown for the first time at April’s AERO 2019 show in Friedrichshafen, Germany.

The startup air taxi’s claim to fame is its powerplant: Dual 500 hp, 6,000 rpm motors — converted from automotive applications — push two 200 cm air turbines. The resulting 600 mph airflow velocity powers the Jetcopter to a claimed top speed of close to 200 mph with a 620-plus-mile range.

Continue reading “Jetcopter VTOL to be Revealed at AERO 2019” »

Although many different approaches have been proposed to address this problem, it’s clear that any sustainable, long-term solution will include one important component: a transition to energy sources that don’t result in additional carbon dioxide emissions. While most of the ideas put forth — such as the hypothetical Green New Deal — focus on renewable energy sources like solar and wind power, there’s another option that we should seriously reconsider: nuclear fission power.

As we embrace green solutions, nuclear should absolutely be part of the equation.