Engineering News

A new propulsion technique using an amplified laser beam could push a spacecraft to...

MIT researchers have demonstrated the thinnest, lightest solar cells that have ever been produced....

"We have significantly shrunk the conventional radar camera into a system that is extremely compact and affordable, yet provides better accuracy. This will enable high resolution imaging radar technology to be used in objects and applications never before possible, like small drones, driverless cars and small satellite systems."

This week, Caterpillar unveiled a rugged smartphone with a built-in thermal camera at Mobile World Congress 2016 in Barcelona. To create the phone, Caterpillar, a brand that is better known for heavy construction equipment than consumer electronics, partnered with Flir, a company that specializes in thermal imaging cameras.

A truck with an airplane wing attached to it barrels down a dusty road at 73 miles per hour. The contraption is even stranger up close, because the wing has 18 electric motors powered by lithium iron phosphate batteries built into its carbon composite body.

Tiny transistors can detect whether tumors have spread to other parts of the body, which could eliminate unnecessary surgeries for up to 40 percent of breast cancer patients. Typically, when surgeons operate to remove tumors, they take samples to see how far the cancer has spread. This analysis can take up to a week, and often requires follow up surgery. Now, tiny sensors can get the same results in less than an hour.

Several airports around the world will begin testing facial recognition technology developed by researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Biometric identifiers such as fingerprints or iris patterns in the eye can be used for automatic security checks, but facial recognition is the easiest method for passengers because it doesn’t require them to touch any sensors.

The United State Patent and Trademark Office recently published an application by Microsoft for a modular personal computer (PC). The application describes an all-in-one PC with stackable components that consumers can add to main computer display.

A new ten-year federal budget plan includes New Aviation Horizons—a NASA program to design, build, and fly a new generation of experimental aircraft known as “X-planes.” If the budget that President Obama recently proposed is approved, NASA would begin the program, which aims to redesign aircraft in order to reduce fuel emissions while making flights quieter and less expensive.

The U.S. Navy was planning to test an electromagnetic railgun at sea later this year, but officials are considering postponing or skipping the demonstration in order to speed up the project. The test, which is planned to be based out of the Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, would involve using a prototype of the futuristic weapon to hit a floating barge in the ocean.