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Scientists Discover New Site of Potential Instability in West Antarctic Ice Sheet

By Guest PostMay 12, 2012Environmentaircraft, Antarctica, austin, basin, british antarctic survey, computer model, don blankenship, duncan young, filchner ronne ice shelf, ice penetrating radar, ice sheet change, martin siegert, new jersey, pine island glacier, sea level, sub glacial basin, thwaites glacier, university of edinburgh, university of texas, wais, warmer ocean, weddell sea, west antarctic ice sheet

AUSTIN, Texas — Using ice-penetrating radar instruments flown on aircraft, a team of scientists from the U.S. and U.K. have uncovered a previously unknown sub-glacial basin nearly the size of New Jersey beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) near the Weddell Sea. The location, shape and texture of the mile-deep basin suggest that this region of the ice sheet is at a greater risk of collapse than previously thought.

Team members at The University of Texas at Austin compared data about the newly discovered basin to data they previously collected from other parts of the WAIS that also appear highly vulnerable, including Pine Island Glacier and Thwaites Glacier. Although the amount of ice stored in the new basin is less than the ice stored in previously studied areas, it might be closer to a tipping point. (more…)

Russia Asks China Not to Clone Su-35 Fighters

By Guest PostMarch 7, 2012Economy, Weapons30 millimeter cannon, aircraft, bombs, celestial empire, China, chinese counterfeits, chinese fighter j 10, defense, defense spending, gdp growth, growth rate, intellectual property, kommersant, missiles, moscow, multi role, national peoples congress, nato flanker e, prime minister, russia, russian su 27, russian technology, su 35 fighter jets, voice of russia, wen jiabao

Russia was ready to sign a contract with China to supply 48 multi-role Su-35 fighter jets. However, Russia put forward a condition to the Celestial Empire. Moscow demands guarantees that the aircraft will not be further copied for sale.

According to Kommersant, the amount of the expected transaction could reach $4 billion, or approximately $85 million per unit. If the contract is signed, it will be the largest arms contract of the last decade. (more…)

University of Maryland Bat Research Promises New Aircraft Speed Detectors

By Guest PostJune 26, 2011Scienceaerodynamic control, aerodynamic prowess, aircraft, arrays of sensors, bat species, bats brains, belinda batten, big brown bat, chen chiu, clark school, dynamic pressure, electrophysiological response, flying speed, fruit bat, merkel receptors, mohit chadha, oregon state university, pitot tubes, secrets of bats, somatosensory cortex, speedometers, susanne sterbing d angelo, tiny domed hairs, university of maryland

*Tiny hairs on bats’ wings act as speedometers*

COLLEGE PARK, Md.- Anyone watching bats skillfully maneuvering through the air to catch their dinner is impressed by how they quickly change direction and speed. Now researchers in the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland believe they have uncovered one of the secrets of bats’ aerodynamic prowess: rows of microscopic, domed hairs on their wings that might act like speedometers and stall indicators.

In a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), Susanne Sterbing-D’Angelo and her colleagues have found empirical evidence for what researchers have long suspected: the tiny domed hairs function as arrays of sensors that transmit airspeed information to bats’ brains, helping them control their flight and avoid stalling. (more…)

Phased-Array Radar: GTRI Supports Test and Evaluation of Next Generation Jammer

By Guest PostDecember 17, 20101 commentWeaponsadvanced technology company, aircraft, antenna design, bennett aerospace, daniel leatherwood, douglas bennett, ea 18g growler, f 35, ground to air missiles, gtri, naval air command, next generation jammer, northrop grumman corp, novel device, phased array radar technology, radar jammer, radar signals, sbir, small business innovation research, us military aircraft, us navy

Researchers from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and Bennett Aerospace Inc., a North Carolina advanced-technology company, have won a contract to develop the capability for testing a new type of radar jammer for the U.S. Navy. Called the Next Generation Jammer, this novel device will utilize phased-array radar technology in ways that could provide U.S. military aircraft greater protection from ground-to-air missiles.

GTRI is working with Bennett Aerospace on innovative technologies that will be necessary to thoroughly test the Next Generation Jammer. Bennett Aerospace recently received a $750,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II award for development of a Phased Array Next-Generation Jammer Testbed. This new award, from the Naval Air Command, follows a $150,000 Phase I contract that involved the same technology. (more…)

High-Tech Software and Unmanned Planes Allow Scientists to Keep Tabs on Arctic Seals

By Guest PostDecember 15, 2010Environment, Natureaerial photos, aircraft, Arctic, arctic ringed seal, atmosphere, bearded, bering sea, cameras, climate scientists, earth, elizabeth weatherhead, four species of arctic seals, greenhouse gases, ice floes, marine, noaa, novel project, peter boveng, polar ecosystems, ribbon seals, ringed, scan eagle, sea ice, seal populations, seals, spotted, temperatures, terrestrial mammals

A novel project using cameras mounted on unmanned aircraft flying over the Arctic is serving double duty by assessing the characteristics of declining sea ice and using the same aerial photos to pinpoint seals that have hauled up on ice floes.

The project is the first to use aircraft to monitor ice and seals in remote areas without putting pilots and observers at risk, said Elizabeth Weatherhead of the University of Colorado at Boulder, who is leading the study team. Weatherhead is a senior scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, a joint venture of CU-Boulder and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (more…)

Revolutionary Computing: $100 Million DARPA Program to Develop Next Generation of High Performance Computers

By Guest PostNovember 10, 2010Technology, Weapons57 kilowatts, aircraft, battlefield, computers, computing power, dan campbell, darpa, david bader, energy efficient package, georgia tech, hydrodynamics, mark richards, massachusetts institute of technology, powerful, ubiquitous high performance computing, uhpc

Imagine that one of the world’s most powerful high performance computers could be packed into a single rack just 24 inches wide and powered by a fraction of the electricity consumed by comparable current machines. That would allow an unprecedented amount of computing power to be installed on aircraft, carried onto the battlefield for commanders – and made available to researchers everywhere.

Putting this computing power into a small and energy-efficient package, and making it reliable and easier to program, are among the goals of the new DARPA Ubiquitous High Performance Computing (UHPC) initiative. Georgia Tech researchers from three different units are supporting key components of this $100 million challenge, which will require development of revolutionary approaches not bound by existing computing paradigms. (more…)

Intricate, Curving 3D Nanostructures Created Using Capillary Action Forces

By Guest PostOctober 20, 2010Science3d, 3d nanotube structures, a john hart, acetone condense, aircraft, bending petals, capillary action, capillary forming, carbon nanotubes, concentric rings, drinking straw, evaporate, gravity, john hart, liquids, microdevices, miniature, phenomenon, spacecraft, three-dimensional, twisting spires, university of michigan

Twisting spires are one of the 3D shapes researchers at the University of Michigan were able to develop using a new manufacturing process. Image credit: A. John Hart

ANN ARBOR, Mich

.— Twisting spires, concentric rings, and gracefully bending petals are a few of the new three-dimensional shapes that University of Michigan engineers can make from carbon nanotubes using a new manufacturing process.

The process is called “capillary forming,” and it takes advantage of capillary action, the phenomenon at work when liquids seem to defy gravity and spontaneously travel up a drinking straw.

The new miniature shapes have the potential to harness the exceptional mechanical, thermal, electrical, and chemical properties of carbon nanotubes in a scalable fashion, said A. John Hart, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and in the School of Art & Design.

The 3D nanotube structures could enable countless new materials and microdevices, including probes that can interface with individual cells, novel microfluidic devices, and lightweight materials for aircraft and spacecraft. (more…)

Directed Energy Weapons: New System Developed to Test and Evaluate High-Energy Laser Weapons

By Guest PostAugust 24, 2010Weapons50-kilowatt fiber laser, aircraft, cruise missiles, david roberts, directed energy weapons, georgia tech research institute, gtri, high-energy lasers, kirtland air force base, laser energy, leon glebov, matthew vickers, nathan meraz, optigrate, photo-thermo-refractive glass, sodium-zinc-aluminum-silicate glass, speed of light, tim norwood

Technologies for using laser energy to destroy threats at a distance have been in development for many years. Today, these technologies — known as directed energy weapons — are maturing to the point of becoming deployable.

(more…)

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