Some Lego trees and plants will be made from sugarcane-based plastic as part of sustainability efforts, the toymaker announced on Friday. The forest pieces only make up one or two percent of the toy company’s entire line of building blocks. They are part of the Lego Group’s larger initiative to use sustainable materials in all…
Photo of the Day: New Science Platform Adds Room On The Space Station
In 2019 a commercial platform for scientific missions in space will be added to the International Space Station. The Bartolomeo platform, operated by Airbus Defense and Space, will have 11 slots for science projects for customers including start-ups and commercial businesses. A year’s rent on the platform gives companies a view of both the space…
Video of the Day: Gathering Data From Snow at The Winter Olympics
While skiers dash down slopes, sensors will be keeping score not for the games, but for the weather around them. Twenty agencies from 11 countries are studying the weather in PyeongChang, South Korea during the Olympics from the ground and space as part of the International Collaborative Experiments for PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter…
How Much Radiation Do Cell Phones Emit?
A recent study shows the amount of RF energy emitted while a cell phone is held close to the ear to talk, organized by model and brand. The information was compiled by the German Federal Office for Radiation Protection (Bundesamt für Strahlenschutz), which tests devices for a nationwide certification for environmental safety called Blue Angel.…
Photos of the Day: Cable Car Concept Inspired by Shipping Cranes
A cable car system designed for Gothenburg, Sweden evokes the industrial nature of the city. Six towers will make a dramatic statement and support the cable car line, due to be opened in 2021. Surrounding infrastructure will include parks around the base of the towers and stations sheathed in a moss culture intended to clean…
Photo of the Day: Testing a Spacebound Atomic Clock
The Deep Space Atomic Clock, built at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, is a prototype of the clock designed to increase the precision of space navigation. “Navigating in deep space requires measuring vast distances using our knowledge of how radio signals propagate in space,” said Todd Ely of JPL, DSAC’s principal investigator. “Navigating routinely…
Video of the Day: Unexpected Antenna Repairs Lead to Record Longest Spacewalk
The longest spacewalk ever performed by cosmonauts was completed on Feb. 2. Alexander Misurkin and Anton Shklaplerov floated outside of the International Space Station for 8 hours and 13 minutes to replace an electronics and telemetry box. The box, which serves a high gain antenna on the Zvezda service module, will improve communications between Earth…
Photo of the Day: Building The Orion Crew Module
NASA’s Orion is a work in progress at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The first two sections of the crew module, which NASA hopes will eventually carry people to the Moon and beyond, are shown in this picture after being welded together. The forward bulkhead and the tunnel section that makes up the fore…
Photos of the Day: Solar Arrays Fan Out From Mars Lander
Lockheed Martin Space unfurled the wings of the InSight Mars Lander in this time-lapse video posted Jan. 23. The InSight is intended to observe the geological state on Mars, including tectonic activity and temperature. It is anticipated to launch in May and land in November. More information can be found here.
Lunar XPrize Ends Without A Winner
Google’s Lunar XPrize competition came to an anticlimactic ending on Tuesday with the announcement that none of the five finalists have progressed far enough in their lunar rover project to make the deadline on March 31. The contest, which began in 2007, offered $30 million to a grand prize winner who could send a working…
New Method For Etching Enables Lithium Niobate Chips
Researchers at Harvard University have developed a new technique to etch lithium niobate sheets for use in optoelectronics. Lithium niobate is particularly suited for electro-optics, acousto-optics, and non-linear optics because of its large electro-optic coefficients, but it can be difficult to etch. Chemical etching will not work, so other methods have been tried, many of…
Using Design Philosophy to Boost Your Business
Photos of the Day: Astronaut Playground at the Building 9 Training Center
Video of the Day: A Year in Space
From the International Space Station to communication satellites serving networks on Earth, the European Space Agency has a look at developments in space this year.
First Flight Complete for World’s Largest Amphibious Aircraft
China has broken the record for flying the world’s largest amphibious airplane. On Sunday, Dec. 24 the four-engine AG600 flew for about an hour over the South China Sea, according to Reuters. The plane is part of a military upgrade effort among increasing tensions in the Asia-Pacific region. China, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and…
Photos of the Day: Butane-Powered Satellite
An engine not unlike a butane cigarette lighter will power the GomX-4B radio communications satellite, which will launch in February. Organized by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Danish Ministry of Defense, GomX-4A includes two pairs of butane thrusters supplied by NanoSpace. The thrusters are designed to be very small and simple. “Storing it…
Video of the Day: Constructing a Tiny House
This startup says that it can build self-contained, sustainable tiny houses for $64,000 to $97,000. They’re built in about eight hours by seven-axel 3D-printing robots. They include solar panels and smart temperature and humidity controls. There is a bit of a catch: the base model of the house doesn’t include a kitchen, a bathroom, or…
Photos of the Day: Testing Air Quality Sensors
On Nov. 7 NASA tested potential satellite sensors that could be used to measure atmospheric composition, air quality, and the health of the ocean. The Aerosol Characterization from Polarimeter and Lidar (ACEPOL) project was used to test instruments that could fly as part of the Aerosol-Cloud Ecosystem (ACE) study. The sensors were flown on board…
Video of the Day: How to Transport 27-Ton Turbine Blades
Video of the Day: Giant Plane Completes Taxi Test
Video of the Day: Liquid 3D Printing
Photos of the Day: NASA’s Artificial Intelligence Watches Space Weather
NASA explores the use of “cognitive radio” to expand signals to underutilized portions of the electromagnetic spectrum on an as-needed basis, freeing up spectrum for ground-to-space communications. The Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio is working on using artificial intelligence and machine learning to switch to open frequencies. A Space Communications and Navigation Testbed (SCaN)…
Photo of the Day: Cygnus Cargo Spacecraft
Rize Adds Former Dassault Exec
Former Dassault executive Andy Kamabi has been appointed president and chief executive officer of 3D printing company Rize Inc., the company which claims to create injection-molded quality parts from desktop printers. “We are thrilled that Andy has joined the Rize team,” said Nilanjana Bhowmik, Partner at Longworth Venture Partners, which backs Rize. “Andy has the…
Keysight Partners With LoRa Technology for IoT Test Solutions
KeySight technologies has added Semtech Corporation’s LoRa devices and wireless RF technology to its Internet of Things test solutions portfolio. Semtech’s LoRa Technology is a platform for low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) technologies, designed to send a small amount of data over long distances. It is especially suitable to climate monitoring sensors and applications that send…