Friday, 24 May, 2013

With space shuttles in museums, what is the near-term American plan to return to space? Can other countries or private companies fill the gap?

Texting already banned for truckers, etc. What do research and reality say about the danger of hitting the keys or yakking on the mobile?

Plug-in hybrids mean more than just extra spending cash for drivers, though. They could offer a new path through the maze of the electric grid, and help to boost the use of alternative energy.

Hybrid cars and plug-in hybrids boost auto efficiency and reduce pollution, but it’s a long struggle from the idea to the reality.

New study shows how they stay aloft, turn on a dime. Freeze-frame pix of bats flying show unexpectedly complex flight patterns. Meet evolution’s second answer to the problem of vertebrate flight.

Trucks create a lot of turbulence at the rear. Can a simple set of plates reduce this turbulence and save 10 percent on an 18-wheeler’s fuel bill?

Fuel cells could provide cheap, efficient power, but nobody knows where to get the hydrogen. A new catalyst offers one route to fuel-cell success.

Fruitfly muscles are triggered when they are lengthened by the opposing muscle, explaining why they can beat their wings 200 times a second.

Birds musta gotten a lesson from fighter planes: Bird wings get lift from a leading edge vortex, just like fighter planes.

Bush proposes mission to moon and Mars, but how great are the scientific payoffs of this expensive, risky adventure? Would it be smarter – and cheaper – to send robots?

Airbus crashes in New York — composite material fails and tail fin falls off. Why are composites (usually) so strong? How are they used in roads, bikes and planes?

The Edmund Fitzgerald went down in 1975 with barely a trace, and no warning call whatsoever. New evidence pins the blame on terrible weather.

Okay, maybe it’s not an invasion, but there are robots on Mars, in cars, and down in the deep blue sea. How do robots know what to do?