Flying Squirrels Can Adjust Speed and Flight Dynamically
Flying squirrels, a tribe of 44 species of the family Sciuridae, might look reckless as they fling themselves through the air, but scientists have reported…
Aeronautics News
SpaceX Grasshopper Is First Reusable Rocket
SpaceX’s ground-breaking rocket, the Grasshopper, is still in development, but it’s designed to be reusable, meaning that it takes off and lands vertically. The rocket…
Mini Ion Thrusters Could Propel Small Satellites in Space
A team of MIT engineers have developed a new propulsion system that uses microscopic tips that, when stimulated with voltage, emit tiny beams of ions,…
CO2 Snow Particles on Mars Are About the Size of Red Blood Cells
By using data gathered from instruments onboard the Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, scientists at MIT have calculated the size of snow particles…
Algorithm Enables Robots to Learn and Adapt to Help Complete Tasks
A new algorithm created by MIT researchers enables a robot to quickly learn an individual’s preference for a certain task and adapt accordingly to help…
Engineers Use Supercomputers to Tackle the Challenges of Hypersonic Flight
With a $20 million U.S. Department of Energy grant, Stanford researchers plan to use some of the world’s fastest supercomputers to model the complexities of…
High-Altitude Blimp Wind Turbine Will Harness Stronger Winds
An eolian energy company formed out of MIT has tested its high-altitude wind turbine that floats above in windy skies like a blimp. Altaeros Energies…
Researchers Study Butterfly Flight Dynamics to Create Small Airborne Robots
Engineers at Johns Hopkins are studying butterflies using high-speed video cameras to gain a better understand of their flight dynamics. With funding from U.S. defense…
