Science & Technology – HS Daily Wire

Flexible, flapping flying machines may be on the horizon

Rigid wings and rotors have made aircraft very successful; nature, however, prefers flexible, flapping flying structures -- just look at birds; indeed, the most efficient and acrobatic airfoils in nature are the flexible wings of the bat; Brown University researchers want to adopt the bat's approach to flying for human use

Can China's future earthquakes be predicted?

To predict earthquakes, China relied on GPS data, which showed movements of two millimeters per year in certain areas of Szechwan province where a May 2008 earthquake killed 70,000 people (20,000 are still missing) and destroyed more than eight million homes; scientists examine a better way to predict disasters

BAE's Jam Lab works on defending against anti-aircraft missiles

The question of what technology would best protect civilian aircraft against anti-aircraft missiles has not been settled; BAE Systems' Jam Lab is on the cutting edge of research into such technologies

Thruvision offers T-ray security scanner

Terahertz radiation offer the promise of effective scanning of passengers without revealing anatomically correct images of their bodies

Trend

Modern-day piracy poses growing threats, challenges

Forget Captain Kidd, wooden legs, or treasure maps; modern pirates are equipped with supercharged speedboats, large-caliber weaponry, and all the radio intercept technology they need to identify and locate valuable ocean-going booty; on 9/11 we saw what damage a jumbo jet could do when used as a weapon; how about a supertanker as a weapon?

U.S. Navy seeking variable yield bomb

The war against terrorists has two characteristics: It is fought in populated areas -- big cities or remote villages -- and the death of noncombatants offer terrorists propaganda victories; smarter bombs aim to address these problems

Shape of things to come

Quantum calibration shows way for super-secure communication

Scientists at Imperial College London have used a new approach to calibrating quantum mechanical measurement directly to calibrate a detector that can sense the presence of multiple individual photons; the ability to sense the presence of individual photons is an important requirement for the development of future long-distance quantum communication devices and networks

Biosafety Lab-Level 4 dedicated in Galveston, Texas

The $174 million, 186,267-square-foot lab will employ 300 people; the lab is one of two approved in 2003 by NIH (the second is being built in Boston); critics question placing a BSL-4 lab on a barrier island vulnerable to hurricanes

T-Ray Science licenses MIT's terahertz technology

There is a growing interest in the detection capabilities of terahertz technology, and a Canadian company licenses an NIT-developed detection system that can be used to detect a continuous-wave (cw) THz signal

Infrastructure / On the water front

Emerging water contaminants a growing worry

We wrote yesterday about the City of Chicago launching a thorough scientific examination to see the level of pharmaceutical contamination of Lake Michigan. Indeed, trace organics are important challenges facing the wastewater industry, whether they are endocrine disruptors, microconstituents, pharmaceuticals, or emerging contaminants. In response, several major research organizations have undertaken new research and are compiling information for wastewater treatment managers and others, to ensure that they are making the best and most appropriate treatment decisions to guarantee high quality water for reuse and healthy aquatic ecosystems in receiving waters. The research effort underway is broad and wide-ranging. Last May, the Water Environment Research Foundation pulled together more than two dozen government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and research centers which agreed to share their research findings and plans and to look for future research collaborations on pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) and related compounds.