It might not make sense to pull woolly mammoths from the Ice Age into an age of global warming, but resurrecting that lost species just became a bit less far-fetched.

Using hair from 20,000-year-old specimens preserved in Siberian tundra, an international team of scientists finished a draft genome sequence of Mammuthus primigenius.
About one-fifth of the genome […]

Posted in History, Science and Technology, Technology No Comments »

Engineers from the University of Zaragoza have developed an algorithm that can optimise hybrid electricity generation systems through combined use of renewable energies, such as photovoltaic and wind power, and non-renewables, such as diesel. Their study, published online in the magazine Renewable Energy, envisions storing the energy in batteries or hydrogen tanks.

The objective of this […]

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Steeped in tradition, Europe’s vintners have found themselves hard pressed to compete with the modern processes used to produce New World wines. Now European researchers are offering the continent’s winemaking industry the opportunity to improve quality, save water and reduce pesticide use without giving up age-old practices.

An automated wireless precision monitoring system that uses sensors […]

Posted in Nature, Science and Technology, Technology No Comments »

Imagine sunglasses that can withstand the severe cold and heat of space, a barrage of radiation and high-speed impacts from small space debris. They don’t exist, but Northrop Grumman engineers have created a Sunshield for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope that can withstand all of those elements.

The space telescope needs a Sunshield to block heat […]

Posted in Science and Technology, Space Exploration, Technology No Comments »

After some months of saving my pennies, I blew them this week on a Nikon D700. Remember our post about buying old, full frame lenses and using them on your small-sensor DSLR? There was a reason for it — those cheap old lenses will last you until you move up to full-frame.

There are plenty of […]

Posted in Arts and Culture, Graphic Arts, Science and Technology, Technology No Comments »

A team of Oxfordshire scientists have developed new technology which will help forecast rain more accurately.

Didcot’s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory produced the radar which lets meteorologists see what is happening in a cloud, rather than just beneath it.
It can also reach up to 10 miles high, nearly twice the height a commercial aircraft can reach.
The system, […]

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The Federal Aviation Administration awards contracts to replace aging radar systems

With commercial airline traffic expected to top one billion passengers annually by 2016 (compared with the 769 million who flew in 2007), there are more aircraft than ever taxiing, taking off and landing on airport runways. All of this airfield congestion requires technology that can […]

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Lubricants in bearings and gear units ensure that not too much energy is lost through friction. Yet it still takes a certain percentage of the energy to compensate for friction losses. Lubricants made of liquid crystals could reduce friction to almost zero.

Passengers check in their suitcases, which are automatically transported away by conveyer belts; moving […]

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Researchers in China and Switzerland are reporting the highest efficiency ever for a promising new genre of solar cells, which many scientists think offer the best hope for making the sun a mainstay source of energy in the future. The photovoltaic cells, called dye-sensitized solar cells or Grätzel cells, could expand the use of solar […]

Posted in Earth Sciences, Science and Technology, Technology No Comments »

Hard landings can be tough on aircraft as well as passengers. As a result, pilots are obliged to report such incidents, ensuring that the plane is thoroughly checked for possible damage.

When equipped with the right sensors and software planes could report when they need to be checked for damage (Image: WIPO)
Although pilots attempt to be […]

Posted in Computer Technology, Science and Technology, Technology No Comments »