Backhoes are widely used machines with hydraulic shovels and buckets operated by mechanical controls. That combination can give rise to some unexpected vibration problems, according to a recent study by UC Davis mechanical engineering professor Don Margolis and Taehyun Shim, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan.

In some backhoe designs, a small movement of the mechanical controls leads to a rapid vibration that shakes the vehicle so hard the operator c

Ohio A study of muffler technology at Ohio State University is giving automakers new options for designing quieter cars.

Engineers here have tested a promising new muffler design that utilizes glass fiber, and are developing the computational tools manufacturers will need to optimize the design.

The new design can often silence auto noise just as well as a typical muffler, but it can be lighter, less prone to corrosion, and help engines work more efficiently.

Ahmet

FATRONIK technological centre has designed and installed a micro-wind generator at the Aubixa Euskal Girotze boarding centre (San Pedro neighbourhood, Elgoibar). Since the end of October the 2.5 kW micro-wind generator has been producing energy which is initially planned to power the boarding centre’s four refrigerators, the control room, the data-reception sensors and the PCs. Moreover, four 120 kW photovoltaic plates have been incorporated into the micro-wind generator, thus generating a hybrid sys

New fabrication results

The paper describes research at the Georgia Institute of Technology on fabricating hollow and solid microneedles in a variety of sizes and shapes from metals, biodegradable polymers, silicon and glass. It also reports on testing with cadaver skin and animals that demonstrates the ability of the micron-scale needles to deliver proteins, nanoparticles, and both small and large molecules through the skin.

“We’ve opened up the potential use of micron

One of the largest robots ever constructed will also be one of the most agile, thanks to technology derived from ESA space missions. Known as Roboclimber, this new climbing machine is designed to prevent landslides without endangering human lives.

Expertise from manoeuvring satellites into correct orbit has been used to develop the Roboclimber, which will be remotely controlled by a system originally built for ESA to control space robots and a robotic satellite arm.

Landslides are

Ultimate goal: a public online database

A computational technique used to predict everything from books that a given customer might like to the function of an unknown protein is now being applied by MIT engineers and colleagues to the search for new materials.

The team’s ultimate goal: a public online database that could aid the design of materials for almost any application, from nanostructure computer components to ultralight, high-strength alloys for airplanes.

Penn State simulation testing suggests that barriers, called underride guards, placed on the rear end of heavy trucks to prevent cars from sliding underneath and being crushed in rear-end collisions may be less effective if placed lower or higher than 16 inches (400 mm) from the ground.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration regulations set a maximum ground clearance of 22 inches (560 mm) and no minimum for underride guards on new trucks.

The Penn State simulati

A microbial fuel cell mimics a biological system, in which bacteria do not directly transfer the energy-rich electrons gained out of the feeding to their characteristic electron acceptor. Instead, the electrons are diverted towards an electrode (anode) and subsequently conducted over a resistance or power user, and a cathode (see figure). At the cathode, these electrons are used to reduce oxygen with the formation of water. This way, bacterial energy is directly converted to electrical energy.

A research team led by engineers at Purdue University and physicists at the University of Chicago has made a discovery about the formation of drops that could lead to new methods for making threads, wires and particles only a few nanometers wide.

Such nano-threads, wires and particles could, in turn, have numerous applications, including new kinds of composite materials, electronic circuits and pharmaceutical products, said Osman Basaran, a professor in Purdue’s School of Chemical Engineeri

Discovery of new property in commonly used plastic leads to invention

Engineers at Princeton University and Hewlett-Packard have invented a combination of materials that could lead to cheap and super-compact electronic memory devices for archiving digital images or other data.

The invention could result in a single-use memory card that permanently stores data and is faster and easier to use than a compact disk. The device could be very small because it would not involve movi

It’s no secret that radiation is a great danger to astronauts. Most of the research to date concerns the effects of galactic cosmic rays, but what happens to those particles when they pass into a spacecraft?

A device currently being tested will reveal what kind of neutron energy spectrum astronauts are exposed to from neutrons inside a spacecraft, alerting the occupants when dangerous levels occur.

“When spacecraft travel through a variety of primary high-energy cosmic rays, large

What is the next best thing to humans landing on Mars and exploring the wonders of the Red Planet? The answer: touching, imaging and analysing carefully preserved samples of Martian rock in a state-of-the-art laboratory on Earth.

If all goes according to plan, this is exactly what ESA’s long-term Aurora programme of Solar System exploration will achieve a decade from now, when the first samples of Mars material will be sealed in a special capsule and returned to Earth for analysis.
The

Superb conductors of heat and infinitesimal in size, carbon nanotubes might be used to prevent overheating in next-generation computing devices or as fillers to enhance thermal conductivity of insulating materials, such as durable plastics or engine oil. But a research team at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has discovered that the nanotubes’ role as thermal superconductors is greatly diminished when mixed with materials such as polymers that make up plastics.

“Carbon nanotubes are superio

Dutch research has revealed that energy subsidies can delay the dissemination of new energy-saving technologies. Furthermore, companies do not always want to get rid of the old technology straightaway and therefore new ideas are confined to the top shelf for longer.

Ph.D. student Peter Mulder demonstrated that subsidies for investments in energy-saving can have an adverse affect in the longer term. These subsidies can be counter-effective, since they only stimulate investment in existing te

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have broken their own record for the world’s fastest transistor. Their latest device, with a frequency of 509 gigahertz, is 57 gigahertz faster than their previous record holder and could find use in applications such as high-speed communications products, consumer electronics and electronic combat systems.

“The steady rise in the speed of bipolar transistors has relied largely on the vertical scaling of the epitaxial layer

Air safety will be boosted and the world aviation industry is set to save millions of dollars with the development by Australian company Tenix and CSIRO of an airborne volcanic gas and ash detector.

Costs in excess of $250 million have been borne by airlines worldwide as a result of undetected volcanic ash in flightpaths. Silicate particles in the ash can enter the engines and melt, leading to serious engine damage.

Volcanic ash also causes windscreen scouring, instrument damage a