Advanced space technology is being found more down-to-earth uses – even within the cars driven on Europe`s roads.

The ESA conference ‘Technology Exchange between Space and Automotive Industry’ is to highlight how spin-offs from space are influencing the evolution of European automobiles, heralding improvements in safety, performance and power. It will take place 6 November at ESOC, Darmstadt in Germany.

“Space technology deals with the challenging conditions of launching an

This project has been proposed in the doctoral thesis of professor Igor Egaña Santamarina of the Public University of Navarre, called “Design of complete mould QFT multivariable controllers”. Professor Mario Garcia Sanz, from the Department of Automation and Computer Science of the Public University of Navarre, has supervised the project.

Air traffic controllers and wind generator controllers

Control engineering involves the design of mathematical laws that modify the way i

Antennas for the next generation of cellphones and other wireless communications devices may bear a striking resemblance to the Santa Monica Mountains or possibly the California coastline.

That is because UCLA researchers are using fractals — mathematical models of mountains, trees and coastlines — to develop antennas that meet the challenging requirements presented by the more sophisticated technology in new cellphones, automobiles and mobile communications devices. These antennas must b

One of the world’s largest and most successful experimental fusion machines has been safely disassembled and cleared away. In September, staff at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) completed the dismantling and removal of the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR), which shut down in 1997 following 15 years of operation. During its experimental life, TFTR set records for fusion performance and made major contributions to the development of fusion as

While electronic circuits and nanomachines grow ever smaller, batteries to power them remain huge by comparison, as well as short-lived. But now Cornell University researchers have built a microscopic device that could supply power for decades to remote sensors or implantable medical devices by drawing energy from a radioactive isotope.

The device converts the energy stored in the radioactive material directly into motion. It could directly move the parts of a tiny machine or could generat

Canadians will eat better and will enjoy a healthier environment thanks to a new canning process for jars and cans. This innovative research is taking place at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Food Research and Development Centre in Saint-Hyacinthe.

The research project uses a technology that reduces energy consumption in the canning of products containing fruit, vegetable and/or meat pieces, such as sauces and soups.

The advantages include a 30-per-cent reduction in energy consu

What happens if fog comes on roads? First of all, visibility falls down, so the risk for a car accident increases, especially on highways. Scientists from Central Aerological Observatory have constructed a special electrostatic filter, which eliminates the fog at a distance up to 10 meters. The filter looks like a metal frame with a precipitation electrode – thin metal plates, separated with high-voltage isolators. It also has a corona-forming electrode of a twisted wire. The unit is grounded with a

Researchers report in the Oct. 11 “Science” the first detection of a living organism that makes a copper-containing mineral structure as part of its skeleton. The finding is remarkable because the amount of copper detected in the jaw tip of the marine bloodworm would normally be toxic to an organism.

The researchers determined that copper also occurs in non-mineral form in the bloodworm jaw where it may act as a structural element in cross-linking long chains of fibrous proteins. According

High Level Group for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell

Thank you Madam Vice President, and thank you again, (Ladies and) gentlemen for your attention.

Madam de Palacio has presented to you our concerns in the European Union over Global climate change, energy security and transport. We are committed to achieving sustainable development.

We re-stated our commitment in Johannesburg and are embarking on a comprehensive range of measures. This includes research on the most promisi

It would send and receive faxes and video and have the processing power of a personal computer. The cell phone of the future would be on the market today but for one hitch: the battery.

The technology is available to build cell phones that would make the latest versions — those that allow users to send pictures and play video games — seem almost primitive. But the batteries now used in cell phones are not nearly powerful enough to drive all the fancy add-ons, said Charles Martin, a Univers

A remote control sensing device is being developed to detect defects in sewer walls.

Using both ultrasound and laser light, digital information on the condition of the sewer walls is fed back to a computer which can be programmed to spot problems.

The research is being carried out by a team in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at King’s College London, led by Dr Kaspar Althoefer and Professor Lakmal Seneviratne. Funding is from the Swindon based Engineering and Physical Sci

A process developed at Ohio State University for shaping metal parts using magnetism has reached a new milestone — one that may cut manufacturing costs and help preserve the environment.

The process could also expand manufacturers’ choice of available metals, and enable the use of aluminum parts in lighter, fuel-efficient automobiles.

Glenn S. Daehn, professor of materials science and engineering, and his colleagues pioneered hybrid electromagnetic metal forming in 1999, while col

UH Solar Cell Research Has Applications for Space Exploration, Clean Cars

New technologies designed to harness the power of the sun may hold the key to successful moon colonies, cheaper and lighter-weight satellites, and cleaner-burning, more efficient car engines.

Solar cells, electronic devices that convert sunlight into useful electricity, would be an important resource for powering future industrial bases or colonies on the moon. Alex Freundlich, research professor of ph

The European Commission has accepted EVE, the Basque Energy Entity, and Eolicas de Euskadi within the programme to promote renewable energy. The European Union is aware of the effort EVE is doing to obtain 12 % of primary energy from renewable energy. This entity has been accepted in the programme Campaign for Take-Off, together with Eolicas de Euskadi. The programme has been designed by the European Commission and as the first step they want to create a Renewable Energy Partnership. This partnership

Space is the usual business of a space agency, so it may come as a surprise that the European Space Agency (ESA) is giving some attention to road transport.

The agency is designing and building the satellites that will make up the space segment of Galileo, Europe`s own global satellite navigation system. When Galileo becomes fully operational in 2008, road vehicles fitted with special receivers will be able to use signals broadcast by the satellites to determine their positions with u

Applications include nanotechnology, more

Defects such as cracks in a material are responsible for everything from malfunctioning microchips to earthquakes. Now MIT engineers have developed a model to predict a defect’s birthplace, its initial features and how it begins to advance through the material.
The model could be especially useful in nanotechnology. “As devices get smaller and smaller, understanding the phenomena of defect nucleation and growth becomes more and more