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POPSWhales & Dolphins Inspire a Novel Design for Wind Turbines "Engineers have previously tried to ensure steady flow patterns on rigid and simple lifting surfaces, such as wings. The lesson from biomimicry is that unsteady flow and complex shapes can increase lift, reduce drag and delay 'stall', a dramatic and abrupt loss of lift, beyond what existing engineered systems can accomplish," Fish said. "There are even possibilities that this technology could be applied to aeronautical designs such as helicopter blades in the future."
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POPSThe World's First Flying Saucer: Made Right Here on Earth Using an onboard source of energy (such as a battery, ultracapacitor, solar panel or any combination thereof), the electrodes will send an electrical current into the plasma, causing the plasma to push against the neutral (noncharged) air surrounding the craft, theoretically generating enough force for liftoff and movement in different directions (depending on where on the craft's surface you direct the electrical current). The concept sounds far-fetched, but U.F. mechanical and aerospace engineering associate professor Subrata Roy plans to have a mini model ready to demonstrate his theory within the next year.
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POPSSorry Got To Go (someone is at the door) This is so neat. Need to end a phone call fast, select Door Bell sound. Although, may not work with a modem. If you're tired of getting stuck on the phone with an endless talker and don't know how to cut the conversation off, this site's for you. Audio clips of things like a baby crying or a smoke alarm going off eliminate the need for you to make an excuse to hang up!
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POPSHummingbird Photos and Some Surprising Facts This incredible flying ability makes hummingbirds one of the most fascinating birds to watch. You'll catch sight of a wild hummingbird in the Americas -- anywhere from Alaska to Brazil. Some Mexican hummingbirds will migrate north for spring, flying up to 500 miles in 20 hours without a break . Hummingbirds almost never stop moving, and they spend nearly all of their time in the air. Their legs are so small and weak, they typically can't walk at all. But in the air, they're masters. Hummingbirds beat their wings up to 80 times a second, which creates the soft humming sound that earns them their name . Their heart can beat up to 1,300 times per minute while in flight . All of this lightning-fast beating takes its toll: Hummingbirds have to eat every couple of minutes. They consume enormous amounts of pollen, using a string-thin, long tongue to draw pollen out of deep flowers.
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POPSNew evidence on how birds took flight Their research suggests that flight evolved with critical changes seen in fossilized shoulder bones, among late theropod dinosaurs, and early avians, and describe the fundamental wing stroke as plesiomormhic - meaning an ancestral characteristic. The researchers attached points on ten points on the bird's bodies and digitized the results. They found that the wing stroke fell within a narrow arc of 19 degrees, and the bird shifted it's body to perform it's aerobatics. They draw an analogy with the helicopter, where the agility does not depend on the angle of the rotor blades, but through modifying engine power, and shifting the body using the tail rotor. Reminds me of the helicopter designed by Leonardo da Vinci. then, until the Wright Bros, it seemed people just tried to make 'flying machines' too complicated.
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POPSFlying Humans Wing suits are not new; they have captured the imagination of storytellers since man dreamed of flying. From Icarus to Wile E. Coyote, who crashed into a mesa on his attempt, the results have usually been disastrous.
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POPS10 Spectacular Cockpit Photos If nothing else, just stunning pictures. Compare the cockpit of the good old and trusted Boeing 747-200 and one of the more recent Airbus A320 - 214 or Airbus A320-211. Enjoy. Nasty.Man2008@........
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POPSThe Human Camera Awesome. After a single 45 minute helicopter ride over Rome, Stephen Wiltshire creates an accurate drawing of the city--right down to the details!
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POPSPaperToys These are Really good. find 1 and print it if you don't believe me
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POPSLetter From Kevin Tillman on Iraq War "Somehow American leadership, whose only credit is lying to its people and illegally invading a nation, has been allowed to steal the courage, virtue and honor of its soldiers on the ground. " SPOT ON!
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POPSindonesia`s Orangutan orphans at school from that article: "At the beginning of the 20th century, while Indonesian human population was increasing from around 10 million to over 200 million, the orangutan population was dwindling by more than 90%. Today, Indonesian and Malaysian orangutans are only 65.000 and, either they are men or monkeys, they need to be saved. Many factors are actually threatening their survival: first, the loss of their natural habitat and the fragmentation of the forests; second, the spread of diseases; third, the increased hunting of orangutans for meat, babies, skulls or penises."
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POPSAn ugly day in Iraq I sure hope that sending more troops to Iraq improves this situation. Just doesn't seem like any progress is being made...yet many are dying along the way.
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POPSGeorgia's Governor/Priest Talks to God Sonny Perdue, the Governor of Georgia, choose yesterday to ignore the US Constitution and invoke supernatural powers to end the drought in Georgia. It's interesting that he choose this time to display his piety since the meteorologists predict a chance of showers later this week. This is what it's like living in the Bible Belt. Only in the South does begging a god trump responsible civil planning. Can't you hear the banjos in the background?
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POPS"President" = "Commander-in-Chief"? The militarization of US political culture Historian Garry Wills on the use of the phrase "commander-in-chief" to refer to the US President. He reminds us that the Constitution designates the POTUS as "commander in chief of the U.S. Army and Navy" -- not of civilians -- and suggests that the prevalent use of military language to refer to civilian political institutions is indicative of a wider and more problematic trend.
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