CARGO

11.21.09

LaserMotive is First Ever Prize Winner in Space Elevator Games

The team's robot stands to win $900,000 from NASA for climbing a ribbon nearly a kilometer long

By Stuart Fox Posted 11.05.2009 at 11:59 am 2 Comments

Meet Your 2009 Space Elevator Challenge Champions : David Bashford of LaserMotive prepares the climber for their award-winning run. courtesy of NASA

First proposed in 1895, and popularized by the Arthur C. Clarke book The Fountains of Paradise, space elevators have a rich history in the culture of space travel. Unfortunately, the history of their engineering success is far less impressive. But if the results from this week's Space Elevator Games are any indication, that might be about to change.

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READ MORE ABOUT > California, CARGO, competitions, low earth orbit, nasa, prizes, propulsion, space, space elevator, Video

Inventor of "Green Bricks" Wants To Build Series of Underground Tubes

The retired civil engineer hopes to create a network of pipes to carry cargo

By Jeremy Hsu Posted 10.27.2009 at 8:00 am 9 Comments

Forget about carrying cargo by truck, and instead imagine shuttling goods around inside a series of underground tubes. That's the hope of Henry Liu, a 73-year-old retired civil engineer and a past winner of PopSci's Inventions Awards for his environmentally safe green bricks.

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READ MORE ABOUT > CARGO, freight, henry liu, transportation, trucks, underground tubes

Air Force Calls for Unmanned Cargo Aircraft To Supply Hazardous Combat Zones

Drone aircraft could become the air mules of tomorrow for the military

By Jeremy Hsu Posted 10.01.2009 at 7:49 am 9 Comments

Drones already rule much of the skies over modern day battlefields, and could someday begin ferrying cargo to forward bases and troops. The U.S. Air Force put out a call this week for a fully autonomous unmanned air vehicle that can deliver cargo within a combat radius of 500 nautical miles.

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READ MORE ABOUT > air force, aircraft, CARGO, drones, military, robotics, robots, uas, uav, unmanned

The Flying Luxury Hotel

Tomorrow's cruise ship will sail through the air, not the water

By Joshua Tompkins Posted 02.05.2006 at 2:00 am 10 Comments

This is not a Blimp. It's a sort of flying Queen Mary 2 that could change the way you think about air travel. It's the Aeroscraft, and when it's completed, it will ferry pampered passengers across continents and oceans as they stroll leisurely about the one-acre cabin or relax in their well-appointed staterooms.

Unlike its dirigible ancestors, the Aeroscraft is not lighter than air. Its 14 million cubic feet of helium hoist only two thirds of the craft's weight.

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