lightweight composite materials

How It Works

How It Works: The Dreamliner's Super-Efficient Powerplant

The GEnx engine, the powerplant of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, burns 15 percent less fuel than conventional jet engines by using fewer components and lighter composite parts. Flying in 2009, the engine will also be quieter and more durable

In a high-bypass turbofan engine like the GEnx, 90 percent of the thrust comes from spinning fan blades in front that draw in massive quantities of air and force it out in a ring around the engines center, or core. The GEnxs primary innovation is in its fan blades, which have been reshaped to move air more efficiently with fewer blades and are made of carbon fiber to save weight.

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Autonomous Flying Ambulances Could Save Troops

When there´s no safe escape, call in the Mules: These unmanned aerial vehicles could save lives on the battlefield-and off

U.S. troops are pinned down in a crowded city center. Several are wounded and need immediate evacuation. There are miles of labyrinthine roads and thousands of enemy gunmen between them and the nearest base. The threat from rocket-propelled grenades has grounded the big helicopters.

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