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Atela

Science

New York Launches Public School Curriculum Based on Playing Games

By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 9.16.2009 9 Comments
Games have long played a role in classrooms, but next month marks the launch of the first U.S. public school curriculum based entirely on game-inspired learning. Select sixth graders can look forward to playing video games such as "Little Big Planet" and "Civilization," as well as non-digital games ranging from role-playing scenarios to board games and card games. But this goes beyond guiding your virtual settlers in "Oregon Trail" during classroom free time. The Quest to Learn (Q2L) school, based in Manhattan, hopes its guided approach can help students take on the role of explorers, mathematicians, historians, writers and evolutionary biologists.

9.17.2009 at 10:53am - Comment by Atela

"Select sixth graders can look forward to playing..."Civilization," ...where they can learn the finer points of using Cavalry to slaughter Aztecs or reducing Dresden's population with Bombers. :)
Technology

Powerful, Simple Rocket Fuel Made from Water and Aluminum

By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 8.24.2009 4 Comments
Spacecraft might one day refuel on the moon or Mars using plain old ice. A small rocket flew earlier this month on an environmentally-friendly propellant consisting of aluminum powder and water ice. The "ALICE" fuel mixture being developed by Purdue University and Pennsylvania State University could someday replace liquid or solid rocket propellants, and possibly enable higher performance as well. The implications for space exploration could also mean accessible fuel reserves at future lunar or Martian outposts, which naturally attract the interest of NASA and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

8.25.2009 at 11:35am - Comment by Atela

thor, with Al powder all you need is an electric spark and you'll have quiet the fireworks. It is nasty exploding stuff that tends go detonate simply from static electricity in the air. Typically, it's added to rocket motors to drastically increase their Isp. There's also nothing "environmentally friendly" about it.
Technology

Doing Mach 2.0 In An Open Cockpit

By Dan Smith Posted on 8.4.2009 28 Comments
The spectacular picture above was (reportedly) shot high above the set of a movie. Producers for an unknown movie paid a couple of Russian pilots to fly their SU-35UB jet at speeds past Mach 2.0... without a canopy! After the flight, the pilot said, "While on this speed I even managed to pull out my fingers in glove for an inch or two outside - it became heated very fast because of immense friction force plane undergoes with the air."

8.3.2009 at 03:57pm - Comment by Atela

Regarding supersonic ejection, see: \www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/GLOCK080309.xml&headline=F-22%20Fatal%20Crash%20Blamed%20On%20High-g%20Effects&channel=defense "F-22 Fatal Crash Blamed On High-g Effects" Excerpt: Relatively incapacitated, the pilot did not begin the recovery immediately on completing the third test. The F-22 rapidly lost altitude as the dive angle steepened. At 14,800 feet, 83 degree nose-low and Mach 1.49, the pilot rolled the aircraft upright, but it was too late. Lockheed Martin test pilot David Cooley was killed immediately by windblast forces when he ejected from the F-22 at 765 knots (~Mach 1.2) equivalent airspeed, roughly 150 knots above the Aces II ejection seat’s design limits, U.S. Air Force accident investigators say.
Technology

Bytes in the Air

By Posted on 11.23.2008 9 Comments
As I post this, I am thousands of feet above San Francisco, on a Virgin airplane, surrounded by press and partygoers celebrating Virgin's imminent roll-out of wireless internet to their passengers. The in-flight service is provided by a carrier called Aircell, which spectrum geeks may recall won an exclusive ten-year contract from the FCC in 2006 to provide air-to-ground broadband at 3MHz. Onboard, a standard 802.11 wi-fi network works with all standard devices.

11.24.2008 at 03:41pm - Comment by Atela

To Chipper Smoltz: Aircell Axxess is only available in US, expanding to Canada/Mexico soon. See their website: http://www.aircell.com/index.php?Itemid=368&L3=business&id=24&option=com _content&task=view The system is also used on business aviation planes operating in U.S. For international flights, Satcom Direct system is utilized, either through Inmarsat (http://www.satcomdirect.com/main/aviation_inmarsat.asp) or Iridium (http://www.satcomdirect.com/main/aviation_iridium.asp) satellite clusters. Both currently have bandwidth comparable to Aircell's, but are significantly more expensive. Both Inmarsat and Iridium are currently expanding their clusters to cover more terrain (they don't work above certain latitude - there's no satellites in polar orbit), and to be able to provide high speed broadband. That capability is not available yet. As for quality, keep in mind the difficulties of bouncing signals from a moving source (airplane) to a moving relay (satellite), both of which are effectively in different orbits around a curved moving target (Earth). Also recall that an air phone was a novelty 15 years ago. Satcom systems are pretty well established on BizJets which fly under FAR Part 91 or Part 135. Commercial aviation, covered under FAR Parts 119, 121, and 125, has different operating and certification requirements. It will take some time for the FAA to amend the rules to accept the technology, but once demand appears service providers should improve the quality.
Technology

Bytes in the Air

By Posted on 11.23.2008 9 Comments
As I post this, I am thousands of feet above San Francisco, on a Virgin airplane, surrounded by press and partygoers celebrating Virgin's imminent roll-out of wireless internet to their passengers. The in-flight service is provided by a carrier called Aircell, which spectrum geeks may recall won an exclusive ten-year contract from the FCC in 2006 to provide air-to-ground broadband at 3MHz. Onboard, a standard 802.11 wi-fi network works with all standard devices.

11.24.2008 at 03:39pm - Comment by Atela

To Chipper Smoltz: Aircell Axxess is only available in US, expanding to Canada/Mexico soon. See their website: http://www.aircell.com/index.php?Itemid=368&L3=business&id=24&option=com _content&task=view The system is also used on business aviation planes operating in U.S. For international flights, Satcom Direct system is utilized, either through Inmarsat (http://www.satcomdirect.com/main/aviation_inmarsat.asp) or Iridium (http://www.satcomdirect.com/main/aviation_iridium.asp) satellite clusters. Both currently have bandwidth comparable to Aircell's, but are significantly more expensive. Both Inmarsat and Iridium are currently expanding their clusters to cover more terrain (they don't work above certain latitude - there's no satellites in polar orbit), and to be able to provide high speed broadband. That capability is not available yet. As for quality, keep in mind the difficulties of bouncing signals from a moving source (airplane) to a moving relay (satellite), both of which are effectively in different orbits around a curved moving target (Earth). Also recall that an air phone was a novelty 15 years ago. Satcom systems are pretty well established on BizJets which fly under FAR Part 91 or Part 135. Commercial aviation, covered under FAR Parts 119, 121, and 125, has different operating and certification requirements. It will take some time for the FAA to amend the rules to accept the technology, but once demand appears service providers should improve the quality.
Technology

Bytes in the Air

By Posted on 11.23.2008 9 Comments
As I post this, I am thousands of feet above San Francisco, on a Virgin airplane, surrounded by press and partygoers celebrating Virgin's imminent roll-out of wireless internet to their passengers. The in-flight service is provided by a carrier called Aircell, which spectrum geeks may recall won an exclusive ten-year contract from the FCC in 2006 to provide air-to-ground broadband at 3MHz. Onboard, a standard 802.11 wi-fi network works with all standard devices.

11.24.2008 at 03:38pm - Comment by Atela

To Chipper Smoltz: Aircell Axxess is only available in US, expanding to Canada/Mexico soon. See their website: http://www.aircell.com/index.php?Itemid=368&L3=business&id=24&option=com _content&task=view The system is also used on business aviation planes operating in U.S. For international flights, Satcom Direct system is utilized, either through Inmarsat (http://www.satcomdirect.com/main/aviation_inmarsat.asp) or Iridium (http://www.satcomdirect.com/main/aviation_iridium.asp) satellite clusters. Both currently have bandwidth comparable to Aircell's, but are significantly more expensive. Both Inmarsat and Iridium are currently expanding their clusters to cover more terrain (they don't work above certain latitude - there's no satellites in polar orbit), and to be able to provide high speed broadband. That capability is not available yet. As for quality, keep in mind the difficulties of bouncing signals from a moving source (airplane) to a moving relay (satellite), both of which are effectively in different orbits around a curved moving target (Earth). Also recall that an air phone was a novelty 15 years ago. Satcom systems are pretty well established on BizJets which fly under FAR Part 91 or Part 135. Commercial aviation, covered under FAR Parts 119, 121, and 125, has different operating and certification requirements. It will take some time for the FAA to amend the rules to accept the technology, but once demand appears service providers should improve the quality.
Gadgets

Backing Up is Hard to Do

By Tom Conlon Posted on 10.9.2008 7 Comments
Backing up my computer’s hard drive has always been like flossing: I know I should be doing it even though it’s one of life’s more prickly pains in the butt. Both chores are the kinds of thing you can never fully appreciate until something goes horribly wrong, like a hard drive fries or some teeth start jiggling loose.

10.10.2008 at 02:39pm - Comment by Atela

I really like your column, Tom. But if you are worried about loosing your music collection in case your house is destroyed, you need to reconsider your priorities. Easy solution though, throw your external HD into a waterproof/fire resistant safe, along with important documents and emergency cash stash. That way your data will be secure from burglars and most natural disasters... except maybe a supermassive black hole. A safe like that is about $60, or a year subscription of online storage, but comes with the safety of keeping your info away from a hackable internet company.
Science

The Fast Way Around

By Michael Moyer Posted on 9.10.2008 9 Comments
The purpose of the LHC is to get lots of protons moving very, very fast. The magnet system is the core piece of technology that makes this happen. More than 1,200 magnet sections, each weighing 10 tons, bend proton beams through vacuum pipes around the 17-mile-long underground tunnel near Geneva. Since these protons are going so fast—99.9999991 percent of the speed of light—superconducting coils of niobium and titanium must produce a magnetic field that’s about 200,000 times as strong as Earth’s to bend them.

9.11.2008 at 10:55am - Comment by Atela

"...we got the internet from CERN, just imagine what we could get from this..." - Dustin2127 Actually the internet was invented by DARPA (Google ARPANET). The French don't deserve credit for that. :)
The Environment

Britain Finally Sees the Light, Admits Biofuels Are Bad News

By Posted on 7.7.2008 17 Comments
It’s common sense—people need food first, fuel second. But today, Britain became the first Western nation to announce that its biofuel production will be curbed, since it’s likely causing rising food prices and rainforest destruction.

7.7.2008 at 05:17pm - Comment by Atela

A few years ago this magazine was all about bio-fuels. The above article is a complete turn around, not to mention obviously politicized (see last sentence). In the future, will you be bashing algae-based fuels that were the topic of several cover stories recently? PopSci needs to start being less Popular and more Science. The increasing political bias destroys any scientific credibility of this publication, which will lead to loss of subscribers. Most of us pay for news of latest technology, not ideology.
Gadgets

A Cure for Fat Fingers

By Posted on 3.10.2008 4 Comments
Touch-screen interfaces have an inherent problem—you can't see through your fingertips to see the spot you're trying to touch. After abandoning its controversial efforts to breed humans with transparent fingers, Microsoft came up with another novel solution, a system that lets you touch the back of a device and see an overlay of virtual fingertips on the front display.

3.10.2008 at 04:06pm - Comment by Atela

They were conducted right after the successful experiments to remove a sense of humor from milkweeds.