• Hillman Composite Beam

    By Posted on 11.9.2008 Comments

    When John Hillman subjected his bridge beam to load tests, it handled a hydraulic press’s 145 tons of maximum force with ease. The Hillman Composite Beam (a winner of our 2008 Invention Awards) weighs one third as much as concrete competitors—saving 20 percent on shipping and installation costs—and can hold 50 percent more weight. The beam gets its strength from within. A concrete arch supports the weight above it, and a steel plate running lengthwise prevents the arch from collapsing.

    12.24.2008 at 11:00pm - Comment by jmo hhtx

    THat is freaking awsome. I cant belive that it can hold 145 tons with ease. Im not a construction worker but I know thats alot.

  • Technology

    Beyond Earth

    By Melinda Wenner Posted on 12.23.2008 2 Comments

    Mars Science Laboratory Launching in the fall, this research rover will collect and examine Martian soil and rock samples for traces of carbon, life’s most common building block. To find that carbon, ChemCam will fire lasers at the ground and analyze the vapor produced by the impact. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter NASA is going back to the moon—after the LRO finds astronauts a good place to land. Launching on April 24, the LRO will map out the moon’s surface and home in on the poles, where scientists believe there could be water.

    12.24.2008 at 10:56pm - Comment by jmo hhtx

    Mike I think what your saying is completly true. But what if that trash that is geting sent to space happens to go to neighboring planet Mars? We want to live there by making green house gasses, creating methan and Carbon Deoxide emitions also, but if we start to do this maybe we will be polluting the next planet that we might be living on in the next hundred years. But in other hands you are very educated and you need to keep on with your bad self!lol

  • Science

    Graphic, Indeed

    By Posted on 1.22.2008 1 Comments

    Writer David Axe, who reported from Iraq for our June feature about networked warfare, has penned an amazing, haunting graphic novel about his experiences covering the war. Illustrated by Steven Olexa, the semi-autobiographical War-Fix follows small-town reporter Axe as he gradually realizes that the war is calling him. With no experience in combat journalism and only scant preparation, he leaves his distraught girlfriend and makes his way to Iraq, where he becomes both a participant and voyeur in the horrifying action that unfolds there. The carnage consumes his consciousness and becomes something like a drug to him—a fix. It's by far the most unique and compelling narrative I've yet seen of this entire dismal affair and an honest, self-effacing personal journey. The black-and-white illustrations are dark, violent and undoubtedly all too real. Amazon link. —Eric Adams Related: PopSci's Iraq Tech Report Card Winning and Losing the First Wired War Iraq, Science and the Elusive WMD

    12.24.2008 at 10:43pm - Comment by jmo hhtx

    Dang thats sad. But they started it.

  • The Environment

    Indonesia's New Tsunami Warning System

    By Laurie J. Schmidt Posted on 11.14.2008 2 Comments

    Nearly four years after a series of disastrous tsunami waves struck coastlines bordering the Indian Ocean, a new Tsunami Early Warning System is up and running in Indonesia. Using a series of buoys linked to detectors that sit on the ocean floor, the new high-tech warning system will be able to detect an undersea earthquake and predict within minutes whether it will cause a tsunami.

    12.24.2008 at 10:35pm - Comment by jmo hhtx

    I think that it is just about time that they have came up with a new system, so that next time, 400,000 people wont be killed!

  • The Environment

    Why Don't Snowstorms Produce Thunder and Lightning?

    By Holly Otterbein Posted on 12.15.2008 Comments

    Nearly every summer rainstorm comes with thunder and lightning. Yet during even the blusteriest blizzard, there's nary a spark in the air. It can occur (although snow lightning strikes just six times a year on average in the U.S.), but winter air doesn't make for prime lightning-forming conditions, says meteorologist Robin Tanamachi of the University of Oklahoma.

    12.24.2008 at 10:30pm - Comment by jmo hhtx

    I have seen lightning in a snow storm. I guess that I was pretty lucky to see that one out of six chances to see lightning in a snow storm. I have been studying Meteorology for eight years now so this artical is truly remarkable.

  • Science

    Lightning From Laser Beams

    By Posted on 4.14.2008 4 Comments

    Scientists have been trying to figure out how to stimulate lightning strikes with lasers for several decades, and now a group of European researchers have made an important advance. The group, led by Jerome Kasparian of the University of Lyon, used laser pulses to trigger electrical activity in thunderclouds passing over New Mexico's South Baldy Peak. By tweaking these laser pulses in the future, Kasparian thinks they should be able to create charged channels of molecules that act like conducting wires, and provide the lightning with a path to the ground.

    12.24.2008 at 10:24pm - Comment by jmo hhtx

    You know. I think with what scientists are coming up with these days I think that this wil be possible. It will also be a way to power alot of houses. What a way to greenovate.

  • Gadgets

    Changes With The Weather

    By Berne Broudy Posted on 10.3.2008 5 Comments

    Wear the same 23-ounce jacket whether it's slightly cool or downright frosty outside: A new North Face coat becomes more than a third warmer when it's turned inside-out. Its versatility comes primarily from the way the insulation is sewn. The quilted squares on the metallic -- or cool -- side have small pockets at their edges. When worn on the outside, the pockets stretch open and allow air to flow in and out. When reversed, the jacket pushes the pockets together and traps air inside them, providing greater warmth.

    12.24.2008 at 10:02pm - Comment by jmo hhtx

    I think that that is awsome. Im wondering if you switch it the other way out if it will keep you cool. I would like it even more if it is was recycled! I am a green person!



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