According to the 2016 edition of the BP Energy Outlook, launched last month, BP says world energy consumption will grow by 34% between 2014 and 2035, from 12,928 million tonnes oil equivalent (toe) to 17,307 million toe. Some 95% of this growth will come from non-OECD countries. The global use of nuclear energy is forecast …
Pratt and Whitney and CFM International are making new more efficient airplane engines. Pratt and Whitney says its new engines—which use an internal gearbox to slow down the speed of the fan—could save 20 percent on fuel consumption compared to an airliner with a conventional engine. Competitor CFM International, meanwhile, has introduced its own advanced …
DARPA wants the public to think like the TV character McGyver and take easily purchased everyday items and improvise them into weapons or security threats. In the TV show, the genius MacGyver, who never carries a gun but always thwarts the enemy with vast scientific knowledge – sometimes with little more than a paper clip …
The precision grenade launching XM25 destroys the value of cover. Built-in targeting lasers, infrared sights and a ballistic computer calculate the exact location of the target so the weapon can fire a projectile precisely past it. The 25mm round — essentially a precision-guided mini-grenade — waits to detonate until it has passed whatever cover the …
Oil prices have fallen from $105 a barrel in the summer of 2014 to hovering at $35 a barrel today. That’s a two-thirds reduction in the price and the biggest factor is shale oil brought to you by fracking. In many areas of the country gas is now less than $2 a gallon and it …
The German nuclear fusion reactor, Wendelstein 7-X stellarator, has produced its first helium plasma. Assembly of the Wendelstein 7-X – the world’s largest stellarator-type fusion device – at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Greifswald, Germany, began in April 2005 and was completed in April 2014. The operational preparations have been under …
Chinese nuclear power generators rose in Hong Kong and Shanghai after the State Council approved the construction of four additional reactors on Wednesday China has approved construction of eight reactors this year, including yesterday’s approval. China plans to build as many as eight nuclear power plants each year from 2016 to 2020 and invest 500 …
The potential of artificial intelligence and advanced robotics to perform tasks once reserved for humans is no longer reserved for spectacular demonstrations by the likes of IBM’s Watson, Rethink Robotics’ Baxter, DeepMind, or Google’s driverless car. Just head to an airport: automated check-in kiosks now dominate many airlines’ ticketing areas. Pilots actively steer aircraft for …
As the Pentagon considers the future of military vertical lift, Bell Helicopter is talking with the US Navy and Air Force about designing a next-generation tiltrotor solution that could be ready by 2025. Bell is partnered with Lockheed Martin to build a rotorcraft flight demonstrator as part of the US Army’s Joint Multi-Role program, which …
Israel has shown renewed interest in acquiring Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor transport aircraft and additional Boeing F-15 multirole fighters, according to information obtained by IHS Jane’s . The aircraft are being considered as part of a defence package that Israeli and US defence officials are negotiating in the wake of the deal aimed at …
A Russian defense firm that produces the brand-new Armata T-14 tank also plans to build an army of new combat robots within the next two years. This would be a next step towards machines guided by artificial intelligence Uralvagonzavod, the company that introduced the ‘super tank’ Armata T-14 back in May, is now trying to …