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Archive for the ‘engineering’ category: Page 85

Nov 19, 2021

New tracking method in high-powered jet engines paves the way for optimal combustion

Posted by in categories: cosmology, engineering

Have you ever experimented with food dye? It can make cooking a lot more fun, and provides a great example of how two fluids can mix together well—or not much at all.

Add a small droplet in water and you might see it slowly dissolve in the larger liquid. Add a few more drops and perhaps you’ll see a wave of color spread, the colored droplets spreading and breaking apart to diffuse more thoroughly. Add a spoon and begin stirring quickly, and you’ll probably find that the water fully changes color, as desired.

Researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, led by Ivan Bermejo-Moreno, assistant professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering, studied a similar phenomenon with gases at , with an eye toward more efficient mixing to support supersonic scramjet engines. In the study, published in Physics of Fluids, USC Viterbi Ph.D. Jonas Buchmeier, along with Xiangyu Gao (USC Viterbi Ph.D. ‘20) and former visiting M.Sc. student Alexander Bußmann (Technical University Munich), developed a novel tracking method that zoomed in on the fundamentals of how mixing happens. The study helps understand, for example, how injected interacts with the surrounding oxidizers (air) in the to make it operate optimally, or how interstellar gases mix after a supernova explosion to form . The method focuses on the geometric and physical properties of the turbulent swirling motions of gases and how they change shape over time as they mix.

Nov 18, 2021

Atom Computing: A Quantum Computing Startup That Believes It Can Ultimately Win The Qubit Race

Posted by in categories: chemistry, computing, engineering, particle physics, quantum physics

While traditional computers use magnetic bits to represent a one or a zero for computation, quantum computers use quantum bits or qubits to represent a one or a zero or simultaneously any number in between.

Today’s quantum computers use several different technologies for qubits. But regardless of the technology, a common requirement for all quantum computing qubits is that it must be scalable, high quality, and capable of fast quantum interaction with each other.

IBM uses superconducting qubits on its huge fleet of about twenty quantum computers. Although Amazon doesn’t yet have a quantum computer, it plans to build one using superconducting hardware. Honeywell and IonQ both use trapped-ion qubits made from a rare earth metal called ytterbium. In contrast, Psi Quantum and Xanadu use photons of light.

Continue reading “Atom Computing: A Quantum Computing Startup That Believes It Can Ultimately Win The Qubit Race” »

Nov 14, 2021

Can Spinlaunch Throw Rockets Into Space?

Posted by in categories: engineering, space travel

With the recent COP talks in mind, is this the Eco alternative to rocketry? And are there perhaps others?


I talked about Spinlaunch a few years ago, they wanted to reduce space launch costs by throwing the launch vehicles out of a spinning launcher at hypersonic speeds. I was somewhat skeptical as to the chances of solving the engineering problems inherent in this, but recently they demonstrated a mach 1 launch using their 1/3 scale launcher, so they’re already making progress on developing a viable launch syste.

Continue reading “Can Spinlaunch Throw Rockets Into Space?” »

Nov 12, 2021

Newly developed compound may enable sustainable, cost-effective, large-scale energy storage

Posted by in categories: chemistry, energy, engineering, sustainability

To produce a cost-effective redox flow battery, researchers based at the South China University of Technology have synthesized a molecular compound that serves as a low-cost electrolyte, enabling a stable flow battery that retains 99.98% capacity per cycle. They published their approach on August 14 in the Energy Material Advances.

Comprising two tanks of opposing liquid electrolytes, the battery pumps the positive and negative liquids along a membrane separator sandwiched between electrodes, facilitating ion exchanges to produce energy. Significant work has been dedicated to developing the negative electrolyte liquid, while the positive electrolyte liquid has received less attention, according to corresponding author Zhenxing Liang, professor in the Key Laboratory of Fuel Cell Technology of Guangdong Province, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology.

“Aqueous redox flow batteries can realize the stable electrical output for using unsteady solar and wind energy, and they have been recognized as a promising large-scale energy storage ,” Liang said. “Electroactive organic merit of element abundance, low cost and flexible molecular control over the electrochemical features for both positive and negative electrolytes are regarded as key to developing next-generation redox flow batteries.”

Nov 12, 2021

Cooler means quicker: How EV fast-charging stops might get shorter without bulkier cables

Posted by in categories: engineering, futurism

Ford and Purdue University researchers have developed a new charging cable the automaker claims could allow future EVs to recharge in as little time as a gasoline fill-up.

The patent-pending design uses a new cooling method that harnesses the phase change of coolant from liquid to vapor, Ford said in a press release. Liquid-cooled charging cables aren’t new, but this version can extract more heat, the automaker claims.

A focus on cooling is key to increasing charging speeds. Quicker charging requires more current to travel through a cable, which in turn generates more heat, which needs to be eliminated to keep components functioning, Michael Degner, senior technical leader, Ford Research and Advanced Engineering, said in a statement.

Nov 12, 2021

Hyundai’s new Supernal to lead charge into AAM future

Posted by in categories: engineering, sustainability, transportation

South Korean transportation giant Hyundai has announced the creation of an advanced air mobility (AAM) company, Supernal LLC. The company will pursue the development of next-generation passenger electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles, and aims to conduct its first commercial flight in 2028.

“We’re developing a commercially viable Advanced Air Mobility product from the start, designing and manufacturing our vehicle to the highest safety, noise, efficiency, and affordability standards,” said Ben Diachun, Supernal’s chief technology officer. “Our growing team, which includes veterans of aerospace, automotive, and other deep-tech industries, is engineering sustainable vehicles that have the potential to evolve how we live, work, and play.”

Nov 10, 2021

Rolls-Royce secures £450m for mini nuclear reactors venture

Posted by in categories: engineering, government, nuclear energy

Rolls-Royce will move ahead with a multibillion pound plan to roll out a new breed of mini nuclear reactors after securing more than £450m from the government and investors.

The engineering firm will set up a venture focused on developing small modular nuclear reactors, or SMRs, in partnership with investors BNF Resources and the US generator Exelon Generation with a joint investment of £195m to fund the plans over the next three years.

Nov 8, 2021

Astronomers Want to Build an $11BN Telescope That Would Outclass Hubble

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, engineering

The proposed telescope would be powerful enough to detect distant planets 10 billion times fainter than their hosting star.

Astronomers have proposed a telescope that would far exceed the capabilities of Hubble.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine just released its Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics, also known as Astro 2020. The report outlines plans for the next decade of investment in astronomical equipment and projects in the U.S.

Continue reading “Astronomers Want to Build an $11BN Telescope That Would Outclass Hubble” »

Nov 8, 2021

NASA solar probe bombarded

Posted by in categories: engineering, particle physics, space

The Parker Solar Probe is an engineering marvel, designed by NASA to “touch the sun” and reveal some of the star’s most closely guarded secrets. The scorch-proof craft, launched by NASA in August 2,018 has been slowly sidling up to our solar system’s blazing inferno for the past three years, studying its magnetic fields and particle physics along the way. It’s been a successful journey, and the probe has been racking up speed records. In 2,020 it became the fastest human-made object ever built.

But Parker is learning a lesson about the consequences of its great speed: constant bombardment by space dust.

Unlock the biggest mysteries of our planet and beyond with the CNET Science newsletter. Delivered Mondays.

Nov 8, 2021

Non-toxic technology extracts more gold from ore

Posted by in categories: chemistry, engineering, space

Gold is one of the world’s most popular metals. Malleable, conductive and non-corrosive, it’s used in jewelry, electronics, and even space exploration. But traditional gold production typically involves a famous toxin, cyanide, which has been banned for industrial use in several countries.

The wait for a scalable non-toxic alternative may now be over as a research team from Aalto University in Finland has successfully replaced cyanide in a key part of gold extraction from ore. The results are published in Chemical Engineering.


Study shows new chloride-based process recovers 84% of gold compared to the 64% recovered with traditional methods.

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