Changing Space Travel

The Finnish Meteorological Institute is currently working on the construction of what is called an electric sail, or ESAIL.  It is supposed to the be the fastest man made device ever built.  It is powered by solar radiation and requires no chemical propellant.  The craft consists of thin metallic tethers around the space craft that stay charged at a high positive potential.  The protons in the solar wind are of opposite charge and therefore force the sail away from the sun.  It is estimated that after a year in space the sail could reach a speed of 19 miles per second.

If the project goes as planned this could revolutionize space travel as we know it.  It is predicted that it would take 5 years to reach Pluto so any type of manned mission still seems a little unrealistic.  Hopefully this will lead us into a direction of real long-distance space travel.

A Really Smart Pen

A new pen is on the market.  I know this does not seem like the most exciting and latest innovation.  Well, this one is really cool.  This pen saves up to 40 pages of text that you physically write down.  You can then upload your text to a computer and reboot the memory on the pen.

This will allow users to protect information so that they will never forget or lose handwritten documents.  It is not complicated for the user and has no buttons or keys to press.  When the cap is taken off the pen, it is activated to start storing data, and when the cap is placed back on it is turned off.  Best of all, it looks, feels and writes just like a normal pen.  Inside the pen some more complicated parts are contained. The built in processor that digitizes your handwriting does so through the use of a digital camera, an advanced image-processing unit and a communication unit.

Personally, I know this pen would come in handy for keeping my various notes organized.  I am constantly losing notes, or gathering to many that I can not keep them organized.  Many times I have tried scanning my notes to get an electronic form which is an inconvenient, lengthy process that produces poor quality digital scans.  

Miracle Spray

A new spray, made of individuals own stem cells is now being used as medication.  Currently this apray has been tested on burn vistims and has shown remarkable reuslts.  The University of Utah pilot project removes red blood cells, and then takes a concentrate of platelets and progenitor, which is combined with calcium and thrombin to produce a jelly like substance.

One such example of the sprays success was healing a severe burn on the foot of a man with daibetes.  The mans burn was and open wound for many months and would heal, leaving it open to the possibility of infection.  After this spray was applied the skin rapidly improved. Another women with a severe burn and a failed skin graft.  With the second graft, and the application of the spray, the graft took and she was on her way to recovery.

The military has been keeping updated on the progress of these experiments.  They are very interested in how it could help the health of soldiers in battle.  As the project progresses we will hopefully learn more applictions for this miracle spray.

New Age Silicone Armor

A new product by Dow Corning called Deflexion will be the future of high performance protective textiles.  This silicone material remains soft and flexible under normal conditions, but when an impact occurs the material absorbs and disperses the shock.  Basically, this material provided protection with out the stiffness of conventional padding.

Currently there are a number of applications for this new silicone technology.  It is currently being used as motorcycle gear, sport's goalie pads, soccer shin guards, computer and electronics cases, reinforced luggage, skateboarding shoes and a number of other  markets.  In the future it is even possible that the military will be interested in using this technology as body armor in combat.

The Real Rocket Man

On November 5, 2010 a Swiss man, Yves Rossy, performed the world's first aerial loops by the power of a jet pack.  The idea of small compact jet packs worn on an individuals back has been seen in such movies as  "The Rocketeer", "Star Wars" and "Thunderball."  All of this movies depict the pilot flying through the air with ease with complete control of this flying machine.  Until now this has been pretty far from the truth.  

Yves Rossy and the RAUG Company have been working together to create new versions of the jet-pack  to become more aerodynamic and stable.  In 2008 Rossy flew across the English Channel but the recent advances in design have allowed him to perform his first aerial acrobatics. As seen in the picture above the jet pack is not quite as small and agile as many films depict.  As the technology of this jet propulsion advances it will definitely catch the interest on military, thrill seekers, and possibly even the transportation industry.

Mechanical Insects

The United States Advanced Research Projects Agency is funding a research project at Harvard University to develop robotic insects. They have already achieved the task of making a 60 milligram robotic, with a 3 centimeter wingspan fly.  They are hopeful that one day these machines can acts as spies, surveillance robots for battle fields and urban environments, and detectors of harmful chemicals.  Recreating a fly's movements with artificial parts could not be done using existing manufacturing processes.  It was simply not possible to scale down existing mechanical parts, it would not have given them the performance needed.  

Along with help from researchers at the University of California Berkeley a new fabrication process was developed.  This involved using laser micromachining tools to cut thin sheets of carbon fiber and polymer.  The careful arrangement of these sheets allowed the team to create functional parts.  These tiny parts placed together gave the robot the ability to bend and rotate as an actual fly's body would.  It was also necessary to create parts that would respond to electrical signals.  The electro active polymers used change shape as when exposed to voltage allowing the fly's to be controlled.  The movements are still limited and are currently being worked on.  They also plan to scale down a lythium-polymer battery.  Along with the addition of chemical sensors there are many problems still yet to work out but it seems that some day soon this technology will be in full swing.

Expanding the Space Industry

A Russian company by the name of Orbital Technologies plans to launch the world's first Commercial Space Station.  They plan for this to be an orbiting hotel that will be open to private citizens, scientists and astronauts.  The space station is expected to be operational by 2016.  Once in space it will be able to hold 7 visitors at once.  There are two main markets that the company anticipates customers from.  The first is space tourism.  It is anticipated that space travel will begin to become popular in the future as a recreational activity.  The other market would be or scientific research, such as medical experimentation and earth observation.  The space station will be built to allow docking with US, European, and Russian space shuttles.