Important Innovations

The Pegasus 1 - Winning Personal Flying Machine It's a Y6 tilt rotor with wing, hybrid powertrain and a cruising speed of 70 knots.  The Pegasus 1 is a top 10 winner in Boeing's GoFly International.  It's the creation of USA Team Scoop and captain Alex Smolen, who is a self-taught programmer with experience flying and building multicopters. Personal Flight Smolen sees the Pegasus as the first step toward fun and simple personal flight.  He thinks anyone can fly the vehicle for 30 minutes and will find it a wonder to fly. Tech Specs The vehicle has 6 propellers.  When it hovers, they lift Pegasus off the ground, slowly and in any direction like a drone.  To cruise, the propellers tilt giving it lift and thrust.  As it accelerates, the wings give additional lift making it fly like a plane. Pegasus 1 Promise Team Scoop and Alex Smolen are now building their concept into a flyable prototype to compete against 10 other teams in the GoFly competition...

Reversing Extinction Through artificial insemination, a southern white rhino named Victoria is pregnant at the San Diego Zoo.  This pregnancy is a major triumph for a species tettering on extinction.  Researchers hope Victoria can save the northern white rhino sub-species. Poaching Decimated the Herds The last northern white male rhino died 2 months ago of old age and illness in Kenya.  But the northern white herd has been decimated by poachers.  Victoria needs to carry her calf to term 16 to 18 months.  If she does, she could serve as a surrogate mother for the northern white rhino. She's one of 6 female southern white rhinos at the Zoo whom scientists hope can serve as surrogate mothers for the northern white.  There are only 2 female northern white rhinos left in existence.  They're in Kenya but incapable of bearing a calf. Genetic Technology at Work to Save a Species There are no northern white rhino eggs.  Scientists are u...

Japan's Tetra 3 for Personal Flying This Boeing GoFly, Top Ten winner is so cool it looks like its ready for Star Wars adventures.  It's called Tetra 3 and is the concept design created by Team Tetra of Japan.  It clearly looks like a flying motorbike.  The operator rides it like a motorcycle. And according to Team Tetra Captain Tasuka Nakai, the operator can work it and fly it like a video game. Fun and Easy to Fly The Japanese team says the Tetra 3 is easy for anyone to fly.  An electric motor powers the propellers.  The device can hover, take off and land vertically and fly horizontally, much like a plane with fixed wings.  To win the competition, it also has to fly non-stop at least 20 miles, safely, with minimal noise and comply with the international competition's size standards. Takeoff Time The rubber is hitting the road.  The futuristic, Star Wars-like Tetra 3 is now being built into a working prototype to fly for the gold.  $2 ...

International Study Finds Global Marine Protected Areas Inefficient Unbelievably, 36 years after global marine protected areas were established, international experts have just concluded they are inefficient.  Global conservation targets set back in 1982, that provide today's foundation, are inadequate, too expensive, inefficient and at times just not working. Global Expert Evaluation A collaboration involving University of Hamburg, Wildlife Conservation Society, University of Queensland and the Nature Conservancy assessed the efficiency of marine protected areas, which equal 16% of national waters around the world. Findings At Times Disappointing They found protected areas missed many unique ecosystems and have greater impact on fisheries than necessary.  Many protected areas are too expensive and in the wrong places. International targets call for protection of at least 10% of all the world's oceans and all marine ecosystems.  Right now, half of all marine eco...

The Vantage - Personal Flying Machine With British Accent The captain of the British team Leap defines their personal flying machine The Vantage as a 5-rotor air bike.  It's also a top ten contender in Boeing's GoFly International Competition of personal flying machine prototypes. Loaded with Engineering This concept's design and technical specifications are stunning.  It has an internal combustion engine that produces electric power from a generator.  5 electric motors drive a rotor that keeps Vantage airborne.  2 more rotor-motor combos give it forward thrust.  And each rotor can be controlled independently. Real Deal - No Fairy Dust Captain Bruno Howard says "no need for fairy dust".  It's made of real components you can buy today.  He adds the principles of safety, controllability and redundancy are built into its design.  Team Leap is now building a working prototype with vertical takeoff and landing, low noise, able to fly non-s...

Boeing GoFly Top 10 Winner - The Hummingbuzz It's a personal flying vehicle with distinctive design and technical specifications that won top 10 status in Boeing's GoFly International Personal Flying Machine competition.  The Hummingbuzz is straight out of Georgia Tech. All Electric Flying Fan True, it looks like a flying fan with a motorcycle on top of it.  The rider sits on top of the motor bike that also houses a battery pack.  The vehicle is an all-electric, ducted fan equipped with counter-rotating coaxial rotors. Boeing Boeing believes that personal flying machines will be part of the transportation mix in the not-to-distant future.  That's one of the reasons their GoFly international competition with teams developing top, workable prototype vehicles, has $2 million in prizes.  The top 10 competitors from an initial field of 160 teams are now converting their designs and technical specifications into working prototypes. The vehicles must have ve...

NASA's Ikhana NASA has recently flown a large aircraft that is remotely-piloted unaccompanied in commercial airspace.  It's called Ikhana and it flew through Class-A airspace where commercial airlines fly.  Large, unmanned aircraft that are remotely piloted like Ikhana have required a safety chase aircraft as it travels through airspace used by commercial planes.  Not so for Ikhana. Great Significance NASA worked closely with the FAA for months to ensure safety and a successful maiden flight. It went off without a hitch and moves the US steps closer to normalizing unmanned aircraft operations in the commercial and private pilot airspace. New Roles for Unmanned Aircraft like Ikhana This successful flight opens the doors to service roles like fighting forest fires and new emergency search and rescue operations.  According to NASA test pilot Scott Howe, "We're flying with a suite of sophisticated technology that greatly enhances the safety capabilities of pilo...