Bullet Train

Image credit: Japaneselifestyle.com

The 500-series Shinkansen Japanese bullet train running between Tokyo and Hakata is one of the fastest trains in the world. It drew its inspiration from owl plumage to reduce air resistance noise and the air piercing nose cone design was inspired by the kingfisher's beak. Owl has saw-toothed wave feathers; they generate small vortexes in the airflow that then breakup the larger vortexes that produce noise. The shape of kingfisher's beak is aerodynamic. Scientists observed the aerodynamics in it and designed the front part of that train like the beak of kingfisher bird.

Lotus Paint

Image credit: Treehugger.com

Lotus leaf, due to the presence of wax, does not retain any water or wax on its upper layer. This is called lotus effect. Based on lotus effect a paint named Lotusan is developed by a German Professor Wilhem Barthlott, from the University of Bonn, which is dirt and water repellent. It has self cleaning properties and excellent resistance to weather, chalk and UV rays. It remains clean even for decades.

Shark Suit (Speedo Fast Skin)

Image credit: Speedo.com

Fast Skin Shark suit is designed by Speedo based on the scales of shark. It has been observed that the reason for the ability of shark to swim fast is nothing but the design of its scales. The shark suit is designed this way to help swimmers by Based on this shark suit is designed which helps the swimmers to swim fast by reducing water friction.

Gecko Tape

Image credit: Newscientist.com

Gecko tape is a gum less tape designed by the Manchester University Scientists. This is designed by the inspiration of the Gecko lizard's ability to climb up walls and walk along ceilings. The Gecko foot has tiny hair-like structures called setae that exhibit van der waals forces.

Mercedes Bionic Concept Car

Image credit: Carbodydesign.com

Mercedes bionic concept car is designed based on the body shape of a boxfish. Boxfish is found in tropical marine habitats. The car has hexagonal shaped body which has less weight and all its parts are also lighter weight. This car can travel 60 km. within eight seconds only. It emits 80% lower nitrogen oxide and consumes 20% lower fuel.

Velcro

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Velcro is the famous brand of the hook-and-loop fasteners that were designed by Swiss Engineer George de Mestral in 1940. He designed it after the observation of how the hooks of the plant burrs stuck in the fur of his dog and his pants. Observation of this under microscope showed him numerous tiny "hooks" that belonged to the plant.

The Eastgate Complex

Image credit: Neatorama.com

The Eastgate Complex located in Harare, Zimbabwe was designed by the Engineers of Arup led by Mick Pearce. This complex is designed with the inspiration from the ventilation design from termite mounds. Termites require their home to remain at an exact temperature of 30.5°C throughout the day even when the temperature ranges from 1°C (during the night) to 40°C (during the day). This complex has natural cooling ventilation process with specially designed hooded windows, variable thickness wall and light colored paints to reduce heat absorption.

Turbine Blades

Image credit: Symscape.com

Flippers of the humpback whales are very efficient in propelling the whales forward despite being so huge. The tubercles of the flippers are the reason for this hydrodynamic efficiency. Biomechanist Frank Fish incorporated this design in Wind Turbine blades and has observed that they produce more energy and less noise at lower speeds compared to their normal smooth edged counterparts.

Smart Fabric

Image credit: Sciencedaily.com

Smart fabric is developed by Britain Researches at the University of Bath's Centre. This new fabric is developed based on the mechanism used by the pine cones to shed their seeds. The smart fabric does the same thing, opening up when it is warm, and shutting tight when cold.

Cat's Eye Reflectors

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

After studying the tapetum lucidum, the reflector cells in cat's eyes that reflect even small amounts of light, Percy Shaw in 1935 designed reflectors that are now being used on roads to mark road margins and lane dividers. The reflectors usually consist two reflector glasses fit into a white rubber dome. This dome is fortified by mounting onto a cast iron holding.
I'm pretty sure that there are many other unexplored designs in nature that would someday be the inspirations for novel products and designs.

However, now; in the year 2008 we are perhaps the closest we have ever been to realising, if not true immortality, life extension the likes of which have never before been possible. While there are numerous moral, social and economical arguments about life extension, none will be discussed in this article. What I will list in this article are five of the most probable advances in technology which offer us vastly extended, or even eternal lives (of a sort).

Cybernetic Immortality or 'Mind Uploading'

The practice of 'scanning' a human brain and recording its state at a given time onto a non-biological substrate is a concept that has been explored by many science fiction writers (notably William Gibson, Peter Hamilton and Ian M. Banks). Whilst this process might arguably fail to preserve a person's consciousness or 'soul', the concept of being able to store a copy of your brain to 'download' a new version of yourself could be considered a form of immortality.

While this process is not yet possible, scientists are continually making progress in the study of the human brain, and the production of computers that work more and more like their biological counterparts. Advances in our understanding of how signals travel and originate in the brain, how data is stored and organised as memories and novel methods of scanning human tissue are all making the possibility of creating a hard copy of someone's consciousness and memories seem more and more real.

Chips have been made which can interface with the brain, or mimic parts of it; neuroscientist Ted Berger of the University of Southern California has produced a microchip (about a millimetre squared in size) which can translate signals from a rat's brain into code it understands, and send signals back in a format the brain can use.

Whilst hardware like this has a long way to go, as does the understanding required to program these signals into useful forms, the progress is tantalizing. Berger predicts that the first human trials of this chip in treating Alzheimer's patients are no more than 15 years away, which means that the first working brain implants could be coming within our lifetimes; indeed, if progress continues at this rate, a full copy of the brain might not be too fantastical an idea after all.

But whilst we're busy replicating the brain, why stop there? Replacement eyes, ears, arms, legs and many other organs are in production as we speak. Artificial hearts are making great progress and an artificial bladder has been produced for the first time ever. This opens up the road for humans to gradually replace parts of themselves as they 'break down', effectively maintaining themselves as one would a car, or even upgrading parts as with a home pc. Nevertheless, the question remains; where does our humanity end? What do we become when we are more machine than man, and if we were to ultimately replace all our parts with superior artificial ones, could we still be considered human?

DNA Therapy and Genetic Engineering

If the body is a machine, DNA is both the schematic and the programming. Every aspect of our lives, from our weight to our happiness, our height, looks, strengths or weaknesses and even personalities are in some way influenced by our DNA. If we could change this schematic, rewrite the code, the possibility of extending and improving our capacity for life would be almost endless.

And science is gradually achieving just that ability. Already the human genome has been sequenced, and over 100 Gigabases (100,000,000,000 bases; the 'letters' of the genetic code) from various species including us have been documented and stored. Whilst we don't yet know the specific function of most of these genes, they are gradually revealing their purposes to us.

Genes have been found which relate to weight gain or loss, inherited disease, physical characteristics, sexual orientation and even ageing. With this knowledge, scans of people's genome could be made which allow personalised medical treatment and diets, and could explain many ailments for which we as of yet have no cure. Changes could be made to the genes which regulate our appetites to discourage overeating, and genes linked to ageing could be modified or replaced to allow us to live longer and repair ourselves more effectively. Genes from other species could be used in our bodies to code for desirable characteristics, and potentially damaging genes which code for inherited disease or malformation can be removed and repaired in the foetus.

Whilst this is all well and good, we've got a long way to go before any of this becomes a reality. Research is going on regarding the changing of an adult's DNA (gene therapy), but progress is slow, whilst the editing of babies' genes, producing 'designer babies' evokes a huge amount of controversy.

Nevertheless, progress is being made, and with every step forwards we come closer to the dream of being able to edit our bodies how we wish to suit our lifestyles and increase longevity. Viruses are being experimented with in the field of gene therapy, where they infect a body and insert or remove genes, and new genes coding for different characteristics are being found every day.

Stem Cell Research

The cells that make up our body invariably age, and die, and are replaced, until old age reduces our ability to replace dead cells to the extent that we cannot keep going, and our life ends.

But what if we could boost that repair system?

Stem cells are a type of cell found in both embryos and adults (though in differing forms). These cells are capable of renewing themselves via mitosis, and can differentiate into a wide range of mature cells, thereby allowing a foetus to develop, and an adult body to repair itself easily.

So what if these cells could be collected or even produced artificially, given to people whose own repair systems need a boost, and stimulated to grow into the cells the patient needs? Ageing could effectively be halted, as organs would not deteriorate and any dead cells could be replaced with fresh ones. Alternatively, these cells could be used to produce entire organs outside of the body, and these could be transplanted as and when a given organ fails. A form of stem cell therapy already exists for some conditions, notably bone marrow transplants for leukaemia patients (allowing the patients to produce new blood cells and immune cells over a long term when their own natural ability to do so has been damaged).

Whilst research into stem cells looks promising, controversy in the field has slowed progress dramatically, both in terms of production and use of the cells. Cells harvested from foetuses are argued to be morally wrong, and opponents of the research argue that embryonic stem cell technologies are a slippery slope to reproductive cloning and could devalue human life. Faked research has been published about the topic, particularly from Korean researcher Hwang Woo-Suk, who announced that he had produced embryonic stem cell lines from unfertilised human eggs; the lines were later shown to be fake.

The possibility of manipulating adult stem cells to act like their embryonic counterparts has, in principle, been demonstrated, but not enough progress has been made to remove the controversy surrounding usage of embryonic cells.

If stem cell research continues, tissue regeneration and age-prevention therapies look to be at least partly possible within our lifetimes.

Cryonics

Cryonics (not to be confused with cryogenics) is the low-temperature preservation of humans and other animals which current medicine cannot sustain, in the hopes that future techniques can be used to repair them.

This method of 'life extension' is already legal and practised in many places in the world (for example, in the USA, where the patient has to be legally deceased and the heart demonstrated to have stopped before preservation is permitted). The patient is pumped full of chemicals called 'cryoprotectants' which prevent damage from ice crystals and the preservation process, and then is cooled to around 77K (-196°C), preserving the body in the state it was in at the time of 'death'.

Whilst dead in legal and conventional terms, and current cryopreservation methods are irreversible with current technology, the hope is that the patient can be resuscitated at some future point, and any damage from either the cause of death or the preservation process itself can be repaired.

Whilst cryopreservation offers an extension to life by making future technologies potentially accessible to the patient, it in itself does not extend life, rather it preserves the body as well as possible at the point of death.

Calorie Restriction

The lowering of energy intake, or calories, when practised in an otherwise healthy diet, has been demonstrated in laboratory experiments to extend the maximum lifespan of almost every species tested so far, including rats, yeast, fruit flies, and nematodes.

In rats, a roughly 50% decrease in calorie intake compared to an animal that freely fed led to an extension of lifespan by the same amount. Experiments on calorie restriction are now being carried out on primates, to see if the same will work with humans, and many scientists are confident that similar results will be seen.

Whilst the other technologies mentioned in this article are not yet scientifically possible, calorie restriction is possible now, for anyone who decides to practice it, and the potential benefits are massive,

Nevertheless, a high level of scepticism exists in the scientific community about the practice, as some scientists suggest that the practice only works in short-lived species which have evolved to respond to feast and famine with alterations in longevity.

Proving that the practice is generally applicable to most species is a challenge, but the results will certainly be seen far before any of the other technologies in this article. Along with calorie restriction, a healthy diet with the right levels of nutrients is perhaps the best form of life extension we have available at this point in time. Whilst this might sound trivial, it is only because of advances in nutritional science that we know what a 'good diet' is, and more progress is expected even here.

Source: Wikimedia | User:Base64

Hong Kong now looks like something out of blade runner or Neuromancer, a vast sprawl of high tech buildings, and lights that bounce off the clouds giving the whole scene an apocalyptic glow. It almost appears unreal, like the still frame from a science fiction movie, one feels the need to take a closer look to see if the brush marks are visible.

This world we live in, has become the science fiction setting that science fiction writers were writing about in the 50s. It's finally here, albeit with a few things not quite as imagined. Space travel for example lies sorely neglected, though we do now have space tourism and spaceports. Flying cars are another science fiction fantasy that just never materialized, due in part to the inability of air traffic control to cope even with planes in the sky, let alone cars. Some day, when humanity has found a cheap source of fuel and has advanced enough computers to manage a profusion of objects moving about the skies, then flying cars may become a reality. Till then we'll just have to content ourselves with Segways zipping about.

Credit: Left: Wikipedia | Right: R.Carson

Segway Personal Transporters are another technological marvel; two wheeled, they keep their balance when you stand on it, and zip forwards when you lean forwards and slow down as you tilt back. Now police in various countries use them, in various incarnations such as the Segway Assault Service (SAS). The storm troopers of many a dark sci-fi tale have arrived. Though for the moment confined mainly to airports and large citys, it seems certain that Segway mounted police offers will soon become a common feature of life everywhere. Segways are also being employed in tourism, with Segway tours of cities available to take in Paris, Chicago, Washington DC, New Orleans, and Atlanta to name but a few.

Credit: NASA-JPL

Though space travel has not proceeded as expected by science fiction writers, we have not been idle. Since the 60s we've been sending numerous probes to every corner of our solar system. We monitor the sun in great detail via the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and have sent probes to Mars in search of life. Millions of people have tuned into the exciting journey undertaken by two probes: Spirit and Opportunity, as they landed on Mars, and began to wander across the martian surface collecting data and taking picture. To everyone's amazement, they not only lasted beyond their 3 month warranties, but they just keep on going - and in the years since they first arrived have brought back a wealth of information that helps us to unravel the mystery of Mars. All this effort is designed with one important question in mind: 'was there ever life on Mars?'

Credit: NASA-JPL

Science fiction writers of the past would surely be delighted by the images that hubble has been bringing in of the Universe. Thanks to this availability of scientific data our understanding of the universe has never been better, and physicists are inching closer to discovering a Theory of Everything.

As we inch closer to these answers, scientists are able to formulate more and more accurate theories to describe the universe and its creation. The current best candidate for a Theory of Everything is String Theory, an elegant and beautiful theory that tells us that all matter is composed of strings of energy that vibrate, and all the different types of matter are the notes that are played upon these strings, while the laws of physics could be compared to the harmonies and symphones that can be played in this cosmic orchestra. Whether string theory is right or not, we do not yet know... time will tell.

In the meantime we can still enjoy the marvellous images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and look forward to the day when we understand in full the processes that led to all the beauty around us.

The Sombrero Galaxy in Infrared Light || Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

The area where we've made the most progress, bounding beyond what even the sf writers were able to imagine is technology. Computers have exploded in popularity, changing in the process from behemoths that take up whole buildings are require megawatts of power and dozens of operators to cheap handheld devices with access to the unlimited knowledge accessible on the Internet. The Internet itself would no doubt be another surprise. While writers envisaged networking applications, it is unlikely anyone envisaged the explosive growth and development of the Internet. Robotics is another area that has advanced, though perhaps not quite as quickly as people envisaged in the 1950s. It turned out the problem of having a robot navigate the ever changing landscapes in which humans are comfortable, would take another 70 years to crack. Meanwhile advances in robotics have brought about the first science fiction style robotic arms, that are actually capable of delicate enough movement that amputees can have a replacement almost as dexterous as the one they lost.

All in all, we have come a long way, and we have an exciting road ahead of us. Who knows what will come next?

Carbon dioxide emissions often abbreviated as CO2, is generated while the airplane is in flight and is the most common greenhouse gas omitted from a powered aircraft. Statistics demonstrate that since the existence of the aviation industry around fifty years ago, not much has change in terms of CO2 emissions. (Figure 1) Study indicates that only a one percent increase since then resulting in a total of two percent by 1992. [1] CO2 is produced by aircrafts through the process of burning fuel. Many researches are trying to find alternative methods such as bio-fuel for aircrafts, as a result trying to maintain the damage done already by carbon dioxide emissions. “Bio-fuel is considered a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing energy security by providing an alternative to fossil fuels.”[2]

Oxides of nitrogen have a very negative effect in the air by large jet airliners around the troposphere because the emission resulting from an aircraft at such a high altitude produces more Oxides, having a greater effect on global warming. Nitrogen Oxide emissions are quiet resourceful as they reduce another greenhouse gas by the name of methane, therefore providing a cooling effect in the climate. The emission omitted in the troposphere forms ozone, which is a deadly poisonous gas , however not much of Nitrogen oxides are produce since only a small quantity of aircrafts fly at such high altitudes (mainly airliners). Engineers are trying to come up with more efficient equipment to facilitate the aircraft with so it can generate less of nitrogen oxides in the air and help to keep it clean.

Lastly, water vapors are the constructed by large jets, flying at high altitudes emit a greenhouse gas known as water vapor. Water vapor itself alone is not as harmful as when it is formed into contrails due to the atmosphere around the aircraft. (Figure 2) Contrails can be seen in the sky from the ground as a result of air coming out from the exhaust of an aircraft (usually a jet) at high altitudes forming into a greenhouse gas in humid or cold atmosphere. The effect of this greenhouse gas is very insignificant compared to the two mentioned above. As technology progresses, so will the aircrafts systems eventually reducing water vapors in the sky as well.

In conclusion, all three greenhouse gases omitted from an aircraft are potentially harmful to the world; however action is being taken by the proper authorities to once and for all reduce the effects of global warming in this world. Aviation is only a small cause of global warming yet so much attention is being diverted to. Therefore, in order to reduce/maintain the levels of global warming one should not point/solve one cause, but all there is to it.

1. IPCC, Aviation and the Global Atmosphere: A Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1999), Cambridge University Press
2. P. J. Crutzen, A. R. Mosier, K. A. Smith. N2O release from agro-bio fuel production negates global warming reduction by replacing fossil fuels.(2007) http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/7/11191/2007/acpd-7-11191-2007.html

Processes used to produce activated carbons with defined properties became available only after 1900. Steam activation was patented by R. von Ostreijko in Britain, France, Germany, and the U.S. from 1900 to 1903. When made from wood, the activated carbon product was called Eponite (1909); when made from peat, it was called Norit (1911). Activated carbon processes began in Holland, Germany, and the U.S., and the products were in all cases a powdered form of activated carbon mainly used for decolorizing sugar solutions. This remained an important use, requiring some 1800 tons each year, into the twenty-first century.

In the U.S., coconut char activated by steam was developed for use in gas masks during World War I. The advantage of using coconut shell was that it was a waste product that could be converted to charcoal in primitive kilns at little cost. By 1923, activated carbon was available from black ash, paper pulp waste residue, and lignite. In 1919, the U.S. Public Health Service conducted experiments on filtration of surface water contaminated with industrial waste through activated carbon. At first, cost considerations militated against the widespread use of activated carbon for water treatment. It was employed at some British works before 1930, and at Hackensack in New Jersey. From that time there was an interest in the application of granular activated carbon in water treatment, and its subsequent use for this purpose grew rapidly. As improved forms became available, activated carbon often replaced sand in water treatment where potable supplies were required.

Coal-based processes for high-grade adsorbent required for use in gas masks originally involved prior pulverization and briquetting under pressure, followed by carbonization, and activation. The process was simplified after 1933 when the British Fuel Research Station in East Greenwich, at the request of the Chemical Research Defence Establishment, began experiments on direct production from coke activated by steam at elevated temperatures. In 1940, Pittsburgh Coke & Iron Company, developed a process for producing granular activated carbon from bituminous coal for use in military gas masks. During World War II, this replaced the coconut char previously obtained from India and the Philippines. The large surface area created by the pores and its mechanical hardness made this new material particularly useful in continuous decolorization processes. The Pittsburgh processes developed by the Pittsburgh Activated Carbon Company were acquired in 1965 by the Calgon Company. In late twentieth century processes, carbon was crushed, mixed with binder, sized and processed in lowtemperature bakers, and subjected to high temperatures in furnaces where the pore structure of the carbon is developed. The activation process can be adjusted to create pores of the required size for a particular application. Activation normally takes place at 800-900_C with steam or carbon dioxide. Powdered activated carbon is suitable for liquid and flue gas applications-the granulated form for the liquid and gas phases, and pelleted activated carbon for the gas phase. Granulated activated carbon is used as a filter medium for contaminated water or air, while the powdered form is mixed into wastewater where it adsorbs the contaminants and is later filtered or settled from the mixture. Activated carbon has also been used in chemical analysis for prior removal and concentration of contaminants in water. Trade names for activated carbon used in these processes are Nuchar and Darco.

Activated carbon has been used in the largescale treatment of liquid waste, of which the effluent from the synthetic dye industry is a good example. Synthetic dye manufacture involves reactions of aromatic chemicals, and the reactants and products are sometimes toxic. In addition to an unpleasant taste and odor imparted to water, this waste is also highly colored, complex, and invariably very difficult to degrade. Fortunately, many of the refractory aromatic compounds are nonpolar, the property that permits adsorption onto activated carbon. In the 1970s, three large dye-making works in New Jersey used activated carbon to remove aromatics and even trace metals such as toxic lead and cadmium from liquid waste. In two cases, powdered activated carbon was added to the activated sludge treatment process to enhance removal of contaminants. In a third case, following biological treatment, the liquid effluent was adsorbed during upward passage in towers packed with granular activated carbon. The spent carbon from this continuous process was regenerated in a furnace, and at the same time the adsorbed waste solute was destroyed.

In 1962, Calgon utilized activated granular carbon for treating drinking water, and at the end of the twentieth century, municipal water purification had become the largest market for activated carbon. The older methods that involved disposal of spent carbon after use were replaced by the continuous processes using granulated activated carbon. By continuous reuse of the regenerated activated carbon, the process is ecologically more desirable. Apart from the inability to remove soluble contaminants (since they are polar) and the need for low concentrations of both organic and inorganic contaminants, the cost of the carbon is the greatest limitation in the continuous process. Activated carbon also found wide application in the pharmaceutical, alcoholic beverage, and electroplating industries; in the removal of pesticides and waste of pesticide manufacture; for treatment of wastewater from petroleum refineries and textile factories; and for remediation of polluted groundwater. Although activated carbons are manufactured for specific uses, it is difficult to characterize them quantitatively. As a result, laboratory trials and pilot plant experiments on a specific waste type normally precede installation of activated carbon facilities.

There is evidence that Chinese and Renaissance Europeans had the design in mind, because among the artefacts found from these civilizations are toys that look like helicopters. History tells us that various inventors have tried to work out a functional helicopter, but the problem was finding an engine that could make a "blade" whirl with enough power to create the "lift" or vertical thrust in order to get off the ground.

Designs by Paul Cornu and Juan de la Cierva

In 1907, a helicopter designed by Paul Cornu was able to get off the ground and in 1923, a Spaniard named Juan de la Cierva successfully flew an "autogiro" but it wasn't until 1930 that a practical craft was developed, worked on by Russian-American Igor Sikorsky, a pioneer of aviation.

Early Life of Sikorsky 

Sikorsky lived a life with prominent parents and closely allied with the tsar. He was born in Kiev on May 25, 1889. As a boy, he took interest in da Vinci's aeronautical drawings particularly the helicopter, and pursued an education focused on aeronautics. Growing as a teenager, he studied in Germany then travelled to Paris known for the best learning in aeronautical design concepts that time. 

Sikorsky's Design and Experiments 

While in Paris he bought a 25 horsepower (hp) engine to power a single-blade design he had created. However, he had the same problem and need like his predecessors had: a sturdy-enough vertical thrust to get the craft off the ground.

For a while, he dropped his experiments and designed other fixed-wing aircraft, including military craft such as bombers, for the Tsarist Imperial Army. Much identified with the tsar, he was one of the "marked" people when the communists came to power. He fled Russia giving up his aeronautical career, and ended in France.

Sikorsky's Bomber Commision for World War I

In France, Sikorsky was commissioned to build a bomber for the Allies' use in World War I, but since the armistice was signed in 1918, he didn't get to finish it. The following year, he left for the US, in New York. For the next 10 years, from 1920, he started his own company, Sikorsky Aero Engineering Corporation. He developed fixed-wing airplanes. finally, in the 1930s he returned to his original dream of designing a flying helicopter.

Sikorsky's Successful Launch, 1939

Sikorsky applied to United Aircraft to finance his projects. On September 14, 1939, he climbed into what was truly the first single-rotor helicopter, powered by a 75 hp engine turning an automobile fan belt that turned the blades. His dream machine lifted and flew.

World War II's  VS-300 (R-4)

During World War II, "VS-300" came out – the first helicopter. The US Army ordered a variation calling it the "R-4." Although it wasn't used greatly in World War II, it was availed of in 1950, when Korean War started.

The helicopter became an essential air transport most especially because it could land in areas where other aircrafts could not. In particular, Sikorsky was most pleased of the helicopter's ability to save lives rather than destroy.    

Most robots are made up of five major components like human beings and animals.

• A body structure
• A muscle system to move the body structure
• A sensory system that receives information about the body and the surrounding environment
• A power source to activate the muscles and sensors
• A brain system that processes sensory information and tells the muscles what to do

But of course human beings have some intangible attributes, such as intelligence and morality. But on the sheer physical level, robots and human beings or animals are likely the same. Robots even replicated human and animal behaviours.

But to consider the name “Robots,” which comes from the Czech word robota, meaning “forced labour.” They sometimes live up that way as define above, a “benevolent partners or helpmates.” Imagine a worker who is always on the job, who never complains, and who can work tirelessly 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Well, industrial robots are doing just that as they a host of automotive, electrical, and household items. And now, they even come equipped with such things: voice-recognition software, gyroscopes, wireless data communication, Global Positioning Systems, and a range of sensors including those for heat, force, ultrasound, chemicals, and radiation. More powerful and versatile than ever, performing complicated tasks in helping human activities.

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Nevertheless, until the early 20th century, no form of reliable, powered flight had been achieved. Then in a short one hundred years, aviation technology was transformed from the often unreliable wooden, cloth-covered biplanes to supersonic jets and international airliners. What was it that provoked such rapid progress?

The first powered, controlled, heavier-than-air flight was achieved on December 17, 1903 by Orville Wright. The flight lasted twelve seconds and covered 36 metres. Later flights by Orville, and brother Wilbur, covered greater distances and by 1905, they were making flights of thirty minutes, and astonishing incredulous reporters all over the world.

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In the years between 1903 and the First World War, aviation was in its infancy. Aeroplanes were novelties, and were constructed in wildly differing designs, which flew with varying degrees of success, but the traditional monoplane or biplane design was soon accepted as the most practical. These were usually powered with a single, wooden, twin-bladed propeller; which was mounted on the nose (tractor), or behind the pilot (pusher). It was in this period, from 1903 to 1914, that Louis Bleriot made his historic flight across the English channel in his twenty-five horsepower monoplane on July 25, 1909. From this landmark achievement onwards, aviation began advancing rapidly; as daring men and women in aircraft that rapidly pushed the envelope of technological advancements, tested the limits of human endurance. What driving force motivated these unique individuals we can only guess.

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Several events during the 20th century boosted the development of aviation. The first of these was World War One. This was the first human conflict in which heavier-than-air, flying craft were utilised. (Anchored hot-air balloons, called the Zeppelin, were used as observation platforms in several 19th century wars.) WWI sped up the advances that were already being made in aviation, as both sides raced to build faster, more maneuverable, and more reliable fighting craft. The war also introduced the use of bigger, mainly twin-engined aircraft capable of carrying heavy loads, and excellent for use as bombers. The English plane, the Vickers Vimy was one example. It was a twin-engined biplane with a double tail, equipped with machine-guns to fend off attacking German fighters.

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It was during the First World War that such legendary fighter-planes as the English Sopwith Camel and the German Fokker Dr 1 Triplane were developed. The war also helped the development of trainer aircraft such as the American Curtiss JN-4 Jenny, which, after the war, became famous as the perfect "barnstormer"s' aeroplane. It was in two of these craft that Tex Marshall and Frank Palmer made their famous crossing of the USA from Florida to Ohio in 1920.

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The development of civilian uses for aviation progressed rapidly after the First World War. Aeroplanes were regularly used for the delivery of mail, and airline services began in 1919. Early airlines operated biplanes that carried only a limited number of passengers, but soon larger aircraft such as the Farman Goliath began service in the 1920s. The period of general prosperity that followed the war and came before the Great Depression helped ensure a good start to civilian aviation.

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By the 1930s, civil aviation had progressed to such a degree that metal-skinned, twin-engined passenger planes such as the famous Douglas DC-3 were in operation. Huge flying boats-aeroplanes whose hulls were designed for landing on water-equipped with up to four engines carried mail and passengers during the these years. One of these was the Pan American Airways' Martin M-130, a four-engined flying boat. The advancements in aviation during the inter-war years portray man's urge to conquer one of the last frontiers of human civilisation.

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Then came World War Two. This halted the operation of many civil airlines, but it also acted in much the same way as the earlier conflict, in boosting the growth of both military and civil aviation. By the time war broke out, military aircraft had entered an entirely new realm. Single-engined fighters capable of speeds of over 300 miles per hour were already in service in air forces before 1939. Faster, and more maneuverable than WWI fighters, these aircraft show-cased the years of development between the wars. Famous aeroplanes such as the British Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire, the German Messerschmitt Bf 109 and later the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, and the American P-51 Mustang heralded a new kind of warfare, as these planes had far greater potential in war than ever before. They were equipped with machine-guns initially, and later wing cannon were added. Some WWII fighters could also carry bombs on external bomb racks, giving many fighters a broader tactical role.

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World War Two saw the introduction of large multi-engined bombers such as the British Avro Lancaster, and the American Consolidated B-24 Liberator. The German counterparts included the Junkers Ju 87B, and the Dornier Do 17Z. The war also utilised large numbers of cargo planes-and continuously developed them, thus helping to advance technology, creating the ability to transport larger amounts of cargo over longer distances.

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The end of WWII marked the introduction of jet propulsion, first exploited by Nazi Germany. The development of the Messerschmitt Me 262 was among the first of the jet fighters. This was a cutting edge development that has become a turning point in aviation history. Jet propulsion has made faster and more reliable flight a normal part of modern life.

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In 1947, man first flew above the speed of sound. This major break-through meant that future fighters and tactical strike bombers could travel faster, and over longer distances. Chuck E. Yeager, flying the Bell X-1 rocket plane, achieved supersonic flight over Roger's Dry Lake in southern California on October 14. This was an undreamt of achievement when the Wright brothers first achieved controlled, sustained flight just 44 years before. If in less than fifty years aviation progressed that far, what will aviation be like fifty years from now?

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Five years after the end of WWII came the Korean War in 1950. By this time, jet fighters had become the leading edge in air warfare. The Korean War was the first conflict to see regular combat between jet fighters. American F-86 Sabres engaged North Korean MiG-15s in the skies over Korea. These aircraft travelled at even higher speeds than those of WWII, and were equipped with ejector seats-emergency escape measures that enabled pilots of damaged fighters to bail out and parachute to the ground.

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Since then, military aircraft have become more and more sophisticated, so that now, jet fighters travel at supersonic speeds, and fire air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles as well as the more traditional rapid-fire cannon.

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Civil aviation has also progressed rapidly. In the years following WWII and the Korean War, airlines emerged with propeller-driven aircraft capable of travelling long distances. These, however, were soon superseded by early jet-propelled craft, capable of higher speeds and greater efficiency. Soon the multi-engined jet passenger aeroplanes we know today had become the leaders in civil air transport. The modern jet airliner, the Boeing 747-400, travels at 565mph (910kph), and seats 568 passengers.

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In the first half of the 20th century, two World Wars and a growing interest in aviation helped create the technological advances that evolved so rapidly. One indicator of this is the fact that Orville Wright, the first man to achieve powered, controlled flight, was still alive when supersonic flight achieved in 1947.

In the second half of the 20th century aviation progressed beyond the bounds of earths atmosphere when on October 4, 1957, the USSR launched the first artificial satellite in orbit above the earth. Since that historic date, aviation entered the next stage of development-beyond the bounds of the earth.

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The advances that have been made in recent years in the realm of space exploration beg one enigmatic question: what next? What limits will the human race have surpassed in the next few generations? Only time will tell.

Anyone who's ever played a videogame or watched/read ANY science fiction will probably be familiar with rail guns. The idea is simple; you have two rails running parallel to each other. You pass a charge through them (negative one way, positive the other), and thanks to the joy of physics, the resultant magnetic force runs parallel to the rails. Fleming's right hand rule, to all the physicists out there! Put something ferrous in there and bingo, the magnetic force will push it at high speed. Build a big enough system and pump enough energy into it and you can get a very long rage, very high muzzle velocity weapon.

I still don't get why my secondary school wouldn't let me build a coil gun (same idea, but with a wire coil rather than rails) for my A-level physics project…

Is it likely to happen any time soon?

Well you can build one for about £500 in your back garden if you want. Seriously. It wouldn't be very powerful, but you could blow apart blocks of wood with it with ease. It's unlikely that rail guns will become mainstream infantry weapons for a while, but many defense companies have created and tested (very successfully) prototype ship based rail guns. The US currently hopes to develop rail guns to the point where they can be mounted on battleships to replace tomahawk cruise missiles. They would have an equivalent (possibly longer) range, and do about the same damage. Accuracy would also not be a huge issue as rail guns have a predictable trajectory thanks to their speed.

Current tests indicate that a ship mounted rail gun will have an accurate range of 200 miles, allowing for a parabolic trajectory. At closer ranges it will be even more deadly, as it can delivery almost all of its initial energy into the target. Here's a video to break up the monomoty of reading:

I reckon that we'll see these deployed on ships by 2020.

Rail guns could also carry different kinds of "warhead". If you need a bunker buster, then you can just leave a solid, heavy metal cap on the end of the shell. If you need to cause damage over a large area (say shelling an outpost), then you can place a head filled with ball bearings onto the end of the round, and stick some explosives into it. You basically turn the entire round into a hypersonic shotgun. Using a similar idea but with lots more lighter ball bearings, you can create an airburst round to shoot down aircraft.

As far as infantry rail guns go, I doubt we'll be seeing any time soon. The amount of power required for these babies means that chemical propellants will remain the dominant force for some time. Smaller vehicle mounted rail guns though… Now that's a possibility. Maybe within the next sixty years.

Have you been interested by this?

There are other articles related to this one that you can view!

• Rail guns
• Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computers
• Orbital Weapons
• Nanotechnology
• Time Travel

 

The procedure involves bending light around three dimensional objects. In the past, it has been possible to cloak (bend light around) two dimensional, thin objects. With the new technology, larger objects can be made easier to hide from view.

The reason we can see objects now is that the objects tend to scatter the light which strikes them, causing some of the light to reflect back to the eye. This new cloaking concept is similar to water flowing around a rock in a moving stream. The light waves as well as radar waves tend to go around the object rather than reflecting it.

The materials used in this procedure are referred to as metamaterials and include Teflon, ceramic and fiber composite. These metamaterials mixtures are designed to bend the light around objects and not create shadows or create reflections.

This concept, in some ways, resembles stealth technology although it does more than reducing its ability to be traced by radar. It actually makes light go around objects so they cannot be seen at all.