Bili Buzz - Popular Science, Nature, Medicine, Archeology, Future & Myths

Manipulating virtual objects on a computer screen is no big deal—we all do it daily. But haptic, or touch-based, interfaces add another dimension to that experience, relaying a sense of touch to the user. Now Carnegie Mellon researcher Ralph Hollis and his team have produced a set of advanced, magnetic-levitation-based haptic interfaces that they say produce the most realistic sense of touch of any device of its kind in the world.

The group has been working on the design for more than a decade, and they’ve now produced ten of the strange contraptions, which look something like a computer mouse floating in the center of a miniature inner tube . . . actually, forget the description, just check out the video demo from Carnegie Mellon below. One of the advantages of the maglev technology is that it reduces friction and other interference. So, even though the user is manipulating something in the real, physical world, the device makes it feel as close to virtual as possible. Generally, haptic technology could help in a variety of fields, including medicine, robotics, tele-operation and basic research into understanding the human sense of touch.

DARPA plans to test whether a group of mini-spacecraft can do the work of a larger satellite.

It’s a name only a government agency could love: the Future, Fast, Flexible, Fractionated, Free-Flying Spacecraft United by Information eXchange. Could DARPA possibly come up with a more tortured title for System F6?

Still, the name says something about the concept: using a team of small spacecraft to do the work of a single (bigger, more expensive, more vulnerable, less capable) satellite. DARPA has been talking about spacecraft clusters for years, but now the agency is planning to put some money where its mouth is. Earlier this week, DARPA gave Boeing Advanced Systems a $12-million-plus contract to demonstrate initial technologies for the concept; an on-orbit demonstration is planned for 2011.

For System F7, we hope DARPA will add a little Fun.

The maiden voyage of an unusual ship suggests promise for alternatives to fuel

With oil prices recently breaking the psychologically important barrier of $100 per barrel, commuters aren’t the only ones feeling the heat. Cargo vessels are responsible for moving 98% of all intercontinental goods, and a transatlantic crossing on fully-loaded 200-meter ship is not light on the diesel consumption. So far, at least two companies promise to deliver a technology not seen on massive ocean-going ships in quite some time: the sail.

We’ve written about one of those companies, SkySails, previously, and it recently completed its maiden transatlantic voyage to test the new system. The sail device looks like a puffy hang glider, about the size of a football field. It’s attached to the bow of a container ship by a high-strength carbon fiber rope and flies upwards of 100-300 meters into the sky. What makes it different from a traditional sail catching the wind is that the SkySail acts as a giant wing creating lift and translating that to a pulling force on the ship. The sail is controlled by a pod attached between the sail and the connecting rope, which automatically adjusts the angle and position of the sail to provide the most power to the ship. It can even operate at up to a fifty degree angle against the wind.

The company claims the sail is three times as efficient as fixed sails and that that efficiency only increases as the sail flies higher, taking advantage of winds not apparent at sea level. It promises to reduce annual fuel costs by 10-35%, which is great news for shipping companies; not to mention for the rest of us—burnt shipping fuel is estimated to account for 4% of global carbon dioxide emissions.