U.S. Steel Corp. reported it swung to a first-quarter profit despite a decline in shipments and generally weaker prices, as the company cut expenses and booked charges a year ago.
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Woman sues parents of cyclist she killed with her SUV, complaining “her enjoyment of life has been be lessened”
One boy dead, another severely hurt, but she is going after $1.35 million because she has sustained "a severe shock to her system."
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Here’s how much UN scientists think we should cut our meat and dairy consumption
A new report examines the environmental and health impacts of consuming animals products.
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‘Have Mercy On Our Little Ones’: Kidnapping Agonizes Nigerians
More than 200 schoolgirls were taken from a remote town, horrifying the country. The government has been blamed for an inadequate response to the kidnapping, and to extremism in general.
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Invention Awards 2014: A Personal Electric Airplane That Won’t Need A Runway
S2
Illustration by Benjamin Louis
More than half of all personal aircraft accidents occur during takeoffs or landings. That’s why inventor and entrepreneur JoeBen Bevirt—known for designing airplane-like wind energy turbines—is intent on making runways obsolete. Bevirt, 40, has mobilized his wind energy team to create a personal electric airplane called S2 that takes off vertically, like a helicopter, and flies aerodynamically, like an airplane.
No full-scale prototype exists yet, but Bevirt and his team have built about two dozen 10-pound models to demonstrate their concept works. NASA has taken notice and is now funding the development of a 55-pound unmanned aerial vehicle. Supercomputer simulations of a full-scale, 1,700-pound S2 suggest it could fly two people about 200 miles (New York City to Boston) in an hour on 50 kilowatt-hours of electricity, or roughly equivalent to 1.5 gallons of fuel used by a typical two-seat airplane—which would make the new aircraft about five times more efficient.
S2 wouldn’t have been possible just a decade ago, says Bevirt, who believes new compact and efficient motors, ever-increasing power density in batteries, smarter control systems, and tinier sensors mean his plane will soon be a reality. “There has never been a better time to be an aircraft designer,†he says.Â
SAFETY AND EFFICIENCY
A dozen compact electric motors operate three times more efficiently than a typical personal airplane’s combustion engines. Bonus: More motors improve redundancy and lower the risk of accidents.
FLEXIBILITY
Retractable arms reposition the motors to transition between vertical takeoff, forward flight, and landing.
CONTROL
Computers adjust motor speed 4,000 times per second to optimize efficiency, reduce noise, and improve flight control.
Lead Inventor:Â JoeBen Bevirt
Development Cost To Date: "Several million dollars"
Company: Joby Aviation
Market Maturity: •••••
Â
This article originally appeared in the May 2014 issue of Popular Science.
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Electronics Owners: Get $10 in a DRAM Class Action Settlement
If you owned any electronic device that had DRAM in it, a price fixing class action settlement could pay you at least $10. Here’s how to find out if you qualify.
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There’s a Disney World For Disasters That Trains Emergency Responders
The main attraction in Kansas’s Crisis City, a disaster simulation zone, is a giant pile of rubble. It isn’t easy, you know, to make rubble that is 1) structurally sound enough for trainees to crawl over safely and 2) structurally unsound enough to simulate a real disaster.
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