Aircraft with Hybrid Engine Can Recharge in Flight

Researchers from the University of Cambridge, in association with Boeing, have successfully tested the first aircraft to be powered by a parallel hybrid-electric propulsion system, where an electric motor and gas engine work together to drive the propeller. The demonstrator aircraft uses up to 30% less fuel than a comparable plane with a gas-only engine. The aircraft is also able to recharge its batteries in flight, the first time this has been achieved.

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You Can Finally Build a Robot Army Using Cheap Plastic Drinking Straws

You Can Finally Build a Robot Army Using Cheap Plastic Drinking Straws

Early last year a Kickstarter project for a product called Strawbees that turned ordinary drinking straws into a giant building toy rocketed past its modest funding goal. And in the same way that Mindstorms brings ordinary Lego to life, the Quirkbot wants to bring those Strawbees to life, letting kids build robots and other animated toys using a few additional electronic components—and of course those plastic drinking straws.

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