Category Technology/Electronics

1. The company expects to produce between 50 and 100 vehicles in 2019. PHOTO: AFPA prototype of a Dutch flying car at the headquarters of the PAL-V firm, which is aiming to deliver its first car in 2018.
2. A simulator demonstrates the PAL-V flying car, which can fly 400 to 500 kilometres (248 to 310 miles) at an altitude of up to 3,500 metres (11,500 feet)
3. Chief Marketing Officer Markus Hess of flying car developer PAL-V says the firm expects to produce several hundred cars by 2020

While several futuristic projects are under way in different countries, a Dutch design may be the first one sold and soaring into the skies. After years of testing, the PAL-V company aims to pip its competitors to the post...

Illustration of DeployBots deploying themselves on a planet for space exploration. Credit: Wang et al. ©2017 Royal Society of Chemistry

The new robot can move itself without motors or any additional mechanical components. The robot “walks” when an electric current is applied to shape-memory alloy wires embedded in its frame: the current heats the wires, causing the robot’s flexible segments to contract and bend. Sequentially controlling the current to various segments in different ways results in different walking gaits.

The researchers expect that the robot’s ability to be easily deployed, along with its low mass, low cost, load-bearing ability, compact size, and ability to be reconfigured into different forms may make it useful for applications such as space missions, seabed exploration...

Open Water Power’s battery that “drinks” in sea water to operate is safer and cheaper, and provides a tenfold increase in range, over traditional lithium-ion batteries used for unpiloted underwater vehicles. The power system consists of an alloyed aluminum anode, an alloyed cathode, and an alkaline electrolyte positioned between the electrodes. Components are only activated when flooded with water. Once the aluminum anode corrodes, it can be replaced at low cost. Credit: Open Water Power

The long range of airborne drones helps them perform critical tasks in the skies. Now MIT spinout Open Water Power (OWP) aims to greatly improve the range of unpiloted underwater vehicles (UUVs), helping them better perform in a range of applications under the sea...

Materials scientists at Argonne National Laboratory synthesized single crystals of a metallic trilayer nickelate compound, which shows similarities to a technologically valuable class of materials called high-temperature superconductors — and with the right ingredients, could potentially become one. Above: The crystal structure of such a compound. Credit: Zhang et. al

A team at DOE Argonne National Laboratory has identified a nickel oxide compound as an unconventional but promising candidate material for high-temperature superconductivity. The team successfully synthesized single crystals of a metallic trilayer nickelate compound, a feat the researchers believe to be a first. “It’s poised for superconductivity in a way not found in other nickel oxides...