Two drones work in tandem to discovered what is behind a brick wall. Credit: Image courtesy of University of California – Santa Barbara

Researchers at UC Santa Barbara Prof. Yasamin Mostofi’s lab have given the 1st demonstration of 3D imaging of objects through walls using ordinary wireless signal. The technique, which involves 2 drones working in tandem, could have a variety of applications, such as search-and-rescue, archaeological discovery and structural monitoring. “Our proposed approach has enabled unmanned aerial vehicles to image details through walls in 3D with only WiFi signals,” said Mostofi, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at UCSB...

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...

The extreme temperature of these unusual planets … allows the magnetic field to be coupled to the atmospheric winds Credit: Newcastle University

It is now possible to measure the magnetic field strengths of the hottest planets in the galaxy, new research has shown. Studying ‘hot Jupiters’, experts from Newcastle University, UK, have shown the planets’ magnetic field is responsible for the unusual behaviour of the atmospheric winds which move around it. Instead of moving in an eastward direction as has always been assumed, new observations have shown the winds varied from eastward to westward on the hot planet HAT-P-7b. Using this observation, Dr Tamara Rogers was able to estimate the magnetic field strength of this far-off planet.

Dr Rogers says this new understanding of the magnetic field...