Transportation

Avid jet-setters aspiring for something more should check out Virgin America's new Mission: Galactic contest. Whoever earns the most status points with their Elevate loyalty program by August 7, 2013 earns a Virgin Galactic suborbital space flight aboard SpaceShipTwo spaceplane. … Read more

A team of researchers working for security company McAfee are considering the ways to protect vehicles from security threats, Reuters reports.

As automakers add more and more technology to their vehicles, they're also making them increasingly vulnerable to the same security flaws that affect PCs and mobile devices.

While the effects -- and likelihood -- of remote attacks are unknown, flaws in cars' systems could theoretically be exploited to steal the vehicle, eavesdrop on a driver's conversation, or even lead to navigation systems becoming confused and potentially cause accidents.

Studies have already proven that it is technically possible … Read more

Short on revenue but a beat on profit -- bottom line: Wall Street liked what it heard from Tesla about its second quarter.

The luxury electric car maker posted a non-GAAP loss of $93 million, or $0.89 per share, 3 cents better than Wall Street expected, on $27 million in sales during the second quarter. The consensus revenue estimate was $30.9 million.

The loss was slightly better than expectations, though the sales figure came in light as analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of 93 cents a share on revenue of $30.7 million. Tesla also … Read more

Ever had the experience of being in a subway and feeling completely disconnected from the world outside? A group of British design students has dreamed up Canopy, a concept display system that would attach to the ceiling of an underground train to give passengers a picture of life above.

Canopy uses dynamic flexible "e-paper" display panels affixed to the interior of the train. As a train moves along its line, commuters get a view of passing landmarks, a sight that could definitely brighten a stodgy ride. (Then again, it could be a bit dispiriting to watch the world stroll happily down a breezy tree-lined street while you're stuck sweating in a crowded, stalled train.) … Read more

Steve Jurvetson says electric vehicles are undoubtedly the cars of the future. Not too surprising, given that his VC firm, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, was an early investor in electric vehicle company Tesla Motors. But to really get an idea of how passionate he is about EVs, you have to hear the story about how he wound up getting the keys to the new Model S -- beating out even Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Musk had been dodging Jurvetson's numerous requests to put down a deposit on the car, saying that reservations for the vehicle couldn't be taken until … Read more

Every innovator is thinking about what's next. But it's the ones who are thinking about what's after what's next that are the true visionaries and disrupters.

Bill Ford is one those.

In the 1980s and '90s, when most of the auto companies were building bigger and bigger vehicles and the public was gobbling up huge SUVs, Bill Ford was trying to convince Ford Motor Company to build more fuel-efficient, environmentally friendly cars and trucks. He was almost completely stonewalled by the executives at Ford.

However, he's now the executive chairman of the company that his … Read more

From printable bones and blood vessels, to printable drugs and household robots, 3D printing is developing in leaps and bounds.

Now, the scale of three-dimensional printing could get even bigger.

Forbes reports that over the last two years an Airbus cabin designer, Bastian Schafer, has been working on a concept plane that could be constructed from the ground up -- using an incredibly large 3D printer.

Most 3D printers available today are no larger than your average dining table -- but Schafer aims first to not only print the smaller components of an aircraft, but by 2050, to print the … Read more

Gentlemen, start your Lego jet engine. Created by Rolls-Royce and unveiled at the Farnborough International Airshow in England yesterday, the engine uses 152,455 bricks and reaches an overall size of 4.9 feet long and 6.5 feet wide. All of those Legos together stack up to an astounding 676 pounds. … Read more

Driving around in a snowstorm or heavy rain often feels similar to the hyperspace travel effect seen in the various "Star Wars" movies, which can distract even the most seasoned driver (unless you can make the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs). A new smart headlight from Carnegie Mellon University could make distracting precipitation far less dangerous to drive through.… Read more