observe

Two N.C. police departments going green with dual-fueled fleets

Most folks only think of propane as the gas that fires their grill, but the clean-burning fuel has become an alternative for municipalities looking to save money.

According to the Department of Energy, propane is considered clean-running because it releases 20 to 40 percent less carbon monoxide and about 80 percent less particulate matter than gasoline. The Department of Energy is funding programs around the U.S. to introduce cleaner government fleet vehicles.

This week, for example, dual-fueled patrol cars that run on propane and gasoline have rolled out of two North Carolina police departments as a cost-cutting measure, reported … Read more

First hydrogen-powered UAV takes flight

When it comes to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), hydrogen is all the rage.

The first hydrogen-powered, unmanned UAV flight took place over California yesterday, AeroVironment, a company with 20 years experience in building unmanned aircraft, announced. Dubbed Global Observer, the "unmanned aircraft system" took off from Edwards Air Force Base and lasted more than four hours in the air. The company said the aircraft was able to reach an altitude of 5,000 feet.

Last year, Global Observer was put to the test at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. The government organization load tested Global Observer's … Read more

Flawed earthquake locater

Earthquake 3D provides a fascinating look at recent seismic activity around the globe. While the program provides a great deal of information and options, it suffers from its complete lack of direction.

We were initially impressed with the interface. The controls all looked basic, but soon we discovered that the Help file didn't do more than give a description of the product, and some actions we wanted to perform were not intuitive enough. The program itself was a spinning globe with magnitudes and the traditional multiring circles indicating earthquakes. We appreciated how the control panel let us filter quakes … Read more

Hydrogen to fuel long-distance drone for special ops

The U.S. Special Operations Command is going green with its purchase of a hydrogen-fueled robo-plane that can loiter in the stratosphere for up to five days at a time.

The high-altitude long endurance (HALE) Global Observer will cost $57 million for the first drone, with two more in the pipeline for an additional $108 million. The drone, or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), is powered by a hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine designed and built by AeroVironment, which has already successfully tested a scaled down model during a five-day stretch in an altitude chamber above a simulated 65,000 feet.

The … Read more

The New York Observer on the New York Times on News Corp.

There's something kind of funny about a blog entry around a recent article in one outlet indicating that another newspaper is working on an expose about yet another media outlet, but that really is what this post is about. According to Michael Calderone at the New York Observer, "The New York Times is currently undertaking a major news investigation, led by managing editor Jill Abramson, into News Corp.'s business dealings throughout the world, according to a source with knowledge of the project."

Amidst the heavily hyped negotiations between Murdoch's minions and the Bancroft family who currently own the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times has apparently decided to mount their own investigation in an effort to examine what should be expected from the possible merger. While there is no clear indication what spin the Times will put on the story, it seems unlikely that the paper will conclude that Rupert Murdoch is the patron saint of news media. The New York times is one of the last major independent media outlets (along with the Wall Street Journal - for now), and it's altogether possible that News Corp. may eventually set it's sites on the Times, so I think it is safe to anticipate that this article won't be a puff piece.