|
|
ONLINE FEATURES
Book Reviews
BW Video
Columnists
Interactive Gallery
Newsletters
Past Covers
Philanthropy
Podcasts
Special Reports
BLOGS
Auto Beat
Bangalore Tigers
Blogspotting
Brand New Day
Byte of the Apple
Economics Unbound
Eye on Asia
Fine On Media
Green Biz
Hot Property
Investing Insights
Management IQ
NEXT: Innovation
NussbaumOnDesign
Tech Beat
Working Parents
TECHNOLOGY
J.D. Power Ratings
Product Reviews
Tech Stats
Wildstrom: Tech Maven
AUTOS
Home Page
Auto Reviews
Classic Cars
Car Care & Safety
Hybrids
INNOVATION
& DESIGN Home Page Architecture Brand Equity Auto Design Game Room SMALLBIZ Smart Answers Success Stories Today's Tip INVESTING Investing: Europe Annual Reports BW 50 S&P Picks & Pans Stock Screeners Free S&P Stock Report SCOREBOARDS Hot Growth 100 Mutual Funds Info Tech 100 S&P 500 B-SCHOOLS Undergrad Programs MBA Blogs MBA Profiles MBA Rankings Who's Hiring Grads | |
OCTOBER 18, 2004
Edited by Otis Port AIRCRAFT An Inflatable Plane In Your Backpack Blimps and balloons aren't the only inflatable means of taking to the air. Fifty years ago, Goodyear (GT ) actually built Inflatoplanes like the one above. They didn't catch on, in part because pilots had little protection in a crash. For unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVS), though, inflatable wings are just the ticket, figures ILC Dover, a leading supplier of blimps and airships. Soldiers, border guards, and aerial photographers could lug fairly large UAVs, such as the five-foot-wingspan prototype pictured here, in a backpack. For tracking drug smugglers in speedboats faster than Coast Guard cutters, the Frederica (Del.) company even has an artillery shell that sprouts inflatable wings after being fired from a naval gun. It's powered by a small jet, but other models can use a propeller engine. Inflatable wings will first see duty in the skies over Israel, thanks to a deal Israel Aircraft Industries just inked with ILC Dover, . NASA may use inflatable planes someday to explore Mars. FUEL CELLS Building A Better Membrane It's just a thin sheet of plastic, but what a difference it may make in automotive fuel cells. PolyFuel claims it has developed a plastic membrane that enables fuel cells to deliver a better driving experience while trimming costs. The heart of a fuel cell is its membrane. Coated with a catalytic agent, the membrane coaxes electrons to leave hydrogen atoms, then pulls the nuclei -- "naked" protons -- through the membrane. The electrons, which get left behind, flow out as electricity. Since NASA developed the first fuel cells four decades ago, DuPont's (DD ) Teflon has been the best material for membranes. But a Teflon membrane in a car cell costs $5,000. Also, it loses efficiency in hot weather and when the car climbs long, steep hills. PolyFuel's membrane is half as costly and shrugs off summer heat. And, says James Balcom, CEO of the Mountain View (Calif.) startup, it is engineered with nanoscale blocks to deliver 10% to 15% more juice. Spun off in 1999 by SRI International, PolyFuel so far has raised $40 million to introduce the results of 14 years of fuel-cell research at SRI.   BLOOD WATCH This New Device Filters Out The Fat The white-hat version of cholesterol, called HDL, earns its reputation by carrying the bad kind -- LDL -- to the liver for excretion. But many people have too much LDL to expunge naturally. That can lead to plaque deposits that clog arteries. Statin drugs are one therapy, but more drastic measures are sometimes necessary. Lipid Sciences (LIPD ) in Pleasanton, Calif., is working on a sort of dialysis treatment for cholesterol: a proprietary filtration device that extracts and cleans the blood. When the precious liquid is returned to the body, the HDL particles are ready to scoop up maximum loads of LDL. Dr. Lawrence Rudel at Wake Forest University School of Medicine plans to test the new approach in monkeys with heavy plaque deposits. If the treatment proves safe and succeeds in shrinking the deposits by even 5% during a 24-week monkey study, a human clinical trial could start as soon as next year. By Amy Tsao INNOVATIONS Of Oil Paintings And Smarter Locks -- During one summer's internship, Evan Quasney may have overturned decades of art-preservation technology. The 19-year-old University of Michigan mechanical engineering student worked at the Smithsonian Institution, tweaking computer models to determine the best method for conserving priceless paintings. Frequently, braces have been fitted onto the backs of paintings to prevent the old canvas from sagging. But Quasney showed how this practice creates stresses that cause cracks. The best anti-cracking technique? Apply a layer of gesso to the backside. -- A clever lock system set to be launched late this year will let businesses equip their entire premises with high-security card-key readers for a fraction of today's costs. Developed by Assa Abloy, a Stockholm lockmaker, and CoreStreet, a Cambridge (Mass.) software company, the KeyFast system ends the need to have every door connected to a central network. Instead, when employees start work each day, the first lock checks their smart card, PIN, and fingerprint. Then that lock loads the card with daily access codes for all the internal doors to which they have been granted access. Each lock will cost around $1,000 but save a bundle thanks to its simple installation. By Rachel Tiplady
| | |
 Copyright 2004, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of Use | Privacy Notice |
Printer-Friendly Version
