news

Quiet aviation innovation is essential to reduce aircraft noise pollution in the surrounding areas. In the pursuit of quieter aircraft, field sound measurement plays a crucial role. Researchers from the University of Twente are, therefore, developing a sound testing setup and have successfully tested it at Twente Airport.

Study: Decarbonization potential of electrifying 50% of U.S. light-duty vehicle sales by 2030 One of the goals outlined by the Biden administration's National Climate Task Force in 2021 was to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to 50%-52% below 2005 levels by 2030. Now, a University of Michigan study investigates one of the strategies to achieve this goal, which is to increase new vehicle sales to 50% electric by 2030.

Engineers at The University of Manchester have built and flown the world's largest quadcopter drone. The drone, made from a cardboard-like material called foamboard, measures 6.4m (21 ft) corner to corner and weighs 24.5kg - 0.5kg less than the weight limit set by the Civil Aviation Authority.

A team of scientists have completed tests to quantify the emissions from the combustion of sustainable aviation fuels, revealing a profound reduction when compared to regular jet fuel. Researchers from the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS), including those from The University of Manchester, compared standard jet fuels with several different blends of sustainable aviation fuel, including fuels supplied by Neste.

Without political measures for zero-emission technologies, a significant proportion of heavy goods vehicles will still run on diesel in 2035. This result is shown in a new ETH Zurich study on the decarbonisation of truck traffic. Without political incentives, heavy goods vehicles will probably continue to run on diesel in the future.

Scientists using space-based radar found that land in New York City is sinking at varying rates from human and natural factors. A few spots are rising. Parts of the New York City metropolitan area are sinking and rising at different rates due to factors ranging from land-use practices to long-lost glaciers, scientists have found.

A team of UCL-led researchers has developed a new method to determine the attention levels of drivers and their readiness to respond to warning signals when using auto-pilot mode. The research, published in Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications , found that people's attention levels and how engrossed they are in on-screen activities can be detected from their eye movements.

Business, Law & Society Lou Corpuz-Bosshart While self-driving vehicles (SDVs) are being hailed as a solution for safer, more efficient roads, new UBC research suggests British Columbians are not quite ready to embrace self-driving cars wholeheartedly - and will need a period of gradual transition before adoption.

Jonathan How and his team at the Aerospace Controls Laboratory develop planning algorithms that allow autonomous vehicles to navigate dynamic environments without colliding. MIT Jonathan How's research interests span the gamut of autonomous vehicles - from airplanes and spacecraft to unpiloted aerial vehicles (UAVs, or drones) and cars.

With this new approach, a tailsitter aircraft, ideal for search-and-rescue missions, can plan and execute complex, high-speed acrobatic maneuvers. A tailsitter is a fixed-wing aircraft that takes off and lands vertically (it sits on its tail on the landing pad), and then tilts horizontally for forward flight.

Produced with techniques borrowed from Japanese paper-cutting, the strong metal lattices are lighter than cork and have customizable mechanical properties. Cellular solids are materials composed of many cells that have been packed together, such as a honeycomb. The shape of those cells largely determines the material's mechanical properties, including its stiffness or strength.

Anyone who sets off on holiday in their electric car needs to carefully plan their journey to avoid getting stranded without power along the way. Researchers at EPOWERS, a research group that works at the VUB MOBI research centre, have developed a technology that significantly extends the range of electric vehicles up to 1,000 km with a limited number of recharges.

New research has investigated the potential impact of living near Heathrow airport on cardiovascular hospitalisations and deaths. The sound of airplanes flying overhead late at night is linked to a slight increase in hospital admissions for heart-related problems the following day, a study from Imperial College London suggests.

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and ETH Zurich have performed calculations to work out how air traffic could become climate-neutral by 2050. They conclude that simply replacing fossil aviation fuel with sustainable synthetic fuels will not be enough. Air traffic would also have to be reduced.

Residents in Lambeth started driving less once their area became a low traffic neighbourhood relative to those living in surrounding areas. This is according to a new study of the London borough of Lambeth, which found that annual driving by residents living in four new LTNs introduced in 2020 decreased by 6% in the two years since their introduction compared to other control areas.

Significantly improved electric vehicle (EV) batteries could be a step closer thanks to a new study led by University of Oxford researchers, published today in Nature . Using advanced imaging techniques, this revealed mechanisms which cause lithium metal solid-state batteries (Li-SSBs) to fail. If these can be overcome, solid-state batteries using lithium metal anodes could deliver a step-change improvement in EV battery range, safety and performance, and help advance electrically powered aviation.

As Australia moves to ST, losing an hour of light at the end of the day, a study suggests there is no evidence that the time change increases road accidents. This Sunday marks the end of -Daylight Saving Time- (DST) in eastern Australia as states revert to -Standard Time- (ST) losing one hour of light at the end of the day.

Filters fitted to vehicle exhaust systems to remove particulate matter pollution have limited impact on ultrafine particles, new research shows. o 3 minute read Airborne particles from vehicle emissions are a major contributor to air pollution levels. Exhaust filters designed to mitigate this pollution have been a legal requirement in new cars since 2011, and in heavy duty vehicles since 2013.

In crowded places, such as airports and train stations, social distancing is difficult to maintain and the risk of infectious disease transmission is increased. In order to reduce this risk, it is essential that we improve our understanding of the dynamics of disease transmission within such places and the effective mitigation measures that can be implemented at low cost.

Careful planning of charging station placement could lessen or eliminate the need for new power plants, a new study shows. Close National and global plans to combat climate change include increasing the electrification of vehicles and the percentage of electricity generated from renewable sources. But some projections show that these trends might require costly new power plants to meet peak loads in the evening when cars are plugged in after the workday.