Monday, July 29, 2002

CNN.  Micro RPVs.  Excellent.  This is really exciting stuff.  The Berkeley project is hoping to produce a flying bot that is 1/24th the weight of a penny.  Given that Moore's law has just pushed computing power beyond insect intelligence, this was inevitable.  Now, we need better power sources.  Some of the work on MEM turbines and fuel cells may fit the bill (engines that run on standard gas or kerosene).  [John Robb's Radio Weblog] 8:41:17 AM    comment []

As I dug into the MEM battery and power generation area, I was surprised at how much activity is going on there.  We are about to see an explosion in micro-power. There are so many vectors of improvement (some undergoing extremely rapid doubling rates): size, weight, longevity, price, availability of fuel, etc. [John Robb's Radio Weblog] 8:41:02 AM    comment []

More on nuclear MEM batteries.  The objective:  batteries that last for a decade or more.  [John Robb's Radio Weblog] 8:40:45 AM    comment []

Water baloons in space. Did you ever wonder what it would be like to pop a water balloon in space? NASA did. The tests were conducted in part to develop the ability to rapidly deploy large liquid drops by rupturing an enclosing membrane. And they've some marvelous result videos to show for it. [raelity bytes] 8:37:58 AM    comment []