Fuel cell powered unmanned air vehicle sets unofficial flight endurance record

October 13th, 2009 JERUSALEM - International and Israeli companies, at the Third Israel Defense security exhibition being held in Tel Aviv's Fairground, are displaying anti-hooligan robots, which can deal with cases of vandalism and rioting. According to a report in Jerusalem Post, the three-day exhibition, which kicked off on October 12, is aimed at offering the Israel Police, Prisons Service and the IDF new hi-tech solutions.

September 21st, 2009 CHENNAI - Filling of liquid fuel in the second stage of the Rs.70-crore Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket that would carry the Rs.130-crore Oceansat2 -- India's remote sensing satellite -- Wednesday afternoon was progressing smoothly at India's rocket launch centre in Sriharikota, around 80 km from here. The PSLV would also carry six other nano satellites.

August 25th, 2009 Northrop Grumman gets $7.1M defense dealWASHINGTON — A division of Northrop Grumman Corp. received a $7.1 million contract from the Air Force to provide spare equipment at bases using the Global Hawk, an unmanned aerial vehicle, the Pentagon said Monday.

August 25th, 2009 LONDON - Researchers have developed a new microbial desalination system that can remove 90 per cent of the salt from a seawater-like solution. Microbial desalination could offer big advantages over the methods currently used to purify seawater, which require enormous pressure to operate, and gobble up huge amounts of energy.

August 13th, 2009 World Fuel Services gets $104.5M contractWASHINGTON — World Fuel Services Corp., which sells vehicle, aircraft and marine fuels, received a $104.5 million contract from the Defense Logistics Agency to provide aviation fuel, the Pentagon said late Thursday. Work on this contract is expected to be completed by August 2010, according to the government notice.

August 12th, 2009 LONDON - A British family who spent their summer holiday flying around the Mediterranean have set a new world record for the longest solar-powered flight by paramotor. According to a report in the Telegraph, the Cardozo family, from Mere, Wilts, and a group of friends, traveled 1,242 miles from Monte Carlo to Morocco in an electric paramotor powered by the sun.

August 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has completed a successful flight test of the fuel cell powered XFC (eXperimental Fuel Cell) unmanned aerial system (UAS), in which the aircraft was airborne for more than six hours, which is a flight endurance milestone. NRL's Chemistry and Tactical Electronic Warfare Divisions are developing the XFC UAS as an expendable, long endurance platform for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR).

July 29th, 2009 Congress pushing to restore hydrogen fundingWASHINGTON — Congress moved to restore funding for hydrogen research prized by the auto industry despite questions from the Obama administration over the time it will take to build a fleet of vehicles and a network of fueling stations. The Senate provided $190 million to fund hydrogen research programs as part of an energy spending measure passed Wednesday, more than double the amount sought by the Obama administration.

July 15th, 2009 NEW YORK - Could it be possible to run your car on urine? Well, it may be, if Ohio University scientists are to be believed. And their confidence stems from the fact that they have found a novel way to produce hydrogen energy from urine.

June 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has shown that a powerful antioxidant commonly found in the skin of red apples, red onions, berries and grapes could increase endurance capacity without regular exercise training. Researchers from University of South Carolina's Arnold School of Public Health have revealed that fatigue-fighting and health properties of quercetin would have significant implications not only for athletes but also for average adults who battle fatigue and stress daily.

June 24th, 2009 Web has unofficial "cash for clunkers" sitesWASHINGTON — The government is warning consumers to be wary of unofficial "cash for clunkers" Web sites that seek personal information or direct consumers to pre-register for the program. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says dealers and consumers do not need to pre-register for the program, which provides $3,500 to $4,500 to people who trade in gas-guzzling clunkers for a new vehicle.

June 17th, 2009 LONDON - A new hydrogen-powered city car has been launched in the UK, which attempts to sidestep the three main hurdles to the dream of hydrogen-fuelled highways. According to a report in New Scientist, like other hydrogen cars, the Riversimple Urban Car (RUC) is powered by a fuel cell that combines hydrogen with oxygen from the air to release energy and nothing more toxic than water.

April 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - When a jet is flying at supersonic speeds, a trifling mistake can shred it into pieces. But when it is an experimental one that must fly unmanned, only a computer control system can pilot it.

March 31st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have used fuel cells to power unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which would help tactical decision-makers gather critical information more efficiently and more quietly. Piloted remotely or autonomously, UAVs have long provided extra "eyes in the sky" especially for missions that are too dangerous for manned aircraft.

March 31st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones that scan terrains unobtrusively for possible threats and intelligence can now fly farther and carry heavier loads with the help of fuel cells. This latest technology has been showcased by Ion Tiger, a UAV research programme at the US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington that merges two separate efforts - UAV technology and fuel cell systems.