Month: October 2023

Doku über gescheitertes Filmprojekt: George A. Romero’s Resident Evil erscheint 2024

Vor 25 Jahren sollte George A. Romero Resident Evil auf die Leinwand bringen. Bald soll eine Dokumentation über diesen Versuch veröffentlicht werden. (Resident Evil, Zombie)

Vor 25 Jahren sollte George A. Romero Resident Evil auf die Leinwand bringen. Bald soll eine Dokumentation über diesen Versuch veröffentlicht werden. (Resident Evil, Zombie)

Scientists combine evolution, physics, and robotics to decode insect flight

Some insects’ wings flap without brain input. Robots help us understand how.

Image of a hummingbird-like moth sipping nectar from a flower.

Enlarge / A hawk moth in flight. (credit: Gregory Dubus)

Different insects flap their wings in different manners. Understanding the variations between these modes of flight may help scientists design better and more efficient flying robots in the future. However, decoding insect flight is not as easy as it sounds.

Winged insects have been around for nearly 400 million years, and the evolution of flight in different insect species influences things like how insects flap their wings, what makes some insects highly maneuverable, and how their flight muscles work. A new study has used a mix of evolutionary analysis and robotic model wings to better understand how different flight modes operate.

Insects are the most skilled flyers

There are organisms other than insects that can fly. Scientists can also take inspiration from them, so what makes insect flight so special?

Read 21 remaining paragraphs | Comments

10 examples of technology going from the racetrack to the road

From the 550 Spyder to the Le Mans-winning 919 Hybrid and beyond.

A garage full of Porsche race cars. A blue 550 is in the foreground

Enlarge / The Porsche Museum brought plenty of its toys to Laguna Seca for Rennsport Reunion 7 in September 2023. (credit: Jonathan Gitlin)

MONTEREY, CALIF.—Few car brands have managed to stake out the kind of mindshare occupied by Porsche. Celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, the company just held its seventh Rennsport Reunion, a car show crossed with a race meet at the Laguna Seca racetrack in Northern California. It drew a crowd of more than 90,000 Porschephiles at the end of September.

From its start in the aftermath of World War II, Porsche has concentrated on using clever engineering to make cars for people who like to drive. Much of that clever engineering was first proven at the racetrack before making the jump to something a bit more road-legal. And almost all of it was on display at Rennsport Reunion, from early engines with twin spark plugs and early experiments with aerodynamics through turbocharging, hybrids, and now extremely high-performance EVs.

The early days

The first Porsche-designed racing cars predate the family firm and date back to 1934 and the fearsome Auto Union V16. But the first factory-built Porsche racing car took five years to follow the company's first road car, which appeared in 1948. When Porsche started building 356s, customers started racing them in sprints, hill climbs, and long-distance races, complete with pleas to the factory to see if it couldn't deliver a little more power, particularly from American owners.

Read 46 remaining paragraphs | Comments