Category: Uncategorised

This is a still from the December 2015 flamethrower drone video. (credit: Hogwit)

The outcome of new drone lawsuit out of Connecticut turns on what seems to be a simple question: does the Federal Aviation Administration have the authority to regulate consumer drones? More specifically, can the FAA come after a student who rigged up a gun to a drone and fired it in his backyard, with no one else around?

The FAA clearly thinks that it does and can. But some drone enthusiasts disagree, and believe that the FAA has exceeded its regulatory power—at least for now.

On July 6, FAA lawyers will face off in a New Haven courtroom against attorneys representing a Connecticut student who produced two provocative drone-related videos, one involving a handgun mounted on a drone, and another with a flamethrower.

(credit: US State Department)

Lower-income and minority college students often have trouble sticking with higher education. But past studies have indicated they’d be less likely to drop out of school if they receive appropriate counseling once they start experiencing academic problems. A new study published in PNAS demonstrates that if students receive this kind of intervention prior to college enrollment and during their first year at college, they are more likely to avoid having academic trouble in the first place. And the counseling can be done over the Internet.

The counseling involves letting students know that it is common for students to struggle with the transition to college, and that this transition will get easier with time. This is known as a “lay theory intervention.”

The researchers conducted three double-blind randomized experiments to test the effects of internet-based interventions for students who come from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Students in experimental groups received one of the following: an intervention focused on developing their confidence; an intervention focused on developing their feelings of social belonging in college; or an intervention that included both of these.

ANDOVER, Mass.—At the front door of Raytheon's Integrated Air Defense Center, there's a reminder of how big microwave electronics used to be—the original microwave oven. The now ever-present kitchen device was invented after a Raytheon engineer discovered his candy bar melted while he was standing near a magnetron used in a radar system the company was developing. Nearly the size of a refrigerator, the original microwave looks like it would cook a whole lot more than whatever was put within its metal grate, which was meant to contain the microwaves from its magnetron.

That isn't a water cooler; it's a pioneering microwave. (credit: Courtesy of Sean Gallagher)

A few hundred yards away from the relic, Raytheon manufactures a much different microwave technology today. In a semiconductor fabrication facility, built to resemble a giant integrated circuit from above, the company produces many of the chips that go into its modern radar systems, including monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs). These tiny radio frequency amplifiers are similar to ones found in cellular phones, Wi-Fi adapters, and other wireless communications devices.

This technology is currently in the process of getting a major upgrade as the result of more than 16 years of research by Raytheon. And any MMIC evolution will be driven by the same substance that has made power-sipping LED light bulbs, Blu-ray players, and game consoles possible: gallium nitride (or, in chemical shorthand, GaN).