IEN Radio

NASA earlier this year launched an initiative to partner with private companies to try out their products in orbit, and automotive, consumer goods and even entertainment enterprises lined up to send their goods to the International Space Station. A supply ship launched over the weekend, for example, included components from Lamborghini’s sports cars and a small, zero-gravity test oven among its ca...

Sysco has entered an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor to resolve gender discrimination allegations at four plants.  From November 2013 to December 2014, investigators from the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) found that Sysco facilities in Maryland (2), Pennsylvania, and Virginia discriminated against 238 female applicants.  The women applied for outbound selector...

The motorcycle marketplace continues to face challenges as it adjusts to an evolving customer base less interested in loud pipes and excessive power. In response to these evolving consumer demands, designs have transitioned to focus on fuel efficiency and electric powertrains over big engines, and handling and maneuverability in exchange for size and flash. Or, if you’re Aston Martin, you pretty m...

Last week, a 28-year-old man was working at US Food Corp in Hicksville, NY, when his right arm became entangled in a piece of machinery and was severed. According to local authorities, his arm was amputated below the elbow.  The man ran to Energy Mechanical Corp., the business next door, where employees used a belt as a tourniquet to help control and stop the bleeding.  According to a local report...

When we've covered artificial skin in the past, the one thing that we've neglected: can you tickle it? Right? What fun is a robot if it can't kick in at the tickle party? So, researchers at the University of Bristol have created an interactive artificial skin. The Skin-On interface is a multi-layer silicone membrane that mimics the layers in human skin. The skin consists of a surfac...

Back in June, we watched as Composite Metal Foam (CMF) stopped armor-piercing bullets. Researchers fired a .50-caliber armor-piercing round 514 meters per second at the foam, and it bounced off. Now, researchers from North Carolina State University have a new, slightly less volatile application for the foam. Using a combination of CMF and epoxy resin, the team believes that they could revolutioniz...

NASA's Artemis program wants to put Americans back on the moon by 2024. But the program has had its share of problems. The $20 billion to $30 billion price tag has ruffled some feathers, not just on overall cost, but who will land the contracts and how they will be used.  The program has some aggressive goals, including building an outpost on the moon and mining for resources. It has also bee...

Last weekend China hosted a Helicopter Exposition focused on displaying some the country’s latest military developments. In addition to a potential Black Hawk helicopter look-alike, Parrot Laboratory offered a two-seat, turbojet concept dubbed … the Super White Shark.  Looking more like a flying saucer from a 1950s sci-fi flick, the Super White Shark can reportedly reach a stop speed of over 400 m...

Back in 2012, then-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn announced that the automaker would revive its Datsun brand more than 25 years after the iconic Japanese brand was originally phased out. Although you could still find the odd Datsun on U.S. roads, Ghosn wanted the name for a new line of low-cost vehicles targeting emerging markets — part of a larger goal of raising Nissan’s overall share of the global car...

On October 30, 2012, an industrial accident at North Jackson, OH-based aluminum manufacturing company Extrudex killed 21-year-old John Tomlin Jr. A rack containing 4,000-5,000 pounds hot aluminum parts tipped over and pinned the employee in an oven. The rack was reportedly being pushed on a roller conveyor system, and a co-worker was seriously injured as well.  62-year-old Brian K. Carder and 57-y...

This spring, German air taxi startup Lilium debuted a five-seat flying car prototype and showed footage of its — sort of — debut flight. The company, founded by engineers from the Technical University of Munich, made its first vertical takeoff and landing flight with a two-seater in 2017, then showcased the five-seater — which features two sets of fixed wings rather than more energy-consuming roto...

San Francisco-based OpenAI has trained a pair of neural networks to solve a Rubik's Cube with a single robot hand.  The team places the cube into the palm of a dextrous 24-joint robot hand that mimics human anatomy, but they don't tell it how to solve the cube. Instead, it learns like a human through evolution, only faster.  The team ran thousands of simulations to give the robot a base,...

Researchers from Northwestern University and Washington University at St. Louis have created a new implant that could save people who are overdosing on opioids.  The autonomous device is about the size of a USB thumb drive, and it's implanted beneath your skin. When it senses that oxygen is low, it administers naloxone, more commonly known as Narcan.  The team recently received a $10 million...

The Uniti One is a new electric hatchback from Uniti, an EV startup headquartered in Sweden with engineering and production in the United Kingdom. The project started at an open innovation research lab at Lund University, and we could soon see the first vehicles on the road.  Uniti One is a city car with a range of up to 186 miles; however, the standard 12 kWh battery will have a range of about 93...

Integrating the latest creature comforts and connectivity-laden technologies with new automotive offerings has become increasingly common. But the latest concept from Toyota takes these comforts to an almost uncomfortable level. The LQ is a battery-electric hybrid that, in addition to providing a 185-mile range between charges, features Yui.  Yui is an artificial intelligence platform that looks t...

 When the economy is good, and your company is performing, it’s not unreasonable to ask for a raise, right?  And if you’re a CEO of a major Fortune 500 business, you might just get one. A big one. But how much is too much?  Microsoft has reported that its CEO Satya Nadella has gotten a sizeable bump in his 2019 comp plan – a 66 percent increase, in fact. Most of it takes the form of stock awards,...

Last year, we brought you a story about how easy it is to fool your phone’s facial recognition security tech, by simply scanning and photographing your head and then 3D printing it. Not a big deal. Well, now there’s an even easier way than that to crack a phone, and Samsung is so concerned it’s deploying a software patch to fix it – ASAP. Meanwhile, if you own a Galaxy S10 or Note10 – beware. Your...

Last week, Tesla was approved to begin production in China. The company is building a $2 billion Gigafactory, its first overseas manufacturing site, in Shanghai.  According to Reuters, Tesla was included on the country's approved automotive manufacturers list on Thursday, which means it can now begin production.  According to the Daily Mail, Tesla hopes to make 3,000 cars a week out of the ga...

Even as laws regarding the use of marijuana become more lax in many states, the grey areas seem to be widening. Take for example, rules regarding cannabis use by workers. Whether or not your state allows for legal weed is one thing, but it doesn’t mean your employer can’t give you the ax if they determine you’re using it. But will they? Earlier this week, the National Safety Council, or NSC, relea...

Advancements in prosthetic technology continue to amaze me, we've seen everything from 3d printing low-cost limbs to advanced robotics incorporated into new designs.  What struck me in the new work from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and SensArs Neuroprosthetics was when they used the word 'merge.'  Researchers are currently conducting clinical trials of a bionic limb. On...

Other than being a slimy devil, the Northern Clingfish sucks ... and it's really good at it.  The Clingfish clings to rough and slimy surfaces, and it can hold up to 230 times its weight. Researchers from the University of Washington used it to build a better suction cup.  According to the researchers, the new prototypes are stronger than their natural counterparts. The new suction cups could...

This week, Hyundai threw its hat into the flying car ring. You know what? With all of the players and collaborations , someones got to get it right. Right?  The Hyundai Motor Group's big move was that it hired Dr. Jaiwon Shin as Executive Vice President and Head of the new Urban Air Mobility Division. Shin previously led aviation research and development at NASA. He was there for about 30 yea...

The future of hypersonic flight is exciting. Companies currently building experimental craft are shooting for Mach 1.5 to Mach 2. Boom Supersonic, for example, is now assembling the XB-1 supersonic demonstrator aircraft , which could reach Mach-2.2. However, we need to be ready for the next wave of aircraft that will reach Mach 10 -- that's ten times the speed of sound or 7,672 mph. Traveling...

Flies are annoying. Thus the phrase "shoo fly, don't bother me." Perhaps you've heard of it.  However, its fly movement that interests the researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Right now, they're studying the way a fly walks because it could lead to advancements in robot transportation. It could also lead to more realistic robot flies.  Flies are capabl...

Yesterday, the University of Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center unveiled the world's largest polymer 3D printer . The printer is capable of printing parts up to 100 feet long, and at a ceremony, they revealed some incredible achievements.  First, they showed off a 3D printed tactical center they printed in three weeks. Next, they showed off a 3D printed boat mold made from PLA de...