IEN Radio

Advancements in aerospace design technology has allowed the U.S. military to get really efficient at transporting people, equipment and supplies. However, many of those same technologies also make it really difficult to do those things without being detected. Recently, a collection of researchers from Georgia Tech University, in cooperation with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DA...

A research team has designed a new portable exosuit that could soon help people walk and run. You know what, it's just nice to report a new exoskeleton that doesn't have a tail .  You wear the hip exosuit on your waist and thighs with the actuation system attached to your lower back. The system uses an algorithm to predict when you're going to switch from running to walking, or vice...

Researchers from the University of California - Berkeley have developed a new solar-powered water harvester that's the size of a microwave and pulls water out of the air in areas as dry as the Mojave Desert.  The harvester blows air over a cartridge filled with metal-organic framework (MOF). The framework pulls water from the air, which is then removed by heating it. Next, the concentrated wa...

This week, SpaceX successfully tested the Starhopper prototype in Texas. In just 57.36 seconds, the rocket lifted off, reached 150 m, and then stuck the landing.  It was the craft’s second successful test. In July, it reached 18 m, because the FAA had restricted it to less than 25 m.  According to a report from designboom, Starhopper is part of a broader R&D effort to burn liquid methane in Sp...

Last week, we brought you the news that the iconic Lincoln Continental was more than likely living out the last of its golden years in a suburban Michigan facility before being ferried away to sedan heaven where it could be free to drive around with the Buick LeSabre. It just so happens that there’s another ailing model that’s soon to be stricken from the production lines and, well, I feel like yo...

Reuters is calling it a “forgery crisis” and, in a recent exclusive story , the news outlet is reporting that the gold industry is being roiled – and it’s bad. Reuters says that gold bars are being fraudulently stamped with the logos of major refiners and slipped into the supply chain, to the tune of about $50 million worth over the last three years. Reportedly the bars are so hard to detect, they...

Controlling energy costs is a critical challenge in any production environment. But when you combine the harsh conditions, safety concerns and regulatory scrutiny that accompanies mining operations, that challenge becomes even more pressing, especially when working with equipment that doesn’t have the greenest of track records.  Well, an electric dump truck made by the Swiss company Kuhn Schweiz A...

On August 10, 2019, a video was posted on Facebook by MyWay Alaska that depicted thousands of dead pink salmon in the Tutka Bay in Alaska. The original video was shared more than 115,000 times and viewed over 1.2 million times. The caption on the video attributed the kill to climate change and record high temperatures in Alaska in July. Turns out, it was simply a tragic fish harvesting accident at...

A 75-year-old worker died last Thursday after an accident at The Rose Corporation in Reading, PA. Local authorities say that Wilfred Santiago died after he was pinned between a wall and a large turntable from a vertical turning and boring machine. The incident happened around 10 a.m. when Santiago became entrapped in the machine. He died before emergency personnel arrived.  According to a local re...

Even the most casual observer of the automotive market knows that the sedan is slowly going the way of the dinosaur. In the past few years, we’ve lost some good ones – from the practical Ford Taurus (my first ride!) to the classic dad car, the Chevy Impala. But the latest from the chopping block rumor mill relates to a model that’s so old that it’s featured predominantly in the scenes of Mad Men –...

In May 2019, Grand View Research forecasted the legal cannabis business to be worth an estimated $66.3 billion by 2025. In 2018, it was valued at $11.9 billion, which means it has great potential especially as more states legalize recreational sales -- or if it is legalized at a federal level.  According to current data from IBISWorld , $66.3 billion would make it more than three times the size of...

Based in Seattle, WA, Whooshh Innovations designs systems that help fish move over obstacles. The company's tech uses AI to identify and sort out invasive species, differentiate between hatchery fish and those grown in the wild, and help fish move up and over dams to spawn.  The company created the patented Whooshh Passage Portal, but you may have heard of it by another name, the "Salmon...

As the Big 3 continue discussions with the United Autoworkers Union on terms for an upcoming contract, there’s a lot of distracting noise in the background – and it’s the roar of a raging scandal that just continues to grow. The issue is an investigation by federal agencies alleging rampant fraud taking place by UAW officials who demanded kickbacks from automakers, as well as vendors supplying pro...

The Aston Martin Vanquish was a touring car that existed through two generations, the second of which concluded production in 2018. That happened to be the same year that the automaker went public, and in the ensuing flood of paperwork, it was discovered that Aston Martin had quietly sold some assets. In this case, we learned that Aston Martin had unloaded the tooling and design drawings of the Va...

Artificial intelligence has found its way into cars, manufacturing equipment, home appliances and even aircraft.  The Army, in a move that I’m sure has been covered by some low-budget action movie, is looking to integrate the technology into missiles. The goal would be the ability to fire a missile that could basically find its own target. While infrared sensors have successfully been embedded int...

Demand for air travel has increased by five percent so far in 2019, but there’s a problem. Airlines can’t keep up, and much of the blame falls squarely on Boeing, whose problems with its 737 Max 8 model has resulted in the grounding of 387 planes since a second deadly crash of the model in March. Airlines are struggling with a few things – for one, they’re delayed. Two, they’re clamoring to lease...

In 1937, Amelia Earhart tried to fly around the world . She didn't make it, and went down somewhere in the Pacific -- though she wasn't declared dead until 1939. It's been 80 years and the search for Amelia Earhart and her Lockheed Model 10-E Electra has never ceased.  Researchers believe that a new autonomous boat named BEN may be the key to finding some answers. BEN (Bathymetric E...

Just as soon as we cover a poop-scooping robot , the fleshy beasts could be rendered obsolete by a new robot dog from researchers at Florida Atlantic University.  Researchers took the SpotMini from Boston Dynamics , mounted a 3D printed Doberman pinscher head on it, and gave it a brain.  Astro was outfitted with a deep neural network, or digital brain, and is being trained to act like a dog. It ca...

In June, DARPA held its second field experiment for the OFFSET program. The OFFensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics program, pairs autonomous air and ground robots to complete missions in urban environments.  The test was held at Selby Combined Arms Collective Training Facility in Fort Benning, Georgia. The exercise spanned two city blocks, and the swarms had to locate and isolate a mock city hall buildin...

According to a recent report from Business Insider , the new and improved Air Force Ones that President Trump has helped re-design, will cost upwards of $5.2 billion – which wouldn’t be so bad if that amount wasn’t about $2 billion more than the initial estimate three years ago. The project entails the modification of two Boeing VC-25s to meet the special demands of a flying White House. The VC-25...

Beetl Robotics wants to provide best-in-class robots using its expertise in cloud networking, computer vision and mechanical design. So naturally, they turned to poop scooping.  According to Beetl, more than 35 million households in the US have dogs and backyards. The team designed a robot that uses computer vision and advanced sensor fusion to clean up after them. And if it works, we'll that...

A team of researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences has created a robotic jellyfish.  Jellyfish are some of the most efficient swimmers on the planet. While they’re not that fast, they move through the water by creating a natural jet propulsion.  The researchers developed the robot as a first step towards a bio-inspired underwater vehicle that mimics the propulsion. Specifically, the resear...

We have seen our share of exotic , interesting and sad motorcycles over the last few years, but French manufacturer Newron has brought something new to the table with an electric motorcycle that has a large cylindrical battery and a wooden body.  The story of Newron Motors has been one of fits and starts. Sébastien Mahut is an electronic engineer by trade and the man behind the concept motorcycle....

Earlier this week the Associated Press reported that GM was in the – likely uncomfortable – position of having to correct the vice president on his facts. The issue centers on Lordstown, Ohio – a town that’s been battered by thousands of job losses over the past few years as GM streamlined, then shuttered a production plant, ultimately shifting about 4,500 positions out of the region.  Because it...

The engineers at Airbus have been particularly inspired by nature lately. In late June, Airbus revealed a scale-model prototype of a new aircraft concept that flapped its wings . The AlbatrossOne uses free-flapping wing tips to fend off turbulence while reducing drag and wing weight. The team at Airbus unveiled a new concept design at the Royal International Air Tattoo air show in the UK. For this...