Racing greens - [engineering automotive]

The World Motor Sport Council vetoed development into fossil fuel-guzzling Formula One engines, instead encouraging the industry to focus on alternatives such as hybrid fuel systems. At the same time, Formula One is pushing hybrid drive systems that recover braking energy in race cars, while governing body the FIA has a 'Make Cars Green' website, aiming to reduce the impact of cars on the environment. But while the lion's share of race car development has focused on cutting carbon emissions, a team of researchers from Warwick University and the Warwick Innovative Manufacturing Research Centre in the UK wants to do more. Their proof- of-concept Formula 3 race car - 'WorldFirst' - not only runs on a biodiesel blend of waste cocoa butter and vegetable oil, but has been built with a host of unconventional sustainable materials, including flax, carrot fibre and potato starch.     

Exciting new-seums - [engineering hidden]

If your mental image of a museum involves dusty artefacts and crusty curators, it?s time for a rethink. Museums across the globe are experimenting with the most innovative of new technologies ? from the latest in high-tech displays to the most cutting-edge of social networking systems ? in a bid to create experiences that both attract and involve their visitors.     

Sight and insight - [engineering vision]

You can tell a lot about a person from the eyes. In poetry and novels, lovers will gaze into each others? eyes and see into the depths of their loved ones? souls. In contrast, the eyes of fictional villains often reveal them to be cruel and cold.     

Olympics watch - [engineering london 2012]

THE OLYMPIC STADIUM is the focal point of any Games. It is the place where, arguably, all the highest profile events take place, and where the world?s top performers set about smashing the iconic records set by the legendary athletes of the past. The stadium is also the place that remains etched onto the memory long after the Olympic torch has passed on. Memories of 2012 will be of a stadium in London.     

Waiting for nowait - [engineering transport]

This article presents the opportunities and challenges offered by Nowait, a pioneering solar-powered rapid transit system that hasn't yet departed the drawing board.     

Highway to nobel - [engineering biotech]

AN ?ELEGANTLY SIMPLE? technique, as she describes it, is helping Professor Connie Mulligan of the University of Florida track down the answers to a question that has puzzled anthropologists for decades: how did humans leave the Horn of Africa region more than 40,000 years ago and ultimately colonise the world? The initial emigration from Africa shaped how humans settled into the populations that exist today, but there is little evidence of how it happened.     

Machine for shopping - [engineering future]

When you talk about the future of high street retail, the first thing you?re assuming is that it has one. With recession still decimating economies, shopping centres are deserted, sales have been falling for months and once proud bricks-and-mortar stores are toppling like, well, once proud banks.     

Another pale blue dot - [engineering astronomy]

A key premise of science fiction is the existence of worlds beyond our own. In the first E&Tfeature to mark the International Year of Astronomy, Mark Williamson investigates the science of exoplanets and the technology of their detection.     

What the future holds - [engineering future]

THE WORLD Future Society (WFS) recently put out an interesting list of ten forecasts for up to 2030. Of course, no-one knows for certain what lies ahead. The best anyone can do is to look at evidence mounting today, such as long-term trends or new research activity, and then use logical thinking and analysis to figure out what is coming next and what effect it will have. Since futurists start the process looking at different piles of evidence and have different mindsets with which to analyse them, their conclusions vary, though there is usually some common ground.     

Controller area network [automotive applications]

The controller area network (CAN) is becoming a de facto standard for data transmission in automotive applications. Such applications are characterized by their obligation to respect stringent time and dependability constraints. This is why it is vital, at the design step, to validate their behavior. The verification is based on the performance evaluation of the operational architecture. The authors' approach involves: (1) building models (both analytic and simulation) and solving them (model-based evaluation); and (2) performing network monitoring on a prototype of the system (prototype-based evaluation). Automotive communications systems face an extremely hostile electrical environment (strong electromagnetic disturbances). To assume it is a 100% reliable medium is irresponsible in the face of such reality. So, the authors focus on transmission errors that may cause missed deadlines because of retransmitting corrupted frames. They propose using a flexible error-model for assessing the transmission's reliability and for designing well-suited message scheduling policies     

Green Jobs to beat economic blues - analysis - [briefing in depth]

We?re all aware of white and blue collar workers ? the former at their desks while the latter get their hands dirty. However, two of the world?s biggest concerns are creating a push for a new colour to join the ranks ? green.     

Electrical engineering calculations [History]

Engineers can calculate short circuit currents with their laptop (and even palmtop) computers. Not only do these tools calculate currents far more quickly and with greater precision and accuracy than the methods used in the past, but they also have the ability to immediately evaluate the application of specific circuit breakers and evaluate the arc-flash energy released at the point of fault. But to truly appreciate these modern tools, we have to appreciate the fascinating history of this most simple of all electrical engineering calculations. This paper discusses the history of short-circuit calculations.     

Transmitted from pigs - [power biogas]

?THIS THING WE?RE doing now ? sitting here at this outdoor table while we talk and sip our coffee undisturbed ? would have been impossible before,? explains Hugo Garcia, the general manager of Caba?as Argentinas del Sol, a pig farm some 50km south-west of Buenos Aires, Argentina. ?Back then you couldn?t even open your mouth at this spot; we were permanently covered in flies.?     

Prince of rails [engineering heritage]

The 1880s saw the invention of two very different forms of transport. While Karl Benz?s exciting, noisy and dirty motor car has since spread exhaust fumes across the planet, Werner von Siemens?s silent, efficient, communal electric tram is only now finding its way back into our cities.