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'Snowstorm' personal flying machine lifts off in Singapore
What you're looking at above is Snowstorm, a personal flying machine. This electric-powered aircraft, designed and built by a group of students from the National University of Singapore, can be controlled by a human pilot and is capable of a vertical takeoff and landing. Snowstorm was created as part of an engineering project called FW Air: Electric Aviation, which aims to turn the fantasy of flying cars into reality.
Skin patch turns friction into electricity to power wearables
Until we find that perfect technology to power wearables with our own bodies, scientists all over the world are going to keep developing possible candidates. A team from the National University of Singapore, for instance, has developed a flexible, postage-sized device that can convert static electricity into usable energy. One surface of the device is attached to the skin, while the other is covered in silicon with a gold film underneath. Sandwiched in between the two are tiny pillars of silicone rubber -- slimmer pillars lead to bigger output, since they allow a larger surface area to touch the skin.
Quantum physics theory is easier to understand than you think
Wrapping your head around quantum physics is tricky, no matter how well-educated you are -- if it were easy, there wouldn't be problems making quantum computers. However, researchers at the National University of Singapore believe they've found a way to make things simpler. They've determined that wave-particle duality (where quantum objects behave like waves) is really a manifestation of the uncertainty principle, which limits your ability to know two related properties of a quantum particle. As it turns out, you can rework the math for wave-particle duality to apply to certain uncertainty relations. They're just two sides of the same coin.
Artificial muscles lift 80 times their weight, pave the way for robot Superman
Other than a few models from Boston Dynamics, most robots don't exactly leave us quaking in fear. That might be off the table soon, though, thanks to a breakthrough from researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS). They've developed polymer-derived artificial muscles that can stretch out up to five times in length, enabling them to lift 80 times their weight. That could one day result in life-like robots with "superhuman strength and ability," which could also run on very little power, according to the team. They expect to have a robotic limb that could smack down any human in arm-wrestling within five years -- putting a possible cyborg version of Over The Top alarmingly within reach.
DARPA's crowdsourced UAV competition heats up, takes off (video)
Late last year, DARPA launched UAVForge -- a competition that invites contestants to create their very own unmanned aerial vehicles, and submit them for voter-based evaluation. The project is far from over, but competing teams have already started sending in their proof-of-flight videos, giving us a glimpse of what's to come. So far, it looks like the GremLion UAV (pictured above) is the early favorite, after coming out victorious in the first round of voting. Developed by a team from the National University of Singapore, the GremLion looks like a bite-sized Death Star and flies around using a coaxial set of rotors that expand tulip-style out of its shell. Also included in the UAVForge showdown is a guy known as X-MAUS -- an Arduino-controlled quadcopter that can apparently transform into a more aerodynamic plane form upon liftoff. And, rounding out the list of notables is a submission from TU Delft known as the QuadShot, which is basically a miniature B-Wing from Star Wars. Except it's real. Hit up the break to see all three in action.
