Guinness record: World's thinnest glass is just two atoms thick

A microscopic photo of a sheet of glass only two atoms thick blends with an artist's conception to show the structural rendering. Credit: Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science.

At just a molecule thick, it's a new record: The world's thinnest sheet of glass, a serendipitous discovery by scientists at Cornell and Germany's University of Ulm, is recorded for posterity in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The "pane" of glass, so impossibly thin that its individual silicon and oxygen atoms are clearly visible via electron microscopy, was identified in the lab of David A. Muller, professor of applied and engineering physics and director of the Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science.

The work that describes direct imaging of this thin glass was first published in January 2012 in Nano Letters, and the Guinness records officials took note. The record will now be published in the Guinness World Records 2014 Edition.

Just two atoms in thickness, the glass was an accidental discovery, Muller said. The scientists had been making graphene, a two-dimensional sheet of carbon atoms in a chicken wire crystal formation, on copper foils in a quartz furnace. They noticed some "muck" on the graphene, and upon further inspection, found it to be composed of the elements of everyday glass, silicon and oxygen.

They concluded that an air leak had caused the copper to react with the quartz, also made of silicon and oxygen. This produced the glass layer on the would-be pure graphene.

Besides its sheer novelty, Muller said, the work answers an 80-year-old question about the fundamental structure of glass. Scientists, with no way to directly see it, had struggled to understand it: it behaves like a solid, but was thought to look more like a liquid. Now, the Cornell scientists have produced a picture of individual atoms of glass, and they found that it strikingly resembles a diagram drawn in 1932 by W.H. Zachariasen – a longstanding theoretical representation of the arrangement of atoms in glass.

"This is the work that, when I look back at my career, I will be most proud of," Muller said. "It's the first time that anyone has been able to see the arrangement of atoms in a glass."

What's more, two-dimensional glass could someday find a use in transistors, by providing a defect-free, ultra-thin material that could improve the performance of processors in computers and smartphones.

Sodium-ion battery cathode has highest energy density to date

This Ragone plot for the new cathode material (red circles) and other cathode materials for Na-ion batteries shows that the new cathode has the highest energy density for a wide range of charge and discharge rates. Credit: Park, et al. ©2013 American Chemical Society

Although sodium-ion (Na-ion) batteries don't perform as well as lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, they have the potential to be a cheaper alternative. In a new study, scientists have designed a new cathode for Na-ion batteries that provides an energy density of 600 Wh kg-1, which is the highest reported so far for Na-ion batteries and even rivals the energy densities of some Li-ion batteries. The new cathode material also has a greatly improved cycle life, bringing Na-ion batteries a step closer to realization as part of a large-scale energy storage system.

The researchers, Young-Uk Park, et al., from Seoul National University and KAIST, both in South Korea, have published their paper on the new high-energy cathode in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

As the researchers explain, Na-ion batteries have the potential to meet and even exceed the performance of today's Li-ion batteries.

"The fascinating thing is that Na chemistry is much richer and has more variety than that of Li," coauthor Kisuk Kang, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Seoul National University, told Phys.org. "This makes us believe that there will be unexplored Na battery electrodes out there that can far excel the current Li batteries."

Both Na-ion and Li-ion batteries are candidates for being part of a large-scale system that stores energy generated by new technologies, such as solar, wind, and geothermal technology, where energy is produced intermittently. Although Li-ion batteries' high energy densities enable them to store a large amount of energy in a small space, the downsides of these batteries are their high cost and low stability. Since sodium is abundant in the earth, it is much cheaper than lithium, even though Na-ion batteries face their own challenges.

One of these challenges is a low energy density. Until now, the highest energy density of a Na-ion battery has been about 520 WH kg-1. The root of this problem can be traced to the inherent characteristics of sodium (in particular, a less negative redox potential compared to lithium), which reduces the operating voltage and leads to the lower energy density.

Another major challenge for Na-ion batteries is that, even moreso than Li-ion batteries, they suffer from poor long-term stability. This problem also stems from an inherent characteristic of sodium, which is that sodium ions (1.02 Å) are nearly twice as large as lithium ions (0.59 Å). The large size causes a greater change in the host structure upon insertion and removal, which results in a decrease in capacity after repeated cycles.

The new cathode material improves in both areas. The researchers attribute the 600 Wh kg-1 energy density to the cathode material's open crystal framework with vanadium redox couples, which leads to a high voltage that in turn increases the energy density.

The new cathode material also allows the Na-ion battery to retain 95% of its capacity over 100 cycles and 84% for 500 cycles. This outstanding cycle life arises from the fact that the cathode material has the smallest volume change among Na cathodes so far, which is due to the rigid framework that is less sensitive to Na ion insertion and extraction compared to other frameworks.

In the future, the researchers plan to further improve the electrochemical properties of this Na-ion battery cathode with the goal of designing next-generation Na-ion batteries for new applications.

"Further improvements in the cycle stability need to be accomplished in order to be considered for large-scale systems because it requires exceptionally long cycle life (>10 years), unlike small electronic devices," Kang said. "In this respect, not only the electrode stability, but also other aspects such as the compatibility between electrode and the electrolyte, and the electrolyte stability itself, have to be simultaneously considered."

The researchers plan to address these challenges when designing future electrodes.

"We are currently searching for more new electrode materials that can outperform the material that was reported this time," Kang said. "We have both computational and experimental tools to search for them, which will accelerate the identification of this new material."

First reported self-healing polymer that spontaneously and independently repairs itself

A cylindrical sample of the elastomer mends itself after being cut in two by a razor blade and can be manually stretched without rupture

The researchers have dubbed the material a 'Terminator' polymer in tribute to the shape-shifting, molten T-100 terminator robot from the Terminator 2 film.

The research is published in the Royal Society of Chemistry journal Materials Horizons.

Self-healing polymers that can spontaneously achieve quantitative healing in the absence of a catalyst have never been reported, until now. The scientists prepared the self-healing thermoset elastomers from common polymeric starting materials using a simple and inexpensive approach.

A video shows that the permanently cross-linked poly(urea-urethane) elastomeric network completely mends itself after being cut in two with a razor blade. A metathesis reaction of aromatic disulphides, which naturally exchange at room temperature, causes the regeneration.

The polymer behaves as a Velcro-like sealant or adhesive, displaying an impressive 97 per cent healing efficiency in just two hours. The researchers show that after cutting the material into two separate pieces with a razor blade and allowing it to self-heal, the material is unbreakable when stretched manually.

The authors said: "The fact that poly(urea-urethane)s with similar chemical composition and mechanical properties are already used in a wide range of commercial products makes this system very attractive for a fast and easy implementation in real industrial applications."

Molten air battery offers highest energy storage capacity & is rechargeable

Molten air batteries have been demonstrated to offer highest ever energy storage capacities, making the competition look dwarf. For the first time, researchers have been able to manufacture molten-air batteries that can be recharged - biggest advantage these batteries have over other high capacity batteries. There's however a big challenge that needs to be tackled. The molten electrolyte requires very high temperatures (~800 °C) for the battery to operate. Researchers are optimistic about trying out different compositions and characteristics so that the battery can operate at regular temperatures.

The molten air batteries are the first ones of their kind to use molten salt and free oxygen from air to host multi-electron molecules to store energy. It's this ability to store multiple electrons in a single molecule that gives the massive energy storage capacity to molten-air battery. Traditional batteries, like Li-Ion batteries have single electron per molecule structures which limits their storage capacities. The Vanadium Boride (VB2)-air batteries, which currently have the crown of being the biggest capacity batteries have a serious drawback - they aren't rechargeable.

Researchers have worked out different types of molten air batteries with different storage capacities. The iron, carbon and VB2 -molten air batteries have been developed with intrinsic volumetric energy storage capacities of 10000, 19000, 27000 Wh per liter.

What's yet to be known is the commercial aspect of these batteries. Unless the researchers bring down the costs of manufacturing and operating costs of this battery - they won't get wide adoption. Another important aspect is the overall weight and portability of such batteries, if they were to be used in electric vehicles. The third most important aspect would be the energy required to charge these batteries; which may have significant impact on the operating costs & maintenance.

World record solar cell with 44.7% efficiency

World record solar cell with 44.7% efficiency

German Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, Soitec, CEA-Leti and the Helmholtz Center Berlin announced today that they have achieved a new world record for the conversion of sunlight into electricity using a new solar cell structure with four solar subcells. Surpassing competition after only over three years of research, and entering the roadmap at world class level, a new record efficiency of 44.7% was measured at a concentration of 297 suns. This indicates that 44.7% of the solar spectrum's energy, from ultraviolet through to the infrared, is converted into electrical energy. This is a major step towards reducing further the costs of solar electricity and continues to pave the way to the 50% efficiency roadmap.

Back in May 2013, the German-French team of Fraunhofer ISE, Soitec, CEA-Leti and the Helmholtz Center Berlin had already announced a solar cell with 43.6% efficiency. Building on this result, further intensive research work and optimization steps led to the present efficiency of 44.7%.

These solar cells are used in concentrator photovoltaics (CPV), a technology which achieves more than twice the efficiency of conventional PV power plants in sun-rich locations. The terrestrial use of so-called III-V multi-junction solar cells, which originally came from space technology, has prevailed to realize highest efficiencies for the conversion of sunlight to electricity. In this multi-junction solar cell, several cells made out of different III-V semiconductor materials are stacked on top of each other. The single subcells absorb different wavelength ranges of the solar spectrum.

"We are incredibly proud of our team which has been working now for three years on this four-junction solar cell," says Frank Dimroth, Department Head and Project Leader in charge of this development work at Fraunhofer ISE. "This four-junction solar cell contains our collected expertise in this area over many years. Besides improved materials and optimization of the structure, a new procedure called wafer bonding plays a central role. With this technology, we are able to connect two semiconductor crystals, which otherwise cannot be grown on top of each other with high crystal quality. In this way we can produce the optimal semiconductor combination to create the highest efficiency solar cells."

"This world record increasing our efficiency level by more than 1 point in less than 4 months demonstrates the extreme potential of our four-junction solar cell design which relies on Soitec bonding techniques and expertise," says André-Jacques Auberton-Hervé, Soitec's Chairman and CEO. "It confirms the acceleration of the roadmap towards higher efficiencies which represents a key contributor to competitiveness of our own CPV systems. We are very proud of this achievement, a demonstration of a very successful collaboration."

"This new record value reinforces the credibility of the direct semiconductor bonding approaches that is developed in the frame of our collaboration with Soitec and Fraunhofer ISE. We are very proud of this new result, confirming the broad path that exists in solar technologies for advanced III-V semiconductor processing," said Leti CEO Laurent Malier.

Concentrator modules are produced by Soitec (started in 2005 under the name Concentrix Solar, a spin-off of Fraunhofer ISE). This particularly efficient technology is employed in solar power plants located in sun-rich regions with a high percentage of direct radiation. Presently Soitec has CPV installations in 18 different countries including Italy, France, South Africa and California.

Lexus takes top spot in magazine's auto rankings

Lexus topped all automotive brands in Consumer Reports magazine's 2013 brand report card. Japanese automakers again dominated the rankings, taking eight of the top 10 spots.

Lexus vehicles are rarely sporty, but they earned the top score of 79 points out of 100 because of plush and reliable vehicles, the magazine said Tuesday. Subaru and Mazda were tied for second place with a score of 76. Toyota and Acura, Honda's luxury brand, rounded out the top five tied at 74. Honda and Scion were next at 72, followed by Audi and Nissan's upscale Infiniti brand, both at 70. Mercedes-Benz finished 10th with a score of 69.

The ratings of 26 automotive brands, closely watched by consumers, are based on the magazine's average road tests and predicted reliability scores from surveys of subscribers.

Detroit automakers didn't fare very well in the magazine's rankings. Cadillac was the best U.S.-based brand, tying for 14th place with Hyundai, scoring a 63.

Consumer Reports changed its rankings this year, splitting off individual brands from the companies that make them and scoring them individually. For example, in past years, all three Toyota brands—Lexus, Toyota and Scion—were scored collectively as Toyota.

The magazine said Lexus cars are among the most reliable even though they are "brimming with technology," including hybrid gas-electric power systems and complex information and entertainment systems.

Besides Cadillac, General Motors Co. had two other brands in the top 20: GMC and Chevrolet tied with Volvo for 17th with a score of 58. Buick, with a score of 54, was 21st.

Ford and Lincoln continued to be plagued by problems with the complexity of their touch-screen controls, the magazine said. Ford also has been hampered by "unrefined" automatic transmissions, according to the magazine. Ford finished 23rd with a score of 51, while Lincoln was 24th with 50.

No Chrysler brand fared well. Jeep and Dodge were the bottom two finishers with scores of 47 and 46.

Consumer Reports also released its top pick for 2013 models on Tuesday. The redesigned Honda Accord won in the popular midsize car segment, while Hyundai's Elantra won in the budget car category. The Subaru Impreza was the top pick for compact cars, while the Audi A6 was tops in the luxury segment. Honda's CR-V won the top spot for small crossover SUVs, while BMW's 328i was the top sports sedan, and the Toyota Prius was the top green car pick.

2.15 seconds: Students break 0-100 acceleration world record

The DUT Racing team from TU Delft, The Netherlands, has broken the world record for acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h for electric cars. The previous record stood at 2.68 seconds, but as of today the record is now held by the TU Delft students with 2.15 seconds. 'We thought that under these conditions we'd be happy with 2.30, but we really didn't expect 2.15,' says team manager Tim de Moree.

The students used their self-built racing car from 2012, the DUT12: a compact racing car with full four-wheel drive, weighing only 145 kg. The car was built for the Formula Student competition and the students won the unofficial World Championship with it at Hockenheim.

As light as possible

Every effort was made to break the acceleration record. Gihin Mok, one of the students responsible for the car, explains: 'We made the car a little lighter where possible, but the major difference lies in the electric motors. In the Formula Student competition, they were only allowed to produce 114 horsepower. The motors we used now are actually much more powerful, which means we had to limit them during the race. Now we used the maximum power. That totals 135 horsepower, about 33 horsepower per motor and almost one horsepower for each kilogram of weight.'

A home-made oven, made from an old oil barrel, ensured that the tyres were heated at the start. Even the racing driver was changed to achieve the fastest possible acceleration: Marly Kuijpers, 24, is the lightest member of the DUT Racing team. During the official competition, she had already achieved 2.50 seconds for acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h. Today, she has set her own and the world's fastest time. Talking about the feeling during the drive, Marly says: 'It feels like a roller coaster, that part when you just drop over the edge.'

U-M solar car: Sleek, reliable and ready to race

With a bold, asymmetrical vehicle that's logged thousands of test miles on two continents, students on the University of Michigan's top-ranked Solar Car Team say this could be their year for a world championship.

U-M's team—currently No. 1 in the U.S.—will compete against 25 others from across the globe in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge. The week-long, 1,800-mile trek across the Australian outback begins Oct. 6, which is the afternoon of Oct. 5 in the U.S.

For the past quarter century, the race has happened every other year, and Michigan has finished third five times. The 2013 vehicle, Generation, makes the best of new regulations that require four wheels and a more upright driver. Like a motorcycle with a sidecar, Generation situates the driver on one side, rather than in the middle of the chassis. The design allows for a sleeker underbelly and a more aerodynamic silhouette. The car weighs less than 600 lbs and has a lithium ion battery and a carbon fiber body.

In Generation, the students say they've achieved a powerful combination that could best their predecessors' results.

"We've come up with what we think is the most optimal design and, in addition, we've been able to test it thoroughly. So I think that will give us a huge advantage," said Eric Hausman, team project manager and senior in industrial and operations engineering.

"Sometimes we've had a great design when there's a rule change, but we haven't had time to test it. Other times, it's been the opposite, but this year I think we've balanced design and testing really well."

Since unveiling Generation in June, the students have taken it on a 1,000-mile practice race on home soil and a longer one in Australia. It's been remarkably reliable, Hausman says. A dependable car means less race time spent on the side of the road. In 2011, the team had to stop twice in one day to repair torn wheel fairings while the first- and second-place teams pulled ahead.

The students don't want to comment on their strategy, except to say that they did practice passing other vehicles in case they need to. U-M is one of four teams in the race that have chosen asymmetrical designs. The others include 2011 first- and second-place teams Tokai University from Japan and Nuon from the Netherlands.

Drivers will take turns in three- to six-hour shifts. Kyle Chudler, a junior in atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences, described what it's like at the wheel of Generation.

"I always say it handles like a Porsche but accelerates like a go-kart," Chudler said. "It handles really well but it doesn't have the most thrust."

Pick-up isn't important in this case, though. Endurance is—for the car and its operators.

"There will be times when you get bored, when you're just driving through the desert and it's straight road as far as you can see, but then I just remind myself I'm driving a solar car through the Australian outback."

Teams have until Oct. 13 to complete the course, but the winner will likely finish by Oct. 10.

Venturi VBB-3 is world's most powerful electric car with 3000 hp engine

Meet Venturi VBB-3 - the world's most powerful electric car, currently waiting on the runway in the deserts of Utah, USA for the weather to be nicer. The engineering team that built VBB-3 over the past two years is all geared up to break the land speed record of 495 km/h, which the Venturi motors itself holds since 2010. The French company is a well known name in the high performance electric vehicles sector. The Venturi VBB-3 was officially unveiled by the Prince Albert II of Monaco and Princess Charlene in Utah on September 18.

The company had earlier collaborated with Ohio State University to develop the Buckeye Bullet 2.5 that set the earlier land speed record for electric vehicles. The engineering team behind VBB-3 says that it's the most powerful electric vehicle in existence in the world today. The car itself took about $6 million to build. The aim is to reach to cross the speed of 440 mph or 708 km/h with VBB-3; which would break the current FIA (Federation Of International Automobiles) record. The team hoped to touch 600 km/h this year; but the weather in Utah isn't suitable for the attempt. The current plan has been rescheduled and the next trial is expected to be conducted in July 2014.

The vehicle itself reminds us of the Bloodhound SSC, the soon to be world's fastest car. Very similar to Bloodhound SSC in design, the VBB-3 is needle shaped to minimise the air resistance. Measuring about 11.35 meters in length and about 1.06 meters in width, the overall weight of the car is about 3.2 tonnes. As expected, half of the weight of the car comes from the powerful 1.6 ton batteries. The Lithium Iron Phosphate aka LiFePO4 batteries have about 2000 pouch type cells and are capable of powering 2x1500 HP electric motors, producing a total of 3000 hp (2200 kW). The engine produces a super impressive torque of 2800 Nm. While the earlier models of VBB were 2-wheel drives; VBB-4 ensures that the engine engates all four wheels. See the comparison chart below -

Novel technology produces gasoline by metabolically-engineered microorganism

For many decades, we have been relying on fossil resources to produce liquid fuels such as gasoline, diesel, and many industrial and consumer chemicals for daily use. However, increasing strains on natural resources as well as environmental issues including global warming have triggered a strong interest in developing sustainable ways to obtain fuels and chemicals.

Gasoline, the petroleum-derived product that is most widely used as a fuel for transportation, is a mixture of hydrocarbons, additives, and blending agents. The hydrocarbons, called alkanes, consist only of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Gasoline has a combination of straight-chain and branched-chain alkanes (hydrocarbons) consisted of 4-12 carbon atoms linked by direct carbon-carbon bonds.

Previously, through metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli (E. coli), there have been a few research results on the production of long-chain alkanes, which consist of 13-17 carbon atoms, suitable for replacing diesel. However, there has been no report on the microbial production of short-chain alkanes, a possible substitute for gasoline.

In the paper (entitled "Microbial Production of Short-chain Alkanes") published online in Nature on September 29, a Korean research team led by Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) reported, for the first time, the development of a novel strategy for microbial gasoline production through metabolic engineering of E. coli.

The research team engineered the fatty acid metabolism to provide the fatty acid derivatives that are shorter than normal intracellular fatty acid metabolites, and introduced a novel synthetic pathway for the biosynthesis of short-chain alkanes. This allowed the development of platform E. coli strain capable of producing gasoline for the first time. Furthermore, this platform strain, if desired, can be modified to produce other products such as short-chain fatty esters and short-chain fatty alcohols.

In this paper, the Korean researchers described detailed strategies for 1) screening of enzymes associated with the production of fatty acids, 2) engineering of enzymes and fatty acid biosynthetic pathways to concentrate carbon flux towards the short-chain fatty acid production, and 3) converting short-chain fatty acids to their corresponding alkanes (gasoline) by introducing a novel synthetic pathway and optimization of culture conditions. Furthermore, the research team showed the possibility of producing fatty esters and alcohols by introducing responsible enzymes into the same platform strain.

Professor Sang Yup Lee said, "It is only the beginning of the work towards sustainable production of gasoline. The titer is rather low due to the low metabolic flux towards the formation of short-chain fatty acids and their derivatives. We are currently working on increasing the titer, yield and productivity of bio-gasoline. Nonetheless, we are pleased to report, for the first time, the production of gasoline through the metabolic engineering of E. coli, which we hope will serve as a basis for the metabolic engineering of microorganisms to produce fuels and chemicals from renewable resources.

GM says almost-driverless cars coming by 2020

Sometime before the end of this decade, General Motors will put a car on the road that can almost drive itself.

The automaker says the system, called "Super Cruise," uses radar and cameras to steer the car and keep it between lane lines. Also, the radar keeps the car a safe distance from cars ahead of it, and it will brake to a complete stop if necessary.

GM and other automakers such as Mercedes, BMW and Lexus already offer radar-guided cruise control systems that keep their cars a safe distance from other vehicles and even stop before a crash. They also have systems that warn the driver if they're drifting out of their lane. But until recently, engineers haven't been able to steer with computers, according to GM.

"The steering control is the big additional piece," said John Capp, GM's director of electrical controls and active safety technology.

On Wednesday, engineers showed off the system for reporters at the company's testing grounds in Milford, Michigan, north of Detroit. The system adds control of electric power steering to off-the-shelf technology that's now available. Although they still have bugs to work out, a Cadillac SRX SUV equipped with the technology worked very well.

Capp says a lot of development work still needs to be done about road conditions, reaction of sensors, visibility of lane lines and how the system will interact with the driver, who still would be in control and can easily override the computer system. He says it's possible GM could sell the system well before the end of the decade. It would debut in Cadillacs, GM's luxury brand, but likely would spread to the rest of the company's lineup.

With the system, people will be able to take their hands off the wheel on a freeway and let the car do the work, he said.

GM is aware that the system could make drivers complacent, turning over control to the car even though the system isn't designed for that, said Charles Green, an engineer who studies driver performance with the systems.

"Super Cruise will be designed in a way to help you keep your visual attention on the road ahead," Green said, declining to say just how the system will do that. "The 'how' is something that will become more apparent as we show Super Cruise in its later versions."

Engineers say there are many obstacles to cars that completely drive themselves, including how they react to cars and trucks that don't have the technology. For those reasons, Capp says completely driverless cars are 20 to 30 years away.

The announcements come as automakers race to sell self-driving cars and the latest safety devices so they're seen as technology leaders.

GM's demonstration happened the same day as Honda said it was working on short-range communications technology that would let a car detect a pedestrian with a smartphone. The system could prevent car crashes by warning both the driver and the pedestrian. Honda also says it's working on a system that warns car and truck drivers about motorcycles, even if the driver's view of the motorcycle is obstructed by other vehicles. Both are still in the experimental stage.

On Tuesday, Nissan said it wants to make cars that drive themselves by 2020. The company is working on the system with several universities and has a proving ground for autonomous cars near its headquarters in Japan.

Five new features that could be on your next car

Cameras that check around the car for pedestrians. Radar that stops you from drifting out of your lane. An engine able to turn off automatically at traffic lights to conserve fuel.

Technology that saves lives—and fuel—is getting better and cheaper. That means it's no longer confined to luxury brands like Mercedes and Volvo. It's showing up in mainstream vehicles like the Nissan Rogue and Ford Fusion.

"What we see today as slightly elitist technology is changing very, very fast," said Steven Lunn, chief operating officer for TRW Automotive, which supplies electronics and other parts to carmakers.

TRW says its newest radar is a quarter of the price of the model it sold 10 years ago. Its cameras are smaller and cheaper, too, making it easier to put multiple ones on each car.

High-tech options can still cost a few thousand dollars more, but those costs will come down as technology improves and automakers add them to more and more vehicles.

Here are some up-and-coming features that drivers can expect on their next cars:

— Collision warning with automatic braking:

New cars have radar and camera systems that warn you, with beeping sounds, of a possible front-end crash. Some even stop the vehicle, or at least slow it enough to make a crash less severe. More sophisticated systems apply the brakes if a car veers off the road and heads toward a moving or fixed object. The systems are the outgrowth of adaptive cruise control, which came out 15 years ago and helps keep cars a safe distance from vehicles in front of them.

Mercedes, Honda, Toyota, Infiniti, Volvo and other brands offer automatic braking to avoid a collision; more automakers will follow soon. The systems seem to be working. David Zuby, the chief research officer at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said collision warning systems alone reduced crashes by 7 percent in a study of insurance claims for several thousand Mercedes vehicles with the technologies. Adding automatic braking doubled that benefit.

— Advanced cameras:

Automotive cameras are showing up on more cars ahead of a government requirement to install backup cameras, which is expected by 2015. But with cameras getting smaller and cheaper, automakers aren't just putting them on the back of the car anymore. Honda has side cameras that come on automatically when a turn signal is employed, so drivers can spot obstacles while turning. Nissan's around-view monitor blends images from four cameras tucked in the mirrors and elsewhere around the car into a composite, bird's-eye view to help the driver back out of a parking spot. The system is available on a high-end Rogue, which costs $6,000 more than the base model. Volvo and Subaru have front-mounted cameras that can apply brakes to avoid hitting pedestrians.

According to Mobileye, an Israeli maker of automotive cameras, car companies are adding cameras that can read wrong-way road signs, detect large animals such as deer, and even note the colors of traffic lights. All that technology is coming by 2015. The next wave? Nissan and TRW are working on a system to automatically steer the car away from an obstacle. Expect that by 2016.

— Lane Centering:

A camera can follow the road and gently nudge a car—using the brakes—to stay in the center of a lane. These systems—dubbed Lane Keep Assist—are available on most Mercedes-Benz vehicles as well as the Ford Fusion, Ford Explorer, Toyota Prius, Lexus GS and Lincoln MKZ. They aren't cheap. A combined lane-keeping and lane-centering system is a $1,200 option on the Fusion SE. Prius owners must spend $4,320 to get the system, packaged with cruise control and an entertainment system. Lane-centering is an outgrowth of lane-keeping systems, which first appeared on commercial trucks a decade ago. Those systems—now offered by Honda, Buick, Cadillac, Nissan and other brands—sound a beep or vibrate the driver's seat if a camera senses that a car is swerving out of its lane.

— Adaptive headlights:

Headlights don't have to be round any more to accommodate bulbs, so designers have more flexibility on where to put lights. And LEDs, or light-emitting diodes, are letting automakers cram more brightness into smaller spaces. Audi, Mercedes, Acura, Mazda and others have so-called adaptive headlights that swivel in the direction the car is going to help drivers see around corners as they turn. And many cars now have high-beam lights that sense oncoming traffic and dim automatically. The Ford Fusion and other mainstream cars have them, and drivers can buy after-market kits to add automatic high beams to cars without them.

— Stop-start:

By 2025, new cars and trucks sold in the U.S. will have to average 54.5 miles per gallon (4.3 liters per 100 kilometers) of gasoline, up from the current 30.8 mpg (7.6 liters). One feature will almost be a must-have: A "stop-start" device that shuts off the engine at a stop light and automatically turns it on when the driver releases the brake.

Alex Molinaroli, a vice president with Johnson Controls Inc., which makes batteries that power the systems, estimates they raise gas mileage by a minimum of 5 percent.

Stop-start first surfaced in Europe, where gas prices are far higher. Now, nearly all gas-electric hybrid vehicles have it, as do some cars and trucks with conventional engines. The BMW 3-Series has a simple system, helping the four-cylinder version with an automatic transmission get 28 miles per gallon (8.4 liters per 100 kilometers) in combined city and highway driving. A high-mileage version of Chrysler's Ram pickup also has it, boosting combined mileage by 1 mpg to 21 (11.2 liters per 100 kms).

Currently, 5 percent of new U.S. cars have the systems as standard or optional equipment, up from just 0.5 percent two years ago, according to the Edmunds.com automotive website. Johnson Controls predicts that to rise to 40 to 45 percent by 2016.

7 cars get top rating in high-tech safety test

Seven midsize vehicles earned the top rating in a new insurance industry test of high-tech safety features designed to prevent front-end collisions.

The Cadillac ATS and SRX, Subaru Legacy and Outback, Mercedes C-Class and Volvo S60 and XC60 won "superior" ratings in tests by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The institute tested 74 midsize cars and SUVs from the model years 2013 and 2014. Those equipped with front collision-warning and automatic braking systems generally scored better. The systems can either warn the driver or automatically stop the car if they sense a potential collision.

The institute IIHS, a nonprofit research group funded by insurance companies, has pushed federal regulators and automakers to require or offer as an option new safety systems such as antilock brakes. The group also is pushing automakers to bolster front-end crash resistance.

Automakers have been offering the frontal-crash systems on more and more models as the price of the technology falls. The systems use radar, cameras, ultrasonic sensors and computers to spot objects in front of cars and determine if a collision is possible. A driver may be warned to take action, or the system may apply the brakes itself.

The IIHS said its data institute has determined that the devices help drivers avoid frontal crashes, but even so, auto insurance companies generally aren't offering discounts for people who buy them.

Insurance companies say that as the systems become more popular in certain models, insurance claims will decline. Those models eventually will see discounted rates.

In the tests, six other cars got second-best "advanced" ratings, while 25 received "basic" ratings. Another 36 got no rating because they didn't have the systems or their systems didn't meet the institute's standards.

The institute says the tests will help people decide which features to buy and encourage automakers to adopt the new technology faster.

Nissan Pioneers First-Ever*1 Independent Control Steering Technology;
To Be On Sale Within a Year

Delivers responsive performance by controlling tire and steering angles inputs independently-

YOKOHAMA, Japan (October 17, 2012) - Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. today unveiled the world's first steering technology that allows independent control of a vehicle's tire angle and steering inputs. This next-generation steering technology was developed by Nissan.

A conventional steering system directs tire movements by transmitting steering inputs to the tires via a mechanical link. Nissan's next-generation steering technology reads the driver's intentions from steering inputs and controls the vehicle's tire movements via electronic signals. This transmits the driver's intentions to the wheels even faster than a mechanical system and increases the direct driving performance feel by quickly and intelligently communicating road surface feedback to the driver.

The system controls and insulates the vehicle from unnecessary road-generated disturbances to deliver only the necessary performance feel to the driver. For example, even on a road surface with minor ridges or furrows, the driver no longer has to grip the steering wheel tightly and make detailed adjustments, so traveling on the intended path becomes easier.
Accompanying this next-generation steering technology, Nissan has also developed a camera-based straight-line stability system to further enhance on-center driving capability. This system is a world-first*2 technology that improves vehicle stability by making small input angle adjustments so the vehicle will accurately trace and continue as planned in the lane it is traveling. If the vehicle direction changes due to road surface or crosswinds, the system acts to minimize the effect of these conditions resulting in reduced steering input from the driver.

Using a camera mounted above the vehicle's rearview mirror, the system analyzes the road ahead, recognizes the lane direction, detects changes in the vehicle's direction, and transmits this information to multiple electronic control units as electronic signals. If a discrepancy occurs, the system acts to reduce the discrepancy by controlling the opposing force to the tire angle. By reducing the frequency of detailed steering input adjustments, which are a cause of fatigue on long drives, the driver's workload is greatly reduced.

This next-generation steering technology's high reliability is achieved by multiple ECUs. In the event a single ECU malfunctions, another ECU will instantly take control, and in extreme circumstances such as the power supply being disrupted, the backup clutch will act to connect the steering wheel and wheels mechanically, ensuring continued safe travel.

This technology will be equipped on select Infiniti models on sale within one year to provide "Driving as Intended" and "Driving with Peace of Mind" for owners.

Innovative auto steering device could save lives

It can take up to two and a half turns to steer a modern vehicle. While turning, the driver must release the wheel in the necessary hand-over-hand movement, which is unsafe. In his upcoming HFES 2013 Annual Meeting paper, Rene Guerster, who has been concerned with steering improvement since he was a child, proposes an alternative steering device that could help to prevent hazards such as rear-end collisions and rollovers caused by panic oversteering. He will present his work on October 4 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel.

Severe sudden turns are extremely difficult with today's steering systems. Developing what he terms "computer-mediated steering," Guerster believes his proposed technology, already common in engine controls, would enable steering around a suddenly-appearing obstacle without hand-over-hand fumbling.

Guerster's yoke-like device, currently in the concept stage, requires only a quarter turn in either direction from the straight-ahead position, enabling the driver to keep his or her hands in the same position on the device at all times. A computer would record the degree to which the device is turned, the speed at which it is being turned, and the vehicle speed. It would determine how far the front wheels should be turned and then turn them via an electric motor, whether the driver is parallel parking, performing a gentle lane-change maneuver at high speed, or turning suddenly to avoid a pedestrian.

Guerster says, "The likelihood of intuitive, safe use of this device will be studied in experiments to be conducted in the future. If computer-mediated steering shows benefits, this is easy to engineer into modern vehicles."

New steering tech for heavy equipment saves fuel, ups efficiency

Researchers at Purdue University have shown how to reduce fuel consumption while improving the efficiency of hydraulic steering systems in heavy construction equipment.

The new approach incorporates several innovations: It eliminates valves now needed to direct the flow of hydraulic fluid in steering systems and uses advanced algorithms and models to precisely control hydraulic pumps. New designs might also incorporate textured "microstructured" surfaces inside pumps to improve performance.

"Fuel consumption of heavy off-road equipment accounts for a significant portion of total global fuel usage, so improving efficiency is very important," said Monika Ivantysynova, Maha Fluid Power Systems Professor in Purdue's School of Mechanical Engineering. "It's also important from a commercial business point of view because money saved on fuel improves a company's bottom line."

Typical hydraulic systems in heavy equipment use a central "variable displacement pump" that delivers fluid, and valves that throttle the flow of fluid to linear and rotary "actuators" that move tools such as shovels, buckets and steering mechanisms. This throttling causes energy to be dissipated as heat and wasted.

In the new valveless design, each actuator has its own pump, eliminating the need for valves. The actuator motion can be precisely controlled by adjusting the pump displacement, which changes the amount of fluid being delivered to the actuator. Being able to adjust the pump displacement makes it possible to run the machinery's diesel engine at optimal speeds, resulting in additional fuel savings.

Findings are detailed in a research paper being presented during the SAE 2013 Commercial Vehicle Engineering Congress on Oct. 1-3 in Rosemont, Ill. The paper was authored by doctoral student Naseem Daher and Ivantysynova, director of Purdue's Maha Fluid Power Research Center.

Present hydrostatic steering systems are plagued by poor energy efficiency, and industry is developing new "steer-by-wire technologies" to reduce fuel consumption and improve performance. However, the steer-by-wire systems being developed still require energy-wasting valves.

Testing the new "electro-hydraulic power steering system" on a front loader has shown a 15 percent fuel savings and 23 percent increased machine productivity, for a total fuel efficiency increase of 43 percent during steering maneuvers.

"The world's first pump-controlled steer-by-wire prototype machine is now readily available for further research and development," said Ivantysynova, who has a dual appointment in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering.

In previous projects, Maha researchers have shown that valveless systems could reduce fuel consumption by 40 percent in an excavator equipped with the technology. Measurements on the same excavator prototype also showed 70 percent productivity improvement in terms of tons of soil removed per kilogram of fuel consumed.

The new steering system also may help reduce operator fatigue while improving safety by controlling the level of "steering-wheel torque feedback." Steer-by-wire technology removes all torque - the twisting force required to turn the steering wheel. However, removing the torque is potentially dangerous because the driver lacks the tactile feedback needed to properly control the vehicle.

In the new system, torque feedback is regulated according to parameters such as steering wheel angle and turning speed, vehicle speed and the angle of a rotating joint that connects the vehicle's two subframes.

New thermodynamic modeling by the group also has found that steel parts in the pump undergo significant deformations from high heat during operation.

"The deformation due to heat can be as large as the thickness of the lubricating film, and this is very important," she said. "We have developed the only code that models these lubricating interfaces under extreme heat and high pressure."

The research paper includes details of the system's layout, the hardware and electronic controller developed through the use of modeling. The researchers developed and used the modeling to simulate the system's performance.

The Purdue laboratory is working with industry partners on applied research projects, said Anthony Franklin, the Maha lab's manager.

"Our prototypes are very close to commercial prototypes, so they are readily adaptable to machines now in use and can be easily industrialized when manufacturers decide to make the transition into valveless systems," he said.

New sensor could prolong the lifespan of high-temperature engines

A temperature sensor developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge could improve the efficiency, control and safety of high-temperature engines. The sensor minimises drift –degradation of the sensor which results in faulty temperature readings and reduces the longevity of engine components.

The new sensor, or thermocouple, has been shown to reduce drift by 80 per cent at temperatures of 1200 degrees Celsius, and by 90 per cent at 1300 degrees Celsius, potentially doubling the lifespan of engine components. The results are published in the September issue of the Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power.

Generally, the hotter a jet engine burns, the more power it generates, improving fuel efficiency, range and thrust. However, an accurate temperature reading is critical, as when temperatures get too high, the mechanical integrity of engine components could be at risk. A temperature error of just ten degrees can trigger engine failure, which can be a huge blow to aircraft manufacturers, as seen in the 2010 recall of Rolls-Royce's Airbus A380 engines, which caused the company's share price to drop by a massive nine per cent.

Modern jet engines can reach temperatures as high as 1500 degrees, but drift in the nickel-based thermocouples used to measure temperature increases to unacceptable levels at temperatures above 1000 degrees. Therefore, the thermocouple is placed away from the hottest part of the engine, and the maximum temperature is extrapolated from that point.

The inaccuracy resulting from this form of measurement means that the engine temperature, and therefore efficiency, has to be set below maximum in order to leave a safety margin for the survival of engine components. Thermocouples with increased temperature capabilities can be placed closer to the combustion chamber, increasing the accuracy with which the peak temperature is estimated, and decreasing the required safety margin.

"A more stable temperature sensor provides several advantages – a better estimation of temperature can increase the lifetime of engine components and decrease maintenance costs to manufacturers, without any reduction in safety," said Dr Michele Scervini, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, who developed the new thermocouple.

In its simplest form, a thermocouple consists of two bare wires of two different metals joined together at their ends, with a voltmeter incorporated into the circuit. The difference between the two ends of the thermocouple is measured by the voltmeter and used to determine the temperature. This type of thermocouple is not suitable for high-temperature applications as the elements oxidise above 800 degrees, increasing the amount of drift, so thermocouples sheathed in oxidation-resistant materials were introduced in the 1970s. While this configuration addressed the issue of oxidation, the sheath contaminated the wires at temperatures above 1000 degrees, increasing drift.

Scervini, along with Dr Cathie Rae, has developed a thermocouple which both withstands oxidisation and minimises any contamination to the wires from the metallic sheath. The thermocouple is made of an outer wall of a conventional oxidisation-resistant nickel alloy which can withstand high temperatures, and an inner wall of a different, impurity-free nickel alloy which prevents contamination while reducing drift.

Results from tests on a prototype device showed a significant reduction in drift at temperatures of 1200 and 1300 degrees, meaning that a double-walled thermocouple can be used at temperatures well above the current limitation of 1000 degrees.

There are platinum-based thermocouples which can withstand higher temperatures, but their extremely high cost means that they are not widely used. "Nickel is an ideal material for these applications as it is a good compromise between cost and performance, but there is a gap in the market for applications above 1000 degrees," said Scervini. "We believe our device could see widespread usage across a range of industries."

The team are currently commercialising their invention with the assistance of Cambridge Enterprise, the University's commercialisation arm, and have attracted interest from a range of industries. Tests on new prototypes are on-going.

Audi's latest design is a table clock

Audi and Porsche have more things in common than we can count. They're both German, of course, and have both enjoyed considerable winning streaks at Le Mans. Both have a tendency to put their (often turbocharged) engines at one extreme of the car or another, driving either the closest wheels or all four. Both tend to follow a brand-wide evolutionary design approach, focusing their energies instead on the engineering that goes under the bodywork. Both now find themselves under the same corporate umbrella, and now that they are, Audi has followed Porsche's lead in setting up its own design consultancy.

Like Porsche Design, Audi Design is now taking on projects for all manner of clients, from pianos to foosball tables. In this latest collaboration, Audi has designed a table clock for Munich-based watchmaker Erwin Sattler. The table-top clock houses a high-frequency mechanical movement in a foot-tall glass case that lets you see the intricate clockwork, held in place by two ruthenium clasps.

Unveiled in Switzerland at the Baselworld watch and jewelry show, the clock is now available to order. But while prices haven't been announced, don't expect it to come cheap: other Erwin Sattler table clocks typically sell for upwards of $10,000, and we wouldn't expect the new design to come at a discount. Scroll down below for the official press release.

World's smallest onroad car to Guinness record

Custom car maker Austin Coulson in the US set the record as the owner of the smallest roadworthy car, which he can legally drive on the road. Coulson's car measures 25 inches high; 2 feet, 1.75 inches wide; and 4 feet, 1.75 inches long, and can be spotted by its Texas vanity license plates reading "IM BIG."

The world's smallest car - just 25 inches high and 4 feet long - which can be safely driven on the road has entered the Guinness World Records. The car can reach a top speed of 33 mph.
The metal body designed to look like a 1957 Chevy comes from a child's toy, and the tiny gas engine was borrowed from a mini all-terrain vehicle.

To qualify as a roadworthy vehicle, Coulson needed to get the car registered and inspected and had to install a number of required safety features, according to Guinness website. These included federally approved safety glass for the windshield, functioning windshield wipers and department of transportation-approved signal lights, a seat belt, and working horn.