Invention: Low-error golf balls

The dimples on a golf ball are more than a pretty pattern – they help a struck ball fly further. But a new patent application says that replacing them with grooves will make for fewer missed putts.

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Augmented reality windows being developed for Toyota

As a child sitting in the back of the family car, did you ever use your finger to doodle in the condensation on the inside of the windows? Well, a group of engineers and designers from Toyota Motor Europe's Kansei1 Design Division and the consultancy arm of the Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design (CIID) have taken car-window-doodling into the 21st Century. They've created a prototype system that could turn the side windows of Toyotas into touchscreen augmented reality devices, allowing passengers to interface with the passing scenery.

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Lockheed Martin optimizes assembly, integration and test processes with Dassault Systemes simulation solutions

Dassault Systemes announced that Dassault Systemes’ DELMIA solutions are being used for product and process simulations at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. The DELMIA solutions are also a major software component of the new Lockheed Martin Collaborative Human Immersive Lab (CHIL) opened at the end of 2010.

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Europe’s answer to the Dreamliner, the Airbus A350 XWB is beginning to take shape

Boeing’s 787, the first major airliner to be predominantly made from composites, is expected to be certified later this year. Meanwhile, the Airbus A350 XWB, which also makes heavy use of the lightweight material, is currently in the final stages of preparation before a planned first flight in 2013.

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2012 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster testing

The convertible SLS AMG Roadster is the second car to be developed independently by AMG. The Coupe and Roadster concepts were created in parallel – very advantageous during the development process. During this 3-year development period for the 2012 SLS AMG Roadster, the engineers devoted particular attention to bodyshell rigidity, driving dynamics, the soft top and NVH.

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Airbus unveils see-through plane of the future

Airbus's engineers have created a virtual Concept Cabin to give an insight into some of the innovations and technologies that they think will completely change passengers' experiences.

Gone are the regulated class divisions of First, Business and Economy, replaced by personalized zones that offer flexible, tailored levels of relaxation, interactivity and working spaces.

Passengers will choose to travel in the Interactive zone, with a bar and electronic games where they can mingle and socialise. And those wanting quiet and solitude can choose the Relaxation zone.

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Audi develops carbon fibre skis

Audi Concept Design has developed lightweight carbon fibre skis which may be ready for series production by this winter.

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First 'practical nanogenerator' developed

For the past several years, scientists from around the world have been engaged in the development of nanogenerators – tiny piezoelectric devices capable of generating electricity by harnessing minute naturally-occurring movements, such as the shifting of clothing or even the beating of a person's heart. So far, while they may have worked in principle, few if any of the devices have been able to generate enough of a current to make them practical for use in consumer products. Now scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology are claiming to have created "the world's first practical nanogenerator."

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Silicon Graphics introduced a cloud HPC solution Cyclone - the world's first large scale on-demand cloud computing service specifically dedicated to technical applications

Cyclone is the world's first large scale on-demand cloud computing service specifically dedicated to technical applications. Cyclone capitalizes on over twenty years of SGI HPC expertise to address the growing science and engineering technical markets that rely on extremely high-end computational hardware, software and networking equipment to achieve rapid results. Cyclone supports a number of leading applications partners and five technical domains, including computational fluid dynamics, finite element analysis, computational chemistry and materials, computational biology and ontologies.

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Teenager builds 'death-ray' which can burn through almost anything

Eric Jacqmain, from Indiana in the US, covered an ordinary fibreglass satellite dish with 5,800 tiny mirror tiles - and made his very own 'death ray'.

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