Fly by thoughts, no joystick required

(Credit: Lockheed Martin)

The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) enlisted Jan Scheuermann, a 55-year-old woman with quadriplegia, to help fly the Pentagon's new F-35 Lightning fighter jet in one of its flight simulators. Scheuermann was uniquely qualified for the task, having had two electrodes implanted on her brain which could then be used to control electrical and mechanical systems. The concept is called neurosignalling, and she previously used it to manoeuver a pair of robotic arms using just her thoughts. This time she flew a handful of aircraft in the simulator, including the F-35, simply by thinking about where the planes should travel.

Ford beefs up F-150's sustainability cred

(Credit: Ford Motor)

Truck manufacturers typically do not count sustainability among their marketing talking points, but the latest Ford F-150 pickup has become the first to use 100% recycled material in its seats. Ford already uses the recycled fibre, called Repreve, in five other vehicles sold around the world. The company says adding Repreve to the F-150 should divert 5m plastic bottles away from landfills in just one year. The US’s best-selling truck is no stranger to recycling, though. To reduce build costs, roughly $300 worth of aluminium scraps shaved off the frames of the F-150 is collected and reused by the aluminium supplier. (Credit: Ford Motor)

Дата добавления: 2015-10-13