Most airplanes in the world have vertical tails or rudders to prevent Dutch roll instabilities, a combination of yawing and sideways motions with rolling that looks a bit like the movements of a skater. Unfortunately, a vertical tail adds weight and generates drag, which reduces fuel efficiency in passenger airliners. It also increases the radar signature, which is something you want to keep as low as possible in a military aircraft.

In the B-2 stealth bomber, one of the very few rudderless airplanes, Dutch roll instabilities are dealt with using drag flaps positioned at the tips of its wings, which can split and open to make one wing generate more drag than the other and thus laterally stabilize the machine. “But it is not really an efficient way to solve this problem,” says David Lentink, an aerospace engineer and a biologist at the University of Groningen, Netherlands. “The efficient way is solving it by generating lift instead of drag. This is something birds do.”

Lentink led the study aimed at better understanding birds’ rudderless flight mechanics.

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Most airplanes in the world have vertical tails or rudders to prevent Dutch roll instabilities, a combination of yawing and sideways motions with rolling that looks a bit like the movements of a skater. Unfortunately, a vertical tail adds weight and generates drag, which reduces fuel efficiency in passenger airliners. It also increases the radar signature, which is something you want to keep as low as possible in a military aircraft.

In the B-2 stealth bomber, one of the very few rudderless airplanes, Dutch roll instabilities are dealt with using drag flaps positioned at the tips of its wings, which can split and open to make one wing generate more drag than the other and thus laterally stabilize the machine. “But it is not really an efficient way to solve this problem,” says David Lentink, an aerospace engineer and a biologist at the University of Groningen, Netherlands. “The efficient way is solving it by generating lift instead of drag. This is something birds do.”

Lentink led the study aimed at better understanding birds’ rudderless flight mechanics.

Read full article

Comments

Most airplanes in the world have vertical tails or rudders to prevent Dutch roll instabilities, a combination of yawing and sideways motions with rolling that looks a bit like the movements of a skater. Unfortunately, a vertical tail adds weight and generates drag, which reduces fuel efficiency in passenger airliners. It also increases the radar signature, which is something you want to keep as low as possible in a military aircraft.

In the B-2 stealth bomber, one of the very few rudderless airplanes, Dutch roll instabilities are dealt with using drag flaps positioned at the tips of its wings, which can split and open to make one wing generate more drag than the other and thus laterally stabilize the machine. “But it is not really an efficient way to solve this problem,” says David Lentink, an aerospace engineer and a biologist at the University of Groningen, Netherlands. “The efficient way is solving it by generating lift instead of drag. This is something birds do.”

Lentink led the study aimed at better understanding birds’ rudderless flight mechanics.

Read full article

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Starlink yesterday obtained federal approval to provide service to cell phones, with some limits. The Federal Communications Commission issued an order that partially grants SpaceX's application while imposing conditions and deferring a decision on some aspects of the application.

Starlink received approval to provide Supplemental Coverage from Space (SCS) within the United States. This means that in areas not covered by terrestrial cellular networks, Starlink satellites can provide service to cell phones. SpaceX already had approval to launch 7,500 second-generation satellites for its existing broadband service, and the new approval allows mobile service from those satellites.

The approval lets Starlink and T-Mobile move ahead with their plan to provide satellite service to phones in cellular dead spots. SpaceX is authorized to use the 1910–1915 MHz (Earth-to-space) and 1990–1995 MHz (space-to-Earth) bands for SCS pursuant to its lease agreement with T-Mobile. The lease covers the continental US, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.

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Starlink yesterday obtained federal approval to provide service to cell phones, with some limits. The Federal Communications Commission issued an order that partially grants SpaceX's application while imposing conditions and deferring a decision on some aspects of the application.

Starlink received approval to provide Supplemental Coverage from Space (SCS) within the United States. This means that in areas not covered by terrestrial cellular networks, Starlink satellites can provide service to cell phones. SpaceX already had approval to launch 7,500 second-generation satellites for its existing broadband service, and the new approval allows mobile service from those satellites.

The approval lets Starlink and T-Mobile move ahead with their plan to provide satellite service to phones in cellular dead spots. SpaceX is authorized to use the 1910–1915 MHz (Earth-to-space) and 1990–1995 MHz (space-to-Earth) bands for SCS pursuant to its lease agreement with T-Mobile. The lease covers the continental US, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.

Read full article

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Starlink yesterday obtained federal approval to provide service to cell phones, with some limits. The Federal Communications Commission issued an order that partially grants SpaceX's application while imposing conditions and deferring a decision on some aspects of the application.

Starlink received approval to provide Supplemental Coverage from Space (SCS) within the United States. This means that in areas not covered by terrestrial cellular networks, Starlink satellites can provide service to cell phones. SpaceX already had approval to launch 7,500 second-generation satellites for its existing broadband service, and the new approval allows mobile service from those satellites.

The approval lets Starlink and T-Mobile move ahead with their plan to provide satellite service to phones in cellular dead spots. SpaceX is authorized to use the 1910–1915 MHz (Earth-to-space) and 1990–1995 MHz (space-to-Earth) bands for SCS pursuant to its lease agreement with T-Mobile. The lease covers the continental US, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.

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Makers of smart devices that fail to disclose how long they will support their products with software updates may be breaking the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act , the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warned this week.

The FTC released its statement after examining 184 smart products across 64 product categories, including soundbars, video doorbells, breast pumps, smartphones, home appliances , and garage door opener controllers . Among devices researched, the majority—or 163 to be precise—"did not disclose the connected device support duration or end date" on their product webpage, per the FTC's report [ PDF ]. Contrastingly, 11.4 percent of devices examined shared a software support duration or end date on their product page.

Elusive information

In addition to manufacturers often neglecting to commit to software support for a specified amount of time, it seems that even when they share this information, it's elusive.

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Makers of smart devices that fail to disclose how long they will support their products with software updates may be breaking the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act , the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warned this week.

The FTC released its statement after examining 184 smart products across 64 product categories, including soundbars, video doorbells, breast pumps, smartphones, home appliances , and garage door opener controllers . Among devices researched, the majority—or 163 to be precise—"did not disclose the connected device support duration or end date" on their product webpage, per the FTC's report [ PDF ]. Contrastingly, 11.4 percent of devices examined shared a software support duration or end date on their product page.

Elusive information

In addition to manufacturers often neglecting to commit to software support for a specified amount of time, it seems that even when they share this information, it's elusive.

Read full article

Comments

Makers of smart devices that fail to disclose how long they will support their products with software updates may be breaking the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act , the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warned this week.

The FTC released its statement after examining 184 smart products across 64 product categories, including soundbars, video doorbells, breast pumps, smartphones, home appliances , and garage door opener controllers . Among devices researched, the majority—or 163 to be precise—"did not disclose the connected device support duration or end date" on their product webpage, per the FTC's report [ PDF ]. Contrastingly, 11.4 percent of devices examined shared a software support duration or end date on their product page.

Elusive information

In addition to manufacturers often neglecting to commit to software support for a specified amount of time, it seems that even when they share this information, it's elusive.

Read full article

Comments