The unexpected consequences of Sputnik

On Monday, October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union put Sputnik into orbit: the first artificial satellite in history . It was a metallic sphere 50 centimeters in diameter and four antennas that emitted a "beep" (a 20 MHz signal) every few seconds. That "beep" was detectable from Earth. The news made the front page of … Read more

What was agriculture like in Ancient Rome?

With the birth of agriculture , there was a surplus of food, because agriculture can feed ten to one hundred times more people per square kilometer than hunting and gathering. As there was more food, the population grew. Thanks to agriculture, we stopped being hunter-gatherers, and we were able to settle in villages, with more … Read more

eHighway: the Swedish electric highway has just been inaugurated

15% of Sweden’s carbon dioxide emissions are from freight trucks. And, to make transport more sustainable, the eHighway , an electric highway, was born. In this way, heavy vehicles that circulate on this type of highway will be able to feed on the electricity network thanks to a catenary system , similar to that used … Read more

The future of the literature business model

In a world where copying can be done at a very low cost or a marginal cost close to zero , the figure of intellectual usurpation loses meaning: if we offer the fire of our candle to light another candle, we do not lose the fire of our candle, but rather We have two burning … Read more

Bicycles totally customized to your body thanks to this new system

The pedaling parameters, the physical, nutritional and psychological data of each user, among others, are the factors that can now be taken into account in the manufacture of a personalized bicycle thanks to a new system developed by a team from the Department of Physical Education and Sports of the University of Granada. This degree … Read more

Scubajet: your portable propellant for water

This gadget that you can see in operation in the video that follows could be from a James Bond movie (of the old ones), if it weren’t for the fact that it is part of one of the Kickstarter crowdfunding projects . His name is Scubajet . Its dimensions allow it to be used to … Read more

This will be the fastest helicopter ever built

This new high-speed hybrid helicopter will be capable of reaching 470 km / h , thus becoming the fastest helicopter in the world. The helicopter is the work of Airbus Helicopters, which also aspires to be more efficient, sustainable and better performing than any current aircraft. They also want the helicopter to dramatically reduce its … Read more

Dogs can now breathe underwater thanks to this technology

The Russian Institute for Scientific Research for Occupational Medicine has developed a technology that allows dogs to breathe underwater, which may facilitate submarine crew rescue operations. The invention consists in allowing liquid respiration which facilitates filling the lungs with a special liquid rich in dissolved oxygen that penetrates the blood . In this way, the … Read more

The world’s largest airship takes its first flight

It is 92 meters long and 43.5 meters wide. In other words, this aircraft, the Airlander 10, is much larger than we have ever seen in a normal aircraft. In autonomous mode, the aircraft can stay in the air for two weeks, five days if it is a manned flight. You can watch the video … Read more

On the Internet, crime is exponential, not linear

With a knife or a gun, in ancient times, criminals could carry out crimes such as theft. However, these and other criminals were generally only able to rob a certain number of people per day . The victims were few. Would-be criminals, however, have found a way to mass crime on the Internet. Everything, in … Read more

Every two blinks a Facebook account is spoofed

The blinking of the eye lasts exactly 50-70 milliseconds. And in the time it takes us to blink twice, that is, 140 milliseconds, someone on the Internet has spoofed two Facebook accounts . This, in more graphic numbers, means that every day some 600,000 Facebook accounts are violated, as recognized by the Facebook security dislocation … Read more

Four times lighter materials in transport to reduce emissions

Carbon dioxide emissions could be significantly reduced thanks to the replacement of metal parts in transport with composite materials with a mass four times lower , as investigated at the Eurecat technology center. By reducing weight and improving aerodynamics, fuel consumption will be much more efficient. Basically, we have to rely on polymer matrix composites … Read more