James Whomsley, better known as ProjectAir, has spent nearly a decade turning odd ideas into flying machines. His latest project takes one of the simplest shapes possible and asks whether it might outperform the wings we see every day. He built a giant radio-controlled plane whose main lifting surfaces form complete circles, then put the concept through the same cycle of prototypes, crashes, and rebuilds that defines so much of his work.
Researchers at EPFL’s MicroBioRobotic Systems laboratory have built ultralight flying machines that carry no motors, batteries, or electronics. Hollow cavities printed into their structures turn ordinary sound waves into focused jets of air. Those jets provide the thrust that lifts the devices off a surface and keeps them aloft.
Kids living at the bottom of the Nizhuhe Grand Canyon in Yunnan Province once faced a brutal path to school. Steep mountain trails and cliffside routes stretched more than three hours one way across a vertical drop measured in hundreds of meters. Guanzhai Village Primary School sat high above at roughly 1,650 meters elevation. The village of Nizhuhe rested far below. Roughly twenty children from nearby communities made the trip, often as boarding students. Round trips could consume six hours of hard walking on paths that left little room for error.
Gordon Murray Special Vehicles unveiled the S1 at The Quail during Monterey Car Week, and many people believe it’s the most accurate representation of a road-focused supercar since the McLaren F1. They have a point, because the same person, Gordon Murray, created both cars, and the S1 is deeply based in the same idea that made the F1 so popular.
Sunny days still stretch long enough to make a portable solar panel feel practical again. BigBlue’s 28W high-efficiency model, priced at $59.97 (was $68), turns that light into usable power for phones, tablets, power banks, and small gadgets without needing a wall outlet or a heavy generator.