Nasa

In Episode 1.1 of TRANSLOGIC, we introduced you to the HumanCar Imagine_PS, something that looks like a modern-day railroad car. What makes the Imagine_PS go is good old elbow grease (and a lot of it -- think of the vehicle as a four-man rowing machine), running on calories as opposed to carbons. The vehicle's two electric motors in the wheels generate about four horsepower (about the power of a weed whacker), creating what inventor Charles S. Greenwood calls a "bionic human hybrid." Drivers can

With no time on its hands for promotional appearances at glitzy European autoshows, one of America's most advanced electric vehicles has been busy being put through its paces on the torturous terrain found at Black Point Lava Flow in Arizona. The Lunar Electric Rover (LER) has spent the last couple weeks wandering about this wasteland simulating a search for lost crew members in a trial that's putting the modern plug-in electric car arc

Quick -- what's got six wheels, lives on Mars and has been stuck in a sand trap named Troy since May 1 of this year? If you answered, "NASA's Spirit Rover," pat yourself on the back. Spirit, along with its twin rover Opportunity, was only supposed to provide three months of Martian exploration. Incredibly, both Spirit and Opportunity are still kicking, having lasted over 20 times longer than initial NASA projections. In fact, Spirit just passed a major milestone as a result of it having landed o

Tech Watch is a show about how NASA applies its space-based research to help solve Earth-bound problems. In the segment we've pasted after the jump, we learn about technology originally developed for space lasers that's now being used to make a new kind of catalytic converter. Unlike regular cars, which must warm up before they can clean a car's exhaust gases, NASA's catalytic converter works at low temperatures and could cut a vehicle's pollution by thirty percent.

Click on the image for a high-res gallery of photos of these cars

NASA recenty released two studies that show Arctic ice shrinking at a more rapid pace than previously thought.

Sure, the Ford Focus is getting a bit long in the tooth and we're all impatiently awaiting the arrival of the next generation car, but that shouldn't overshadow the successes of the current model. From day one, the current Focus has been lauded as a fun to drive small car. From the base model all the way up to the hot hatch SVT, the Focus has proven itself willing to hike up its side skirts and get a move on at the slightest provocation.

I figured we'd try something new, and discuss Delphi news that doesn't involve bankruptcy or worker compensation. The company has developed a process called Deformation Resistance Welding, and apparently NASA has some interest in the technology, as it's just anted up another $870,000 to go with the $1.3M it handed out last year to further develop this technique.