SMALL PRINT:YOU HAVE TO ADMIT that gliding between trees looks a pretty neat way for a mammal to get around. But how efficient is it? A new study shows that for the Malayan colugos, Galeopterus variegatus, gliding is more about saving time than energy.
Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, put accelerometers on the nocturnal animals to track them, then sifted through the data.
And what did they find? "On average, colugos climb a short distance to initiate glides. However, due to the high energetic cost of climbing, gliding is more energetically costly to move a given horizontal distance than would be predicted for an animal travelling the same distance through the canopy," write the authors in the Journal of Experimental Biology.
Meanwhile, researchers at the University of Southampton have been taking a different tack, by printing a plane.
The unmanned electric-powered aircraft, which has a wingspan of two metres, can reach speeds of nearly 100 miles per hour, according to a release, which describes how the aircraft was made.
“It was printed on an EOS EOSINT P730 nylon laser sintering machine, which fabricates plastic or metal objects, building up the item layer by layer. No fasteners were used and all equipment was attached using ‘snap fit’ techniques so that the entire aircraft can be put together without tools in minutes,” it states. “Laser sintering allows the designer to create shapes and structures that would normally involve costly traditional manufacturing techniques. This technology allows a highly-tailored aircraft to be developed from concept to first flight in days.”
Destination Jupiter
TOMORROW SEES THE scheduled launch of Juno, a mission to find out more about the origin and evolution of Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. But don’t expect answers soon: the space probe will take nearly five years just to get to Jupiter, and it’s expected to arrive in July 2016.
Once there, Juno is to orbit the giant planet’s poles 33 times, spending about one Earth year collecting data on Jupiter’s internal structure and gravity field, the water and ammonia in its atmosphere, its powerful magnetic field and intense auroras.
Jupiter has the most powerful magnetic field of any planet in our solar system, states an article on the Nasa website, and the fact that Jupiter is gaseous should offer a relatively clear view to the dynamo that drives the magnetic field.
“The Juno spacecraft will pass repeatedly just above Jupiter’s surface, so we will get closer to the dynamo there than we could on any other planet in the solar system,” says Nasa/Goddard’s Jack Connerney. “That’s a very exciting prospect because it will really enhance our ability to determine what’s going on.”
The solar-powered spacecraft has been attached to a powerful Atlas rocket in preparation for its launch and subsequent long journey. And what if the take-off from Cape Canaveral doesn’t go ahead tomorrow due to weather conditions?
Juno’s launch period extends to August 26th, according to Nasa.