The self-driving freight truck startup TuSimple has been carrying mail across the state of Arizona for several weeks. UPS announced on Thursday that its venture capital arm has made a minority investment in TuSimple. The announcement also revealed that since May TuSimple autonomous trucks have been hauling UPS loads on a 115-mile route between Phoenix Read more about UPS Has Been Delivering Cargo in Self-Driving Trucks for Months (with 2 people on board)[…]

In a series of ground-breaking flight trials that took place in the skies above north-west Wales, the MAGMA unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) demonstrated two innovative flow control technologies which could revolutionise future aircraft design. MAGMA, designed and developed by researchers at The University of Manchester in collaboration with engineers from BAE Systems, successfully trialled the Read more about BAE Systems uses MAGMA demonstrator to roll and pitch jet aircraft without using moving surfaces[…]

The US firm Aireon says its new satellite surveillance network is now fully live and being trialled over the North Atlantic. The system employs a constellation of 66 spacecraft, which monitor the situational messages pumped out by aircraft transponders. These report a plane’s position, altitude, direction and speed every eight seconds. The two big navigation Read more about Satellite plane-tracking goes global[…]

Boeing will make standard on its troubled new airliner a safety feature that might have helped the crew of a jet that crashed shortly after takeoff last year in Indonesia, killing everyone on board. The equipment, which had been offered as an option, alerts pilots of faulty information from key sensors. It will now be Read more about Boeing to make safety feature standard on troubled Max jets[…]

A new type of electric vehicle power using “refillable” technology has taken another giant leap in advancing alternative energy with testing that shows it could provide enough energy to run a car for about 3,000 miles. The technology employs a novel type of “flow” battery that is being successfully tested in golf carts and industrial Read more about Refillable’ technology could provide enough energy to drive an electric car up to 3,000 miles[…]

The first ever “solid state” plane, with no moving parts in its propulsion system, has successfully flown for a distance of 60 metres, proving that heavier-than-air flight is possible without jets or propellers. The flight represents a breakthrough in “ionic wind” technology, which uses a powerful electric field to generate charged nitrogen ions, which are Read more about First ever plane with no moving parts takes flight[…]

Since October, a mysterious flying object has been seen moving through the skies over the South Island of New Zealand. It looks like a cross between a small plane and a drone, with a series of small rotor blades along each wing that allow it to take off like a helicopter and then fly like Read more about Larry Page’s Flying Taxis, Now Exiting Stealth Mode – The New York Times[…]

Together with The University of Manchester, we have successfully completed the first phase of flight trials with MAGMA – a small scale unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which will use a unique blown-air system to manoeuvre the aircraft – paving the way for future stealthier aircraft designs. The new concept for aircraft control removes the conventional Read more about BAE Magma aircraft controls aircraft orientation without moving parts but blown air[…]

One recall covers 670,000 2006-2011 U.S. 3-Series vehicles to address a wiring issue for heating and air conditioning systems that may overheat and could increase the risk of a fire. The second recall covers 740,000 U.S. 2007-2011 vehicles with a valve heater that could rust and lead to a fire in rare cases. The recall Read more about BMWs from between 2006-2011 at fire risk, recalled in the US[…]

  After five days, one hour twenty-four minutes, and traversing over 7000 miles, Vanilla Aircraft’s VA001 touched down at NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, successfully completing the longest unmanned internal combustion powered flight in history. The 36-foot wingspan, diesel-powered aircraft landed with three days of fuel remaining on board, successfully meeting its goal of Read more about Vanilla aircraft completes five day flight with diesel powered UAV[…]

A Russian defense manufacturer named after the inventor of the AK-47 showed off its “flying car” to company officials and the Internet. The “car,” which has sixteen sets of rotors, could have military applications down the road including scouting, communications, and other tasks. The unnamed vehicle was demonstrated Monday by officials at Kalashnikov Concern, part Read more about Kalashnikov Unveils Flying ‘Hovercycle’[…]

In a test flight, Boeing took the thing where you draw using your GPS path to a whole different level. They drew the outline of a plane that spanned the latitude of the conterminous United States. Source: Boeing draws a plane in the sky with flight path | FlowingData

NASA has achieved a significant milestone in its effort to make supersonic passenger jet travel over land a real possibility by completing the preliminary design review (PDR) of its Quiet Supersonic Transport or QueSST aircraft design. QueSST is the initial design stage of NASA’s planned Low Boom Flight Demonstration (LBFD) experimental airplane, otherwise known as Read more about NASA QueSST goes supersonic quietly[…]

JD.com, China’s largest online retailer, has announced it is beginning trials of a new delivery drone capable of carrying a ton of cargo to rural Chinese customers. Just like Amazon, JD.com (also known as “Jingdong”) has a vast network of warehouses and delivery networks crisscrossing the Middle Kingdom and, like Amazon, it sees drones as Read more about Chinese e-tailer beats Amazon to the skies with one-ton delivery drones as FAA sleeps through everything[…]

The Stratolaunch has a wingspan of 385 feet (wider than the Spruce Goose), it uses six 747 jet engines, sits on 26 wheels, can carry 250,000 pounds of fuel and weighs half a million pounds without fuel. In order to take off, it needs about 12,000 feet of runway. Source: Paul Allen Shows Off the Read more about Paul Allen Shows Off the World’s Largest Airplane For the First Time[…]

A group of Swiss adventurers say they have completed the first test flight of a new solar-powered airplane they hope will eventually reach the edge of space. The team says pilot Damian Hirschier performed a seven-minute flight at low altitude with the SolarStratos plane in “ideal” conditions early Friday. The maiden flight took place at Read more about First test flight of stratospheric solar plane[…]

You can’t squeeze blood from a stone, but wringing water from the desert sky is now possible, thanks to a new spongelike device that uses sunlight to suck water vapor from air, even in low humidity. The device can produce nearly 3 liters of water per day for every kilogram of spongelike absorber it contains, Read more about This new solar-powered device can pull water straight from the desert air[…]

Source: About — Jetfoiler

It’s nearly impossible to keep your car’s paint looking perfect when you use it every day. It seems no matter what you do, highway debris, parking lot mayhem, and the sun’s UV rays do their fair share of damage to your pride and joy. Nothing short of a trip to a professional’s paint booth seems Read more about How To Make Your Car’s Face Pretty Again[…]

British aeronautic engineering startup Gravity unveiled a new human flying suit today. It’s a six-engine jet-propelled personal flying apparatus that the company says will take regular humans to superhero heights at several hundred miles per hour. Source: Iron Man IRL: Gravity and Red Bull unveil personal jetpack

Drones are getting more and more important in everyday’s life. Here’s everything you need to know about them, their benefits and how they will influence your future. Source: 20 Ways Drones will Shape your Future They also cover military UAVs

Source: A commuter’s dream: Entrepreneurs race to develop flying car This article has a fairly good roundup of the flying car projects out there, even if they did leave out the Dutch Aeromobil Roadable project.

At a Colorado aircraft hangar, the two firms unveiled the triple-engined XB-1 prototype, a one-third sized prototype of the airliner they hope will be able to blast from London to New York in three hours and 15 minutes – air traffic control allowing. “60 years after the dawn of the jet age, we’re still flying Read more about Virgin Galactic and Boom unveil Concorde 2.0 tester to restart supersonic travel[…]

When it gave the Tesla Model S an unprecedented 103 out of 100 score last August, Consumer Reports looked like it might try to marry Elon Musk’s company and have its little electric car babies. But after a year of disappointments, trust violations and janky-ass door handles, it seems the magazine can no longer advocate Read more about Consumer Reports Now Ranks Tesla Among the Least Reliable Carmakers[…]