Stories

This week’s question concerns the rights of airline passengers. Several recent incidents of airline passengers being stranded on planes for up to six hours may have strengthened the case for a “passenger bill of rights” pending in Congress. The bill would require stranded planes to...

As the editor of an engineering magazine, I get to see all of the latest cutting-edge technology the moment it hits the streets. On average we get anywhere from 20 – 30 new product announcements a day, all of which must be evaluated on their merits. Most of the products are designed to satisfy some need, solve some problem, or generally...

Flight delays are nothing new to airline travelers. Congested runways, inclement weather, aircraft problems - all of these factors can trigger delays that could easily run into hours. But after several recent incidents where airline passengers were stranded for six hours, the call to legislate a "passenger bill of...

Today, DOE Secretary Steven Chu announced the investment of up to $6.4 million (including $4.6 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) for advancing research and development of next generation high-efficiency lighting.

The U.S. Senate is now deciding on whether to approve an additional $2 billion in funding for the government's "Cash for Clunkers" program. Should the Senate approve, President Obama is certain to approve extending the program, designed to replace old gas-guzzling vehicles with more fuel-efficient ones, by...

I had the opportunity to meet with an old friend of NASA Tech Briefs last week. Allen Razdow, who many design engineers may know as the inventor of Mathcad and the co-founder of MathSoft, was in town to talk to me about his new company and his new venture, a sort of “Wikipedia for numbers.” The company, True Engineering...