Ultra-High Bypass (UHB) or "propfan" jet engines received attention in the late eighties as an economical and greener alternative to currrent GTF and ATF jet technologies. Adoption was partially prevented by industry fears that the external propellers would being seen as a step backwards. Evidently, General Electric and NASA are reinvesting in the technology.
posted by ...possums on Jul 9, 2009 - 29 comments

Microsoft's new search engine, Bing, goes beta. Cribbed from live.com, the layout for bing is... strangely familiar. Early reviews are mixed, with mixed results, mostly noting that the results less useful than google, especially when it comes to google.
posted by boo_radley on Jun 1, 2009 - 173 comments

Wolfram Alpha is about to go live. Wolfram Alpha is an answer engine which may just change the way we think about search results.
posted by rollbiz on May 15, 2009 - 133 comments

Bandhu Scott Dunham makes kinetic sculptures out of glass, including the steam engines that power some of them. He discusses how they are made in this podcast. For videos of these sculptures in action, you can view the collection in his gallery or watch some home videos.
posted by Upton O'Good on May 1, 2008 - 5 comments

NASA proposes using a Stirling cooler (essentially a Stirling engine in reverse) to keep a probe cool on the surface of Venus, which has had a tendency to melt or smash previous probes. The cooler would maintain a 25cm sphere within the probe at 200°C -- 100°C above the boiling point of water but sufficiently cool for a high-temperature microcontroller to operate. The waste heat radiators on the exterior of the sphere would reach the temperature of 500°C, 40°C above the the normal Venusian surface temperature.
posted by Artw on Nov 12, 2007 - 40 comments

A Beginner's Guide to Aeronautics, a web-based textbook brought to you by the folks at NASA. [more inside]
posted by Upton O'Good on Oct 21, 2007 - 8 comments

Load testing a Boeing 777 wing. To failure! Also, engine testing, and maximum rejected takeoff.
posted by loquacious on Jan 22, 2007 - 26 comments

Photos before the show starts Yakutat AK; Portland, OR; San Diego, CA; L.A; Cleveland, OH.
posted by efalk on Oct 30, 2005 - 15 comments

Google demos their SMS capability . Personally, I have used Google via Wap/GPRS on my mobile for years. Now, quick definitions, telephone numbers, and calculations are available via SMS, too. Great for geeks on the move - but will Joe Q Bloggs catch on?
posted by SharQ on Jul 11, 2005 - 19 comments

ZabaSearch.com, a stalker's new best friend! Is lack of privacy a good thing?

(Extra "bizarre points" in second link, noting the site's Heaven's Gate connection.)
posted by miss lynnster on Apr 15, 2005 - 53 comments

Journey Through a Jet Engine [flash]
posted by srboisvert on Mar 13, 2005 - 13 comments

Pupna is "the search engine puppy that retrieves EXACTLY what you are searching for (and absolutely nothing else!)" ;-)

This is a simple yet rather humorous search engine parody - are there any other good ones out there?
posted by Metauser on Feb 28, 2005 - 20 comments

suck squeeze bang blow (SFW)
posted by jonah on Jan 20, 2005 - 22 comments

Obsession: Mr. Singh’s Search for the Holy Grail American visionaries, cranks and con men have long sought the simple key to boosting the efficiency of the gasoline engine. Now a barefoot tinkerer in India believes he has unlocked the door. Is he for real?
posted by Shanachie on Jan 2, 2005 - 14 comments

The Biggest Engine in the World. It's freakin' enormous. 100 000hp... yet more fuel efficient than your car. This contrasts with the smallest Wankel rotary, smallest diesels, and the smallest gas turbine engines.
posted by five fresh fish on Mar 30, 2004 - 33 comments

Google: the God that failed? is the title of the article on MSN Slate. All of us know Microsoft is working on a new search engine technology. Till date everyone considers Google to be the Guru. MS obviously doesn't like that, so what it is doing? Well, the same thing it always does - to survive competition, eliminate it. The reasons being given by the article are pretty silly and more aimed at 'faming down' Google.
posted by jayantk on Jul 22, 2003 - 39 comments

Vroooom...fun with all manner of engines. Steam, Pistons, Gas Turbines, and last but by no means least Rockets.
posted by zeoslap on Apr 1, 2003 - 6 comments

Kartoo, a New Search Engine. Do check out Kartoo. It basically creates a map linking sites related to a search. Interesting graphics, too. It seems like this would serve a different purpose than Google.
posted by SandeepKrishnamurthy on May 22, 2002 - 14 comments

How engines work. This isn't new but it's a great resource for the mechanically minded and the mechanically challanged as well. It includes animations and step by step descriptions of how most existing engines work, from Steam Locomotive to Jet Propulsion. Simple yet informative.
posted by talos on Mar 11, 2002 - 18 comments

Yahoo adds "premium" search features using technology from Northern Light (now divine). [more inside]
posted by dhartung on Jan 26, 2002 - 13 comments

For the CEO who has everything... how about a 1985 Toyota MR2 powered by 3 turbojet engines? You start it with a leaf blower. Seller says it is "probably street legal except for this little 'excessive noise' issue". Up for grabs at eBay, currently $7,700 will take this baby home!
posted by JParker on Mar 7, 2001 - 4 comments