Cancer is one of humanity’s biggest killers, but scientists are coming up with some creative ways to fight back. Researchers at the University at Buffalo have developed new kinds of nanoparticles that can infiltrate, heat up and kill cancer cells more effectively and efficiently than similar methods. read more
Back in 2014, DARPA announced the launch of its Ground X-Vehicle Technology (GXV-T) program, an initiative designed to break through a single paradigm that has been weighing the military down in ground combat. That paradigm is the ever-escalating vendetta between tanks and anti-tank guns. read more
Conventional multicopter drones are excellent at hovering and VTOL, but they can’t cover long distances as efficiently as fixed-wing aircraft. A team of students from the Singapore University of Technology and Design is trying to get the best of both worlds with the Transformable HOvering Rotorcraft (THOR). read more
Porsche has lent its name and some of its design team to Tuscan superyacht builder Dynamiq to create the GTT 115. Inspired by Porsche’s grand touring cars, this 14.4 million-dollar, 35-meter beauty is designed for high-speed, trans-Atlantic shenanigans in total luxury, with up to 10 guests and a crew of six. read more
A new cancer drug known as cancer drug has moved through phase I human trials, and the results are promising. Taken orally, the drug targets what are known as RET-driven cancers, including types of thyroid and lung cancers, which are normally hard to treat. read more
We’ve long known that Mars is home to the largest volcano in the Solar System – Olympus Mons – and now, researchers have found that it may also have the largest explosive volcanic deposit as well. The Medusae Fossae Formation is a huge rocky structure that has had scientists puzzling over its origins for decades, but the new work suggests it’s the result of massive volcanic eruptions that would have changed the climate of the Red Planet. read more
At the National Press Club in Washington, DC, Bell helicopter has unveiled its new V-247 Vigilant tiltrotor drone for the US Marine Corps. Like the company’s V-22 Osprey, the Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) can lift off and hover like a helicopter, yet has the range and speed of a fixed-wing aircraft. According to Bell, the Vigilant can carry out combat reconnaissance missions from land bases without runways or from small ships with flight decks. read more
A team of scientists has discovered a mysterious “big void” inside the Great Pyramid of Giza, the largest pyramid in the Giza complex. The void was discovered using a novel scanning technology called cosmic-ray muon radiography, and while the scanning team is suggesting this could be an undiscovered inner structure, some Egyptologists are not convinced. read more
Strong and light, spider silk is one of the most impressive materials in the natural world. Both the real thing and synthetic versions have been used to improve everything from clothing to car seats, cooling electronics to preserving produce, making sweet music or helping people hear it, and even patching up severed nerves. Now, scientists in Germany and Switzerland have found a new use for spider silk – wrapping up cancer drugs to protect them until they can reach their tumorous targets. read more
The US Army isn’t just looking to giving soldiers a hand, but a whole extra arm. At the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland, the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL) is testing a prototype passive support system called Third Arm, which evenly distributes the weight of heavy weapons, allowing soldiers to use them with less fatigue and greater accuracy. read more
