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A nanostructured copper alloy, Cu-Ta-Li (Copper-Tantalum-Lithium), could be a groundbreaking new high-temperature material for aerospace, defense, and industrial applications, combining properties of several materials into a useful hybrid. Developed in a collaboration between the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and Lehigh University (LU), the alloy is one of the toughest copper-based materials ever devised due to its high thermal stability and mechanical strength. Arizona State University and Louisiana State University scientists also contributed to the creation of this new heat-resistant alloy. Cutting Edge Material Science “This is cutting-edge science, developing a new material that uniquely combines copper’s excellent conductivity with...

Engineers at the University of Maryland have created a battery that is made entirely out of one material, which can both move electricity and store it. "To my knowledge, there has never been any similar work reported," said Dr. Kang Xu of the Army Research Laboratory, a researcher only peripherally related to the study. "It could lead to revolutionary progress in area of solid state batteries." Envision an Oreo cookie. Most batteries have at either end a layer of material for the electrodes like the chocolate cookies to help move ions though the creamy frosting – the electrolyte. Chunsheng Wang,...

WASHINGTON: The Army has developed a new device to thwart terrorist activities while saving service members’ lives. The Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) Countermeasure Equipment, otherwise known as ICE, was developed by a team of engineers, scientists and Soldiers at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico to defeat IEDs, which are the most prominent threat to deployed service members in Iraq. The ICE device , which is roughly the size of a bread box uses commercial and military technology to thwart enemy IEDs said Maj. Raymond D. Pickering, who helped lead the ICE design team at White Sands during its...

E-mail Author Send to a Friend <% printurl = Request.ServerVariables("URL")%> Print Version August 11, 2004, 8:59 a.m. New Terrorists on the BlockAnimal-rights activists turn to violence. By Wesley J. Smith If you want to see the future of animal-rights/liberation (ARL) advocacy in America, you need only look across the pond to the United Kingdom. It isn't a pretty picture. Increasingly, radical animal liberationists are resorting to violence, threats, and intimidation to prevent people and businesses from engaging in the proper and humane use of animals. Here is just a sampling of the violent seeds these extremists have recently sown:...

Americans may view their soldiers as knights in shining armor, but in Iraq, soldiers are often short on protection, particularly while riding their mechanized steeds. As casualties rise, the Pentagon is rushing to equip its soldiers and vehicles with new and better armor. In the short term, soldiers will get body armor upgrades that better guard previously vulnerable areas like the groin and sides of the body. Some vehicles, meanwhile, will be getting special reactive armor designed to thwart rocket attacks. In the long term, however, a soldier's best protection may come from new technologies being developed by military laboratories...