03/07/10 — Autonomous helicopter built by Virginia Tech’s Unmanned Systems Laboratory is designed to fly into cities after a nuclear attack in order to detect radiation levels, map and photograph damage. Students at Virginia Tech’s Unmanned Systems Laboratory are perfecting an autonomous helicopter they hope will never be used for its intended purpose. Roughly six feet long and weighing 200 pounds, the re-engineered aircraft is designed to fly into American cities blasted by a nuclear weapon or dirty bomb. The helicopter’s main mission would be to assist military investigators in the unthinkable: Enter an American city after a nuclear attack in order…

12/18/09 — To better understand how a three-dimensional vortex forms, University at Buffalo researchers are conducting experiments using lasers and rectangular flapping “wings” in a water tank. The secret to the flight of the hummingbird and other tiny birds and insects lies in the looping, swirling flow of air, called a vortex, that their flapping wings create. These aerodynamically unconventional flows are the inspiration behind new research by a University at Buffalo scientist who hopes to understand the nature of the three-dimensional vortex formation process so that it can be optimized. The UB research is motivated by the need to gather real-time…