The Wright brothers, Wilbur and Orville, are often depicted as lone geniuses, secretly assembling the first successful powered aircraft far from civilization at Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. There is a germ of truth in the popular story, but only a germ. The brothers succeeded while so many other experimenters failed not because…

We present the most relevant works on jet engine design that utilize thermodynamic cycle of detonative combustion. The efficiency advantages of thermodynamic detonative combustion cycle over Humphrey combustion cycle at constant volume and Brayton combustion cycle at constant pressure were demonstrated. An ideal Ficket-Jacobs detonation cycle, and…

Physics, engineering and technology increasingly play a critical role in many sports, enabling athletes to go the extra proverbial mile and surpass their own limits. However, it is not only the competitive elite who benefit from advances in equipment design; many sports have been made safer and more accessible through science and innovation.…

Physicists and engineers advance the state of several arts in the design of gravitational-wave detection equipment. Provides background information and discusses the equipment (including laser interferometer), its use, and results of several experimental studies. (JN)

This booklet contains material prepared by the National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) office of Space Science and Applications for presentation to the United States Congress. It contains discussion of basic research, its value as a source of knowledge, techniques and skills that go into the development of technology, and practical…

Included are descriptions of activities of each of the 12 laboratories in the National Research Council of Canada, including background information and a summary of the studies (research) and results. The 12 laboratories in the NRCL are the following: Atlantic Regional Laboratory, Biochemistry Laboratory, Division of Biology, Division of Building…

The National Survey of Academic Research Instruments and Instrumentation Needs is a congressionally mandated program that collects data concerning scientific research instruments and the academic departments and facilities in which they are located. This report analyzes overall instrumentation issues and trends in all the fields covered by the…

Discusses three research topics which are concerned with eminently practical problems and deal at the same time with fundamental fluid dynamical problems. These research topics come from the general areas of chemical and biological engineering, geophysics, and pure mathematics. (HM)

THIS BULLETIN, PUBLISHED BIMONTHLY, REPORTS THE CURRENT LITERATURE IN THE AREA OF SCIENCE AND PUBLIC POLICY. THE COVERAGE ENCOMPASSES BOTH "POLICY FOR SCIENCE" AND "SCIENCE FOR POLICY" MATTERS. SCIENCE IS USED TO DENOTE ENGINEERING, TECHNOLOGY, AND SCIENCE. THE BULLETIN IS INTENDED FOR PERSONS ENGAGED IN STUDYING, FORMULATING,…