V-22 Rotocraft Cross-Section

NASA – Helicopters and rotorcraft provide many useful civil and military functions without the need for airports and runways. However, accurately predicting vehicle performance and noise production is very challenging and requires a more accurate technical approach to understand the interaction between rotor blades and the rotor blade vortices. Scientists supporting NASA’s Subsonic Rotary Wing Project are developing state-of-the-art simulation tools to more accurately predict these flowfields. Use of these tools provide new insight into the rotor wakes, and will help improve rotorcraft performance. This snapshot of a V-22 rotorcraft in hover shows a cross-section of the blade vortices and turbulent flow, where magenta is high vorticity (spin) and blue is low. The Pleiades supercomputer at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing facility has allowed scientists to greatly improve the prediction accuracy of rotor blade aerodynamics. These tools will allow engineers to develop faster and quieter rotorcraft with larger lifting capability. Image Credit: NASA/Ames Research Center/Neal Chaderjian and Tim Sandstrom

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Pentagon: Cyber offense part of U.S. strategy

Image @Wikipedia

By Ellen Nakashima – The Pentagon is prepared to launch cyberattacks in response to hostile actions that threaten the government, military or U.S. economy, according to a new policy document submitted to Congress this week.

The report remains silent on a number of important issues, such as rules of engagement outside designated battle zones and whether neutral countries would be consulted before their systems were used to carry out counterattacks in cyberspace. The report does not discuss the advisability of demonstrating cybercapabilities. more> http://twurl.nl/1bl0n3

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France, Germany clash over ECB role to stem crisis

By Nicholas Vinocur and James Mackenzie – Facing rising borrowing costs as its AAA credit rating comes under threat, France appeared to plead for stronger ECB action, adding to mounting global pressure spelled out by President Barack Obama.

Bond market contagion is spreading across Europe. Italian 10-year bond yields have risen above 7 percent, unaffordable in the long term. Yields on bonds issued by France, the Netherlands and Austria — which along with Germany form the core of the euro zone — have also climbed. more> http://twurl.nl/2u0aur

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BMW Busting Out With All-Electric; Sports Hybrid

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By Charles Murray – Two new BMWs — the all-electric i3 and the hybrid-electric i8 — will hit the streets in 2013 and 2014, respectively, BMW said.

“If you can tell your designers that they have freedom from having to house this big engine that needs airflow around it, it opens up your ability to rethink what the automobile is,” Tom Plucinsky, a BMW spokesman, said in a Design News interview. “That’s why our engineers worked so closely with our designers. They rethought how to design a car that is purely electric.” more> http://twurl.nl/crijo4

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Obama administration quietly bracing for debt supercommittee failure

By Anne E. Kornblut – White House officials are quietly bracing for “supercommittee” failure, with advisers privately saying they are pessimistic that the 12-member Congressional panel will find a way to cut $1.2 trillion from the deficit as required.

In public, however, the official administration stance is that failure is not an option. more> http://twurl.nl/ebkxa3

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