The Wall Street Journal Saturday ran a fabulous piece on the DC-3 airplane, an estimated 500 of which are still flying. Tens of thousands were made, 3,000 during the war effort in the Soviet Union. What struck my eye was the wing testing when the plane was designed. According to an interview in 1985 with chief designer Arthur Emmons Raymond to celebrate the plane’s 50th birthday, bulldozers were run over the wings to test their strength. When was the last time you heard about stress testing like that? A cursory check of the web revealed no DC-3 ever crashed from structural failure. I wonder if I should suggest bulldozers to the 787 stress test folks at Boeing. Famous for their relative size and strength, the DC-3 could glide back to earth even when it was under half power or without it entirely. Here’s one recent account of a crash after an engine failed. All walked away without serious injury.
The legendary Raymond died at 99 in 1999 and his obituary reads like a veritable (and brief) history of commercial aviation in its formative years. PBS aired an episode on the venerable plane in a series on commercial aviation called “Chasing the Sun” a few years ago. The DC-3 more than any other plane ushered in the era of commercial air travel.
Safety networks have become more complex, and have actually become simpler and easier to deploy for plant operators. This slideshow highlights developments in plant safety with an emphasis on integrated safety networks.
As the MEMS industry spans a myriad of industries and markets, the future of MEMS in consumer electronics will enable a myriad of functionality, applications, and personalization.
The Nest is a sleek-looking digital thermostat which can actually "learn" its owners' schedule and then continue to regulate temperature to suit the user's preferences and patterns.
Thanks to embedded electronics, medical devices are getting smaller and smarter than ever. Pacemakers and implantable defibrillators are now able to call physicians. MRIs, CT scanners, and ultrasound machines are gaining mobility. And the venerable Band-Aid may soon be able to detect illnesses ranging from fevers to heart arrhythmias. On February 21, join Design News senior editor Charles Murray for a wide-ranging discussion, "Embedded Angles for Medical Products," which will explore the latest developments in medical electronics. The discussion will examine advances in medical device technology and offer an inside look at the embedded electronics behind it.
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