CCTV on WS-15 Turbofan Assembly Line






















Some people keep claiming WS-15 began bench testing on 2015, but according to this article, ground bench testing of the engine core was completed on 2005.

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_5387c42f0102xjuz.html

1.) 2000年, WS-15核心机开始研制。 "2000, WS-15 engine core start to develop."

2.) 2005年：WS-15核心机完成地面台架测试。"2005: WS-15 engine core completed ground bench testings"

3.) 2006年: WS-15发动机立项。"2006: WS-15 engine project was formally established."

4.) 2009年12月：WS-15核心机完成高空台测试。"December 2009: WS-15 engine core completed high altitude platform tests."

5.) 2011年：中航黎明完成WS-15验证机, 并提前交付。"2011: Liming Factory completed the WS-15 prototype, and was delivered ahead of schedule."

6.) 2012年底--2013年初：WS-15工程验证机通过高空台测试。"early 2013: WS-15 engineering prototype passed high altitude testings."

7.) 2014年：歼20第2011号进行WS-15单发试飞。"2014: J-20, number 2011, started testing with one WS-15 engine." (the other engine was probably the older version of WS-15)

8.) 2015年：歼20第2016号进行WS-15双发考核试飞；"2015: J-20, number 2016, with two WS-15 engines verification testings.

9.) 2016年：歼20第2101号生产型完成定型。"2016: J-20, number 2101, completed production model testings."

10.) 2016年底：歼20第2101号量产服役型奔赴珠海航展。"end of 2016: J-20, number 2101, production and service model, demonstrated at the Zhuhai China Airshow.

Notice, This article gave very specific dates and testing and develop timeline. The writer obviously got insider level informations.


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Boston Dynamics Robots can now open doors and escape



Boston Dynamics posted a video of its SpotMini quadruped robot extending an arm out of its head to turn a handle. With the dexterity of a tray-carrying butler, it uses its foot to prop the door ajar, then elbows it all the way open for its (armless) SpotMini friend to walk through. At face value, it's a pretty incredible feat. But it's also an interesting twist in the quest to make robots that get along with a world built by and for humans. Maybe the Darpa Robotics Challenge had it wrong with humanoids after all, and the best robots for rescue operations will look nothing like humans—or any other animal, for that matter.

At the moment, humanoids are great at two things: Looking like humans and falling on their faces, as the Robotics Challenge showed so well. (Though one particular humanoid, Cassie, does much better in part because it doesn't yet have an upper body to worry about yet.) Walking on two legs is a monumental challenge; that’s why Chimp, a vaguely humanoid machine that rolled on treads instead of lumbering on two legs, did so well.
  

And also why SpotMini has such promise. Humanoids should be inherently well-equipped to explore environments built for humans, what with all the stairs and such. But SpotMini has a leg up (sorry) here because four limbs are inherently more stable than two. Not to mention that it’s more energy efficient if you don’t have to constantly balance your machine to not fall on its face.
Plus, well, this bot technically has five limbs. This newest version of SpotMini marries the stability of a quadruped with the dexterity of a human. It’s a hybrid creature that shows the awesome power of robotics: Human engineers are inventing an incredible array of new species because they’re not bound by the rules of nature, just physics. Want to put an extra arm on a four-legged robot? Go ahead. And why not make Chimp roll instead of step, if that makes it more stable?
SpotMini is but one species in a robotic kingdom that is exploding with diversity. And it’s thanks in large part to door handles. Finally, a technology whose time has come.



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‘Like magic’: Scientists find way to make old human cells young again


Scientists have discovered how to make old human cells young again through rejuvenation. It’s an exciting discovery that could change the way humans age.
Researchers at the University of Exeter and University of Brighton found they could rejuvenate senescent cells, cells that had stopped their natural growth cycle,causing them to start to divide again. The experiment found they not only look younger, but also behave like younger cells.



“When I saw some of the cells in the culture dish rejuvenating I couldn't believe it. These old cells were looking like young cells. It was like magic,” researcher Dr. Eva Latorre said. “I repeated the experiments several times and in each case the cells rejuvenated. I am very excited by the implications and potential for this research.”

© BioMed Central
The research builds on earlier findings that showed ‘splicing factor’ genes switch off as humans age. Scientists found a way to restart the splicing through chemicals.

According to the researchers, this could change the way we age, with the hope that humans will experience less of the degeneration that comes with aging. Older people are more likely to have strokes, heart disease and other illnesses, but with cell rejuvenation, this could be decreased.

“This demonstrates that when you treat old cells with molecules that restore the levels of the splicing factors, the cells regain some features of youth,” team leader Professor Lorna Harries said.  They are able to grow, and their telomeres - the caps on the ends of the chromosomes that shorten as we age -  are now longer, as they are in young cells. Far more research is needed now, to establish the true potential for these sort [sic] of approaches to address the degenerative effects of ageing. ”

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Google's Android Messages will soon let you send text from your desktop

Android Messages code suggests Google is planning to let users send texts from their computers (just like iMessage and WhatsApp)

Google may soon be launching a service similar to iMessage and WhatsApp. 
Code in the latest version of Android Messages, Google's SMS app, seems to point at two new features, including one that would allow users to send text messages from multiple computers.
The code also suggests Google may be planning to offer its own features to work with RCS messaging - which gives SMS additional features such as higher resolution images, read receipts, and typing indicators - just like iMessage.



The current version of the Android Messages app allows users on supported carriers to see when friends have read their messagesThe current version of the Android Messages app allows users on supported carriers to send messages over Wi-Fi and their data network
Code in the latest version of Android Messages, Google's SMS app, seems to point at two new features, one of which may allow users to send text messages from their computer. Pictured are images from the current version of the Android Messages app, which allows users only on supported carriers to send messages over Wi-Fi and their data network

The code, analysed by Android Police, shows that Google may be getting ready to launch a web interface that would allow users to pair their phones to a computer to send texts, just like with WhatsApp and iMessage. 
While Google already has a similar system called Allo, which allows users to send messages from their desktop, not many people were able to take advantage of it because not many people use Allo. 
If the new Android Messages feature is implemented, 'Android Messages will share the same basic setup procedure with Allo,' according to software engineer and writer Cody Tombs. 
'You'll be guided to visit a website on the computer you want to pair with your phone, then simply scan a QR code.


'Once that's done, you'll be able to send and receive messages in the web interface and it will link with the phone to do the actual SMS/MMS/RCS(?) communication through your carrier.
'Just like Allo, you'll be able to see a list of signed in computers and disconnect from one or all of them at any time.' 
Tombs notes that the code refers to multiple computers, so users should be able to pair both a laptop and desktop.
He also notes that all mainstream browsers may be supported, as they are all named in the code - including Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Opera. 
It would be advantageous for Android to introduce a text-from-computer feature as the operating system is dominant worldwide
It would be advantageous for Android to introduce a text-from-computer feature as the operating system is dominant worldwide

The code also indicates that users will have a new notification channel and receive a notification when their phone is paired with a desktop.  
The second feature could involve RCS, which stands for Rich Communication Services and aims to replace SMS with additional features. 
However, RCS's adoption depends on network carriers using it and making it compatible, which is why it isn't prevalent.
Android Police found code for a pop-up messaged that reads 'New! Text over Wi-Fi and data,' which is a description of RCS. 
It's possible that nothing will actually come of the code, or that the feature will only be available with Google's own network carrier, Project Fi.
Or, Google may be creating a messaging app that can do the same as iMessage and WhatsApp and essentially replace SMS. 
It is not yet certain when, if ever, Android Messages will be rolling out the new messaging feature. 
However, it would be advantageous for Android to introduce such a feature given the operating system's worldwide dominance. 

HOW HAVE ALPHABET'S FORTUNES CHANGED OVER THE YEARS?

Alphabet, Google's parent company, is an American multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Mountain View, California. 
The company, incorporated on July 23, 2015, is a holding company.  
The company's segments include Google Inc. and its 'Other Bets', including Access, Calico, CapitalC, GV, Nest, Verily - a life sciences research organisation, self-driving car-hailing service Waymo, Nest products and services (a smart thermostat firm) and X, a 'moonshot' company aimed at launching technologies to 'make the world a radically better place.'   
On July 8, 2015, Google's stock prices were priced at $541.7.
But in the lead up to the formation of Alphabet, stock prices surged to $699.62 on July 17, 2015 - an increase of 28.45%. 

Logo with signage in front of Building 44, which houses employees working on the Android mobile phone operating system, at the Googleplex, headquarters of Google Inc in the Silicon Valley town of Mountain View, California
Logo with signage in front of Building 44, which houses employees working on the Android mobile phone operating system, at the Googleplex, headquarters of Google Inc in the Silicon Valley town of Mountain View, California

From July 9, 2015 to January 30, 2018, Alphabet's stock prices rose by 116%.
Alphabet's current stock price is $1,181.59, although the tech giant's shares slid 2.3% in after-hours trade on February 1, 2018 following Alphabet's reported loss of $3 billion (£2.1bn) for the fourth quarter of 2017, as it set aside $11 billion for taxes - an estimated $9.9 billion (£6.9bn) was for taxes on repatriated earnings.
The vast majority of Alphabet's revenue continues to come from Google and its various business, most notably its advertising network - revenue from Google's ad business grew by 21 per cent from last year and accounts for 84 per cent of Alphabet's total revenue. 
However, the company's so-called Other Bets saw revenues rise from $262 million (£183m) last year to $409 million (£286m) in the last quarter. 
Source: MacroTrends.net



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Super wood that is as robust as STEEL could be the building material of the future, claim scientists

A new wonder material has been created from a surprisingly traditional source. Super wood is as robust as steel and six times lighter. Scientists put the material through its paces in ballistic tests and found that a specially laminated version can stop a projectile in its tracks

Super wood that is as robust as steel and six times lighter could be a renewable construction material for the future, according to scientists.
Planks of the reinforced lumber, which researchers have compared to carbon-fibre, could be used to create anything from buildings and cars to bullet proof jackets.
Scientists put the material through its paces in ballistic tests and found that a laminated version could even stop a projectile in its tracks.

Engineers at the University of Maryland created their super dense wood by boiling blocks of regular wood in a water-based solution, containing the chemicals sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfite.
This process removed organic compounds in the wood that give its structure and rigidity, making it more pliable.

It is similar to the initial stages of treating wood to create paper. 
The team then pressed the softened wood between two metal plates, heated to 100°C (212°F), at 50 times the atmospheric pressure of the Earth. 
By doing so, all of the gaps between cells in the wood were squeezed together.

The pressure creates a chemical bond between the atoms that make up the wood's cellular structure.
It shrunk the size of the block to around one fifth of its original thickness, increasing its density by 300 per cent. 


Liangbing Hu, who led the research, said: 'This new way to treat wood makes it 12 times stronger than natural wood and ten times tougher.
'This could be a competitor to steel or even titanium alloys, it is so strong and durable. 
'It's also comparable to carbon fiber, but much less expensive. 
The team tested the new wood material and natural wood by shooting bullet-like projectiles at it. 


Engineers at the University of Maryland created their super wood by boiling blocks of regular wood in a water-based solution containing the chemicals sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfite


This process removed organic compounds in the wood that give its structure and rigidity, making it more pliable. This image shows the treatment process used
This process removed organic compounds in the wood that give its structure and rigidity, making it more pliable. This image shows the treatment process used

The projectile blew straight through the natural wood, while a single layer of the treated wood slowed the projectile's progress.
A third laminated version, consisting of layers of five-layers of the densified wood, was penetrated by the projectile but stopped it from exiting.
Dr Hu's research team has explored the capacities of wood's natural nanotechnology in the past.

They have previously made a range of technologies out of nanocellulose related materials.
This has included super clear paper for replacing plastic, photonic paper for improving solar cell efficiency by 30 per cent and transparent wood for energy efficient buildings.
The full findings of the latest study were published in the journal Nature.

The pressure creates a chemical bond between the atoms that make up the wood's cellular structure. It shrunk the size of the block to around one fifth of its original thickness, increasing its density by 300 per cent. This image shows the changes in the various wood samples

The pressure creates a chemical bond between the atoms that make up the wood's cellular structure. It shrunk the size of the block to around one fifth of its original thickness, increasing its density by 300 per cent. This image shows the changes in the various wood samples

The team tested the new wood material and natural wood by shooting bullet-like projectiles at it. This image shows the results of those tests

The team tested the new wood material and natural wood by shooting bullet-like projectiles at it. This image shows the results of those tests

Scientists believe it could one day be used to make transparent conducting materials, biomedical sensors and even extremely light, yet strong, aircraft of the future.
Similar to another important nanomaterial - carbon nanotubes - graphene is incredibly strong - around 200 times stronger than structural steel.  
While notable for its thinness and unique electrical properties, it’s very difficult to create useful, three-dimensional materials out of graphene.
In January, 2017, a team of MIT researchers discovered that taking small flakes of graphene and fusing them following a mesh-like structure not only retains the material’s strength, but the graphene also remains porous. 
Based on experiments conducted on 3D printed models, they determined that this new material can be used to make objects 10 times stronger than steel, with only five per cent of its density.







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Bell V-280 Valor Reaches 80 Knots

Bell V-280 Valor

The V-280 Valor Joint Multi-Role Demonstrator from Bell Helicopter has shown it is capable of reaching a forward flight speed of 80 knots in recent tests.
Keith Flail, the company's vice president for advanced tilt-rotor systems, told Defense News in an interview that since its maiden flight on December 18 at the Bell facility in Amarillo, Texas, the aircraft has been behaving "incredibly well."

Last week, the tilt-rotor aircraft reached an air speed of 80 knots while flying at an altitude of 1,000 feet, accompanied by a chase aircraft. It has also demonstrated its ability to ground taxi, hover taxi and perform low-altitude hovering maneuvers, including 360 pedal turns and forward/aft/lateral repositions.
 
Bell V-280

Flail pointed out that a flight speed of 80 knots begins to test a new function that hasn't been tested yet: minor pylon rotation — which converts the rotors from facing upward, like a helicopter, to facing forward, like an airplane — and as air speed continues to pick up incrementally, the pylons will move to face forward until the aircraft is in full cruise mode.
Designed to fly twice as fast as conventional helicopters, the V-280 was developed as part of the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) program to create a new generation of tilt-rotor airframes for the US military.

According to Bell, Valor has already logged more than 52 hours of rotor turn time, more than eight hours of flight time and over 28 hours in restrained ground runs.
The US military currently operates one tilt-rotor aircraft, the V-22 Osprey, also built by Bell, which first flew in 1989 but only entered service in 2007 due to repeated accidents and equipment failures.




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Lockheed Martin 150-kilowatt and 300-kilowatt lasers



Lockheed Martin is being awarded a $150 million cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for Surface Navy Laser Weapon System Increment 1, High Energy Laser and Integrated Optical-dazzler with a surveillance system. Under this contract Lockheed Martin Aculight Corp. will develop, manufacture, and deliver two test units in fiscal 2020 (one unit for a Destroyer, and another land-based testing). This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $943 million.

The combat lasers will be 150-kilowatts and could get upgraded to 300 kilowatts for more range and power.
The 300-kilowatt lasers could destroy fast-moving, incoming missiles before they can strike their targets.
The 150-kilowatt and 300-kilowatt lasers have been delayed by 2 years since they were planned in 2015.




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World first in revolutionary rail gun technology

[​IMG]

Photographs surface of ship-mounted electromagnetic weapon that could one day supersede traditional explosives with greater power, speed, range and accuracy. 

China is believed to be testing the world’s first ship-mounted rail gun, a technology that military experts say has the potential to fire shells with enough force to destroy a warship and precision to shoot down a satellite.
The controversial development comes as China seeks to transform its navy into a blue-water force capable of rivalling the United States and projecting power far from home shores.
Photographs of a rail gun mounted on a warship docked in Wuhan, Hubei province, have surfaced on Chinese military websites in the last week, indicating the People’s Liberation Army Navy is testing the electromagnetic weapon and has been able to make it more compact.


Rail guns fire shells using electromagnetic force rather than traditional explosive propulsion systems. They are designed to fire the projectiles with more accuracy and power and over a longer range, but are also extremely expensive.

[​IMG]

The US has researched and tested rail guns for years, with prototypes firing projectiles at up to 7,800km/hour over a 150km range. The cost of the projectiles was reportedly US$1 million per round.
But the Chinese device appears to be the first mounted on a ship.
The rail gun uses electromagnetic technology known as IEPS that state media confirmed last year would power China’s first home-grown aircraft carrier.
The system was developed by a team headed by decorated PLA naval engineer Rear Admiral Ma Weiming, who told state broadcaster CCTV in July that his ultimate goal was to install weapons such as rail guns on the carrier.

China’s state-run Science and Technology Daily reported on Monday that the cutting-edge technology would be deployed on the Type-055, the country’s biggest guided-missile destroyer designed as part of future aircraft carrier battle groups.
But sources close to Chinese military told the South China Morning Post that the destroyer’s propulsion system and internal design were not suited for the rail gun.
The gun in the photographs was installed on a Type-072 landing ship refitted to house the bulky electrical equipment.

Song Zhongping, military commentator and former member of the PLA’s Second Artillery Corps, said future generations of the destroyer could be fitted with the weapon down the track.
Song said China was closing the gap with the US and it was possible that China could eventually abandon explosives in favour of electromagnetic systems.
“China has spared no effort to catch up the US’ electromagnetic technology, to turn the new technology into an all-purpose propulsion system for wide use in ship-mounted weapons and maglev trains and even to replace rockets to launch satellites into the space,” he said.
“The leaked photos show China is now not only catching up to the US in ship-borne rail gun technology, but may surpass the US in next five to 10 years. This is because the US needs more time to approve budgets while China’s political system allows it to put more funding into special projects.”

The US Naval Institute reported last month that the US Navy scrapped plans in 2016 to buy 2,000 rail gun projectiles but would continue to monitor new technologies that could be incorporated into its existing systems.

[​IMG]
Photographs surface of ship-mounted electromagnetic weapon that could one day supersede traditional explosives with greater power, speed, range and accuracy  

Beijing-based military analyst Zhou Chenming said the purchase stalled because of the expensive technology’s low return on investment.
“The US is hesitating because the cost of the new weapon’s development is huge, while its practicability is debatable,” Zhou said.
“Proponents argue that [rail guns] can hit targets several thousand kilometres away guided by the space-based Global Positioning System. But [the US] air force can hit long-range targets easily by dropping cruise missiles from their stealth bombers or fighters, something that is much more cost-effective.”

Military insiders said the high cost of and Ma’s involvement in the Chinese rail gun project also made it contentious.
“The decision to develop the costly electromagnetic rail gun also provoked debate because so far only Ma and his team are the only electromagnetic experts developing it,” one insider said.
“But Ma’s team has the backing of the leadership and that is also the reason why the electromagnetic technology has been developed so fast in China.”
Last year Chinese President Xi Jinping awarded Ma, 57, the country’s highest military honour, the Order of August 1.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: China aims for the first hi-tech rail gun mounted on warship

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VT-4 MBT automatic loading demonstrate




Royal Thailand Army demonstrate automatic loading VT-4 MBT 

 

 


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