NASA spin-off technologies find their way into our lives in unexpected ways. Shock-absorbing memory squeezed its way into Tempur-Pedic mattresses, football helmet padding, shoe insoles, hospital beds, prosthetics, cars, amusement parks and modern art, while an invention designed to decrease airplane drag made a huge splash in the competitive swimming arena. Find out how as I answer the question…
Why did NASA invent the ribbed swimsuit?
Must-haves for the pampered astronaut
In 2007, astronaut Lisa Nowak thrust NASA “diapers” into the media spotlight when police in Orlando, Fla., charged her with the attempted kidnapping of U.S. Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman. Although the space agency’s absorption garments were soon the butt of late night talk show monologues everywhere, they were also an elegant solution to an unpleasant engineering challenge—so elegant, in fact, that the story of the moonstruck astronaut inspired at least one company to ape NASA’s design.
Beyond the big blue marble
Although astronomers and cosmologists long believed in the existence of planets outside our solar system, such worlds remained purely theoretical until as recently as the early 1990s. Since then, the ever-quickening pace of discovery has filled the roster of possible and confirmed planetary candidates with first tens, then hundreds and now thousands of distant worlds.
In this article, I’ll take you on a tour through the history of planet hunting and into its future. Along the way, we’ll take a look at some of the most significant discoveries, including the candidates most suitable for life as we know it.
Closed wheels and open throttles
In 1900, drivers jaunted in their rattletrap Panhards, Mercedes, Darracqs and Fiats along a115-mile Italian endurance circuit called the Coppa Florio, a bone-rattling race on treacherous and poorly kept roads. Seven years later, the first 24-hour race got underway at Brooklands, the first speedway ever built specifically for auto racing.
From these humble beginnings sprang the great endurance races of today: the Le Mans 24-Hour, 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring. Along the way, the sport expanded and diversified into subcategories based on car type, manufacturer, course and event length, number of drivers and so on. In this article, I give you a head start in understanding this complex world and list some of the surprising ways that endurance motorsport has influenced the cars we drive every day.
Lines and shadows: life beyond the fence
Photographers Emily Matyas, Alejandro Cartagena, David Rochkind and David Taylor explore the complexity of U.S.-Mexico border issues in “Beyond the Fence,” an exhibition at Arizona State University’s Northlight Gallery.