Fingerprint Assignment

In 1978, Carroll Bonnet was stabbed to death in his apartment. Police collected evidence, including latent fingerprints and palmprints from the victim’s bathroom (officers believed the killer was trying to wash off blood and other evidence before leaving the apartment). The victim’s car was then stolen.

The car was found in Illinois, but after collecting additional latent prints, investigators couldn’t develop any new leads. The crime scene evidence was processed, and latent prints recovered from the scene and the car were searched against local and state fingerprint files. Investigators also sent fingerprint requests to agencies outside Nebraska, but no matches were returned and the case soon went cold.

http://coldcaseusa.blogspot.ca/2011/08/dna-reopens-1978-carroll-bonnet-murder.html?m=1

I chose this article because I found it interesting that no one could figure out who the culprit was until looking back at the case and matching fingerprints with already convicted felons. 

Vehicle Safety

I'm Volvo V40 Hatchback -

1. Structure:

Seven percent of the safety cage in the original V40 was made of hot-formed boron steel. The structure in the upcoming cars built on the new Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) feature over 40 per cent hot-formed steel, which translates into significantly improved strength but without adding mass or weight.

2. Safety Features:

 It's major two safety features are known as "world-firsts": auto braking when turning in front of an oncoming vehicle and run-off-road protection.

3. Technological Features For Safety:

Volvo has technology that can protect pedestrians, and self steering system that's designed to stop cars from running off the road. 

Video on Volvo safety: http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1085371_volvo-previews-2015-xc90-safety-tech-video

The Future of Transportation - Article Review

http://www.citylab.com/tech/2014/09/los-angeles-is-building-an-e-highway/380914/

In Los Angeles, they are building a highway called the E-Highway. Which will eliminate truck emissions. Specially outfitted hybrid or all-electric trucks can attach to the system using automated current-transfer devices called pantographs. Once connected, the trucks will pull all their power from the overhead lines, effectively becoming emission-free vehicles.

Past & Future Methods of Transportation

First Helicopter Paul Cornu - 1907

I was interested in this aircraft because it was an open-framework structure built around a curved steel tube that carried a rotor at either end, and the engine and pilot in the middle. Power was transmitted to the rotors by a drive belt that linked both rotors and spun them in opposite directions. Control was to be provided by cables that could alter the pitch of the rotor blades, and by steerable vanes at either end of the machine intended to direct the downwash of the rotors. The way it was built was very simple and I was surprised at how well it worked. 

This updated future aircraft design concept from NASA research partner Lockheed Martin shows a few changes from another concept seen eight images earlier in this gallery. It is a good example of how simulations and wind tunnel tests, conducted over time, generate data that tell researchers how to improve a design to achieve goals. The goals for a future supersonic aircraft are to produce a much lower-level sonic boom and to reduce emissions. The ultimate goal is to achieve a low enough boom that a current ruling prohibiting supersonic flight over land might be lifted. 

Paper Airplane Challenge

The plane closest to you is the distance plane, and the plane farthest is the time plane. 

The four forces that are acting on the plane include thrust, lift, drag, and weight. 

Longest distance was one meter, flight time was three seconds. 

Boat Building

1.

2. The boat took 80 coins to sink 

3. I would probably have made my boat more sturdy and more easily floatable than I did. 

Science & Tech - Acid/Base Lab Pictures