A solar-powered airplane finished crossing the United States on Saturday, landing in New York City after flying over the Statue of Liberty during its historic bid to circle the globe, the project team said. The spindly, single-seat experimental aircraft, dubbed Solar Impulse 2, arrived at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport at about 4 a.m. local time after it took off about five hours beforehand at Lehigh Valley International Airport in Pennsylvania, the team reported on the airplane's website. Such a pleasure to land in New York! For the 14th time we celebrate sustainability," said the project's co-founder Andre Borschberg on Twitter after flying over the city and the Statue of Liberty during the 14th leg of the trip around the globe. The Swiss team flying the aircraft in a campaign to build support for clean energy technologies hopes eventually to complete its circumnavigation in Abu Dhabi, where the journey began in March 2015. The solar cr...
Snake scales are slipperier on the belly than the back, but the reason for this difference is not yet known. By revealing the molecular make-up of the scale surface, this study offers a new explanation for how snakes reduce friction on their underside. It will be presented on Wednesday, at a symposium on the science of surfaces. Lead author Joe Baio, a chemical engineer from Oregon State University, said the lubrication helps the snakes in two ways: it makes movement easier, but also reduces wear and tear."When snakes slide on the ground, how do they reduce friction and not scrape away their skin?" he said. "The coefficient of friction for the belly of the snake... is a lot lower than the top of the snake - so it's somehow reducing friction on its stomach side. "But under a really high-powered microscope, the shape and morphology of look identical." Dr Baio is in San Jose to present his findings at the AVS symposium . Together, they started to stu...