In late October the Ares I-X had its successful first flight and it was the first major step to replace the Space Shuttle with the Constellation system. However Ares I-X had a dummy second stage, when the Orion capsule become operational it will have a very advanced Launch abort system that will help the crew land safely even with a failure during the first stage of the launch.
The LAS is the small tower over the conical shape of the crew module. It is designed from Orbital Sciences for Lockheed Martin, the main contractor of the Orion.

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This is an old terraced house in Singapore renovated from Ong & Ong architects. The main concept is the continuation of the interior and exterior space and the seamless integration of the new appearance with the neighborhood. The owner requested more light to the living spaces of the house and the aluminum cladding, the glass doors to the back yard / pool and the white surfaces reflect the sun and transfer the light far into the house.

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These are the first official photos of the new Opel (or Vauxhall) Meriva and a premier of GMs new 'FlexDoor' design. As you can see in the photo above the new Meriva has what is known in car jargon as suicide doors, the rear doors open in the opposite direction. The only cars with a similar arrangement are the BMW-era Rolls Royce models.
Opel (and Rolls Royce) has a B-pillar and its frame is not unlike other cars, the only difference is the hinges. However this kind of door are much more difficult to certify, because they open facing the direction of movement, they must be very fail safe and foolproof to avoid accidents. The benefit is a easier access although sometimes the door handle could be difficult to reach when the passenger is seated.

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Quadcopters are a very popular UAV airframe because of they are a very stable hovering platform and an easy to work architecture. This micro quadcopter weighs only 15 gr and it is a university project. It uses a 6doF IMU with 2 gyros (a dual axis IDG-500 and a single axis ISZ-500) and a 3-axis ADXL330 accelerometer. Their data is processed through a Kalman filter. The main feature of this quadcopter is the use of the main (and only pcb) as the frame of the aircraft where the 4 motors are mounted. It is a very simple concept and could be potentially very cheap, especially if mass-produced.

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After the imposed limitation to 450cc for works motorcycles participating in Dakar rallies many thought that the new at the time enduro bikes from Aprilia were perfect for this new class. Their main advantage was the 2 cylinder engine instead of the 1cylinder KTMs that dominate the race the last years.
This year Aprilia is officially supports the Team Aprilia Giofil with its modified for rally raid RXV 4.5 Dakar bikes. Riders for Team Giofil will be Francisco Lopez, Paolo Ceci, Gerard Farres and Alex Zanotti.

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We don't usually feature footwear but this is such a clever design. It is called Mojito and it is designed by Julian Hakes. Its concept is to use the foot as a structural member of the shoe thus eliminating most of it. It is a single surface bended and twisted and it is made from 3 layers, leather from the 'inside', a carbon fiber core for structural rigidity and a rubber layer for traction.

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Hurricanes may be spectacular from space but they cost many lives and cause serious damages. They are considered a force of nature that is inevitable and all we can do is minimize the damage. However there is an almost crazy idea by Dr. Arkadii I. Leonov from the University of Akron that wants to change all that. Dr. Leonov suggest with several patents he filled from 2007 that hurricanes can be stopped with the use of several supersonic aircrafts.

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This is a concept by Ryan Skelley inspired by the great races of Dakar and Baja rallies. It is a concept for future Bowler racecars. Bowler is a small company that makes bespoke rally raid racecars with Land Rover mechanical parts and a body design similar to Land Rover production vehicles. The Raptor is a open cockpit buggy that evolves both the LR design language and the Bowler architecture. It is of course a preliminary study but well thought nonetheless.

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The Advanced Composite Cargo Aircraft (ACCA) is a joint program between AFRL and Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works. It is a proof of concept for using new technology composite materials for designing and manufacturing aircrafts quicker, with lower cost and better performance. The ACCA first flew in March 2009 and after approving the next phase (III) of flight tests in September it was given an X-plane designation (after a very long time for such an aircraft) and it is now officially called the X-55. It is based on the Dornier 328Jet but the fuselage behind the cockpit and the vertical tail are all new. While 328Jet was a regional airliner, the X-55 is a cargo plane capable of transporting two 463L pallets with a big ramp in the rear fuselage.

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