Latest Mechanics Stories

Digital Element's IP Intelligence Helps European Seismological Organization Accurately Identify Affected Locations in Less Than 10 Minutes ATLANTA and PARIS, April 6 /PRNewswire/ -- By tracking the number of hits to its website after an earthquake, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), based in Arpajon, France, can accurately measure the impact of the event, in near real time. EMSC is using Digital Element's IP Intelligence technology to accurately detect the areas...

BRUSSELS, Belgium, April 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- WABCO Holdings Inc. (NYSE: WBC), a global technology leader and tier-one supplier to the commercial vehicle industry, today introduced OptiDrive(TM) as the brand name for the company's new modular automated manual transmission system, continuing the company's 20-year track record of technology leadership in transmission automation. As previously disclosed, this new system's high degree of modularity significantly reduces the...

The U.S. space agency and Honeywell Inc. say they are launching the 2009 tour of their award-winning hip-hop science education program FMA Live! The traveling science concert will reach more than 17,000 middle-school students during its 10-week, 20 city U.S. tour, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said. Named for Sir Isaac Newton's second law of motion -- force = mass times acceleration -- FMA Live! uses professional actors, original songs, music videos and interactive...

Researchers in Arkansas recently made a troubling discovery "“ a massive fault that may put the eastern portion of the state, as well as Tennessee and Mississippi at risk.The 5,000-year-old fault has an epicenter of at least 7 miles in length, said researchers at Arkansas Earthquake Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. It is likely to have caused at least one magnitude 7 earthquake over the course of history.The fault lies underneath cotton fields about 100 miles east of...

A U.S. researcher suggests those with high working memory and math ability may be those most affected by test stress. The study, published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, finds the subjects with the greatest capacity for math success were the most likely to choke under pressure. Sian Beilock of the University of Chicago said working memory -- useful for solving math problems -- is diminished in stressful situations. Beilock says working memory, also known as short-term...

The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is part of an international team of scientists that is learning more about how cracks form in brittle materials. The team used both computer modeling and experimentation to investigate how cracks grow at low speeds in silicon. This information has potential applications in the development of a variety of materials ranging from armor to machine parts. The research team published their findings in the October 30th edition of Nature.Using the computer...

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Eric Paskel, celebrity trainer, life coach, and licensed marriage, family, child counselor (MFCC), has created a stress reducing routine based on his best selling Xflowsion DVD series. Xflowsion is a fun and effective workout that integrates Eric's comprehensive background and techniques so everyone can get in great shape while also reducing stress and anxiety. "With all of the anxiety over the economy and election, people are more stressed...

In April, a group of scientists and engineers, working with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), released an official forecast of California earthquake probability, and the findings were frightful: They suggest a better than 99% chance of an earthquake measuring 6.7 or greater hitting the state sometime in the next 30 years, and a 46% chance of one posting a 7.5. (The Northridge quake, which claimed at least 60 victims and rang up $25 billion in damage, registered a 6.7.) The Chino Hills,...

By Phillion, A B Lee, P D; Maire, E; Cockcroft, S L Semisolid tensile testing combined with X-ray microtomography (XMT) was used to characterize the development of internal damage as a function of strain in an aluminum-magnesium alloy, AA5182. Novel techniques were developed to allow the quantification of both the size evolution and orientation of the damage to determine mechanisms controlling the early stage growth and localization. During the initial stages of semisolid deformation, it was...

China's Tibet region was shaken Thursday by an earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale but no casualties were reported. The epicenter was about 12 miles deep in Zhongba Country, a remote area near the China-Nepal border more than 15,000 feet above sea level and with a population of about 18,000, Xinhua reported, quoting China's National Seismological Network. The state-run news agency said the county has been hit with several aftershocks since a 6.8-magnitude quake Aug. 25.