Engineering eye: October 2015

News, rumours and gossip from the world of engineering

A mechanical engineering student from Michigan Tech college hit the headlines after an unusual drunken escapade. Rather than your typical traffic-cone-on-head antics undertaken by alcohol-fuelled teens, Keith Fraley witnessed his inebriated roommate design an entire plane. He woke up the next day without memory of the event. Fraley says in the sober light of day the ‘plane’ was found to be a design for an ekranoplan, a ground-effect craft intended to fly low above the ground. Drinking games have become more sophisticated since Eye went to university.

In an attempt to outshine engineers  the world over, scientists have revealed that it was in fact Mother Nature who invented mechanical gears. It is impressive to behold magnified images of cog-like strips on the insect called the Issus nymph. University of Cambridge scientists say the curved strips of rounded ‘teeth’ found on its hind legs rotate and intermesh with those on the opposing limb, much like those in a car gearbox, ensuring almost “complete synchronicity” in leg movement as it jumps. The legs always move within 30 microseconds of each other, vital for powerful jumps and preventing yaw rotation, which would cause the bug to spin out of control mid-jump. Eye is slightly worried about what brilliant engineering invention will be taken away from us next in the name of science.

• If you have any news, rumours or gossip, email engineering.eye.profeng@gmail.com