Tag: KITE

We already know that kites outfitted with cameras can provide a DIY alternative to satellite imagery, as was evidenced in Grassroots Mapping's overhead shots of the oil-strangled Gulf Coast. Now, Frank Taylor, the author of the Google Earth Blog (not officially affiliated with the Menlo Park-based Net behemoth), has provided his favorite aerial imagery producer with some hi-res shots of his own, ...

The first step to solving the Gulf Coast oil crisis, as with any problem, is figuring out just how large and expansive the spill really is. As scientists, lawmakers, and Kevin Costner continue to debate the best way to stop the gushing, a group of academics at MIT are doing their part to track the disaster as it unfurls. The project, called Grassroots Mapping, uses camera-equipped kites to ...

According to Fox News, Japan will launch a spacecraft called Ikaros (or, Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation of the Sun) on May 18th on a mission to Venus. The Ikaros propulsion system uses a 46-foot sail to harness the pressure created by solar particles bouncing off the material, similar to the principle of using sails to catch wind. In fact, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency ...

People are starting to look to the oceans to produce clean energy, and a couple of Korean researchers have come up with a unique way to harvest power from the high seas. According to Wired, Park Chul and Kim Jongchul recently wrote a proposal that envisions using a giant kite to tow a large ship with a hydroelectric turbine attached to its hull. Essentially, the system would create a floating ...