In the future, tablet-shaped robots could perform some surgical operations without injuring the body. A new publication shows how such surgical bio-microrobots might function.

Until just a few years ago, the business model for a mid-size machine manufacturing company had a simple structure: dominated by engineers, the focus was on solving technical problems. ‘Made in Germany’ was interpreted as ‘providing optimal technology’. Today, the expectations of the market have undergone a transformation. Classic German machine manufacturers have had to learn to stop viewing a product purely as an engineering development whose business relationship ends with delivery to the customer. That is because customers today are demanding more than just a good technical solution. ‘Oper…

Vigilantplant services from the industrial automation division of Yokogawa Europe is a new portfolio of support capabilities, designed to maximise customers’ asset availability and optimise plant productivity by deploying a variety of services in the areas of opportunity identification, solution implementation and lifecycle effectiveness.

By using the technical and organisational measures provided within Vigilantplant services, Yokogawa believes that customers can achieve 20-30% improvements in areas such as productivity, process quality, product quality, performance and product diversific…

Hayward Tyler, a leading manufacturer of pumps and motors for the power and oil and gas industries, has won a British Business Award 2008 for its work in China.

The awards ceremony took place last week in Beijing, China. Around 400 guests gathered at the Westin Chaoyang, including HRH The Duke of York. Hayward Tyler won the ‘innovative product or service’ category, winning against other finalists including Dyson, Standard Chartered and Penguin.

Led by the British Chamber of Commerce in China, the British Business Awards highlights the strong links between China and the UK, and rewards …

Hayward Tyler, a leading manufacturer of pumps and motors for the power and oil and gas industries, has announced that it has now delivered three of the largest subsea motors ever built. The 2,500kW subsea motors were ordered by Aker Kvaerner Subsea, a leading provider of surface and subsea solutions for the oil and gas industry, to drive their seawater injection pumps on the StatoilHydro Tyrihans project in the Norwegian Sea. The motors have been developed in close cooperation with Aker Solutions.

The qualified Hayward Tyler design for the 2,500kW variable speed, super synchronous motor …

Hayward Tyler, a leading manufacturer of glandless motor and pumps for power generation, oil and gas, nuclear and subsea applications, is using the latest 3D modelling and finite element analysis (FEA) software to accurately predict overall stress distribution for complete motor pump assemblies, resulting in reduced engineering lead times for its customers.

Hayward Tyler (HTI) Engineering recently invested in COSMOSWorks Professional, a software package that includes a pressure vessel design study option, which is being used in combination with 3D solid modelling software from Solidworks….

Turner Designs Hydrocarbon Instruments has just shipped its first order of the new TD-107™ bilge water monitors to NAG Marine in Norfolk, VA.

“This is the first production run of IMO 107(49)-certified, fluorescence-based, oil-in-water monitors in history,” according to Gary Bartman, president. “It also marks the beginning of our relationship with NAG Marine, our exclusive sales and service partner for the marine market.”

“Now, there is an oil-in-water monitor that actually measures oil-in-water and is not affected by suspended solids,” says Jack Vogt, president of NAG Marine.

The…

The secret to a dolphin's speed is sheer strength, according to a new study that used high-tech measurements to finally put a 70-year-old conundrum to rest. In 1936, British zoologist James Gray incredulously observed dolphins swimming at speeds of over 20 mph. He estimated that the dolphins should only be able to produce a tenth of the necessary force and imagined that something about the dolphins' skin allowed them to overcome the force of drag in the water and reach high speeds. "For the first time, I think we can safely say the puzzle is solved," said [researcher] Tim Wei?"The short answer is that dolphins are simply much stronger than Gray or many other people ever imagined." [BBC News]. Although most biologists had long rejected what became known as Gray's Paradox, there has never been a study to determine the strength of a dolphin's kick. To observe the powerful swimmers up close, researchers recruited two retired U.S. Navy dolphins, Primo and Puka, to swim in a specially designed tank filled with tiny bubbles that make the movement of water visible. The tank was too small to capture video of the dolphins at full speed, so they also videotaped them performing tail stands on the water (think Sea World). The thrust was calculated based on the dolphins' weight and measurements of the wake created by their tails [AP]. Using software that tracked the rush of bubbles, the researcher then used force measurement concepts from aerospace research to translate those velocities into a force that the dolphins' tails were producing – nearly 100kg (200lb) on average [BBC News]. That amount of thrust is about six times that of an average Olympic-level swimmer and more than triple that of swimming phenomenon Michael Phelps. Without similar muscle mass, even the the new Speedo LZR Swimsuits wouldn't give Phelps an edge over Flipper. "There is no paradox. The dolphins always had the muscles to do this," said Frank Fish, professor of biology?. "Gray was wrong".

It's all about turkeys this time of year, blah blah blah. What about the hot dog? Slashfood found a great video about the effort it takes to design the Phillies' air cannon that shoots hot dogs at games. This is scientific stuff – they go through small trial runs and even position people in an otherwise empty stadium to gauge how far they can launch and figure out the angles. But you can see that they have a lot of fun with it. Even better, Red Tettemer, the ad agency that created the video, has redesigned their home page to reflect their dog dedication.

The "Muppet Show" gave us pigs in space, but the latest Space Age technology is finding a meatier application here on Earth that may find its way to your Thanksgiving dinner table. The technology originally measured fluid shifts inside astronauts hamming it up in space. Now the European Space Agency (ESA) and two companies have adopted the tool to help ensure the quality of a world-famous Spanish cured ham. "The application was proposed by NTE, the engineering company that adapted the technology," said Jennifer Knoblach, a representative of ESA's Technology Transfer Programme Office. The new ham-scanning gear won't affect Thanksgiving plans for the 10 astronauts currently flying in space aboard NASA's shuttle Endeavour and the International Space Station. They're planning to celebrate Thursday's U.S. holiday tonight, one day early, with a traditional dinner of pre-packaged turkey, cornbread dressing, green beans, cranberry-apple desert and other space foods as a full crew, shuttle commander Chris Ferguson said. Prized "Jamon" ham represents a matter of culinary pride for Spain, and so only the highest quality hams get the label. Experts carefully examine hams to determine by look, touch and smell whether a ham is too wet, too dry or just right. However, the main factor for creating the perfect ham is the amount of water in the meat. Even the most experienced inspectors may find it difficult to determine a ham's water quality.