In-flight rearming
The US Air Force鈥檚 research lab in New York is developing a system will allow fighter planes to be rearmed, as well as refuelled, in mid-flight.
A supply plane, such as a C-141 or C-17 would incorporate a telescopic boom that extends from its rear. This boom would boast its own miniature wings, to give it stability and lift while deployed. And mounted on top would be a looped conveyor belt to move bombs and missiles from the supply plane to the boom鈥檚 end.
A fighter plane could then fly over the boom until optical sensors confirm that the weapons below are aligned and can be snatched up.
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The Air Force鈥檚 patent application reveals political motivations for the plan. It says that some nations are reluctant to provide access to bases for refuelling and rearming. 鈥淭he nations of Europe, for example, lying closer as they do to areas of turmoil such as the Middle East, are often reluctant to take hard stances against terrorists who lie within an automobile ride from their borders,鈥� it reads.
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Atmospheric broadcasting
The layer of the atmosphere known as the ionosphere, at an altitude of 50 kilometres, is already used as a radio reflector, bouncing low frequency radio signals from one side of the world to the other.
Researchers at Samsung in Korea are now working on a way to turn the ionosphere into an antenna. A patent application filed by the company reveals plans to direct higher frequencies radio signals, at about 1 gigahertz, at the ionosphere, to alter its behaviour.
It describes using an Ultra High Frequency (UHF) radio signal, of a few hundred megahertz, and a carrier signal of around 1 gigahertz. The mix would be amplified and focused by a dish into a spot beam that hits the underside of the ionosphere.
The idea is for the GHz carrier signal to be absorbed by the atmosphere and for the UHF one to alter the temperature of electrons flowing through the ionosphere. This should create an alternating current within the ionosphere that can be modulated at a particular frequency. The target spot should then work as an antenna, radiating the UHF tens of kilometres back down to Earth.
Samsung sees the system as a cheap way to broadcast signals, or communicate over long distances, without needing to launch expensive satellites.
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Firefly fish
Schools of glowing fish could become a tool for monitoring water quality. The US government鈥檚 National Institute of Environmental Health Services (NIEHS) has been funding research into fish that glow like a firefly when exposed to polluted water, a patent application reveals.
Fireflies light up when an enzyme in their stomach called luciferase oxidises luciferin. The NIEHS hopes to insert luciferase-producing genes from fireflies into the eggs of zebrafish. A related approach has been proposed previously (see Glowing red GM fish to sell in US).
Other genes would then be injected into the zebrafish making them sensitive to a particular pollutant. This could make the fish generate luciferase in the presence of mercury, for example.
The genetically modified fish could then be dangled in a cage into water at risk of pollution. After half an hour they could be removed and dunked into a solution containing luciferin. If they start to glow, it means the water is polluted. The brightness of their glow could even reveal just how bad the pollution is. And the fish should survive the process for re-use later.
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For more than 30 years, Barry Fox has trawled through the world鈥檚 weird and wonderful patent applications, uncovering the most exciting, bizarre or even terrifying new ideas. Read previous invention columns, including:
Sense that fat, designer speakers, throw-away parachutes, password-protected bullets, spinning touchdown, palmtop Feng Shui, Origami gadgets, mile-high showers, Hydrogen fuel balls, human cannonballs, the riot slimer, the bomb jammer, Apple鈥檚 all-seeing screen, the TV-advert enforcer, the wing-sprouting drone, the drink-driver arm scanner, laser spark plugs, remote-controlled implants,the 鈥淚鈥檝e been shot鈥� gun, the snore zapper, the guitar phone, explosive-eating fungus, viper vision, exploding ink, the moody media player, the spy-diver killer, preventing in-flight interference, the inkjet-printer pen, sonic watermarks, the McDownload, hot-air plane, landmine arrows, soldiers obeying odours, coffee beer, wall-beating bugging, eyeball electronics, phone jolts, personal crash alarm, talking tooth, shark shocker, midnight call-foiler, burning bullets, a music lover鈥檚 dream, magic wand for gamers, the phantom car, phone-bomb hijacking, shocking airport scans, old tyres to printer ink and eye-tracking displays.
