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Tomorrow’s Jets Could Fly with Flower Power

Camelina Jet Fuel

Due to rising oil prices and environmental concerns, the aviation industry is now looking at many biofuels as alternatives to petroleum derived fuel. NASA researchers conducted a series of test flights recently that proved a commercial jet can fly safely with a blend of jet fuel made from Camelina plant oil.

WCVE Public Radio’s Charles Fishburne has more in this Science Matters report.

Question Your World: How Did Everyone Really End Up Everywhere?

For about 200,000 years humanity has been making its way from Africa to just about every corner of this planet. The study of our past helps explain the evolution of life here on Earth. We’ve put a lot of time and effort into digging through the past and have constructed the time line of our story, all the while continually making new discoveries. So, what happens when we make a new discovery that totally contradicts what we've learned? Listen to the latest Question Your World Radio Report from the Science Museum of Virginia to learn more.

Question Your World: How Do You Feel About Robots?

robot

Would you be happy if a robot gave you flowers? Would you be sad if you saw someone hurt a robot? Those are the types of questions that were on a recent German scientific survey, but why? Why do we need to understand how we feel about robots? Listen to the latest Question Your World Radio Report from the Science Museum of Virginia to learn more.

Question Your World: How Far Does Our Solar System Stretch?

Voyager

Our lovely and comfortable home here on Earth is a long way away from the end of our solar system. Here on Earth concepts of boundaries involve rivers, lakes, mountains, human imposed borders, and so on. However, this is not how the limits of our solar system are established. There is not one point that defines the end, but there is definitely an end and it’s really far from here. Listen to the latest Question Your World Radio Report from the Science Museum of Virginia to learn more.

Question Your World: Why Do We Like the Music We Like?

music headphones

Think about all the music you’ve ever listened to. Everything from Beethoven’s 5th to “Call Me Maybe” are processed through the brain, but what about them allows the brain to say yay or nay? Listen to the latest Question Your World Radio Report from the Science Museum of Virginia to learn more.

More From WCVE Public Radio...

Question Your World: Orbiting Refuel and Repair Stations?

Consider yourself lucky if you’ve never run out of gas while driving your car. This small and easily preventable inconvenience can be a real problem for getting to work on time or just looking smooth on a date. The problem becomes way worse when you’re far from the closest gas station. It’s bad enough to be stranded fifty miles away, but imagine being hundreds of miles away from the Earth’s surface and running into the same issue. Running out of fuel in such a hostile and foreign environment would be a really dangerous problem.

Mission Extension Vehicle

Question Your World: What’s the Deal with the Phrase “Sleep on it?”

You don’t have to be Jerry Seinfeld to ask questions about the sleepier parts of your life. The average human spends nearly a third of their life sleeping! While you’re busy catching z’s, your brain is busy working on other tasks! Everything from healing your body to creating your memory structure happens while you’re off in dream land. Want to know more about sleep - one of the most important parts of your life?

sleep

Question Your World: What do Looms and Laptops have in Common?

If you’re reading this you must be using some sort of computer. Most of us have an idea about the origins of our modern computer units, but sometimes explaining the lineage of these machines leads only up to the first design. The big question is - how did we get all the way to a computing machine? We could not have gone from fire or the wheel straight to iTunes, right? What’s responsible for the giant leaps and bounds in technology that make our life what it is today? The process of science, that’s how!

loom to laptop

Knee Replacement Patients at Higher Risk of Gaining Weight

Charles Fishburne in Science Matters

Patients who undergo knee replacement surgery may be at risk of gaining more weight than their peers who have not had the surgery, according to a five-year study led by a Virginia Commonwealth University professor. 

Question Your World: New York to Tokyo in 45 Minutes?

So, who’s up for grabbing lunch in Tokyo today?

Lynx