Rob Verger
Popular Science
New York, NY, United States
Contact Rob
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Past articles by Rob:
This plane powered by hydrogen has made an electrifying first flight
While one engine burned jet fuel, the electric motor on its right wing got its juice from hydrogen fuel cells. → Read More
Why the US military plans to start making its own jet fuel
Instead of extracting petroleum from the ground, the idea is to capture carbon dioxide from the air or water, and combine it with hydrogen. → Read More
The real star of this aerial selfie isn’t the balloon—it’s the U-2 spy plane
The DOD released this photo showing the surveillance balloon and a U-2 pilot. Here's what to know about the U-2, a high-flying spy plane. → Read More
How high do planes fly? It depends on if they’re going east or west.
A variety of factors go into the altitude at which an airplane flies, and one of them is its direction of travel. Here's what else to know. → Read More
Pete Buttigieg on how to improve the deadly track record of US drivers
We spoke with the Transportation Secretary about why traffic fatalities in the US have been so high—and what can be done about it. → Read More
This ‘airliner of the future’ has a radical new wing design
NASA and Boeing are collaborating to create the Sustainable Flight Demonstrator, which will feature long wings supported by trusses. It could first fly in 2028. → Read More
The illuminating tech inside night vision goggles, explained
Night vision goggles work thanks to internal components that convert photons to electrons and back again. Here's how that happens. → Read More
What can ‘smart intersections’ do for a city? Chattanooga aims to find out.
Chattanooga, Tennessee is expanding the number of smart intersections it has from 11 to nearly 100. These are the project's goals. → Read More
Watch this big battery pack drop 50 feet in an aircraft safety test
The test, carried out in Wichita, Kansas, was a way of exploring the safety of a battery system provided by Beta Technologies. → Read More
The most awesome aerospace innovations of 2022
Game-changing new developments in space, a “Parallel Reality” on the ground, and more innovations are the Best of What’s New. → Read More
This startup wants to take you on quick trips in its sleek electric aircraft, Midnight
The flying machine is designed to carry people on flights that are just about 20 miles in length. It will seat four people and a pilot. → Read More
Scientists are getting energized about a massive battery ‘genome’ project
The massive initiative would be aimed at sharing data in new ways about how batteries perform, as grid storage and EVs become more important. → Read More
Delta plans to someday offer you trips to the airport in an electric air taxi
Delta is partnering with Joby Aviation to offer customers the chance to book an electric air taxi to an airport such as JFK or LAX. → Read More
Wisk’s next-gen air taxi aims to transport four passengers with no pilot
The sixth-generation aircraft is from Wisk, which is backed by Boeing. Here's how it works, and what the company's plans are for autonomy. → Read More
Watch Alice, a new electric commuter plane, fly for the first time
The flight may have only lasted minutes, but the company hopes that it heralds in a future where it carries nine passengers on commuter hops. → Read More
Watch this sleek electric plane ace its high-speed ground test
Powered by 8,000 pounds of batteries, the Alice aircraft just completed an important runway exercise. And its first flight is coming up very soon, too. → Read More
Worries of disaster follow blast close to a second Ukrainian nuclear power plant
The strike on Monday took place not far from the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant and its three reactors, but they remain operationally normal, according to the IAEA. → Read More
Are we ready for our Uber Eats orders to arrive via robot?
Nuro makes autonomous vehicles that can delivery groceries and food and have no space for humans on them. It reached a recent deal with Uber. → Read More
How a ‘digital twin’ of an Apache helicopter could help keep these old birds flying
A team in Kansas will be creating a "digital twin" of an Apache helicopter by scanning in its 5,000 to 6,000 parts. Here's why—and how. → Read More
After a two-month flight, the Army’s Zephyr drone fell from the sky
The solar-powered Zephyr stayed aloft for an incredible 64 days. Then the aircraft fell back down to Earth. → Read More