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Anyone who has used a gas spring, such as those found in some car or van hoods or rear lifts, knows that they typically have two positions – extended or retracted (open or closed). But what if you want to be able to stop the spring and whatever motion it is controlling at some other position?

Our Engineering360 News Brief offers a few examples where drawing inspiration from the past is broadening the horizon of the future. Topics include CES 2018, the consumer technology show that runs next week in Las Vegas, drawing inspiration from an ancient technique to improve fuel cells and new evidence to believe that life on other planets is likely.

The most futuristic technology in the Rose Parade came from Singpoli American BD, a real estate development company, whose float incorporated augmented reality (AR) to make a Chinese legend come alive.

The accomplishments posted during 2017 by researchers at Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (CERN), or European Council for Nuclear Research, star in this video.

The craft is about the size of a Boeing 737 and is designed to conduct marine rescues and fight forest fires.

Caltech scientists have developed a method for creating comparatively large self-assembling DNA structures that can take on any desired custom pattern. To demonstrate their breakthrough, the team “painted” a replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa.”

Do 3D-printed or additively manufactured metal parts have the integrity for aerospace, automotive, biomedical and other mission-critical applications? Porosity, residual stress levels, microstructures and metallurgical defects unique to 3D printing should be evaluated.

Scientists shed light on how Rudolph became the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the Grinch’s heart grew three sizes in one day and a nightshirt-clad Ebenezer Scrooge practiced time travel.

Debris volumes are measured using drones, and the data are used to develop an information-based model to determine cleanup cost.

The first astronaut to fly in space untethered died on December 21, 2017, at the age of 80.

Bell is developing the V-280 Valor for the U.S. Army’s Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator initiative intended to mature and validate advanced airframe and propulsion technologies leading up to the Pentagon’s Future Vertical Lift program, a long-term strategy to replace all of its helicopters with more capable successors.

Rice University researchers invented a device that uses fast-moving fluids to insert flexible, conductive carbon nanotube fibers into the brain.

ANSYS SpaceClaim® offers a flexible 3D tool that’s ideal for designing concept models for product development and for customer-facing professionals involved in bid modeling.

Additive manufacturing can provide some unique part geometries and materials. Several factors should be evaluated in selecting a metal additive versus conventional manufacturing method.

The term temporary or portable building usually calls to mind images of mobile homes, tent-like structures, inflatable buildings or even modular buildings. Ten Fold Engineering has a different take on temporary, relocatable buildings. Ten Fold uses patented counterbalanced folding linkages that are designed for mobility, ease of setup and breakdown, and reliability.

Sustainable Marine Energy announced its recently installed PLAT-I tidal energy platform started generating power at Connel Sound in Scotland.

Here's some love for the canine set: This edition of the Engineering360 news brief looks at three engineering headlines that could also be considered "dog tales."