When Bells and Mitch, two young space aliens from the planet Exergy, crash-land on Earth, they must apply the engineering design process to get themselves back home. Captivated by the beautiful yellow dandelions near their crash site, Bells and Mitch investigate the dandelions' life cycle. Observing how the flowers disperse their seeds, they construct a mechanical replica to launch their ship back into space. Showing how nature itself can instruct us in engineering, Hunt and Pantoya take young readers on a journey of discovery and problem solving. The authors worked with early childhood literacy experts and science museums in developing this story that teaches the relationship between science and engineering, explains the design process, and introduces science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts and vocabulary.

This book will take an in-depth look at the technologies, processes, and capabilities to develop and produce "next generation" energetic materials for both commercial and defense applications, including military, mining operations, oil production and well perforation, and construction demolition. It will serve to highlight the critical technologies, latest developments, and the current capability gaps that serve as barriers to military fielding or transition to the commercial marketplace. It will also explain how the processing technologies can be spun out for use in other non-energetics related industries.

It is becoming increasingly important to understand the electro static discharge (ESD) sensitivity of energetic materials. The source for ESD can occur when two materials are brought into contact and then separated. The friction between the particles as they move can generate an electric charge build up within the mixture and results in a difference of electrical potential that can lead to an ESD event. Nano-particle composite energetic materials (CEM) show great potential for energy generation applications and much research confirms the enhanced reactivity of these materials. Less well documented are the many accidental ignition events of some nano-CEM formulations that have resulted in personal injury or property damage. Very often unintentional ignition occurs when naturally occurring static electricity is discharged into the CEM. For this reason, CEM response to electrical stimuli was investigated and a correlation between the composite's electrical conductivity and ignition sensitivity was examined. This study begins to explore critical parameters influencing electrostatic discharge ignition, specifically electrical resistivity and conductivity of particulate mixtures.