Next-generation radar technology capable of taking 3D slices of hurricanes and other storms is poised to move ahead, after years of fits and starts. Driving the news: The National Science Foundation announced $91.8 million in funding this morning — the first day of the Atlantic hurricane season — for the National Center for Atmospheric Research to design, build and test an airborne phased array radar. • The technology consists of thousands of transmitters and receivers on horizontal plates mounted at different points on a plane. • Together, they would scan storms in unprecedented detail, from storms' overall ... (full story)