Supporting and Celebrating Innovation
Flying cars have long been a staple of futurism, but the technology has never quite managed to achieve liftoff. But that might be changing. Via BGR: A Dutch company has built a “Personal Air and Land Vehicle” that — as you can see from the video above — actually works.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Via the Atlantic comes this rather heartwarming video, demonstrating the potential impact of Google’s driverless car. The company put Steve Mahan in the captain’s chair and sent some videographers to film his trip to a local Taco Bell. That’s quite a feat — considering Mahan is 95 percent blind.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
![futurescope:
New York to Beijing in two hours without leaving the ground?
Advocates of Evacuated Tube Transport (ETT) claim it is silent, cheaper than planes, trains or cars and faster than jets.
The basic plan is, well, as old as the enabling patent, US Patent 5950543, whose description is quite thorough. Issued in 1999, there remain seven years on the term of the patent, which is assigned to ET3.com, Inc., a licensing organization that hopes to head an alliance of players to fund and construct demonstration facilities.
The short version of the ETT story is as follows: put a superconducting maglev train in evacuated tubes, then accelerate using linear electric motors until the design velocity is attained. As the motors are integrated into the evacuated tubes, the conveyance capsules which travel in the tube need have no moving or electrically activated parts - passive superconductors allow the capsules to float in the tube, while eddy currents induced in conducting materials drive the capsules. Efficiency of such a system would be high, as the electric energy required to accelerate a capsule could largely be recaptured as it slows. […]
[via] [ET3]
We’re not pre-purchasing any tickets, but this is a pretty cool — if wildly ambitious! — concept.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1c9lsfj5k1r08k60o1_400.jpg)
New York to Beijing in two hours without leaving the ground?
Advocates of Evacuated Tube Transport (ETT) claim it is silent, cheaper than planes, trains or cars and faster than jets.
The basic plan is, well, as old as the enabling patent, US Patent 5950543, whose description is quite thorough. Issued in 1999, there remain seven years on the term of the patent, which is assigned to ET3.com, Inc., a licensing organization that hopes to head an alliance of players to fund and construct demonstration facilities.
The short version of the ETT story is as follows: put a superconducting maglev train in evacuated tubes, then accelerate using linear electric motors until the design velocity is attained. As the motors are integrated into the evacuated tubes, the conveyance capsules which travel in the tube need have no moving or electrically activated parts - passive superconductors allow the capsules to float in the tube, while eddy currents induced in conducting materials drive the capsules. Efficiency of such a system would be high, as the electric energy required to accelerate a capsule could largely be recaptured as it slows. […]
We’re not pre-purchasing any tickets, but this is a pretty cool — if wildly ambitious! — concept.
Taylor Wilson’s extracurricular activities bring new meaning to the concept of tinkering in the garage. At 14, he built a working nuclear fusion reactor. It didn’t generate as much energy as it consumed, but still — an impressive accomplishment. Here’s his TED talk, where he makes two arguments: This technology is the future of energy, and kids really can change the world.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Via PopSci: This fascinating three-minute documentary recounts how two doctors, Billy Cohn and Bud Frazier, came to invent an artificial heart — one that has no pulse.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Who took home the top honors at Mobile World Congress? Nokia’s 808 PureView netted the prize for Best New Mobile Handset, Device or Tablet, thanks in large part to its 41 megapixel camera. In their assessment, VentureBeat says the win wasn’t necessarily because it’ll be the must-have new gadget, but “because it was the only device to truly surprise us.”
Thursday, March 1, 2012
