windmills

Windpower Prop, Seen Close Up, Is Massive

They look so graceful when they're spinning

A single prop for a wind turbine has been caught in the wild by Dogmantra, a friend of the Boing Boing Gadgets blog.

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How It Works

The Tallest Mobile Crane

This portable crane can hoist millions of pounds all day long, then drive home like any other 18-wheeler

Built for tasks like lifting 55-ton generators to the top of 300-foot windmills, the Liebherr 11200-9.1 might just be the world’s most monstrous truck. The 108-ton 18-wheeler doubles in weight when the boom—-which with extensions can reach 47 stories—-is attached. Fully assembled, it can lift up to 2.6 million pounds. Without the boom, it can drive on public roads, so getting it to a job site requires five fewer trucks than it would take to haul in and assemble an equally large fixed crane. It’s also far easier to move from place to place once it’s on-site.

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Wind Power Reconsidered

Innovations and steep gas prices may at last kick-start wind energy in the U.S.

Next spring, General Electric will inaugurate the Arklow Bank Offshore Wind Park, a wind farm just off the eastern coast of Ireland. The plant is already operating at nearly full capacity, its seven massive 3.6-megawatt turbines cranking out enough electricity for 16,000 households. Arklow Bank is Ireland´s first offshore wind-energy project and Europe’s 19th, with at least 10 more slated to go up in 2005.

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November 2009: Astronaut 3.0

Inside NASA's astronaut bootcamp and the grueling new training regimen for deep space. Plus, ten young geniuses shaking up science today, one writer's quest to analyze every man-made chemical in her body and more.

Check out the issue's full contents online here

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