Riffington
- Technology
Spin Me Up, Scotty
Astronauts are trained to withstand as much as nine times the force of gravity. (Three Gs, by comparison, could make the average guy pass out.) But even the toughest among them fall out of the running when it comes to a launch concept from a small civilian company in Goleta, California. To survive the ride on Launchpoint Technologies´s invention, the payload has to be able to survive a brain-splattering 10,000 Gs. The design calls for a high-speed accelerator that whips a projectile as heavy as 220 pounds around a circular 1.5-mile-radius vacuum tunnel.
6.24.2008 at 11:19am - Comment by RiffingtonThis thing can be an artillery piece with unlimited range, and you're talking about shooting bread into orbit?
- Cars
Who Killed the Gas Guzzler?
Steven Schneider has been selling cars-everything from tiny European imports to boat-like Lincolns-nearly his entire life. Now, as CEO of ZAP (for Zero Air Pollution) in Santa Rosa, California, he specializes in the distribution of small, fuel-efficient automobiles. It´s a job, he says, that makes him feel less like the stereotype car salesman with plaid pants and a white belt.
6.24.2008 at 11:03am - Comment by Riffington"Those of influence don't promote them"? The fastest electric car as of this article had a top speed of 40. Not only is that not appealing to most Americans, it is far enough below the speed limit as to be illegal.
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December 2009: Best of What's New
In our December issue, Popular Science names the 100 best innovations of the year: bombproof wallpaper, self-parking cars, the fastest helicopter, and 97 more. Plus inventor profiles and videos.
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