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Ian1108

Technology

Inventor of "Green Bricks" Wants To Build Series of Underground Tubes

By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 10.27.2009 9 Comments
Forget about carrying cargo by truck, and instead imagine shuttling goods around inside a series of underground tubes. That's the hope of Henry Liu, a 73-year-old retired civil engineer and a past winner of PopSci's Inventions Awards for his environmentally safe green bricks.

10.29.2009 at 10:22pm - Comment by Ian1108

Don't you ever watch the Jetsons? Tube based travel is the wave of the future!
Technology

Pew! Airborne Military Laser Takes Out Truck on Video

By Stuart Fox Posted on 10.6.2009 41 Comments
In a recent test at the White Sands Missile Range, a specially equipped C-130 plane fried a parked truck with a powerful laser. And while we still haven't seen evidence of the laser "defeating" a ground target, as Boeing puts it, a video of it scorching a direct hit on the hood of a truck is still pretty amazing.

10.1.2009 at 09:14pm - Comment by Ian1108

A cigarette lighter for billionaires
Gadgets

Food-Generating Microwave Wins Electrolux Design Challenge

By Corinne Iozzio Posted on 9.25.2009 6 Comments
How will people make dinner in 90 years? If the newly crowned winner of the Electrolux Design Lab 2009 challenge is any indication, it'll be as easy as 1-2-3. Cocoon is a fish- and meat-generating microwave, intended as a solution to preserve fishing and farming resources.

9.26.2009 at 01:20pm - Comment by Ian1108

Well I designed a teleporting fridge meat maker which beams the food directly into your mouth........ can I get my money now?
Cars

Maker of Electric Hummer Challenges Chevy Volt on Record-Breaking Fuel Economy

By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 8.26.2009 13 Comments
An electric Humvee may still sound like fingernails on a chalkboard to environmentalists, but the company developing a plug-in Hummer H3e claims its green version can get 100 mpg on average. And what's a little boasting without taking a shot at the competition?

8.27.2009 at 07:42pm - Comment by Ian1108

At least its a step towards building larger powertrains which will need to be developed for transport trucks and heavy equipment (although thats still a long way off.) in the end though without government legislation to go 100% green with all electric vehicles powered by solar, nuclear, wind etc. then who cares how efficient it is. Al Gore will blast over you in his private jet at 800 miles an hour burning more fuel in a trip than you will in a lifetime of driving a Hummer. Lets not forget we can go 100% green with current technology, go up in the mountains of Montana and you will get a crash course, it's the politicians that would rather spend a trillion dollars on wars and bailouts than research and development and infrastructure.
Science

The Ultimate Slip-and-Slide Ride: Impossible?

By Adam Weiner Posted on 8.27.2009 7 Comments
Now that looks like fun. Of course we intuitively know it's completely fake, and involves the usual videographic sleight of hand, but let's apply some basic physics to the situation to check our intuition.

8.27.2009 at 07:09pm - Comment by Ian1108

The point is to give you interesting reading material if you want more depth of information then buy a textbook. Whats the point of reading about flying cars and incomprehensible quantum physics if not solely to spark a deeper interest in science, thats how half the people who read this website went on to become an engineer, biologist, astronomer etc.
Science

Extreme Engineering: The Tallest Skyscraper

By Posted on 3.3.2009 8 Comments
Name: Burj Mubarak al Kabir Where: Kuwait Cost: $7.37 billion Estimated Completion: 2016 The Challenge: Erect a 3,300-foot building that’s strong enough to withstand 150mph winds

2.27.2009 at 12:35am - Comment by Ian1108

I'd hate to have to wait for an elevator in there.
Science

This Machine Might* Save the World

By Posted on 1.5.2009 38 Comments
The source of endless energy for all humankind resides just off Government Street in Burnaby, British Columbia, up the little spit of blacktop on Bonneville Place and across the parking lot from Shade-O-Matic blind manufacturers and wholesalers. The future is there, in that mostly empty office with the vomit-green walls -- and inside the brain of Michel Laberge, 47, bearded and French-Canadian.

12.27.2008 at 01:13pm - Comment by Ian1108

riff-raff, these guys are building a NUCLEAR FUSION reactor, do yo really think the government doesn't know about it yet? Why would they stop it? Do you really think a government of any country would not want to be the one to usher in a golden age of limitless energy and potential for mankind? Don't you think that might secure a reelection? And on another note, we Canadian socialists do appreciate enterprises that make money, like our banks.
Technology

Why the Fighter Plane Failed

By Posted on 12.10.2008 27 Comments
An explosion shook the San Diego neighborhood of University City yesterday afternoon when a U.S. Navy fighter jet crashed into a house. The pilot of the plane safely ejected, but a mother, child, and grandmother died when the plane hit their home, and another child is still missing.

12.9.2008 at 07:24pm - Comment by Ian1108

All John Pike said in the article was that assuming the failure of the aircraft before knowing the facts was improper. I don't see what is so objectionable about that line of reasoning. All aircraft like all cars have problems that occur through design flaw or manufacturing defect, people are fallible and hence so is that which they design. He goes on to say that losing F-18's is normal and that the family was the newsworthy component, insensitive maybe but I don't see anything to suggest in this article that he is pushing an agenda or somehow being "self serving". Helodecicco you may have an opinion of Pike based on something else you have read or experienced and thats fair, but I hardly think that the author should be ashamed for quoting such a benign statement.
Electratherm Green Machine

By Posted on 11.9.2008 Comments
Electratherm’s closet-size device is the first machine to power generators with waste heat of as low as 200ºF, a temperature given off by common boilers or chillers in office buildings. (Industrial waste-heat recyclers require 1,000º blazes.) The heat boils refrigerants into a pressurized gas that spins two small, screw-shaped rotors. From $128,000; electratherm.com

11.24.2008 at 07:56pm - Comment by Ian1108

For a boiler it's useless but for a chiller on a large commercial complex it could have some applications. And 128k is nothing when you put it in perspective with the cost of the equipment it would be used in conjunction with. The Variable Frequency Drives that were hooked up to large industrial fans where I work cost over a million dollars to get installed.
Cars

Test Drive: The Electric Mini

By Seth Fletcher Posted on 11.21.2008 9 Comments
Regenerative braking, the process through which an electric car grabs otherwise wasted energy from the brakes as the car glides to a halt, is a brilliant bit of engineering for efficiency—take energy that's otherwise only good for burning up brake pads, and turn it into electricity that charges the battery. It may also make the uninitiated driver want to vomit.

11.20.2008 at 06:55pm - Comment by Ian1108

Whats the range on a full charge?