• Cars

    Your Car, 2022

    By Posted on 1.22.2008 2 Comments

    The automobile has been on the verge of being reinvented practically since it was invented. Cars that would float and fly, cars that would walk, cars that would cruise like bubble-shaped VIP lounges: Surely a brand-new car was right around the corner, or at least a couple of years away. Problem was, the irreducible requirements of engine, transmission, suspension, and fuel tank, and all the mechanical linkages involved (pedal to throttle, driveshaft to wheels), dictated much about not only how a car would function, but how it would look.

    6.15.2009 at 02:24am - Comment by Limitless_Imagination

    Did you guys want to finish the article? Chance Favors the Prepaired Mind... --- Undersiege 2 - Dark Teritory

  • Cars

    BMW´s Hybrid Vision: Gasoline and Steam

    By Posted on 1.22.2008 1 Comments

    Certain parts of a car´s engine can reach temperatures in excess of 1,500�F. With this in mind, the engineers at BMW developed a way to boost efficiency: Transform that otherwise wasted heat into energy the engine can use. The resulting Turbo- steamer reclaims more than 80 percent of the heat lost from the engine´s exhaust and cooling systems. It uses this surplus heat to generate steam that helps drive the engine. It boosts power and torque by 10 percent and cuts fuel consumption by 15 percent without using a single additional drop of gasoline.

    6.15.2009 at 02:04am - Comment by Limitless_Imagination

    Well, i'll say its inovative, but wouldn't BMW be better off augmenting HHO injection rather than using steam? The inventor of the technology already sent them a test version of a HHO generator to run a small 1300cc engine. How about it BMW? Chance Favors the Prepaired Mind... --- Undersiege 2 - Dark Teritory

  • Science

    Intelligent Energy

    By Posted on 1.17.2008 2 Comments

    A Fuel-Cell Motorcycle With Portable Power Riding the ENV is more akin to skiing or sailing than cruising on a 176-pound motorcycle. It's emission-free and as quiet as your computer. At the heart of this hydrogen-powered machine is a fuel cell, dubbed the Core. It breaks down hydrogen into electrons, which power the electric motor, and protons, which interact with oxygen taken in through the ENV's nosecone and are released as Earthfriendly water vapor and heat. The Core is detachable, so it can power a small house or boat. Available in late 2006. $6,000

    6.15.2009 at 02:01am - Comment by Limitless_Imagination

    Wow, its Summer 2009 and I just saw this! nuts. Chance Favors the Prepaired Mind... --- Undersiege 2 - Dark Teritory

  • Cars

    A Wearable Motorcycle

    By Annemarie Conte and Esther Haynes Posted on 9.24.2008 49 Comments

    The transportation program at the Art Center College of Design has produced legendary car designers, including BMW chief of design Chris Bangle and Henrik Fisker, the creator of the Fisker Karma electric supercar. But this year, after professor Bumsuk Lim’s inaugural motorcycle-design class, the buzz is all about bikes, especially Jake Loniak’s exoskeleton motorcycle concept Deus Ex Machina.

    6.15.2009 at 01:56am - Comment by Limitless_Imagination

    I was going to too say that as well, how about a handglider attachment!? Also, i have to agree, some body armor would sure be nice, and i was also considering overall stability during the rainy seasons. Chance Favors the Prepaired Mind... --- Undersiege 2 - Dark Teritory

  • Technology

    Going Up?

    By Paul Adams Posted on 9.24.2008 68 Comments

    One of the most promising technologies for the aspiring outer-space commuter is the space elevator. The concept, like quite a few others, was pressed into the public imagination by Arthur C. Clarke, who in his 1979 novel The Fountains of Paradise described a incredibly thin, incredibly strong carbon filament with one end anchored on Earth and the other extending up to a satellite in geostationary orbit. Now, a group of Japanese scientists are convinced that they can build a space elevator more quickly and cheaply than has been believed possible. Such a cable could convey cargo into space very cheaply and easily. Carriages would travel up and down the cable under modest power, not the vast expenditures of energy that are currently needed to send anything into orbit.

    2.15.2009 at 07:05pm - Comment by Limitless_Imagination

    Ok... So lets assume the following... We create a cable to tether an elevator. We have a power source to move the elevator We have a GEO Sat in place to receive the payload. What's going to keep the GEOSTATIC SAT in place during payload transmission? Its like trying to Pull a parasail with a submarine instead of a boat. Did I get this analogy somewhat right? We can rely on Inertia, but how much mass needs to be in orbit before we can reliable use it? Are we going to use maneuvering thrusters to keep the station in place during payload delivery during a storm? And how is this going to effect tensile strength of the tether since now we have to deal with not only gravity but inertial momentum? Doesn't the Space Shuttle have to roll to leave the atmosphere?(is this relevant?) I'm not as educated as the rest of you but these questions seem necessary.



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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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