Lifeboat Foundation

Earl Ammann and his ‘atmospheric generator’ powered car:

Denver Post — Monday, August 8, 1921 Denver Man Invents Generator That Takes Electricity From Air & Propels Automobile Believes He has Apparatus that will Revolutionize Power & Lighting & Gives it a Test on Streets of City.

Has an invention been made that will revolutionize the electrical world? Will the apparatus conceived by a Denver man light buildings, run automobiles, battleships, power plants by the unlimited supply of electricity in the air? Denver electrical experts say “yes”, and the young inventor, C. Earl Ammann, Monday demonstrated his invention by attaching it to an old automobile and running it about the city.

A single raindrop can now power 100 small LED light bulbs, effectively setting a new milestone for energy-harvesting technologies, scientists have reported.

The droplet-based electricity generator has a high energy-conversion efficiency and power density thousand times bigger than its counterparts.

Violent Detonations

Engineers have long suspected such a design could revolutionize the fuel efficiency of modern engines, but until now, there was one major problem.

Continue reading “New Rocket Design Is Powered by a Ring of Literal Explosions” »

Not quite green energy, but a step in the right direction.

This week the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted a patent to Amazon that covers “energy-efficient launch system for aerial vehicles,” meaning Amazon could be working on a way to fling your packages into the air—or space.

While at first a weird concept, it makes sense in context. This whip-like approach could shoot satellites into space as part of Amazon’s Project Kuiper low-Earth satellite constellation or Amazon drones that would zoom off to deliver packages.

Continue reading “Amazon Patents a System for Whipping Stuff Into the Air (or Space)” »

Essentially based on myth the sirius cat people live here. O,.,o.

Sirius, Alpha Canis Majoris (α CMa), is the brightest star in the night sky and one of the nearest star systems to Earth. It has an apparent magnitude of −1.46 and lies at a distance of only 8.6 light years from the Sun. It is also known as the Dog Star, in reference to its position as the luminary of the constellation Canis Major, the Greater Dog.

Sirius appears so bright both because it is intrinsically luminous, with an energy output about 25.4 times that of the Sun, and because of its proximity to the solar system. However, compared to other bright stars like Rigel (120,000 solar luminosities), Betelgeuse (90,000 to 150,000 L_☉) and Canopus (10,700 L_☉), or even Arcturus (170 L_☉) and Capella (78.7 L_☉), Sirius is not exceptionally bright.

Continue reading “Sirius (Alpha Canis Majoris) Facts: Star System, Location, Constellation” »

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Fuel cells turn chemicals into electricity. Now, a U of T Engineering team has adapted technology from fuel cells to do the reverse: harness electricity to make valuable chemicals from waste carbon (CO₂).

“For decades, talented researchers have been developing systems that convert electricity into hydrogen and back again,” says Professor Ted Sargent (ECE), one of the senior authors of a paper published today in Science. “Our innovation builds on that legacy, but by using carbon-based molecules, we can plug directly into existing hydrocarbon infrastructure.”

In a hydrogen fuel cell, hydrogen and oxygen come together on the surface of a catalyst. The chemical reaction releases electrons, which are captured by specialized materials within the fuel cell and pumped into a circuit.

The car can run on 60 litres of water and able to travel up to 900 kilometres (559 miles) in 10 hours. The power is generated after H₂O is split into hydrogen and oxygen which react chemically to produce energy. — Via Science and Technology.