Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: transportation – Page 188

Its creator Franky Zapata thinks so, as do the thousands of people who are likely signing up to test drive the JetRacer.

The French inventor and adrenaline junkie is no newbie when it comes to daredevil stunts—or wild inventions. A world champion jet skier several times over, his first invention was the Flyboard, a sort of jetpack/hoverboard combo powered by gas turbines. Next came the Flyboard Air, a similar device powered by jet turbines. Three years ago Zapata crossed the English Channel on a Flyboard Air; the journey took just 22 minutes, with a stop halfway to refuel.

Zapata has employed the same “micro-turbo-jet engines” from his Flyboard on the JetRacer. Though they’re relatively small, the engines pack a punch, perhaps because there are 10 of them. The vehicle can reportedly reach speeds up to 250 kilometers per hour (that’s 155 miles per hour), and an altitude of 3,000 meters/9,800 feet. Its speed and maneuverability come at the expense of range, though, which the website says is “relatively short” without specifying distances.

Read more | >

His new prototype had 39 percent greater torque over a traditional motor.

A young engineer called Robert Sansone won the first prize, and winnings of $75,000, at this year’s Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), the world’s largest international high school STEM competition.

As per Smithsonian Magazine, his new invention could one day transform the electric vehicle (EV) industry. It is a synchronous reluctance motor with improved performance over previous models.

Continue reading “This 17-Year-Old Designed a Motor That Could Potentially Transform the Electric Car Industry” | >

Computer chip designers, materials scientists, biologists and other scientists now have an unprecedented level of access to the world of nanoscale materials thanks to 3D visualization software that connects directly to an electron microscope, enabling researchers to see and manipulate 3D visualizations of nanomaterials in real time.

Developed by a University of Michigan-led team of engineers and software developers, the capabilities are included in a new beta version of tomviz, an open-source 3D data visualization tool that’s already used by tens of thousands of researchers. The new version reinvents the visualization process, making it possible to go from microscope samples to 3D visualizations in minutes instead of days.

In addition to generating results more quickly, the new capabilities enable researchers to see and manipulate 3D visualizations during an ongoing experiment. That could dramatically speed research in fields like microprocessors, electric vehicle batteries, lightweight materials and many others.

Read more | >

The ‘Son of Concorde’ will bring back supersonic travel to the U.S…

American Airlines, the world’s largest airline, has committed to buying 20 supersonic aircraft from a Colorado-based aircraft manufacturer, whose design is still under testing, a press release from the airline said.

Traveling at speeds faster than that of the sound was a regular event before the turn of the millennium. However, when the aircraft manufacturer Concorde went under, airlines had no option but to stick with subsonic aircraft. This is the reason why flights across the world are long when with supersonic travel, they could take only a few hours.

American, the world’s largest airline, poised to have the world’s largest supersonic fleet with new Boom Supersonic aircraft.

Continue reading “American Airlines Announces Agreement to Purchase Boom Supersonic Overture Aircraft, Places Deposit on 20 Overtures” | >

QUT robotics researchers working with Ford Motor Company have found a way to tell an autonomous vehicle which cameras to use when navigating.

Professor Michael Milford, Joint Director of the QUT Center for Robotics and Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow and senior author, said the research comes from a project looking at how cameras and LIDAR sensors, commonly used in , can better understand the world around them.

“The key idea here is to learn which cameras to use at different locations in the world, based on previous experience at that location,” Professor Milford said.

Read more | >

Turns out, they’re great navigators with some clever strategies for flight.

* The world-first study unlocked a century-old mystery of what insects are up to during migration * The current study followed radio-tagged insects in a light aircraft * It revealed that the hawkmoths are excellent navigators.

Insects are some of the most common migrating animals on Earth-a fact that is often forgotten. Insect migrants such as monarch butterflies, locusts, mosquitoes, and bees, far outnumber ‘popular’ migrants such as birds and mammals. Yet their migration is the least understood form of long-range animal movement.

Now, in a fascinating world-first study, researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (MPI-AB) and the University of Konstanz radio-tracked migrating hawkmoths for up to 80 kilometers—the longest distance that any insect has been continuously monitored in the wild. Their results revealed that the world’s smallest flying migrants are excellent navigators and can maintain perfectly straight flight paths even in unfavorable wind conditions.

Full Story:

Continue reading “A first-of-its-kind study reveals that migrant insects can travel in perfectly straight flight paths” | >

The new concrete made of tyres will be eco-friendly and cheaper. Engineers from RMIT succeeded in producing concrete from materials such as gravel, tyre, rubber, and crushed rock. It is believed that this innovation will be cheaper and eco-friendly. The team is now looking into reinforcing the concrete to see how it can work in structural elements. A group of researchers from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), has succeeded in replacing the classic method of making concrete, which is made of gravel and crushed rock, with rubber from discarded tyres that are suitable for building codes.

According to the press release that has been published by the university, new greener and lighter concrete also promises to reduce manufacturing and transportation costs significantly. Small amounts of rubber particles from tyres are already used to replace these concrete aggregates. However, the previous process of replacing all concrete with aggregates had not been successful.

The study published in the Resources, Conservation & Recycling journal showed the tyres’ manufacturing process.

Lead author and Ph.D. researcher from RMIT University’s School of Engineering, Mohammad Momeen Ul Islam, stated that this work was revolutionary because it showed what could be done with recycled rubber pieces.

Full Story:

Continue reading “Australian engineers produce concrete from tyre, rubber, and rocks” | >

Copper prices have surged in 2021. The base metal remains in high demand, much thanks to its need in green energy projects and electric cars. In May 2021, commodities analysts at Goldman Sachs called copper ‘the new oil.’ That’s because electric cars need several times more copper than their gas-powered counterparts. And power grids getting electricity from wind, solar and hydro sources also need copper—much more than the industry is currently producing. Here’s how copper became so important to the world economy and the green energy revolution.

» Subscribe to CNBC: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBC
» Subscribe to CNBC TV: https://cnb.cx/SubscribeCNBCtelevision.

About CNBC: From ‘Wall Street’ to ‘Main Street’ to award winning original documentaries and Reality TV series, CNBC has you covered. Experience special sneak peeks of your favorite shows, exclusive video and more.

Connect with CNBC News Online.

Continue reading “Why A Looming Copper Shortage Has Big Consequences For The Green Economy” | >

Musk responded to a question on Twitter as to whether he’d launch his own site by simply tweeting “X.com” on Tuesday. The comment came after it was revealed that the billionaire had sold 7.92 million Tesla shares worth $6.9 billion ahead of the very real chance he could be forced to purchase Twitter.

“In the (hopefully unlikely) event that Twitter forces this deal to close *and* some equity partners don’t come through, it is important to avoid an emergency sale of Tesla stock,” Musk said about the sale on Twitter.

It’s not the first time that the billionaire has hinted at launching a direct competitor to Twitter. Ahead of his Twitter takeover offer, Musk told Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal he had considered creating his own platform.

Read more | >