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Category: transportation – Page 258

Car sharing should become the norm to end “20th-century thinking” that values private vehicle ownership, as part of the drive to cut carbon emissions, a government minister has said.

Trudy Harrison, a junior transport minister, said the transport system would soon be designed around “access to services rather than what you own”.

She said the UK was “reaching a tipping point where shared mobility in the form of car clubs, scooters and bike shares will soon be a realistic option for many of us to get around.”

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The auto-retracting system can be deployed when solar energy is needed.

California-based energy firm Xponent Power developed an auto-retracting Xpanse Solar Awning that can be deployed if and when solar energy is needed, a report from New Atlas reveals.

The retractable solar panels move out to the side of the RV, creating a nice bit of shade for travelers, at the same time as providing on-demand solar energy. Depending on the model, owners will get 800, 1,000, or 1,200 watts of charging power.

The off-grid solution was designed to allow RV owners to camp away from electrical sockets for days at a time, and it can be easily mounted to either side of the vehicle. The Xpanse awning is made up of a 16 × 7-foot (4.9 × 2.1-m) “fabric” of high-efficiency glass-based solar panels. The awning features “bi-facial” solar panels, meaning it captures the energy of the sun from above as well as from below — the underside can capture a surprising amount of energy from reflection off the ground and the RV itself.

Continue reading “A ‘World First’ Solar RV Awning Enables More Affordable Off-Grid Living” | >

Like a cybernetic pelican.

In all our coverage of air taxis that include wing designs, propulsion technologies, flight endurance, top speeds, we have surely not come across something so radical as this intriguing piece called PHRACTYL. If this appears to you like a bird that has mistakenly grown a pair of propellers at first glance, you are right on spot.

While birds have been the source of inspiration for human flight, after the success of the Wright Brothers, the flat wide wings have become a standard in aviation and technological advancements have happened on getting more lift from these wings. However, the engineers at PHRACTYL have dumped this conventional wisdom for a radically unique design that resembles a bird’s wing. But that’s not where they have stopped. The tail and the landing gear are no different, giving the aircraft the appearance of a bird.

Copying concepts from nature might be straightforward, but the team at the PHRontier for Agile Complex Technology sYstem evoLution (PHRACTYL) is geared up to manufacture working prototypes of this as well. Their aim is to build a mean, green, and clean flying machine using electric propulsion. However, they recognize that battery technology still has a long way to go before it can power these flights in their current format and therefore went about tinkering with the aerodynamic design of the craft till they came up with a radically new one; they call the Macrobat.

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Continue reading “A New Bird-Shaped Air Taxi Can Take Off With a Nearly Vertical Trajectory” | >

Elon Musk Just DESTROYED Apple: In a recent tweet, billionaire Elon Musk publicly destroyed Apple by mocking them for launching a $19 fiber cloth. He further went on to suggest that his followers should instead buy his newly launched Tesla Cyberwhistle instead!

Many times, to set them apart from the competition, luxury brands like Apple sell products at outlandish prices. Take the thousand dollar pro display stand launched in 2019 for example. What made Elon go against one of the world’s topmost tech giants?

Join us today as we tell you all about how Elon Musk attempted to take another bite from Apple by calling its product silly.

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And it looks a little creepy.

Roboticists at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) strapped a fully functioning jetpack onto their humanoid robot, called iRonCub, a report from IEEE Spectrum reveals.

While several outlets have unsurprisingly drawn comparisons to Iron Man, the truth looks far scarier, and like something out of an as-yet unmade horror movie.

In the same configuration as Gravity Industries’ famous Iron Man-like jetpack design, the iRonCub robot was equipped with four jet engines, giving it the ability to fly. Tests are ongoing, but let’s just say, the team at IIT have struggled at times to keep their robot from igniting, and even exploding, due to the exhaust from the engines.

Continue reading “A Synthetic Humanoid Robot Might Soon Fly Thanks to Iron-Man Jetpacks” | >

And it can go faster than five times the speed of sound.

A team of researchers in China has built and tested a prototype hypersonic flight engine based on a design that was scrapped by NASA over 20 years ago, according to a report from the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

The prototype itself might not lead to a production version of hypersonic aircraft. Still, in a paper in the Journal of Propulsion Technology, the team behind the machine said “understanding its work mechanism can provide important guidance to hypersonic plane and engine development.”

NASA’s scrapped X-47C program is revived The original design was proposed by Ming Han Tang, a former chief engineer of NASA’s hypersonic program in the late 1990s. Tang’s Two-Stage Vehicle (TSV) X-plane design was at the center of the Boeing Manta X-47C program. However, before the program could verify the viability of the design, it was terminated by the U.S. government due to its high costs as well as a series of technical issues.

Continue reading “China’s New Hypersonic Aircraft Is Based on a Rejected NASA Design” | >

And the company is still building prototypes.

As we patiently wait for the Cybertruck to be rolled out, a Recreational Vehicle (RV) attachment designed to convert Tesla’s electric pickup into a camper vehicle has caught the attention of the public. Unveiled earlier this year, the RV attachment called Cyberlandr has gathered over 2,000 pre-orders worth $100 million, its makers Stream It Inc., claim.

Earlier in May, we had reported that the Cyberlandr had bagged over 1,000 pre-orders in the initial 15 days of its launch. These were still early days and excitement about the new product was high. However, like the Cybertruck, this unofficial accompaniment has also continued to retain customer interest and managed to double its orders before the end of the year.

This might still be a small step since the company has a conservative demand estimate of 10,000 units in 2022. According to the details provided on the crowdfunding website, Start Engine, Stream It’s pre-orders deposits vary from $100 to $5,000. However, the company is looking to shake up the RV industry that is using outdated technology and offers poorly constructed options.

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Continue reading “The RV Attachment for Cybertruck Now Has 0 Million Worth in Pre-Orders” | >

DHS is taking action due to reports of spying and these airlines being used to capture and threaten US based individuals. It was also mentioned that personnel from these airlines are using their phones and other electronic equipment to record interviews, CBP operational procedures and questions during inspections.

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Crew members of a Chinese state commercial airline are suspected of spying at U.S. airports, according to a Department of Homeland Security intelligence bulletin obtained by Yahoo News.

DHS employees observed the potential intelligence gathering while U.S. officials were conducting inspections of Chinese science researchers leaving the country.

Continue reading “DHS eyes Chinese airline employees suspected of spying” | >

Rolls-Royce’s new 2.5-megawatt hybrid-electric propulsion system delivered more than a megawatt of power only a few weeks after its first tests, a press statement reveals.

The iconic British engineering firm is developing the Power Generation System 1 (PGS1) demonstrator powertrain to test the technology for clean aircraft of the future.

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