Category: Technology

The Horizon Hydrogen Powered Car

Hydrogen Fuel Cell Toys 

Science should be fun. It’s just that simple. When you hear people talking about alternative fuel sources you are sure to hear the H word but just how can a lighter than air gas make a car move? Well it’s all because of fuel cells. What’s a fuel cell you ask? I guess your rock isn’t in a free wifi zone is it. Fuel cells convert hydrogen an oxygen (typical stuff that powers a fuel cell, but just about anything rich in hydrocarbons will do, like gasoline for example) into electricity by passing them across or through a material that produces electrons when these two gasses hit it. So what could be more fun than having on that runs a car? It comes with an water cracker to make the O2 and H for the car and instructions. If your looking for a fuel cell to play with this would be where to start.

HORIZONFUEL CELL

Boeing Launches New 747-8 Family

Boeing 747-8

Boeing has upgraded the 747, a true workhorse of comercial air lines. I only hope that the new birds will have more leg room and in seat LCD screens on domestic flights. US airlines suck in this respect.

The 747-8 Intercontinental passenger airplane will be stretched 3.6 m (11.7 ft) compared to the 747-400 to accommodate 34 additional seats in a typical three-class configuration. The only jetliner in the 400- to 500-seat category, it will have a range of 14,815 km (8,000 nmi) and will feature the new Boeing Signature Interior.

The Intercontinental will be quieter, produce fewer emissions, and achieve better fuel economy than any competing jetliner. It will offer 21 percent more lower-hold revenue cargo volume than the 747-400 and cost about 8 percent less per seat mile to operate. Compared to the A380, it will offer 22 percent lower trip costs.

The revised jets will hit the streets, er, tarmac in 2009. 

[via special agent Kevin and Sci Fi Tech] 

Boeing: Boeing Launches New 747-8 Family

Gentelmen, I Give You the Hyanide!

Hyanide cycle

This looks like one hell of a cool ride. Think of what would  happe if  a tank had it’s way with a motorcycle, you might think of something like this. The way it turns is cool, the track flexes so you grip the heck out of the ground.

Specs:
Purpose: To move riders over any terrain with unprecedented control
Capacity: Two riders
Engine: 60hp 500cc liquid-cooled single-cylinder
Dimensions: 40 (h) x 36 (w) x 90 (l) in.
Weight: 450­–650 lbs. (est.)
Top speed: 75–85 mph (est.)

[via neatorama] 

Your Very Own Personal Tank

TransMedics in the Science Museum

Heart

 

 

 

Pretty soon these will be avaliable in supermarkets. Ok, maybe not, but I hope they become a popular device for keeping organs fresh for transplants.

Remember UK’s first beating heart transplant surgery made possible by TransMedics Organ Care System we reported last month? Well now that pioneering medical technology, a warm blood perfusion technology device, is on display at the Science Museum in London.

If your going to be in London soon go have a look.

TransMedics in the Science Museum

Classic Video Pong Kit

DIY Pong Game

Super! Just the way to spend a project evening.

Blocky table tennis with a ball and two paddles was one of the first real video games to make it into mainstream culture. It took an awful lot of high-tech electronics in 1972 to create this classic game. Now however you can cobble together your very own Classic Video Table Tennis Game with a little determination and some basic soldering skillz. This kit contains a pre-printed circuit board and 39 various resistors, diodes, and capacitors. Solder everything together (following the instructions we hope) and plug the audio and video into any standard TV for instant Table Tennis action. You can play against another lowly human or challenge the computer at four different skill levels.

I wonder if the kit can be hacked to make variations on the game… Hockey or even handball???

ThinkGeek :: Classic Video Table Tennis Kit

No Spying For You!

LA Drones a no-go for now
Just when I read about the Los Angles police department getting all reved up to deploy it’s latest new toy, the ‘SkySeer‘, they get shut down by the Federal Aviation Administration. What’s all the rhubarb about you ask? Well its over a 2.3 Kg bundle of high tech joy. The SkySeer is a unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that can loiter for over an hour and send back live video feeds to a laptop. It can also be programmed to fly a set course, navigating on an internal GPS. The ‘eye in the sky’ is being tested to see if it can be used in every day policing of the streets.
You know, to test an airplane you have to fly it. And when you fly an aircraft you have to obey the rules set forth by the FAA so you play nice with the other kids and don’t end up getting  ingested by a commercial jet liner or smack into a traffic plane. Especially if on your big demo for the press your UAV crashes into the ground a few hundred yards from a group of reporters. I guess that didn’t impress the feds as they grounded the program citing air safety concerns and lack of authorization. Oops! Bad cops, no donuts!