Inspirational, Motivational, Uplifting and down right Positive Stuff
Posted in Future, Technology on Feb 5th, 2008
Looks like France upped the "I’m going to be faster" race with trains, but do it in a way that consumes 30 percent less energy.
The French firm Alstom unveiled its successor to the TGV, appropriately called the AGV (Automotrice Grande Vitesse).
Each carriage has it’s own engine, consumes 30% less energy, is lighter, carries up […]
Posted in Future, Technology on Jan 16th, 2008
What is it about "being blackest" that makes this of note? Well, light absorption is one of the benefits of being the blackest.
A researcher at Rice University has created the darkest material to date through the use of carbon nanotubes. Only 0.045% of light is reflected and is 4 times darker than the pervious […]
Posted in Environment, Future, Technology on Jan 8th, 2008
GM showed off it’s new Hydrogen fuel cell based "crossover" concept car at CES in Las Vegas this week.
The Provoq is built on the same E-Flex system that the electronic Volt that debuted at the Detroit show.
What’s special about this (other than the cool styling)? To quote GM:
The concept can drive 300 miles […]
Posted in Environment, Future, Technology on Dec 11th, 2007
Toshiba announced the availability of a new battery that apparently recharges to 90% of full in under 5 minutes and has a life span of over 10 years.
Unfortunately, the battery will only be available to industrial markets first (such as electrical vehicles and well as other "industrial systems.
I’d love to see this technology make […]
Posted in Environment, Future, Technology on Nov 15th, 2007
Honda unveiled a production version of the FCX Clarity at the LA Auto Show today.
This is a "zero-emissions" car that will get the "gasoline-equivalent" mileage of 68mpg combined city / highway.
Honda is only leasing around 100 of the vehicles to buyers who live near one of its three hydrogen fuel stations in southern […]
Posted in Future, Health, Technology on Nov 13th, 2007
A article in Science News details how a professor is using a technique called targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) to allow wearers to open and close their artificial hands and bend and straighten their artificial elbows nearly as naturally as their own arms.
Todd A. Kuiken, M.D., Ph.D., a physiatrist at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago […]
Posted in Environment, Future, Technology on Nov 6th, 2007
Toyota Motor Corp.’s ‘TOYOTA FCHV’ fuel cell hybrid vehicle test drive took two FCHVs a total of some 560 km from Osaka to Tokyo without stopping for a single refueling of hydrogen.
This latest version of the FCHV is 25 percent more fuel efficient than earlier versions and features 70Mpa high-pressure hydrogen tanks capable of storing […]
Posted in Future, Health, Technology on Oct 29th, 2007
MIT researchers have developed a new algorithm to help create prosthetic devices that convert brain signals into action in patients who have been paralyzed or had limbs amputated.
“The work represents an important advance in our understanding of how to construct algorithms in neural prosthetic devices for people who cannot move to act or speak,” said […]
Posted in Environment, Future, Technology on Oct 29th, 2007
A number of local utilities in Iowa are “building a system that will steer surplus electricity generated by a nearby wind farm to a big air compressor,” which will be held deep below the ground for future use.
The Iowa Stored Energy Park is being backed by the Energy Department, but more than a hundred municipal […]
Posted in Environment, Future, Technology on Aug 10th, 2007
This clever little device could hold the key to converting carbon emissions into beneficial substances such as biodiesel, methane gas, and fertilizer.
The Greenbox was designed to be fixed underneath one’s vehicle where it could gobble up carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide until the next fill up, at which point the box would be switched out […]