What do you buy for the person who has everything? They have their sports car, they have their speedboat. But do they have everything in one?
Last year Rinspeed Designs introduced their newest vehicle, called the Splash. The name is appropriate since that’s exactly what this vehicle does. Hydrofoil technology allows the sports car to convert into a water vehicle at the push of the button.
It goes something like this: a panel on the back of the car flips up to reveal the vehicle’s propellers. The hydraulic system lifts the front of the car to turn it into a speedboat. The hydrofoils can even be used to lift the entire car slightly off the water!
The Splash’s speed isn’t striking on either terrain. It can reach 125 mph on the road and 45 knots (52 mph) on the water. But how many vehicles do you know that are able to quote both these statistics?
See the Rinspeed Splash cross the English Channel.
Running to catch a flight? You race into the airport, only to find a mammoth, slow-moving line of people waiting to check in. You’re doubtful that you’ll make the 45 minute cut off time.
If your phone has internet capability, you might have a way out of this dilemma. You can check in on the airline’s website. But without a printer, how do you obtain a boarding pass?
Soon, you won’t need one. Continental Airlines is offering a new check-in procedure to Houston travelers during a 3-month trial period. This option allows customers to check in online and have a boarding pass sent to their cell phone.
The boarding pass consists of a 2-dimensional, encrypted bar code that contains the passenger information. The bar code, visible on the cell phone screen, is read in by a ticket agent at the gate and the information is matched against the passenger’s picture ID.
So far, only passengers leaving from Houston are able to make use of the new technique. But the technology is already being used in a few countries abroad. And several other US airlines are expected to introduce the procedure soon.
You kick around a lot of numbers when choosing a computer, but silicon chip size is probably not one of them. However,this is a key figure that determines all the important numbers that you do care about. Computer speed and memory are determined by how many silicon chips you can pack into a small space. The more silicon chips you have, the more speed and memory are at your disposal.
To be precise, it’s not the size of the chip itself, but the feature size that is important. This is the size of the individual electrical components that are crafted out of the silicon. Current computers often use silicon chips with feature sizes of 65 to 90 nanometers. That’s several times smaller than one of the hairs on your head!
A big question in modern computing is how much smaller we can get. A quirkly principle known as Moore’s Law predicts that the number of features that can be squeezed into a given area doubles every two years. But we can’t keep halving the feature size forever — eventually we will reach a limit. Why? Once we get down to the size of bare molecules, we can’t scale down any smaller. And quantum physics effects will probably interfere with smooth operation long before we reach that level.
Read more about precision silicon chip technology at ScienceDaily.com.
The residents of the city of Nantes, in France, are being treated to an unusual exhibit. Giant models of an elephant, a squid, and several other marine and land animals are being displayed.
But they’re more than just (enormous) models of animals. The exhibit, called "Les Machines de L’Ile de Nantes," consists of mechanical animals. As in, they move!
Not only do the models move, but they provide transportation. Visitors to the exhibit can ride atop a gigantic elephant whose mechanical trunk moves gracefully up and down while the tree-stump legs lurch forward.
The constructions were clearly built to be both impressive and intimidating, with the elephant over 40 feet tall. Other attractions include a giant squid (yikes!) and a manta ray. These, too, serve as vehicles that can be controlled by a passenger inside.
The mechanical animals were dreamed up by Francois Delaroziere and Pierre Oreficee and will remain in Nantes.
Photos and a video of the elephant taxi in action can be found at gizmodo.com.
Bluetooth is usually associated with cell phones and laptop computers. But the short range wireless communication provided by Bluetooth technology has been successfully used in another arena: making better prosthetic limbs.
Two injured veterans who underwent double leg amputations above the knee have benefited from the new type of artificial legs. Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Bleill and Army Lt.Col. Gregory Gadson now use the prosthetics fitted with Bluetooth to achieve a greater range of walking motion and better endurance.
The Bluetooth devices, located in each ankle, communicate to coordinate motion between the legs. The system responds to muscle movements in the thigh and works to create a smooth motion with good balance.
Right now, the patients are able to walk on their prosthetic limbs using canes to aid their balance. Doctors hope that this technology will eventually allow double amputees to walk even without a cane.