Category: Science & Engineering

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From Autoblog: Video: Scamander is the go-anywhere, swim-across-anything RV from England

Scamander

When Evo magazine’s founder and Editorial Director Harry Metcalfe says a machine is “the most amazing vehicle you’ve ever seen,” you know you’re in for a treat. After all, Metcalfe has been at the head of the British magazine since its first issue in 1998 and has owned or driven nearly every vehicle you can imagine.

The amazing machine that’s netted such admiration from Metcalfe? The Scamander, a truly all-terrain vehicle designed and built by Peter Wheeler, the man who owned British boutique automaker TVR for 23 years. With its 300-horsepower V6 engine, the Scamander is reportedly capable of hitting 60 miles per hour in about eight seconds and can hit a top speed of 120 mph.

On land, that is…

You see, there’s also a impeller out back, meaning this crazy floating contraption can also take to the water. Sadly, Wheeler died before seeing this project to completion, but his wife and a team of engineers made sure that the Scamander finally saw the light of day in fully finished form. Scroll down belowto see Metcalfe take the Scamander over land and sea.

from Autoblog

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From Popular Science – New Technology, Science News, The Future Now: Video: Paratrooping Roomba-Style Drone Concept Could Help Clean Oil Spills

Roomba Sea Drones A new design concept that’s a little familiar. Hsu Sean

Clearing the muck from an oil spill is tough enough without having to worry about collateral damage, but designer Hsu Sean is looking to create a Roomba-like Bio-Cleaner drone that degrades oil while keeping animals out of harm’s way.

An overview on Yanko Design shows how, after a spill, several of the drones could be dropped from helicopters above the ocean and into the water, where they could maneuver into a formation around the spill and use stored oil-hungry bacteria to clean house. An acoustic wave device installed in each drone would keep fish and other wildlife away from the danger/cleanup zone. If completed, the drones would also act autonomously while on a mission, staying powered by using ocean waves and hopefully not coordinating an autonomous paratrooping pseudo-Roomba uprising.

It may be just a wish-upon-a-star dream that we’ll ever see one of these in action, but it’s at least good to see oil spills given a creative solution (read: probably impossible robot-based solution; incidentally, it’s not the first time we’ve seen one of those). The drones are still in the concept phase right now, and there’s no telling exactly when Hsu Sean’s design will be manufactured, if ever. A lot of it – like the specifics of the bacteria and the water-based engine – seems destined to wind up mired in concept limbo.

The closest thing you’ll ever get might be throwing your Roomba into the ocean from a helicopter, which probably isn’t going to do all that much for the environment but could at least keep a few dolphins from needing to sweep the house this week.

[via TreeHugger]

from Popular Science – New Technology, Science News, The Future Now

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From Popular Science – New Technology, Science News, The Future Now: Your Very Own Cleaner, Faster Plane, Now on Kickstarter

Synergy Aircraft John McGinnis

The Synergy aircraft, propelled by a fan in back and buoyed by a boxy tail, promises to be cheaper, safer, quieter, and vastly more efficient than a jet airplane. The hitch is that it doesn’t quite exist yet, but it’s nearly halfway to its goal on Kickstarter, so now is your chance to invest.

The shape is not unlike the jets of the future we looked at in our May issue, but the technology is very different. A quarter-scale flying prototype was unveiled a year ago, demonstrating the unique “induced drag reduction” method developed by inventor John McGinnis.

I’m very curious to see the full-size prototype in action.

from Popular Science – New Technology, Science News, The Future Now

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From Engadget: FCC wants to set aside wireless spectrum for medical body area devices, our hearts are literally aflutter

Smartphone brain scanner

The FCC has been making a big push towards freeing up the airwaves for medical uses, and it just took one of its biggest steps on that front by proposing to clear space for wireless body area networks. Agency officials want to let devices operate in the 2.36GHz to 2.4GHz space so that patients can stay at home or at least move freely, instead of being fenced in at the hospital or tethered to a bed by wires. Devices would still need the FDA’s green light, but they could both let patients go home sooner as well as open the door wider for preventative care. Voting on the proposal takes place May 24, which leaves our tech-minded hearts beating faster — and if the proposal takes effect, we’ll know just how much faster.

 

from Engadget