Monthly archives: September 2005

No Batteries

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The last time I rode my bike after dark the lights (front and back) died because I’d forgotten to charge the batteries because it was Summer. I should have had a set of these. The Goddbye Batteries lights use magnets mounted on the bike’s wheels to generate all the electricity needed through induction. The manufacturers claim a 20%reduction in accidents when the lights are used.

via Blue Collar Mountain Biking

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LIFECar

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September 23, 2005 A wholly British partnership yesterday unveiled plans to develop the world’s first environmentally clean sports car, powered by a fuel cell which converts hydrogen into electricity. The partnership is made up of legendary British sports car manufacturer, the Morgan Motor Company, QinetiQ, Cranfield and Oxford Universities, BOC and OSCar. The new vehicle, known as LIFECar, will be ultra quiet and its exhaust systems will produce only water vapour. It promises a clean vehicle combined with sound motoring performance and stylish good looks.

via Jalopnik

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Kafka on the Underground

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It seems that doing everyday things, like using your mobile phone and looking where you’re going, are now grounds for arrest on suspicion of terrorism.

They handcuff me, hands behind my back, and take my rucksack out of my sight. They explain that this is for my safety, and that they are acting under the authority of the Terrorism Act. I am told that I am being stopped and searched because:

· they found my behaviour suspicious from direct observation and then from watching me on the CCTV system;

· I went into the station without looking at the police officers at the entrance or by the gates;

· two other men entered the station at about the same time as me;

· I am wearing a jacket “too warm for the season”;

· I am carrying a bulky rucksack, and kept my rucksack with me at all times;

· I looked at people coming on the platform;

· I played with my phone and then took a paper from inside my jacket.

via Andy Merrett

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The Top Ten Creation Myths

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Which is exactly where Intelligent Design belongs.

With its bounty of brawny, barrel-chested gods and buxom goddesses, the ancient Norse religion of the Scandinavian and Germanic countries is truly the creation myth for fans of both pro wrestling and heavy metal music. According to Norse lore, before there was Earth (Midgard), there was Muspell, a fiery land guarded by the fire sword-wielding Surt; Ginnungagap, a great void, and Niflheim, a frozen ice-covered land. When the cold of Niflheim touched the fires of Muspell, the giant Ymir and a behemothic cow, Auohumla, emerged from the thaw. Then, the cow licked the god Bor and his wife into being. The couple gave birth to Buri, who fathered three sons, Odin, Vili, and Ve. The sons rose up and killed Ymir and from his corpse created from his flesh, the Earth; the mountains from his bones, trees with his hair and rivers, and the seas and lakes with his blood. Within Ymir’s hollowed-out skull, the gods created the starry heavens. What can we say: Pure metal magic!!

via Intelligent Design: An Ambiguous Assault on Evolution, itself via GeekPress

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TIGERS

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The Turbo-generator Integrated Gas Energy Recovery System, works in a similar way to an ordinary turbocharger except, instead of using the power from exhaust gases to pump fuel and air in at a higher pressure, it generates electricity to run the vehicle’s onboard systems. The saving on “parasitic losses” can help to improve the engine’s output and efficiency. Treehugger sees it as another way to charge batteries in hybrids.

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Hybrid Storm Chasers

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Running away, actually. Tales from Texas of the joy of having a hybrid when the evacuation traffic is jammed up.

My folks drove to Austin from League City in their lexus hybrid and 21 hours of driving later still had 1/8 tank of gas left – plus they had my 87yr old grandfather with them and ran the air conditioner all day unlike most people who ran out of gas. 3 cheers for the hybrid!

via BoingBoing

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Davy Crockett

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Part of the insanity of the Cold War, the Davy Crockett gun and W54 warhead gave atomic capability to the grunts on the ground. Yields varied from 0.01 to 1 kilotons, though with a maximum range of 2.49 the larger version must have been a suicide shot.

I’m thinking of using a Davy Crockett in a coming comic- an alternative history tale where Berlin was nuked at the end of WW2 and Cold War tensions are that little bit harsher. I might also model it. This guy put a lot of work into his Davy Crockett on the back of an M151A1D. Maybe he should have just got the kit from Sharkit.

It's for cleaning the toilets, honest

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The US Army is bulk buying Anthrax. Now, if that meant they were purchasing lots of dodgy metal albums it would be okay, but you know that’s not the case.

One “biological services” contract specifies: “The company must have the ability and be willing to grow Bacillus anthracis Sterne strain at 1500-litre quantities.” Other contracts are for fermentation equipment for producing 3000-litre batches of an unspecified biological agent, and sheep carcasses to test the efficiency of an incinerator for the disposal of infected livestock.

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