World’s largest complete functional plastic building in Taiwan

You are about to get bewildered because what you are seeing is no doubt a building but one that has been constructed from recycled PET plastic bottles. This three story building in Taipei, Taiwan reuses about 1.5 million discarded bottles accumulated from trash cans. The building which is 130m in length, 40 m in width and 26m in height has walls, made of bottles that have been given a brick like structure with special honeycomb geometry.

The structure of the bottle bricks allows it to be filled with air so that it could act as an insulator in hot summer months.There’s also a provision for filling the bricks with sand or water to let them absorb sunlight for keeping the interior warm, as required in cooler places.The bricks are even strong enough to empower buildings to withstand natural calamities like earthquake or typhoons. For protection against fire the outer part of the building has a fire proof coating while the interior implements the usual safety measures.

In addition to the recycled bottles the building adds on certain other green factors as well.In the morning the rooms would be lit by the entering sunlight while in the evening the building would use energy saving LEDs. This pavilion presently called the EcoARK would be used as an exhibition site for the Taipei International Flora Expo in November.

PlayStation Portable 2

There has recent predictions that the Sony’s future handheld game console, PSP2 will have a scrolling OLED screen. The following design by Tai Chiem is ridiculously catchy and hard to miss. It sould supposedly have wireless connectivity, bluetooth 2.0 and dual speakers. And exactly how would Sony keep the screen straight? This seems to be done using an electrical charge. Overall PSP2 looks to be an awesome product.

Honda’s revolutionary Great Race of 2025 vehicle

Honda Research North America is coming up with a revolutionary vehicle. The purpose…Great Race of 2025! This truly all-terrain power-packed vehicle will navigate on land, air and water.

The race will actually require all vehicles to circumnavigate the globe within a 24 hour period which would consist of navigation on land in United States, by sea through Asia and by air over Europe!

This vehicle will have specialized sensors to assist in the determination of changes in speed, altitude and the type of terrain which would help it to switch to the required configuration.

Super vision from Nike for bicyclists

If you are an avid bicyclist, finally your prayers may have been answered. There are many irrational motorists on the road, from whom you have to keep yourself safe.

The Nike Hindsight gives you near super-human powers by providing you extended peripheral vision

By using fresnel lenses on the two sides of the glasses, cyclists can view area beyond the normal 180º! Although the vision is distorted across the periphery, the eye detects only motion in that area and therefore only nominal clarity is lost overall. Because of the powerful fresnel lenses the cyclist can view an extra 25º on both sides.

You do not have to turn your head everytime you think a vehicle is behind, the Nike Hindsight will pretty much take care of it. Although originally intended for bicyclists, these glasses can be used for quite a number of other sports.

X-36

Soon Fighter Planes are going to loose their tail

McDonnell Douglas and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have developed a tailless research aircraft that could dramatically change the design of future stealthy fighters. Named the X-36, the vehicle has no vertical or horizontal tails and uses new split ailerons to provide yaw (left and right) and pitch (up and down) directional control. This innovative design promises to reduce weight, drag and radar signature and increase range, maneuverability and survivability of future fighter aircraft. The 28-percent scale prototype was designed, developed and produced in just 28 months for only $17 million. The X-36 began a six-month flight test program in the summer of 1996.

McDonnell Douglas and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) embarked on a joint project in 1994 to develop a prototype fighter aircraft designed for stealth and agility. The result -- after only 28 months -- was a subscale tailless aircraft called the X-36. The 28 percent scale, remotely piloted X-36 has no vertical or horizontal tails, yet it is expected to be more maneuverable and agile than today's fighters. In addition, the tailless design reduces the weight, drag and radar cross section typically associated with traditional fighter aircraft.

In a series of flight tests, the low-cost X-36 research vehicle demonstrated the feasibility of using new flight control technologies in place of vertical and horizontal tails to improve the maneuverability and survivability of future fighter aircraft. During flight, the X-36 used new split ailerons and a thrust-vectoring nozzle for directional control. The Ailerons not only split to provide yaw (right-left) control, but also raise and lower asymmetrically to provide roll control. The X-36 vehicle also incorporated an advanced, single-channel digital fly-by-wire control system developed with commercially available components.

Fully fueled, the X-36 prototype weighed 1,300 pounds. It is 19 feet long and measures 11 feet at its widest point. It is 3 feet high and is powered by a Williams Research F112 engine that provides about 700 pounds of thrust. Using a video camera in the nose of the vehicle, a pilot controls the flight of the X-36 from a virtual cockpit -- complete with head-up display (HUD) -- in a ground-based station. This pilot-in-the-loop approach eliminates the need for expensive and complex autonomous flight control systems.

McDonnell Douglas has been working under contract to NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., since 1989 to develop the technical breakthroughs required to achieve tailless agile flight. Based on the positive results of extensive wind tunnel tests, McDonnell Douglas in 1993 proposed building a subscale tailless research aircraft. In 1994 McDonnell Douglas and NASA began joint funding of the development of this aircraft, now designated the X-36. Under the roughly 50/50 cost-share arrangement, NASA Ames is responsible for continued development of the critical technologies, and McDonnell Douglas for fabricating the aircraft.

McDonnell Douglas built the X-36 with a combination of advanced, lowcost design and manufacturing techniques pioneered by the company's Phantom Works research-and-development operation.

Among these techniques are:

• advanced software development tools for rapid avionics prototyping;
• low-cost tooling molds;
• composite skins cured at low termperatures without the use of autoclaves, and;
• high speed machining of unitized assemblies.

Two identical subscale research vehicles were produced by the team for use in the flight test program. Including design and production of the two aircraft and flight testing, the total cost of the X-36 program was only $17 million. A total of 25 flights, conducted by McDonnell Douglas, took place during a six-month flight test program designed to prove the aircraft's superior agility. Initial tests focused on the low-speed, high angle-of-attack performance of the X-36.

Researchers designing all-electric warship

A University at Buffalo electronic-packaging researcher is helping the U.S. Navy to develop a next generation all-electric warshipthat will revolutionize the Navy’s use of weaponry and manpower.

The electric warship’s system architecture to be designed by Cemal Basaran, director of the Electronic Packaging Laboratory in the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and other researchers working on the project for the Navy will make available throughout the entire ship onboard electric power generated by the ship’s power plants and mechanical propulsion system…

The Navy plans to have the electric warship operational by 2012.

ZEEP Design’s Helicopter Car

Now, we are so fond of the flying cars, that even designers are trying their hands on some out of the world renderings of their own thought of a prospective roadable flyer. This one from the ZEEP Design show is a car that transforms into a helicopter, now that can be a realistic idea if for those cars start taking to the skies on a regular basis. (Pics)

Flying Car! The renderings from ZEEP Design show a car that can transform into a helicopter. Blades on the rotor remain folded and out of sight when not in use, and once required, they span out to convert it to a full-fledged copter. Simultaneously, the tail rotor that’s generally tucked at the car’s rear comes out to complete the transformation

The car moves on the huge front wheels, and the small black wheel (that also functions as the tail rotor) is used for steering. For controlling the CCC, the cockpit has a control sphere at the right arm and three color-coded buttons on the left arm.

What Will Motorola’s Future Phones Look Like in 2033?

Motorola’s designers, from five different offices around the globe, have been dedicating a portion of their time since late last year to a project called “Motorola 2033.” The initiative, under the auspices of the Consumer Experience Design team (CXD), uses the 25th anniversary of the mobile phone as an opportunity to imagine mobile device design 25 years on, resulting in a curious set of research-based blue sky concepts rooted in some fantastical, yet plausible suppositions.

The results range from the relatively obvious (a phone embedded in a ring), to the technologically unlikely (’Minority Report’ style gestures and floating screens), and the genuinely inspiring–especially when they start leveraging the extensive non-US, non-Europe influence in their distributed team.

Hydrogen fuel cell

Hydrogen is contained in almost everything around us, but is rarely found in its pure form. Most of the time, it is bonded with other elements in compounds such as natural gas and water. Hydrogen has to be extracted from these compounds through a manufacturing process that adds energy to break the bonds that hold the compounds together.

A fuel cell converts fuel to power through an electrochemical energy conversion. Using fuel and oxygen from the air, it produces electricity, water and heat. Water – pure H₂O – is the only waste product emitted when hydrogen is used as a fuel in a fuel cell. A fuel cell can generate power almost indefinitely, for as long as fuel is supplied. Plus, a fuel cell is modular and can be scaled up by adding more cells to power everything from cell phones to automobiles to entire buildings.

The Hydrogen Fuel Cell

A hydrogen fuel cell electrochemically combines hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity, water and heat. There are no other emissions. Different types of fuel cells use different electrolytes with different electrochemical reactions occurring, but the overall reaction is the same.

The basic structure of a fuel cell consists of an electrolyte layer in contact with an anode and a cathode.

Typically, fuel is fed continuously to the anode and an oxidant (e.g., oxygen from air) is fed continuously to the cathode. The electrolyte layer acts as a one-way door, allowing either positive or negative ions to travel across, but not electrons, forcing electrons to travel through the external circuit (electric current). This resulting electric current can be used to power electrical appliances.

Benefits of Hydrogen Fuel Cells

When it comes to converting fuel to power, the fuel cell is two to three times more efficient than the internal combustion engine, which is one reason why every major automobile manufacturer in the world is investing in the development of fuel cells. Fuel cells can offer significant benefits over traditional energy technologies including:

• Superior fuel efficiency,
• Hydrogen Fuel Cells have zero to near-zero emissions in comparison to combustion engines,
• Versatility – hydrogen fuel cells can be applied in micro, portable, stationary, and transportation applications,
• Low maintenance costs, due to few moving parts,
• Modular design allowing for low cost high volume manufacturing,
• Design freedoms and,
• Quiet operation.

Hydrogen Fuel cells are on the road and being used in our communities – now. Vancouver commuters have been riding on hybrid fuel cell-natural gas buses since 1997. Ford Motors Company recently developed the Ford Focus Fuel Cell Vehicle (FCV) and presented a fleet to the Vancouver Fuel Cell Vehicle Program. Drivers from BC Hydro, BC Transit, Ballard Power Systems, the City of Vancouver, Fuel Cells Canada, the National Research Council (NRC), Natural Resources Canada and the Government of British Columbia will use state-of-the-art Ford Focus FCVs for their daily driving as part of a three-year hydrogen fuel technology demonstration program.

Fuel cells have been around since 1839, but it has taken many years for us to understand the range and value of their potential applications. Today, with the support of governments and the private sector, hundreds of companies worldwide are working towards making fuel cell technology a reality. Similar to the commercialization of the electric light bulb nearly one hundred years ago, today’s companies, government departments and end user organizations are driven by technical, economic and social forces to make the hydrogen fuel cell part of our everyday lives.

Hydrogen Fuel Cells - Science Terminology

• Anode: the negatively charged terminal of an energy cell or storage battery
• Cathode: the positively charged terminal of an energy cell or storage battery
• Proton: a positively charged hydrogen ion
• Electron: a negatively charged sub-atomic particle
• Electrolyte: a chemical compound that allows conduction of ions, but not electrons
• Electrochemical Conversion: an electrochemical process that converts chemical energy to electrical energy

Skateboard Car

Some genius just came up with a brilliant idea to motorize a skateboard which apparently can be navigated via a joystick or even a mouse! The drive-by-wire runs on hydrogen and can be customized to fit any car body known to man so far. So you can technically own a Porsche, a Ferrari, and an Aston Martin all in one! Really mind-boggling.

Metromorph Futuristic Car

To address the ever-growing metropolitan city problems associated with real estate and parking place, many innovative ideas are constantly coming up from various designers and Metromorph is one of the most functional concept cars in this regard. It has been designed with the ability to ride up just like an elevator and turn into a balcony, eliminating the harassment of parking and paying for additional space in the apartment. This vehicle is powered with two in-wheel motors placed in the back of the car along with two battery cases.

Rotating arms have been used in order to keep the seats level for both vertical and horizontal drive. When the vehicle is in balcony mode, the seats are positioned on a rolling base which allows them to become lounge chair for lying down and relax. The exterior design of this car never seems like a car that is mounted vertically with a building but still it looks like a vehicle on the road. The wheels are hidden towards inside and doors are designed to rotate closely around the car, instead of the usual pulling out or sliding up doors, allowing the entrance to freely open in narrow area like a garage.

Strap-on Rocket-Powered Personal Helicopter

How crazy it seems today to be have a backpack which carry you to your desired destination place via air........? But in future you might be one to hang on this to travel to your friend's door, it might become a style statement and passion of many people to ride this as that of riding a sports bike.......

By using tiny rocket motors at the tips of the rotor blades, the Libelula eliminates the torque which makes a tail rotor necessary in a conventional helicopter. This in theory makes it much more reliable, which is a good thing when you’re hanging from a backpack a few hundred feet above terra firma. (Pics)

The rockets are installed in a military UAV helicopter, they are only 1-1/2″ in diameter and less than 10″ long and with this engines a rotor blade produced more than 2200 lbs of lift.

The best thing about this kind of helicopter is that it doesn’t need a tail rotor. The outer rockets don’t cause any torque, so with a simple vane, it becomes the simplest form of a helicopter, and the easiest and safer to fly.

Because 80% of the helicopter accidents are blamed to tail rotor failure, this eliminates that problem.

Ziggurat - a future city

Timelinks — the leading ecological company of the project, has chosen Dubai to create a viable city of the future.

The city in the form of a futuristic pyramid can carry out ability to live to one million person, using power of the nature. Ridas Matonis, general director Timelinks, has told: “Community «Ziggurat» completely самоcтоятельно will provide the residing for the account of steam energy, a wind power and natural natural resources of district”.

Timelinks underlines, that the project does not destroy natural ecology of district as the base of buildings reclines all on 10% of a surface of the earth. Public and private agriculture not only will brighten up leisure to many inhabitants, but also will improve appearance of constructions. On all complex 360-degree transport messages will be laid, thus — cars remain not with affairs — in any point of constructions possibility very quickly will reach on foot.

Backpacker’s Diary

Imagine you are a person that loves travelling and to discover new things in the nature.

While walking through a large forest into the mountains you are amazed by the beauty of the flora and fauna diversity and you can’t help yourself to take some nice detailed pictures to show them to your friends after coming back home.

But why to wait until you are back, and not share these while you are still in the middle of the nature?

The Backpacker’s Diary concept is the right tool for this, and more than that it allows you to do many other things with the help of next-generation technologies, making your trip the most perfect and full of discoveries.

It is called the Backpacker’s Diary because it has the form of a traveling diary measuring 10x12x2 inches and is carried in your backpack, together with the other stuff required for your comfort, like the sleeping bag.

But it is not an ordinary book because each page has different functions based on different technologies.

For example, one of the pages is the media recorder, then comes the EL illumination, other page is a keyboard and the next one is an LCD display.

The EL illumination, also called Electroluminescence, is an optical and electrical phenomenon where a material emits light in response o an electric current passed through it, or to a strong electric field.

It is used in lighting applications or information displays, but in our forest, it would light the small area where we are sleeping during the night.

This diary concept is created using flexible materials in a large number to add easy of use and durability in the outside conditions.

It needs to be powered by something and as in the nature you don’t have plugs, and besides that, you love the environment and want to keep it green, the solar charging is the best solution adopted by its designers, and it is done via the flexible solar panel during walking

If you have such a computer with you during the trip, you can get in touch with the other Backpackers’ holders and share all the information you have wirelessly, including route, weather, location coordinates provided by the built-in GPS system, as well as pictures, videos or sounds of the nature recorded with the digital bookmark worn in your chest pocket and transferred into the diary.

As for the hardware part, the main components like battery, processor and other electronics are kept into the backpack which is made of high-intensity plastic.