Vehicle speed 1,600 mph - a reality!

In the next year planned to complete the construction vehicle capable of speeds up to 1,600 km / h. The goal set itself the project of "Bloodhound SSC", developed in the UK.
According to Richard Noble, Project Manager, full-sized version of the car to be established in January 2011 and will attempt to set a speed record in 2012. Noble himself once already had the record for the highest speed, but now he aims with this project to promote science and art of engineering among young people.
The material body is planned to use a thin alloy, a 90-centimeter-wheel weighing 97 kg will be cast from aluminum alloy. On the choice of the alloy depends on many things, so research on its election is still last. Wheel speed will be a record for our time of 10 200 rpm (170 revolutions per second), while the rim will have an impact load of 150 MPa.
Importance of choosing the alloy due to the fact that the race will be scheduled on the surface of a dried-up lake, and therefore damage the surface of the wheels are inevitable. That would protect the alloy wheels from damage, especially since the planned number of races. Now the walls of the Cambridge University Cavendish Laboratory Specialists make tests to identify the impact of sand on the different types of alloys.
As the motion speed car will result in two engines: a jet engine fitted to fighter Eurofighter Typhoon, and the rocket engine Falcon. The first way to create thrust at nine tons, the second will add an additional 12 tons of thrust.
As a platform for establishing a new world record will be used dried-up lake bottom Hakskeen Pan, which is in South Africa (Northern Cape). To determine the speed record for an hour will be two-dimensional distance of the race at a mile, then their results will be determined by the average velocity. After the first arrival will be replaced by a jet engine, the wheels also hope to save at the second race.
Route length of 20 kilometers, width - 1.5 km. At a speed of 1,600 km / h any clash with stone would have disastrous consequences not only for the wheels, but for a car. Therefore, to clean up the highway from the stones have already begun about 300 workers who were hired by the local population. At the same time in the UK has started a company search assistants predlagyuschaya "free and hard work in conditions of constant heat, in a remote but beautiful place."
The current speed record was set at 19,997, the Thrust SuperSonic Car, and is 1 228 km / h. People working at the time of Thrust, now working in the project Bloodhound. This is a project manager, Richard Noble, an expert on aerodynamics, Ron Ayres and pilot car Andy Green.
Wishing to sponsor the project has more than enough, so the project does not suffer from a lack of funding. Although the project is private and not commercial, it nevertheless received support from the government and the United Kingdom, which provided two jet engines Typhoon. Among other sponsors are present Hampson Industries, manufacturer of engines F1 Cosworth, aerospace company Lockheed Martin.

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Environmentally-friendly bus of the future

In the town of Twente (Netherlands), a group of university students UT Delft developed a prototype bus of the future, which once could carry 23 passengers at a speed of 250 km / h, while remaining absolutely clean. The presentation of this Dutch miracle technology that runs on battery power, to be held shortly in Germany.

Superbus, the so-called this futuristic bus, the shape of a limousine and a six-wheeled platform. Its body is made of ultralight carbon fiber. The bus is also equipped with air suspension, which automatically adjusts the illumination of a road. He also has four electric motor.
As befits a bus of the future, Superbus meets all international standards of comfort. Its interior has similar features with business-class airplane. Naturally, the cost of travel in this bus will be slightly higher than in the ordinary public transport.

At this point, the brainchild of inventor Wubbo Okkelsona and his team of engineers and students who have already held the first test. The maximum speed that could develop Superbus, is 80 km / h. However, the goal of developers - 250 km / h.
Development of this concept is supported by the Dutch government is willing to invest in the project from 7.5 to 8.4 million pounds. The country's authorities are interested in that as soon as possible to establish mass production of environmentally friendly buses.

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Miracle insole to help the elderly avoid falls

Joint Program at MIT and Harvard University aims to develop a device that helps the elderly avoid falls, related to violation of motor coordination and lead to serious injury. This instrument is an insole for shoes, which, since a variety of sensors that allows you to record and analyze changes in motor coordination.

Inventor of the wonderful insoles - Herizo Lieberman, who is a graduate student at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute. During an internship at NASA, Lieberman has been included in a group of scientists involved in the problem of recovering the coordination of movements of astronauts for a long time, stayed in orbit. That's when the idea came to her to use these developments to help the elderly.

Miracle insole is a device the size of a regular footbed insole, stuffed with various sensors that are accumulating data about the pressure on different parts of the foot. Enough to provide this data to analyze the doctor and he will be able to determine whether the high probability of an accident with an elderly man.

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Invented an artificial vestibular apparatus

John Hopkins (Johns Hopkins University) and his colleague at the university, Charles Santina Cause (Charles C. Della Santina) created an electronic prosthesis vestibular apparatus. It is designed for people suffering from violation of a sense of balance.
The device is the size of a matchbook secured to the head. It consists of a control circuit, battery, and motion sensors, the parallel channels of the inner ear. The inner ear patient implanted eight electrodes. According to him on the vestibular nerve endings signal, which creates a chip. Thus, a three-dimensional sensation of head movement.

Processor in the use of a unique program that was developed Santina and his team. The principle of operation is quite simple - the device creates a millisecond pulses, which are very similar to the real thing, which must come from the inner ear.

As a consequence, the device is fully simulates the vestibular apparatus, thereby replacing damaged.
As noted by the authors of the project, this is not the first development in this area. However, all previous work with only one channel and one plane of perception of space. The uniqueness of the new device is that it completely replaces the three-dimensional perception of the world and creates an artificial sense of balance, while reacting to the rotation in all three planes in any direction.

At the moment the device has not been tested on humans. Experimental animals are chinchillas, who with the help of huge doses of gentamicin have been damaged cells of the inner ear, which destroys the spatial orientation and the vestibular apparatus. Signs of such violations in this case were: staggering gait, trembling movement, trembling eye movements. The experiments showed that chinchillas have lost the ability to stabilize the eye. After implantation of the device, the animals regained some lost reflexes.
Authors of the project have set themselves ambitious goals. Before prescribing the device for people he wants to significantly reduce its size to make it easier and sealed so that you can install it under the skin, rather than mounted on the head.
Another direction of work on the device, this reduction of interference, which have an impact on neighboring nerves, as well as the creation of stimulating pulses, which are most similar to natural ones.

This invention is still under development, but it can help hundreds and thousands of people affected by a violation of the vestibular apparatus, which is due to the impact of viruses, chemotherapy, the use of large doses of antibiotics, stroke or other head injury. Also, patients are prescribed high doses of gentamicin due to illness, may no longer be afraid of losing orientation in space.

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Mental system control computer should appear in the Rostov

Grant to develop a system of mental control computer, a $17 million rubles, was sent scientists to the Southern Federal University (SFU). Director of Research Neurocybernetics SFU professor Boris Vladimirsky noted that the software will be developed jointly with the St. Petersburg Taganrog and colleagues, and should be ready by October 2009 and will be carried out relevant studies. The result of the work should be a system of mental control your computer.

Electrical signals of the cerebral cortex detected by using a helmet with electrodes, which is suited to a man's head, and for strengthening is done through the computer. This system can greatly ease the lives of people with disabilities.
With this development paralyzed people could, for example, hover your mouse over the picture, "Writing of water", thus explaining their needs. Also, they can write emails and even control a wheelchair. To manage the system need only correctly and accurately articulate their thoughts, thus moving the cursor on the computer screen.

Vladimir added that the development of the lot, entitled "Building the methods of conjugation signals the brain healthy and sick person with a computer for non-verbal communication" from the Agency for Science and Innovations of Russia, he received 17 million rubles, and for about four million to add SFU.

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On two wheels and ... Hydrogen

A new breakthrough in hydrogen energy: the other day a group of inventors in New York was presented moped engine which runs on clean fuel - hydrogen. One filling a novelty, according to the sponsors, enough for 160 kilometers, and soon after this miracle of technology they plan to create a hydrogen engine for the car, on which work is already underway.

The basis of the motor scooter is a miracle cartridge filled with sodium silicide and dense metal powders. In fact, this kind of battery, but with a different algorithm. It is necessary to pour water into the cartridge - and inside it starts a chemical reaction, which resulted in the generated electricity. Moreover, the fluid does not need to be clear: You can even use water from a nearby puddle!
The principle of hydrogen batteries is fairly simple and understandable to all who remember their high-school physics and chemistry. It consists of a set of elementary cells, each of which has approximately 1 cm thick and consists of a pair of electrodes made of carbon with the addition of platinum catalyst. It should be noted that the inventors were able to significantly reduce the cost of construction, replacing the commonly used in such batteries platinum catalysts analogues made from an alloy of platinum with other, cheaper metals. Electrodes separated by an electrolyte, in which can act as a polymer or a solution. One of the electrodes of fuel supply (which is hydrogen), and the second - an oxidizing agent, which acts as extracted from the air oxygen. Electrolyte ions are missing, but does not transmit electrons. On the first of the electrodes (the anode) hydrogen splits into protons and electrons, the last pass through the electrolyte to the second electrode (cathode), where there is a connection with oxygen - water is formed. At the same time, electrons move to the outside of the cell, the electrical circuit is connected to the load - the electric motor.

To make this scheme work, it is necessary that hydrogen is continuously fed into the fuel cell. This is the basic problem of hydrogen engines in the world: where to find so much hydrogen, which, unlike oil and gas, you can not get out of the ground, you can only get an artificial way. Lack of hydrogen filling stations became one of the factors slowing the development of transport in this type of fuel.

Do hydrogen moped shortcomings, in addition to problems with dressing? Of course there is, and one of them is called ... almost complete silence during the movement. Engineers are already thinking about how to add engine noise by artificial means, as silent vehicle can be dangerous to other road users. Developers hydrogen moped intending to solve the problem installing the "clappers", which will operate in urban environments, and while driving through the countryside it can be turned off. Perhaps, in quietness and ends with a list of new items of serious shortcomings, which are of practical value and can be a serious argument in favor of hydrogen technologies in the debate, which began in the 80 years of the last century. After all exhausts of internal combustion engines can not endlessly pollute the environment, not least because that oil and gas resources on the planet does not last forever!
Hydrogen moped has all the chances of getting into production and will soon be available to buyers, so far only in the United States.

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Built by the implant, which helps blind people see

It became known that the Protocols of the Royal Society published a study that was developed by a team of researchers from Germany. They have developed a new retinal implant, the aldehyde form of retinol. This implant is installed in three people who were deprived of due to some reasons, and he has helped these people to discern the outlines and determine the shape of objects.

The result of a stunning, one of blind people could even identify and find items that were placed before him on the table. Also, he turned to move independently around the room, approach people and even to distinguish some shades of gray. This device was developed by the Institute of ophthalmologic research and Tyubingemskim University together with Retinal Implant AG. This is undoubtedly a great advance in ophthalmic prosthetics because of anything like blind people could not dream. This invention could completely change the lives of more than 200,000 people around the world who have become blind due to a hereditary eye disease or retinitis pigmentosa. Other than blind people some people use powerful spectacle for their eye disease

This disease occurs due to the fact that the receptors in the eye completely cease to function. Dr Eberhart Zrenner in his opinions published in the Protocols of the Royal Society, emphasizes that patients who had lost his sight in consequence of retinal degeneration, I have hope for partial recovery, after using the innovations can restore visual function and the person can reasonably well guided in their daily lives.
The implant, which has the name Subretinal implant placed under the retina, thus replacing non-functioning light receptor. This device uses a completely natural process of detecting light and create an image, it helps to enhance visual perception.

There are also other types of implants, they are called epiretinal implants. This species differs from the subretinal implant that they have outside of the retina, so they require the patient to wear the processors and the external device camera. In the documentary record of research there is a description of the implant, it marked properties, such as achieving clarity. This occurs because the implant is very closely connected with the light receptors.
Dr. Zrenner the following conclusions: "Our analysis - is not nothing but a direct proof of exactly what these devices can regain visual capability in people who have lost their vision due to retinitis pigmentosa. This is possible even if the results for clinical application will require the expenditure of large amounts of time. "

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