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Archive for the ‘transportation’ category: Page 161

Oct 25, 2022

Ukraine Situation Report: Russia’s Ka-52 Attack Helicopter Fleet Has Been Massacred

Posted by in category: transportation

Ka-52s have taken the brunt of rotary-wing losses during the invasion and their relevance is waning as Ukraine’s air defenses improve.

Oct 25, 2022

Rats with backpacks will be the savior of earthquake survivors

Posted by in category: transportation

They’re tiny but have a knack for saving human life.

The Belgian non-profit organization APOPO trains rats to help earthquake survivors. Called RescueRATs, these rats are preparing to save those under the earthquake debris with their high-tech backpacks on their backs.

Continue reading “Rats with backpacks will be the savior of earthquake survivors” »

Oct 25, 2022

Tesla is rumored to be looking to invest in Mexico

Posted by in categories: economics, Elon Musk, sustainability, transportation

Tesla is rumored to be looking to invest in Nuevo Leon, a Mexican state bordering Texas, as CEO Elon Musk meets with the governor.

Earlier this year, people crossing the border between Texas and Nuevo Leon were surprised to see not just the usual marked lanes for cars and trucks but also one marked “Tesla” – pictured above.

We ended up finding out that Tesla had struck a deal with the state of Nuevo Leon to have its own lane at the border crossing in order to reduce wait times for cargo going through the border. Or at least that was the explanation of Ivan Rivas, the economy minister of Nuevo Leon.

Oct 24, 2022

Bill Gates-backed startup builds a massive refinery to turn alcohol into jet fuel

Posted by in categories: business, energy, sustainability, transportation

Bill Gates founded Breakthrough Energy and has recently announced that its first Catalyst project funding will come in the form of a $50 million grant to LanzaJet’s Freedom Pines Fuels sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant in Soperton, Georgia.

Breakthrough Energy Catalyst is a unique program that brings together businesses and nonprofits to fund key first-of-its-kind commercial-scale projects that speed up the deployment of essential technologies.

Oct 24, 2022

Adding Heat to Electric Vehicle Batteries Helps Them Charge in Just 10 Minutes

Posted by in categories: energy, sustainability, transportation

Most efforts so far have relied on external heating and cooling systems, but these add a lot of bulk and also tend to use up a considerable amount of energy themselves. The researchers’ innovation, outlined in a recent paper in Nature , was to add an extra component to the batteries: a sheet of nickel foil just a few micrometers thick between the stacked electrodes of each cell.

This ultra-thin sheet is used as a heating element, and when a current is passed through it the cell heats up to 149° Fahrenheit in about a minute. This temperature is maintained through charging, but the cell then quickly cools back to room temperature as soon as the current is switched off.

When they tested their approach, the researchers found that they could charge a 265 watt-hour battery to 70 per cent in 11 minutes. They also showed that heating the battery didn’t seriously affect its lifetime, as it survived 2,000 cycles of charging, which would provide enough energy to drive more than 500,000 miles overall.

Oct 23, 2022

New Processs Could Allow for 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

A collaboration between the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Washington State University opens the door to sustainable jet fuel.

An underused natural resource might be just what the airline industry needs to reduce carbon emissions.

U.S. researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT.

Oct 23, 2022

Hyderabad Students Convert Discarded Bike Into Low-Cost EV With Wireless Charging

Posted by in categories: engineering, sustainability, transportation

The Indian Electric Vehicle market is set to reach a sales volume of 10.8 lakh units by 2025. However, these vehicles are currently at a high price and are not affordable to consumers in low-income categories.

To bridge this gap, a team of seven students at the KL University, Hyderabad have retrofitted an old and discarded bike into an EV.

“We also added futuristic features including wireless charging and cell balancing, which ensures equalised charging,” says Charan Sai (21), a fourth-year student of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, and the lead of the project.

Oct 21, 2022

Meet the strangest aircraft ever conceived, the Focke-Wulf Triebflügel

Posted by in category: transportation

The apparent lovechild between a helicopter and a ramjet, the Focke-Wulf Triebflügel might just be the oddest aircraft you’ve ever seen.

In the closing months of WWII, the Germans were experimenting with some very fascinating aircraft designs, like the Focke-Wulf Triebflügel.

Continue reading “Meet the strangest aircraft ever conceived, the Focke-Wulf Triebflügel” »

Oct 21, 2022

Behold Musk: China just successfully tested a Hyperloop-like train system

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, transportation

The first in the world to do so.

Researchers at the North University of China have successfully completed the test of a Hyperloop-like train system that runs trains in a low vacuum environment inside a tube, local news outlet, China Daily.

In theory, the system can be used for transporting people as well as goods and consists of long tubes that maintain a low vacuum to allow transport with minimal air resistance.

Continue reading “Behold Musk: China just successfully tested a Hyperloop-like train system” »

Oct 21, 2022

Tesla’s new vehicle platform will be cheaper and less labor intensive, says Musk

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, sustainability, transportation

That’s what Musk announced during Tesla’s Q3 2022 earnings call.

The third vehicle platform for Tesla, following the big one supporting the Model S and X and the small one supporting the Model 3 and Y, has received new information from company CEO Elon Musk.

Continue reading “Tesla’s new vehicle platform will be cheaper and less labor intensive, says Musk” »