INFINITAS and OCULUS Superyacht Designs

via Designboom - Weblog on 7/31/09

Kevin Schopfer, a boston, massachusetts-based architect has designed two unusually shaped yachts named 'Oculus' and 'Infinitas'.Designed to accommodate 12 guests for a long distance cruising yacht, 'Oculus' looks like a large-scaled sea creature with the jaw and eyes of a whale and a small fin on the top.'Infinitas' is influenced by the shapes of the figure-eight infinity loops.

Both yachts incorporate swimming pools and a sun deck,with a starting price of 95 million US dollars for 'Oculus' and 140 million US dollars for 'Infinitas'.


INFINITAS











OCULUS











http://www.schopferyachts.com

Nixon Volta Solar Powered Watch

via Designboom - Weblog on 7/30/09

'the volta'

Nixon recently introduced 'the volta' the brand's first rechargeable, solar powered watch.
The semi-transparent dial allows sunlight through to the solar panel below which charges the watch's battery.
Powerslaves and desk jockeys need not worry, any light source will suffice so your office fluorescence or tanning beds will also be good sources to recharge the watch.


'the volta'



'the volta' available with various straps

A fost descoperită cea mai mare peşteră din lume.

via Realitatea .NET - IT & Ştiinţă by Realitatea.NET on 7/30/09

O peşteră uriaşă a fost descoperită într-o zonă îndepărtată a junglei vietnameze, dovedindu-se ulterior a fi cea mai mare peşteră, cu o singură cameră, din lume.









Peştera Son Doong măsoară circa 80/80 de metri şi bate vechiul record deţinut de Peştera Căprioarei din porţiunea malaeziană a insulei Borneo.

Peştera Căprioarei măsoară circa 90/90 de metri, dar nu are decât 1,6 kilometri în lungime. Prin contrast, exploratorii au mers în Son Doong circa 4,5 kilometri, dar au trebuit să se întoarcă pentru a nu rămâne blocaţi de apele sezoniere. Aceştia sunt de părere că peştera vietnameză este chiar mai lungă de atât.

Mai mult, pe o distanţă de aproape trei kilometri, peştera măsoară chiar şi 140/140 de metri, a declarat Adam Spillane, un membru al British Cave Research Association, echipă care a explorat caverna. Speologii au fost forţati să iasă din cauza apelor, dar au promis că se vor întoarce anul viitor pentru a explora peştera în întregime.

CAR MAGAZINE FANCIES FURIOUS XFR

CAR magazine (South Africa) recently tested the new Jaguar XFR for their August 2009 issue. And boy did they shake Indo-Brit down!







According to CAR the XFR dispatched the 0 – 100km/h time in just 4.66 seconds which interestingly was slower than its chief rivals the Audi RS 6 (4.62) and the oldest car of the lot, the BMW M5 (4.64).







Incidentally IN4RIDE tested the RS 6 and got 4.81 seconds at 1500m above sea level.







But in real life those miniscule differences are almost impossible to detect. Under normal circumstances a guy who knows his way around a car, driving the XFR, could conceivably trash those other two. Anyways, there’s more to a car than mere numbers (tehehe) but numbers are the only thing we can measure. The rest like driving feedback, handling aptitude and so on are largely variable depending on many uncontrollable circumstances. Again, the XFR scored highly there as well, getting great marks for both comfort and superior sports car-like handling.





So good was the car apparently that CAR Editor John Bentley described it as the “epitome of grace, space and PACE” while deputy editor Hannes Oosthuizen said “the best car I’ve driven in months. Perhaps years. Possibly ever.”





We’ve often suspected that the XFR would cause a major upset in this segment. These suspicions will be put to the test when we take it through a Gauteng altitude (about 1500m) road test and possibly a shootout with the M5. A very nice man from Bavaria Avenue has promised us a suitable example of the moerskont M5…





*Update: it doesn't seem that a suitable BMW rival to the XFR will be forthcoming due to the fact that the car has gotten on in years and keeping it for too long in the press fleet would cost too much money. Nevertheless an M6 will certainly be forthcoming. Now, if only we can get a response from Jaguar about the XKR we might have ourselves a proper smack-down...

Skylon spaceplane concept

via DVICE by Addy Dugdale on 7/30/09




Somewhat reminiscent of one of Professor Calculus's creations for cub reporter Tintin, the Skylon is what is known as a reusable launch vehicle for unpiloted space shenanigans. In short, it's a space plane. The creation of Reaction Engines Limited, a British outfit based at the Culham Science Center in Oxfordshire, the Skylon will be able to take off from and land at normal airport runways in order to deliver its payload of up to 13 tons in orbit.

All of this is down to Skylon's Sabre propulsion system, which is part jet engine, part rocket engine. The thrust is created by burning hydrogen and oxygen — a tricky concept, because air in the lower atmosphere can reach temperatures of 1000 degrees Centigrade. In order to cool the air before compressing and burning it, Reaction Engines have created a heat exchanger pre-cooler, which consists of ultra-fine piping that drops the temperature of the hot intake gases to minus 130 degrees Centigrade in just one hundredth of a second.

Whilst perhaps not yet as tangible as Richard Branson's White Knight Two, Skylon's technology is, you've got to admit, pretty amazing. And just look at the scale of the thing — it's immense! — in the gallery below. What does it remind you of?

*Cheaper than most space travel, that is.

Wink Glasses protect your eyesight while gaming

via DVICE by Adario Strange on 7/30/09



The ultimate eye preservation apparatus has been created for gamers who thrive on three-day marathon sessions. The device, called Wink Glasses, was created by Japan's Masunaga Optical Manufacturing to force computer users to blink to avoid eye strain.

Wink Glasses work using a sensor that detects how long you have gone without blinking and if the time passes the five-second mark the mechanism will automatically block your eyesight by fogging up the glass panel until you blink again. The device will hold an eight-hour charge and can also be connected to a USB outlet as an alternative power source. The Wink Glasses will hit the Japanese market on August 10th for 15,750 yen ($150).

Scorpion EXO 900 3-in-1 Transforming Motorcycle Helmet

via Gizmodo by Sean Fallon on 7/29/09



This is probably a bit of overkill for my bicycle, but on a motorcycle the EXO 900 is the king of versatility. It can quickly flip from a full face helmet to a flip front modular to a 3/4 helmet.

Other features include an EverClear No-Fog faceshield and an anti-scratch retractable SpeedView sun visor. Truth be told, this certainly isn't the first modular helmet out there. However, at $270-$280 the Scorpion would be far cheaper than something like BMW's System 6—although the latter has advanced noise canceling features and integrated Bluetooth.

The Citadel: The World's First Floating Apartment Complex

via Gizmodo by Dan Nosowitz on 7/29/09



Since Holland is mostly under sea level, keeping houses from flooding is a constant problem. This concept fixes that problem by just having an apartment complex that floats.



The Citadel is the residential part of the "New Water" complex, which tries to embrace Holland's waterworld-ness instead of fighting it. It'll have a floating road to the mainland as well as plenty of boat docks for its 60 units. Apparently it'll also be 25% more energy-efficient than an equivalent complex on land by using the surrounding water for cooling. It looks kind of crazy, but the sort of crazy that could actually work.

Japonezii vor fi conectaţi de fibră optică cu o viteză de 30TB/s

via Realitatea .NET - IT & Ştiinţă by Realitatea.NET on 7/29/09

Laboratorul KDDI R&D a colaborat cu Institutul Naţional de Tehnologie a Informaţiei şi Comunicaţiilor din Japonia pentru dezvoltarea celui mai avansat cablu de fibră optică din lume.









Cablul va fi capabil să transporte date la o viteză fără precedent, de aproape 10 ori mai rapid decât tehnologia actuală, la peste 30 de terabits pe secundă, faţă de trei terabits cât este în prezent.

Viteza atinsă de noua tehnologie este echivalentul a 720 de DVD-uri transmise într-o secundă. KDDI speră să comercializeze noile fibre optice şi să poată conecta toate marile oraşe Japoneze, la preţul de 210 milioane de dolari.

EDO COMPETITION PIMPS OUT ENZO

German tuner Edo Competition has gone back in time and began working on the Ferrari Enzo. The car is powered by a 6.3-litre V12 engine - same as the Mercedes-Benz S 65 AMG actually - but this one does not have turbo power.







What it has is a maximum power figure of 588kW (800hp) from its natural aspiration. Peak torque is 780Nm made at 5800rpm. Performance is listed as: 0 – 100km/h in about 3.2 seconds, 0 – 200km/h in 9 around seconds, 0 - 300km/h is done in 19 seconds, and top speed is 380km/h.







The wheels that are fitted are 10 x 19 with 265/35 ZR 19 Michelin up front and 13 x 20 with 335/30 ZR 20 Michelin at the back. Other kit installed includes ceramic sports brakes, adjustable suspension and an exhaust sound that can be adjusted for volume via the push of a button!

FRANKFURT TO SHOWCASE NEW BMW ELECTRIC SPORTS CAR?

“The BMW stand will be on the world premieres of the hybrid vehicles BMW ActiveHybrid 7 and BMW ActiveHybrid X6 as well as on the world premieres of the BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo and the BMW X1. Visitors can expect further additional product surprises…”





That is a statement issued by BMW regarding the upcoming Frankfurt International Motor Show in September. It seems that Frankfurt will be the launch pad of a new era in the world of motoring. Most automakers will be introducing us to brand new models as well as their electric cars.





Regarding the last sentence of the BMW statement, reports over the interweb have suggested that a new two-door electric-powered sports car will be forthcoming from Bavaria. Let’s wait and see if cars like the Audi R8 and Porsche 911 are under threat from the blue & white flag.

2009 SAAB 9-5: CLEAR PICTURES

SAAB is finally replacing the current but way over-the-hill 9-5. There are no details yet so all we can share are these pictures of the car. Note the LED lights both at the front and the rear, as well as the SAAB-typical green dials. There’s also some type of head up display on the windscreen, in green of course.





This will be the last 9-5 to be built under the General Motors banner after the company was sold to fellow Swede automaker Koenigsegg. The latter is best known for producing supercars like the CCX range which cost well over €1.4 million (R15 million/ US$1.9 million) each.