Lifeboat Foundation

Interesting and plausible perspective about the future of air travel.

The Boeing Co. is turning 100 on July 15. Throughout the year, The Daily Herald is covering the people, airplanes and moments that define The Boeing Century. More about this series.

Glad that I hadn’t plan to buy one of these cars.

A Chinese company is hoping to bring the solar-powered car to market, showing off four new “zero-charge” EVs that get all their range from the sun.

In just a few years, we could see an electric car on the market that doesn’t need a charging station to ‘fuel up.’

The biggest apparent stumbling blocks for electric vehicles (EVs) seems to be their range — the distance that can be driven between charging — and the time it takes for an EV battery to be charged. When competing against gas cars, which can be filled up in just a few minutes, and can cover a range of several hundred miles per tank, the idea of having a limited range and a longer ‘fueling’ time with an EV isn’t one that most of us are comfortable with. And when considering the easy availability of fuel from the vast number of gas stations (as opposed to the EV charging stations that are few and far between in most areas), switching from gas to electric mobility is a bit of a stretch for many people (not even taking into account the higher cost for EVs).

However, as costs go down, and as EV ranges increase (along with the growing numbers of dedicated EV charging stations), electric transport options will start to become more and more desirable (especially in times of rising gas prices), but will still most likely need to be tethered to charging points, unless the next generation of electric cars follows in the footsteps of one Chinese company.

Continue reading “Hanergy’s solar-powered electric cars can charge themselves while driving” »

BAE systems and a professor at Glasgow University have revealed a way to really grow drones with an advanced form of chemical 3D printing.

The news has already swept the mainstream news sites, even though this is little more than a theoretical exercise right now. Professor Lee Cronin, the man behind the concept, freely admits that he has a mountain to climb to turn this dream into a reality.

The video, then, which depicts a pair of printer heads laying the absolute basics in a vat before the drone literally grows from almost nothing, is really a pipe dream right now.

Caption: The Solar Express is a conceptual space train that would ferry humans, supplies, and minerals between celestial bodies and space stations. Boris Schwarzer.

One of the biggest things driverless vehicles is going to do to the average person is to take away the semi driver jobs.

It’s an unfortunate fact and one that will continue to spread to other facets of the workforce, but for now we won’t have to worry, that’s a while off. Either way there’s still the first in what will hopefully be a long line of elegant driverless semi’s, and the two you’re about to see come straight from the geniuses at Audi. The first of these beautiful trucks is the street truck, designed for active use on the road. The second is their show truck, and looks to be much less practical but much cooler to be in!

Continue reading “This Mind-Blowing Audi Truck Could Be the Future of Big Rigs” »

Joshua Brown, 40, believed in the power of engineering. He was a former Navy SEAL, a technology consultant, and a Tesla fan. He had posted YouTube videos of himself driving a Tesla Model S on autopilot, taking his hands off the wheel to show how the car could avoid a collision on its own. He had nicknamed his car “Tessy.”

The driver of a Tesla car died in Florida in May after colliding with a lorry.

Under scrutiny is Tesla’s Autopilot feature, which automatically changes lanes and reacts to traffic.

In a statement, Tesla said it appeared the Model S car was unable to recognise “the white side of the tractor trailer against a brightly lit sky” that had driven across the car’s path.

Continue reading “US opens investigation into Tesla after fatal crash” »