Animation meets street art

Watch this amazing animated movie called Muto, by the Argentine artist known as Blu…

Tags: Blu, Muto, animation, street art

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Recommended reading: : What Is Your Dangerous Idea?

What Is Your Dangerous Idea?: Today’s Leading Thinkers on the Unthinkable

Edited by John Brockman

Short essays by a hundred leading thinkers from all walks of science including Jared Diamond, Richard Dawkins, J. Craig Venter. Topics range from genetics to the existence of the soul…

"From Copernicus to Darwin, to current-day thinkers, scientists have always promoted theories and unveiled discoveries that challenge everything society holds dear; ideas with both positive and dire consequences. Many thoughts that resonate today are dangerous not because they are assumed to be false, but because they might turn out to be true.

What do the world’s leading scientists and thinkers consider to be their most dangerous idea? Through the leading online forum Edge (www.edge.org), the call went out, and this compelling and easily digestible volume collects the answers. From using medication to permanently alter our personalities to contemplating a universe in which we are utterly alone, to the idea that the universe might be fundamentally inexplicable, What Is Your Dangerous Idea? takes an unflinching look at the daring, breathtaking, sometimes terrifying thoughts that could forever alter our world and the way we live in it."

Tags: What is your dangerous idea, John Brockman, Edge

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Incredible space images

Here are some amazing desktop background images taken by the Hubble telescope… compatible with Windows and Mac. For some reason the photos don’t look as good on the Hubble website as they do once you set them up as your background.

Tags: Hubble, space, Eagle nebula

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Now you can read at the table!

Here’s some cool new technology out of San Francisco as reported by Business 2.0…

It’s a thin, self-contained, Wi-Fi-enabled touchscreen computer that the company, TableTouch, embeds right into a table so you can for example read the newspaper while you drink coffee.

They’re currently field testing ten tables in Bay Area coffee shops, partnered with the San Francisco Chronicle. The TableTouch also has built-in Bluetooth to send audio to your headset to complete full-scale alienation from your fellow sippers.

Microsoft has also announced their own similar Surface product. They show some very interesting applications at their website.

Tags: TableTouch, Microsoft Surface, Surface, touchscreen, cool stuff, San Francisco Chronicle

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Super-efficient gas guzzlers

Johnathan Goodwin is a  37-year-old professional car hacker out of Kansas that’s making a name for himself by taking muscle cars and doubling their horsepower, and at the same time quadrupling their mileage and cutting emissions by 80 percent.

His latest project: creating a super-efficient electric hybrid Hummer H3 by putting in an electric motor plus a military-grade 60,000 rpm turbine modified to run on biodiesel, doubling horsepower from 300 to 600, getting 60 miles per gallon, and doing zero to 60 in five seconds. It’ll also have a hydrogen-injection system that will cut the already low emissions by half.

He’s currently converting a 1987 Jeep Wagoneer to biodiesel for Arnold Schwarzenegger, and a 1960 Lincoln Continental into a biodiesel-electric hybrid for Neil Young.

Read more at Fast Company.

Tags: auto industry, electric cars, hybrid cars, Hummer, Johnathan Goodwin, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Neil Young, alternative energy

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Best commercial ever: Honda cog

I’m no fan of TV commercials, but in my humble opinion there’s one that stands head and shoulders above the rest (along with Apple’s "1984", my second favorite), and that’s the Honda "cog" commercial they made in 2003 for the Accord.

Basically, the star is a "Rube Goldberg machine" (a very complex apparatus that does a simple task in an indirect and very convoluted way) made out of countless car parts.

If you’ve seen it you’ll appreciate (or maybe won’t believe) that no CGI trickery was used. And it took over 600 takes to complete!

And the final tagline is just perfect "Isn’t it nice when things just work?")

If you’ve never seen it, it’s definitely a must-see… you can watch it here in very good quality , or in low quality at Google video.

Tags: Honda cog commercial, Honda, Honda Accord, best commercials, Rube Goldberg machine

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iCar already exists

A recent post, as well as several other articles here and there, talk about a possible VW "iCar" in the future, a marriage of VW and Apple planning.

But an alert reader has pointed out that Mitsubishi already makes a vehicle called the iCar.

It’s a very small, 660 cc engine, RWD, 4-door, 4-seat car made in Japan for the Far Eastern market, comparable in many ways to the SmartCar.

Last month the iCar disembarked in the UK, priced at around $17,000.

The "i" stands for an iPod nano docking station built into the central console. Insert your iPod and it’s automatically married with the iCar’s HDD-based satellite navigation system to simplify iPod operation.

Tags: Mitsubishi iCar, iCar, Mitsubishi, automotive, auto industry, automotive industry

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VW + Apple = iCar?

Are Apple and Volkswagen working together to create the iCar?

(Actually the name is just rumored as is all talk currently going on about this).

All that is really known is that a "Volkswagen spokesperson told German magazine Capital that an iCar may be on the way. Steve Jobs and VW Chairman Martin Winterkorn got together in California a few days ago to plan an intensive co-operation with the building of vehicles."

Rumors and more rumors say the iCar will sport Apple’s AirPort networking system plus a touch-screen iMac.

Tags: Apple, VW, iCar, Steje Jobs, Martin Winterkorn, Volkswagen, automotive, auto industry, automotive industry

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Electric car update (Part 2): Tesla Roadster

News and rumors regarding electric cars have been increasing in these past few months, so I thought I’d do a little research on the most salient models that are being talked about.

Today we’ll cover the very cool Tesla Roadster, of which much has been seen and heard this year..

Tesla Motors Roadster

• Launch date: Oct or Nov 2007
• Price: $98,000
• Top speed: 130 mph (210 km/h)
• Autonomy: 200 miles (320 kms) between charges
• Battery life: 100,000 miles (160,000 kms)
• Battery charge time: 3.5 hours
• 0-60 MPH (0-100 km/h): 4 seconds
• Chassis design: Lotus

• Company HQ: California
• Founder: Martin Eberhard
• CEO: Michael Marks
• Sales estimates: 600 buyers already lined up for October or November launch, will make 1,000 model 2008 units
• Dealer network: Will not set up a national dealer network for now; will sell cars directly. Stores and service centers are planned for New York, Chicago, and Miami.
• Website: http://www.teslamotors.com/

Latest news

Tesla’s next model is the WhiteStar, a $50-60,000 sedan sized electric car, made in a new plant in Albuquerque, New Mexico that will employ 400. They are shooting for a 2010 release date.

Also rumored to be looking at manufacturing a lower cost model.

Curious fact

Arnold Schwarzenegger, wife Maria Shriver, and George Clooney are among the initial buyers lined up for the Roadster.

Insightful quote

Referring to the Tesla Roadster, California Gov. Schwarzenegger said, "I test drove this vehicle, and it is hot."

Related posts

• Electric car update (Part 1): Miles XS 500

• Electric car update (Part 2): Tesla Roadster

• Electric car update (Part 3): Phoenix Motorcars SUT

Tags: Tesla, Tesla Roadster, Roadster, Martin Eberhard, Michael Marks, Arnold Schwarzennegger, Maria Shriver, George Clooney, automotive, auto industry, automotive industry, China, Chinese auto industry, Chinese automotive industry, alternative energy, electric cars, Lotus, WhiteStar

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Humdinga: amphibious 4WD

A few posts ago I talked about the cool Aquada, a fast, very-fast, amphibious car.

The company behind the Aquada, Gibbs Technologies, is also responsible for a 4WD version called the Humdinga, a vehicle designed specifically to access remote and hostile terrain.

According to their website:

"The Humdinga transforms from land to water mode at a touch of a button. The wheels retract, the power train switches from the wheels to a jet propulsion system and the vehicle is in amphibious mode. In just a few seconds the driver is planing at a speed of forty miles per hour.

"On land the Humdinga can accelerate from 0-60 in 9.2 seconds and on water can reach the ‘plane’ in less than 10 seconds. It has a curb weight of 2000 kg, has all wheel independent air suspension and runs on regular unleaded petrol. The vehicle is 5400 mm in length, 1850 mm in height and 2000 mm in width."

       

Tags: Aquada, Humdinga, Gibbs, Gibbs Technologies, Alan Gibss, concept cars, amphibious vehicles, automotive, auto industry, automotive industry

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