Inventors : The People Behind the Way We Live

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description : 

There are certain items we use every day, including our refrigerators, cell phones and light switches that we don’t really consider the history behind. A tremendous amount of work has gone into our most valued inventions.

Most of us board an airplane without a thought into the history behind it. We don’t usually consider the first sustained flight by the Wright Brothers in 1903 or Lindbergh’s first nonstop trans-Atlantic flight in 1927 but we have been flying in commercial jets since the 1940s.

Despite the fact that electricity was not fully explored until the 1800s, William Gilbert explored effects of related materials as early as 1570. It was nearly 200 years later that Benjamin Franklin completed his famous kite experiments. Every time we flush a toilet or turn on the faucet we use indoor plumbing, which established roots in the 1590s with the invention of the first flush toilet.

From: BestCollegesOnline.org

Find more infographics here.

*by andreascy* 

A TED View of the Future: Hypersonic Gliders and Flying Robots

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description :

Recently the TED conference brought researchers out of the lab to show off their latest gadgets - if you can use the word “gadget” to describe a hypersonic Mach 20 glider and autonomous and collaborative flying robots.

It was a good lineup; the TED audience barely had time to put its socks back on before they were knocked off yet again. Better yet, probably to the delight of the investors in the audience, many of the projects are in the process of being commercialized. 

Here’s a glimpse what the future may hold. 

Flying Robots 

Vijay Kumar and other researchers at the University of Pennsylvania build robots - called “Quadrotors” - that can fly incredibly quickly and intelligently. 

While sensing their surroundings and movement, the robots can avoid obstacles, right themselves and carry and deposit things. Kumar showed a robot jumping through a flying hoop and drawing a 3-D map by navigating a physical space. 

Even better, the robots can work together with decentralized control. They can take actions based on local information while being agnostic to who their neighbors are. Kumar said potential applications for the robots include first response work and construction. 

Check out the video below, made for TED of the Quadrotors playing music.

Mach 20 Flight 

DARPA has conducted two tests of hypersonic vehicles, the fastest maneuvering aircraft ever built. 

Towed into space by rockets, both gliders crashed in the Pacific Ocean, but along the way they generated a great deal of data and more information than ever before about how to fly so fast, said DARPA Director Regina Dugan. 

Mach 20 speed would mean traveling from New York to Long Beach, Calif. (where TED is held), in 11 minutes and 20 seconds, Dugan said. The flight would be quick, but it would also be incredibly hot.

Dugan urged the TED audience to “be nice to nerds” (probably not that tall an order, given this constituency) and told them to ask themselves, “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” (She sounded a lot like Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, who has made “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” a sort of mantra.)

In addition to Mach 20 flight videos, Dugan demonstrated a remote-controlled mechanical flying hummingbird, and showed pictures and videos of a nano-adhesive modeled on geckos, metals that are lighter than Styrofoam and a prosthetic hand controlled by a human mind. She might have the best bag of tricks in the business. 

Enjoy the video!

CHECK ALSO:

- Scientists turn Quadcopters into Flying Power Stations

- Parrot AR Drone 2.0 Quadricopter. Now available for Pre-Order

Any thoughts? 😊

*by andreascy*

Fuel-Less Gravity Powered Airplane

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description :

The Gravity plane is a very efficient use of the energy available from buoyancy, thrust, acceleration and wind. It won’t be as fast as a petroleum powered engine but it will still get from A to B. Assuming they can make enough high strength composite material to withstand the force of acceleration on the hull and wings this “amazing flying machine” would be a useful transportation option for non urgent transportation requirements. It would be nice if they actually manage to make enough of them to form a fleet and make a difference before the energy to build them runs out.

*by andreascy*

New "Passing Cloud" Airbus Design

Posted by Andreas Christodoulou

Description :

This project was designed by Tiago Barros and envisions a distinct approach towards moving around the United States being also a revival of the act of traveling. 

Why traveling at high speed? Why having the final destiny always defined? And why always departing and arriving on a tight schedule? Nowadays, everything is set and everyone is always running around. It is time to reconsider the act of traveling and start enjoying it accordingly. 

The Passing Cloud is an innovative and environmentally friendly method of transportation that doesn’t require expensive steel tracks or concrete highways. It is made of a series of spherical balloons that form the shape of a cloud. 

Its inner stainless steel structure is covered with heavy weight tensile nylon fabric. During the journey, It moves according to prevailing winds speed and direction at the time of travel. Since it moves with the wind, no wind is ever felt during the trip, offering the passengers a full “floating sensation”. 

It’s an unique journey. The feeling of floating in the atmosphere - on top of a cloud - with an open schedule and unknown final destiny. All National Ground would be potentially covered at virtually no cost and the help of the wind. The journey becomes your destiny.

Passing Cloud is a recently submitted project for the international ideas competition : Life at the Speed of Rail, organised by the Van Alen Institute and partly funded by the Department of Cultural Affairs of New York City. 

Although it wasn’t one of the winning proposals, Passing Cloud reveals a strong conceptual approach that is worth noting : It is a new vision on traveling, based on the old Zeppelins.

Nowadays, traveling is achieved with this idea of having a fixed destination and an estimated time of arrival. Passing Cloud completely inverts this system. A floating device is introduced that travels around the entire USA territory according to current predominant winds. It has no fixed time of arrival or place for arrival. The journey becomes the essence. Imagine traveling at wind speeds in a totally sustainable object that leaves no Human trace behind.

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*by andreascy*