Stories tagged vehicles
The Mega Beave Trophy itself: You earned it, Martin.
Courtesy zenA steel-fabricator in Oregon has built an 8-legged, 6 ton, walking vehicle. It seats six, runs on a Chevy V8 engine, and appears to have a mortar mounted on its side. (Or possible it's an exhaust pipe. Whatever.) It's called the Walking Beast.
3 years and $50,000, but you've done something rad, good sir. Something very rad indeed.
I think an award is called for. Let's see...
All right. Science Buzz is proud to present, for the first time ever, The Beaver State Award of Mega, to the very deserving Martin Montesano.
Tags : I have always wondered if Hybrids are really better for the environment. I know they save us in gas fumes from the battery pack that is in the vehicle. This saves the over all pollution in the air. The general concept is that the vehicle uses less gas by using the battery pack as energy to run the motor.
For people that don’t know what a Hybrid vehicle is - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Hybrid electric vehicle, increasingly common automobiles which employ both a traditional internal combustion engine and an electric motor/generators for provide motive force.
I currently work for a fleet leasing company and have seen a lot of new orders come in for the Hybrids. Every ordering cycle there are new hybrids being offered by the manufacturers. There are a lot of our customers that have started adapting a hybrid only policy. They will only allow their employees to order a Hybrid vehicle for gas savings and to provide cleaner air to the environment.
I just have always wondered what happens to the vehicle when it is time to be retired and sent to the junk yard. Will the battery packs be removed and if so can they be recycled? For instance in the Ford Escape Hybrids the battery pack is in the back of the vehicle, which is considered the trunk and close to the gas tank. This has always been a mystery to me. We might not have an answer for this yet as I haven’t seen many hybrid vehicles being taken to the junkyard yet.
I wonder if it might be a revloution in the future that car dealers pushed the hybrids on consumers and in the end the effects of the battery pack are worse for the environment then just driving a vehicle that used only gasoline. If anyone can answer this quesiton for me I would greatly appreciate it.
“Auto” means “unaided; by itself.”
“Mobile” means “moves.”
So, an “auto-mobile” is something that moves by itself, right?
Well, actually, a car needs someone to drive and steer, so it isn’t really auto mobile.
But the Army is developing something that is. MULE (Multifunction Utility/Logistics and Equipment) runs completely on it/s own. And, as the video at the link shows, it can climb over obstacles up to five feet high.
Just the thing for getting out of traffic jams!
Oops!: New technologies being developed for vehicles may help prevent situations like this from happening to us on the road in the future.If you’re like me, you’ve had your fair share of car crashes. They’re never fun, no matter how minor the outcome.
However, science is coming to the rescue to help us be better drivers. I ran into some interesting stuff in Consumer Reports about new technologies that are being developed to reduce traffic collisions. In quick snapshots, they include:
• ESC (Electronic Stability Control) braking – which will selectively apply brakes on strategic wheels of a vehicle when sensors determine a car is going out of control. The government has required all new vehicles to have this system by 2012.
• Blind-spot detection – Right now Audi and Volvo are experimenting with ways use cameras or radar on the outside mirrors of cars that would connect to a warning light on the dashboard to tell you there’s a vehicle in your blind spot.
• Night vision – Infrared technology would give drivers the ability to see things at night that are outside the range of their headlights, particularly things like people and animals. BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus are working with this technology.
• Lane-departure warning – Small cameras watching the stripes on highways will alert drivers if they start to veer out of their lane. So far, experiments show this technology works on major highways, but not so well on minor roads that don’t have as much highway paint. Infiniti has been developing this technology.
• Adaptive cruise control – This new style of cruise control would keep not just a standard speed for a car but a minimum distance it follows behind another vehicle. It will use radar to sense vehicles ahead and then speed up or slow down as traffic conditions allow.
• Pre-collision systems – Taking the adaptive cruise control one step further, collision sensing equipment will sound alarms and display warnings lights when it senses a vehicle is too close. It will also respond by fully charging brakes for a sudden stop, close windows, ready air bag and adjust seat positions in anticipation of a possible crash.
Of course, these features are still in the works and will probably not be available in any vehicles soon. What other traffic crash things would you like to see on your car of the future? Share them here with other Science Buzz readers.
Science Buzz and all related activities
Add a new comment