This statue of a guardian type robot near Odessa in Ukraine is made from old, junked cars, among other things. Apparently it was constructed by a logistics company called TIS (Transinvestservice) in order to serve as a signpost of sorts. Now, instead of telling visitors to take a left at the 161km post, they can just say “Turn when you come upon awesomeness.”
Link [EnglishRussia] I can’t find any source for the photo; if anyone knows who it belongs to, please let us know in the comments.
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If everyone had to learn how to handle a stick shift, parallel park, and find their way around first, then the new automatic systems would be an assist instead of an excuse to drive without thinking. Let’s take a look at some ways technology does the driving for you.
The roads have already been laid out for us with painted lines, color codes lights and signs with pictures on them, all we need to do is stay in between the aforementioned lines, and try not put our cars into the back seats of other cars. For several decades now, a driver’s only technological distraction was the radio. Getting from point A to point B has never been easier, in theory.
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This video is from the scene of a highway accident in Chile three weeks ago. A recovery crew managed to flip the overturned tractor trailer back upright, but didn’t think about what would happen to the truck afterward.
via reddit
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Photo: Joe Stevens
“Vans and the places where they were” is a project by filmmaker/photographer Joe Stevens that artfully presents… a bunch of vans. Each photo frames the subject identically, yet the vans and the locales are various, shot over the course of 13 years and counting.
Vans and the places where they were documents surviving custom and conversion vans across the West and examines the dialogue which exists between a van’s design aesthetic and that of its surrounding environment. The project began in 1996 and currently consists of hundreds of images shot on 120mm film.
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The Golden Age of car chases in cinema came from a time before there were computer graphics, complex editing software and all the conveniences of modern movie making magic.
For those of you around back then, the 70’s were awesome. We had bell-bottoms, disco and the Pontiac Trans Am. We were also inundated with the 70’s style car chase. You see, in the 1970’s they would generally use the same car throughout the entire chase scene. If directors could, they would try to get away with using only one car for a more authentic look and feel. Damage that occurred during filming could now be seen throughout the entire chase.
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The images in the video are “safe for work,” but the audio is of a 911 call with a lethal outcome, so those sensitive to such tragedies might consider leaving the video “under the fold.”
Toyota has released some advice re what to do in their vehicles if the accelerator pedal becomes stuck:
• If you need to stop immediately, the vehicle can be controlled by stepping on the brake pedal with both feet using firm and steady pressure. Do not pump the brake pedal as it will deplete the vacuum utilized for the power brake assist.
• Shift the transmission gear selector to the Neutral (N) position and use the brakes to make a controlled stop at the side of the road and turn off the engine.
• If unable to put the vehicle in Neutral, turn the engine OFF. This will not cause loss of steering or braking control, but the power assist to these systems will be lost.
• If the vehicle is equipped with an Engine Start/Stop button, firmly and steadily push the button for at least three seconds to turn off the engine. Do NOT tap the Engine Start/Stop button.
• If the vehicle is equipped with a conventional key-ignition, turn the ignition key to the ACC position to turn off the engine. Do NOT remove the key from the ignition as this will lock the steering wheel.
Another excellent source of advice is an article at Car and Driver about coping with unintended acceleration.
Via Reddit, where there is an informed discussion thread.
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Bernard H. Pietenpol had a dream. He wanted to make an airplane accessible to the masses. So in 1928, with only an eighth-grade education, he set out to design and build a simple, inexpensive plane. The result was the Pietenpol AirCamper, and his family is still selling the plans for it, just in case you’re in the mood for a weekend project.
Hobbyist Chuck Gantzer was in such a mood, and at the link, you can see in-process photos of the construction of an AirCamper, as well as of the completed airplane in flight.
Link via Make | Pietenpol AirCamper Website | Photo: Wikimedia Commons
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This guy has a small car, for a good reason. The car is 1.49 meters wide. The garage is 1.55 meters wide. You don’t have to understand Flemish to know what this video is about. Note how he manages to get out of the car! -via Cynical-C
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You Drive What? is a photoblog of unusual cars, tricked out, pimped out, and worn out:
Youdrivewhat.com is here to show the rest of the world what (for some reason) you feel is an awesome ride. You decided to paint your car like a child’s cereal character; you may find yourself on youdrivewhat.com. Did you turn you van into a convertible? Then this is your new home. Oh, you glued 400 action figures on your car….guess where a photo of your creep-mobile will show up? At youdrivewhat.com you will find a collection of all the hilarious, crazy, creepy, broken-down, beat-up, and utterly unbelievable cars, rides, whips, and whatever else people use to get from point A to point B.
Now who wants to go halvsies with me on a llama?
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The US Airways Airbus 320 that landed in the Hudson River just a year ago is for sale. In the story known as “Miracle on the Hudson”, Captain Sully Sullenberger brought the plane down with no loss of life only 23 minutes into the flight when a flock of geese jammed the engines. Now the insurance company is selling what’s left of the plane.
The auction — “As Is/Where Is (New Jersey),” Chartis Insurance Group is compelled to disclose — does not include the airliner’s engines or avionics, and the lot is somewhat in pieces. But apart from that it seems to be surprisingly intact for a craft that hit the water at a normal touchdown speed with ad hoc landing gear comprising the entire fuselage and wings — which, by the way supported all 155 people aboard as they safely deplaned and awaited rescue craft on the frigid Hudson.
The offering page is remarkably bland, not even considering the high drama surrounding the most famous water landing ever. Under the formal description of the accident, it says: “Aircraft suffered severe bird strike event resulting in water emergency landing.” The description of the damage is simple: “Severe water damage throughout airframe. Impact damage to underside of aircraft.”
The craft itself is described as “1999 AIRBUS A320-214? and nowhere on the page is even the most oblique mention of the significance of this particular piece of aviation salvage.
Bids are being accepted through March 27. Link
(image credit: Janis Krum)
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A Japanese shipbuilding company named IHI Marine United is developing a ship that can be powered entirely by rechargeable lithium batteries. It will be able to travel 80 km while carrying 800 passengers:
Its Zero Emission Electric Propulsion Ship will use batteries that can be recharged at charging stations in ports it visits. The plug-in ship powered by lithium-ion batteries would run without a diesel engine, thus cutting its carbon dioxide or nitrogen oxide emissions to zero.
The company hopes to have a commercial vehicle available in 2015.
Link via technabob | Photo: Far East Gizmos
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Jim Moyer’s hobby is building miniature engines. The one above, which he claims is the smallest V-8 engine in the world, is a 1/6 scale model of the 327 cubic inch motor in a 1964 Chevrolet Corvette.
Link via Ace of Spades HQ
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Did a bear tear your airplane to bits in a remote part of Alaska? No problem – we can fix that with a little duct tape. Army Paratrooper forum user Iz_NorthPole explains:
During a private "fly-in" fishing excursion in the Alaskan wilderness, the chartered pilot and fishermen left a cooler and bait in the plane. And a bear smelled it. This is what he did to the plane.
The pilot used his radio and had another pilot bring him 2 new tires, 3 cases of duct tape, and a supply of sheet plastic. He patched the plane together, and FLEW IT HOME!
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The ‘whale’ is actually a project from Vincent Callebaut Architects called Physalia Physalis or ‘Water Bubble’, and it has a very serious point. One billion people don’t have access to clean drinking water. This vessel is designed to float up and down the rivers of Europe, purifying the water as it goes. It is of course a huge floating garden among other things, with interior gardens dedicated to Earth, Water, Wind and Fire. So in theory it would make the Thames drinkable. It is also apparently completely self-sufficient, being covered in solar panels. In fact, it is meant to produce more energy than it uses. Too bad it is only a concept for now.
Link – via babycreativeblog
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The Tesla Air 2000 was a biplane built in 1933 by William Besler and Nathan C. Price. It was powered by a steam boiler that was so quiet that spectators on the ground could hear the pilot calling to them. From the video notes:
The advantages of the “Besler System” that were claimed at the time included the elimination of audible noise and destructive vibration; greater efficiency at low engine speeds and also at high altitudes where lower air temperatures assisted condensation; reduced likelihood of engine failure; reduced maintenance costs; reduced fuel costs, since fuel oil was used in place of petrol; reduced fire hazard since the fuel was less volatile and operating temperatures were lower; and a lack of need for radio shielding.
For capacities in excess of 1000 horse power a turbine captures the energy released by the expansion of steam more efficiently than a piston. Thus, the steam reciprocating engine turned out to be unsuitable for scaling up to the needs of large aircraft
via Make
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Record snowfall has covered the U.K., while cold temperatures are gripping Europe. Seoul and Beijing have seen their heaviest snowfalls in recent memory, and arctic temperatures have penetrated the U.S. far enough to threaten crops in Florida. For those who have to commute to work in such weather, this is a good time to appreciate the technology incorporated into winter service vehicles.
Sand- and salt trucks have evolved a long way from the era when two men with shovels used to stand on the back of a dump truck. Modern grit is a mixture of sand and rock salt, but the latter has deleterious effects not only on metal vehicle frames, but also on vegetation and freshwater lakes and streams. A variety of techniques have therefore been devised to keep roads on a “low-salt diet.”
“Pre-wetting” the salt — spraying it with brine as it’s dropped — helps it stick to the road better, meaning crews can cut back from 500 pounds per mile to 200…
Vehicle-mounted electronic thermometers let supervisors know how far above or below freezing the pavement is. Some truck cabs have up-to-the-minute weather radar so crews know how long it’ll be before the freezing rain or snow hits…
To prevent the grit from being thrown off the road surface by vehicle tires, additional substances may be intermixed to increase adherence. The earliest additive was molasses, but it was difficult to use in cold weather and tended to attract cows and wildlife to the roads.
That means using brine, magnesium chloride and a sugar beet byproduct, which are mixed via a dozen yellow-handled valves marked with letters of the alphabet.
Fine-tuning the grit application to the weather conditions not only saves taxpayers money (one truckload of salt costs ~$800), but also reduces chloride levels in nearby lakes.
Link. Photo credit Richard Tsong Taatarii, Star Tribune
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YouTube user rhauf1 shares with us this vehicular concoction dubbed Chainlink, assembled from salvaged and custom parts. The engine is a fuel-injected Ford 5.0 V-8 from a Cobra, and transmission and t-case from an old Bronco, but the real treat is the hydraulically-controlled swing arms.
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Dutch artist and inventor Joost Conijn refitted his Citroën with wooden panels and installed a wood-burning boiler for propulsion. He then traveled around Eastern Europe, documenting people’s reactions to his odd car.
I’m just a bit skeptical because the engine in the video doesn’t sound like steam engine and the car moves at a pretty phenomenal rate of speed for a steam engine. But I have read that during World War II, some cars in Sweden were converted to wood-burning engines due to a scarcity of oil, so a functional steam engine modern car should be hypothetically possible.
What do you think? Is this real or a hoax?
Link via Make | YouTube Video | Artist’s Website (Google Translator Version)
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When he gets bored with doing double backflips on his bike, skydiving without a chute, or inventing new sports like the Hydrojump, Travis Pastrana takes life easy with a casual drive in Long Beach, CA. Watch him sail this rally car 269 feet with the precision landing of an experienced pilot. Don’t miss his celebratory backflip into the water!
26-year-old Travis Pastrana set the world record for a rally car jump on New Year’s Eve, flying his Subaru 269 feet over water and landing on a barge in the harbor of Long Beach, California. The record blew away the old one set by Ken Block at 171 feet. Pastrana had to throw the car sideways and slam it against a wall at the end of the barge to stop the car, as he said the ramp was slick with dew. (Brian Lohnes)
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Rachelle Brown of Houston, Texas, decorates the interior of her car with Christmas lights and fake snow. It looks so much like a snow globe that one might be inclined to pick up her car and shake vigorously. The video is from the NBC affiliate in Houston.
via Urlesque
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Nothing like a land yacht to ring in the new year. Jalopnik has a whole parade of automotive monstrosities like this one. Which is your favorite?
Link: Jalopnik
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You don’t have to be actually driving a car to be arrested for drunk driving. People have been arrested while operating a horse-and-buggy, a golf cart, or even a couch.
In perhaps the most absurd DUI case ever recorded, Dennis LeRoy Anderson, a 62 year old Minnesota couch potato with far too much time on his hands, was charged with DUI after crashing his motorized La-Z-Boy couch into a parked car. On October 22nd, 2009, Anderson swigged down far too many beers before taking his hot rod couch out for a spin around town. The couch, which was powered by a lawn mower engine, came strapped with a music-pumping boom box, a living room lamp, and cup holders to store his beer while steering.
Link -via Gorilla Mask
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Anyone with a remote car lock has wondered at one time or another whether the signal is really one-of-a-kind. What are the chances that your keyless entry could unlock someone else’s car? It turns out the odds are pretty slim.
Modern remote keyless entry systems are pretty secure, but there is a slight chance Jason could open another Camry if he wants to walk up to one and press the unlock button on his remote (assuming it uses a 40-bit code) one trillion, ninety-nine billion, five hundred eleven million, six hundred twenty-seven thousand, seven hundred and seventy-six times, running through all the possible codes his remote could transmit until one works (assuming he can hit the button once every second without taking any breaks, he’ll need just shy of 34,842 years to do so).
Mental_floss explains how the coded radio signals work on a keyless entry and why the odds of unlocking another car are so small. Link
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Jessica Cox was born without arms, but that hasn’t prevented her from becoming the first licensed pilot to fly with only her feet:
With one foot manning the controls and the other delicately guiding the steering column, Cox, 25, soared to achieve a Sport Pilot certificate. Her certificate qualifies her to fly a light-sport aircraft to altitudes of 10,000 feet.
“She’s a good pilot. She’s rock solid,” said Parrish Traweek, 42, the flying instructor at San Manuel’s Ray Blair Airport.
At the link, you can find many amazing pictures of all of the things that Cox can do, like wield nunchucks with her toes.
Link via Ace of Spades HQ | Cox’s Website | Photo: Nitin Singh
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Vespa’s South African division had this stretch scooter made as a promotional gimmick. They refer to it as a family-sized vehicle:
According to Vespa, here’s a list of uses for the stretched scooter: it’s a sensible family car on two wheels and kids will look forward to going to school on it. You can be the designated driver and still park outside the front door of the party. When you make new buddies, you can take them home with you – and you save money on fuel.
It’s a custom job, so don’t rush down to a dealership expecting to find one.
Link via CrunchGear
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Unicat, a manufacturer of custom, off-road recreational vehicles, made this RV out of a garbage truck. The owner wanted a vehicle rugged enough to traverse wilderness areas in Africa. More images at the link.
Link via Make | Company Website
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The innovative designs by Russian advertising and design firm Art Lebedev have been previously featured on Neatorama, including a pessimistic piggy bank, a spreadsheet grill, a Tetris magnet set, an ice tray that spells out the word “eternity”, a clock that spells out the time, a Batman clothespin, a clock built into a whiteboard, and a piggy bank shaped like a gravity bomb. Their latest advertising gimmick, intended to encourage safe driving, is a see-through tractor trailer. A camera on the front of the truck captures what’s going on ahead and projects it on a screen on the back of the trailer. It’s called “Transparentius.”
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For prying into lives around the globe, the Google Street Viewmobile finally gets its just desserts. Thank you, Anonymous Winged Avenger!
Via Gizmodo
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The Viking Lady, owned by the Norwegian shipping firm Eidesvik, has a 320-kilowatt molten carbonate fuel cell that powers the 9,500 ton vessel. It’s the first ship to ever use fuel cell technology:
But in the case of the 5,900 metric ton Viking Lady, Norwegian shipping company Eidesvik and its partners have gone further, installing a 320-kilowatt molten carbonate fuel cell that operates on liquefied natural gas (and can be reconfigured, if necessary, to run on methanol). Storage tanks for the hydrogen and carbon dioxide that gets the fuel cell started press up against the stern of the 92.2 meter-long ship (in case of explosion) as do the machines to regasify the fuel. The fuel cell operates at 650 degrees Celsius and is warm to the touch, even on a blustery, frigid day in Copenhagen’s harbor.[...]
The investment was made, in part, to get an understanding of fuel cell technology and how it might be applied to shipping, according to DNV’s Viking Lady project head Tomas Heber Tronstad. Initial estimates are that such fuel cells would cut CO2 emissions from an individual ship by 50 percent. But the investment was also made because Norway has a tax on nitrogen oxide emissions that paid an immediate return for installing gas rather than diesel engines, says Eidesvik CEO Jan Fredrik Meling. Compared to a traditional ship, even without using the fuel cell, the Viking Lady reduces nitrogen oxide emissions by 90 percent, CO2 emissions by 20 percent and eliminates sulfur dioxide and soot emissions.
Link | Photo: Fellowship
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In the 1990s, Seikh Hamad bin Hamdan Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates decided to build a giant pickup truck. The result was a truck modeled on the 1950s era Dodge Power Wagon (apparently an iconic vehicle in his country) precisely 64 times larger than the original. It contains a full suite of rooms and can actually drive. The video clip above is from Jeremy Clarkson’s BBC documentary series Motorworld.
Link via Ace of Spades HQ
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