DailyDirt: Flying Contraptions

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Flying machines have been with us now for a little over 100 years. We still don't have flying cars clogging up the skies, but that's probably not such a bad thing. However, we still have a bunch of folks trying to improve upon flying in various ways. All kinds of quadcopters appear to be the trendy way to get things in the air nowadays, but we still have quite a ways to go before we're flying as gracefully as birds.

• Omni Hoverboards has set a world record for a functioning hoverboard: the longest distance for a person to travel on one. (#SYTL) This hoverboard looks like it's just two quadcopters stuck together so a person can stand on top of them, and it's pretty loud. On the plus side, it works on water, and it doesn't require liquid nitrogen or superconducting magnets. But it only goes about 900 feet or so, and drops somewhat abruptly. [url]
• The Black Knight Transformer is a truck-helicopter hybrid vehicle that doesn't look like an Autobot or a Decepticon at all. This vehicle can be remotely piloted, and it only seems to fly a few feet off the ground. Someday, it might be able to carry a bunch of troops and/or gear to difficult-to-reach locations, but for now, it doesn't look like an incredibly reliable means of transportation. [url]
• The Solar Impulse 2 is the first solar-powered plane that can fly continuously, day or night... for about 120 hours. This plane is going to try to circumnavigate the globe, but its batteries overheated on a flight from Japan to Hawaii. It also only fits one pilot, but we'll probably see a drone version of this (without a pilot on board at all) serving wireless internet someday soon. [url]

After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.

Filed Under: airplanes, black knight transformer, drones, flying machines, helicopter, hoverboard, quadcopter, solar impulse 2, transportation

DailyDirt: Kinda Crazy Options For Personal Transportation

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The future once promised us flying cars and space hotels, but those ultra-modern conveniences haven't quite panned out (yet). Still, engineers are working on some pretty wacky transportation concepts, and personal flying devices aren't quite so impractical anymore. There are a lot of bugs to work out (and maybe some FAA regulations to comply with), but flying without a plane could be a novelty that almost anyone could try someday soon. Here are just a few examples of personal transportation that might be an exciting experience.

• Personal jetpacks have been around for a while -- remember the James Bond movie Thunderball from 1965? An improved vest jetpack project has started building a prototype that can fly for about 4 minutes (8 times longer than the Thunderball jetpack, untethered) with cheaper and safer fuel. Unfortunately, it didn't meet its Kickstarter goal. [url]
• A 530-lb Exosuit is a personal submarine that lets you dive to depths of about 1,000 feet for 50 hours. Exactly one suit exists right now, and it cost around $600,000 to make. [url]
• How would you like to dangle from a couple of remote-controlled (toy?) helicopters in order to fly from point A to point B? The flight can only last about 30 seconds or so, and if you weigh more than a hundred pounds or so, you might want to try adding another helicopter (or combine a handful of quadcopters).... [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: exosuit, flight, helicopter, james bond, jetpack, quadcopter, remote control, submarine, thunderball, transportation
Companies: kickstarter

DailyDirt: Weapons To Fight Terrorists...

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Osama bin Laden's death has inspired quite a few stories about the military gear that special forces use against terrorists. It sounds like James Bond has inspired some of these weapons: stealth helicopters, dogs with titanium teeth... Here are a few more examples of these weapons.

• The stealth helicopter that was used in Pakistan to get Osama bin Laden has publicized its previously unknown existence. Aviation geeks think it was probably a modified H-60 Blackhawk. [url]
• Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) fitted with conventional warheads (instead of nukes) have been considered for bombing terrorists, but ICBMs have the drawback of triggering nuclear war alerts. Instead, hypersonic gliders could be used to deliver bombs anywhere in the world in less than an hour (or your money back?). [url]
• Maybe we can't have sharks with lasers attached to their heads, but we *can* have German Shepherds with titanium teeth, body armor, IR cameras and oxygen masks. Don't mess with dogs that have titanium teeth... [url]
• Aerial surveillance from a quadcopter drone can be used to track a person from over 2 miles away. So far, it seems like only South American drug cartels have had to worry about these drones, but that could change anytime. [url]
• To discover more interesting war-related stuff, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: hypersonic glider, icbms, quadcopter, weapons