RORMaxx – Wind Powered Sports Car

Much better idea than the big airplane propellers some designs use.

“Rory Handel and Max Bricklin, both of Harvard-Westlake High School, are responsible for the wind driven concept and they have every intention of following through with the idea. Handel has a passion for motor racing and there is no doubting that his racing ambitions played a part in designing the RORMaxx. Powering the RORMaxx is a 285 horsepower AC electric motor. Power will be provided via Lithium-Phosphate batteries that can be charged through solar paneling mounted on the body of the vehicle. On a sunny day, the solar power could extend the overall range by 15%-30%. The body and frame of the RORMaxx will be kept as light as possible to keep the required level of power down. The F1 inspired shell is expected to be aluminum based with steel being used only when necessary. Light-weight Magnesium racing wheels with M composite tires will keep the RORMaxx on the tarmac without adding too much weight. Once the vehicle is moving, the forward motion will be used to route air into 4 ducts, each one housing a small turbine. The turbines will be connected to ultra-capacitors that will store the charge until it is needed. The capacitors will provide for quicker acceleration off the line and when coming out of turns.” – Source

Basic EVO Questions (and much more on electron clusters)

Ken Shoulders writes; “View of Existing Science – What I say about EVOs is viewed as the ultimate heretical doctrine by established and entrenched science because my vanguard statement is that many sacrosanct laws of present, single particle physics are baloney when considered from the multi-universe view I advance. For example: neither charge nor mass is fixed in magnitude and energy does not equal mass times the velocity of light squared. In addition, matter, even biological life forms, can be teleported with ease in concealed form at thousands of times the velocity of light. Nuclear transmutation is a trivial act, as many cold fusion workers have already revealed. This is dissent heresy from a normal, existing science point of view.
- Source and all his articles and papers in pdf, doc and ppt form.

As Local Ingenuity Generates Electricity. . .

This is novel in that it uses a CD as the reflector. I’ve been saving faulty burned CDs thinking I should build a parabolic mirror to heat my water tank or maybe make steam to run a generator.

“Though no one could trace the exact origins of the invention, one thing that is sure is that it must have started as a hobby by a talented individual somewhere who thereafter decided to test its acceptability. And just like any other invention that started as an idea, this one is really working. It uses no petrol or kerosene and is fabricated by local technicians. Hawked on the streets of Lagos by young boys at very affordable price, this small box that has been christened ‘doju ti NEPA’ meaning ‘putting NEPA to shame’ is indeed putting the PHCN to shame by lighting up many homes that had for long been battling with epileptic power supply. Other users, probably out of ignorance, call it a solar lamp because of the reflective compact disc fitted to it that looks like a miniature solar panel. Though it may not be the perfect solution, it is meeting some immediate needs. The lighting box which comes with a switch to put in on and off is made up of a reflective used compact disc fitted with about four or five tiny globes that are powered by three batteries. The effect is indeed ‘electric’ whenever it is switched on as the bulbs reflect directly on the compact disc to produce a very bright light. The impact as well as the effect, many users would confirm, is even more than that from a 40 watts bulb. According to Mrs. Adekunle, “we later discovered that these are Hausa boys and the lighting box they were selling would be very useful especially with the way the Power Holding is treating us. I bought a set that evening and discovered that it is working. Now, we can sleep with our two eyes closed without the fear of an explosion. We put it on all night and it is very bright. We don’t need to go looking for kerosene or petrol as in the case of generator and we don’t have to exercise any fear of any fume as it is environmentally friendly.” – Source

Economic Crises Known to Spawn Innovation

“Given previous times of economic turmoil, the slogan “A crisis is the mother of invention” is a perfect description. Dramatic technological advancement usually follows an economic crisis because of the golden opportunity to newcomers given that old values are destroyed and entry barriers and the risk of failure are lowered. “Though 2009 faces the worst economic crisis in a century, a new technology or product that changes the world could emerge this year as well,” the paper said. Toyota Motor is developing an electronic car powered by an attached solar cell battery. The company’s ultimate goal is reportedly developing vehicles powered by solar energy that can be recharged at home via solar panels.” – Source

The Tissue of Youth

“To date, at least, that evidence supporting placenta as a health treatment is scant. One small, randomized clinical trial from Korea published this spring suggests that injections of placental extract may help relieve symptoms of menopause and fatigue… As for liver and skin, some work suggests that placental extract may stimulate the regeneration of liver cells—in rats, at least. This may happen partly because placenta contains hepatocyte growth factor, which supports liver cell growth and tissue development. But without clinical trials, it’s hard to know what the effects would be in people. The effects on skin are also fairly speculative. In theory, topical gels or creams containing placental extract might help chronic wounds to heal. That is plausible since placenta contains compounds that facilitate collagen formation and skin cell proliferation…” – Source

Engineers Developing Energy-harvesting Radios

This reminds me of the Tate Module which extracted electricity from ambient radio and TV signals.

The Ambient Power Module (APM) is a simple electronic circuit which, when connected to antenna and earth ground, will deliver low voltage up to several milliwatts. The amount of voltage and power will be determined by local radio noise levels and antenna dimensions

Generally a long wire antenna about 100′ long and elevated in a horizontal position about 30′ above ground works best. A longer antenna may be required in some locations. Any type copper wire, insulated or not, may be used for the antenna. More details about the antenna and ground will be discussed further on.

The actual circuit consists of two oppositely polarized voltage doublers (Figure 1). The DC output of each doubler is connected in series with the other to maximize voltage without using transformers. Single voltage doublers were often found in older TV sets for converting 120 VAC to 240 VDC. In the TV circuit the operating frequency is 60 Hz.

“K-State engineers are looking at the design challenges of a radio system like this. Kuhn and Zhang have been working on the project for a little more than a year. They are creating a demonstration to test how far the signals can travel from the sensors. Zhang constructed a demonstration board using solar cells from inexpensive calculators to power the radio. The board has capacitors that capture and store the light energy to power the radio without a battery. Although this prototype captures and stores light energy, Kuhn said that energy-harvesting radios could be powered by a number of different ways, including by electrochemical, mechanical or thermal energy. The demonstration board that Zhang created includes a microprocessor to store data before it’s transmitted via radio. When the stored data is ready to be transmitted, the radio sends out a data-burst. In Zhang’s model, this happens every five seconds. It may just sound like a “blip,” but that burst contains data that a computer can translate into meaningful information, such as telling an engineer the stress or strain on the underside of a bridge. Kuhn said that it’s kind of like sending a text message from one cell phone to another: After data are transmitted through the air, the recipient’s cell phone turns that data back into text that can be understood. Kuhn and Zhang are stepping in to perfect the radio system design. This includes determining which frequencies to use based on how the environment affects radio waves indoors versus outdoors. They also have to look at how noise and other factors may limit the sensitivity of the receiver that’s getting the data from all of the sensors. Because these sensors save data in their microprocessors, Kuhn and Zhang are working on timing and wake-up commands that tell the sensors when to send the stored information to the receiver. Through engineering analysis, they are determining tradeoffs between power requirements, data-rate and transmission range issues.” – Source