Vertical Vegetation
Someone needs to use these as pixels and make this wall display information!
More great buildings with vertical vegetation over at WebEcoist
photos Category
Shelby Creates Worlds Fastest Electric Car, Charges in 10 Mins
Shelby is building The world’s fastest electric production car with a ten minute charge time. It’s a great time to be alive!
[Shelby SuperCars | via jalopnik]
Hover Bot Scares You to Death and Then Kills You
click image to view full resolution photo (6.2 MB jpeg)
Lockheed Martin Press Release:
Lockheed Martin announced today that its team successfully conducted a free-flight hover test of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s Multiple Kill Vehicle-L. Conducted Dec. 2 at the National Hover Test Facility at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., the test met all objectives.
During an engagement with the enemy, the MKV-L with its cargo of kill vehicles will maneuver into the threat complex to intercept all lethal targets, along with any countermeasures the enemy may deploy in an attempt to trick the system. With tracking data from the Ballistic Missile Defense System and its own seeker, the MKV-L will dispense and guide the kill vehicles to destroy multiple targets.
The full-scale prototype flew at an altitude of approximately 23 feet (7 meters) for 20 seconds, maneuvering while simultaneously tracking a target.
“This test demonstrated the integrated operation of the MKV-L in near-earth flight,” said Rick Reginato, Multiple Kill Vehicle program director, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. “This represents a major step forward for the earliest operational payload designed to destroy multiple threat objects with a single missile defense interceptor.”
The test was the first of several to prove MKV readiness for complex flight testing aboard the Ballistic Missile Defense System’s ground-based interceptor currently deployed in Alaska and Southern California.
“Testing the payload in the ground-based, controlled flight environment at the National Hover Test Facility enables us to verify interoperation of components and subsystems as they are incrementally developed and integrated,” said Randy Riley, MKV-L Hover Test Bed program director, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company.
The MKV-L Hover Test Bed development team for the Missile Defense Agency includes: Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Sunnyvale, Calif., prime contractor; Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Canoga Park, Calif.; and Octant Technologies, San Jose, Calif.
[press release | direct link to video (16 MB of .wmv suckage) | via engadget]
Solar Lantern Stays On Forever!
This luminaire is made up of 36 tiny solar panels that power a series of internal lights. The panels are laid out in a circular fashion to ensure that they’ll capture the most sunlight possible. This charges the the battery for night time use!
[Design by Damien O'Sullivan | via make]
E. Kevin Schöpfer Designs the Yacht of Your Futuristic Dreams
E. Kevin Schöpfer has designed a really amazing yacht. Click on the images to view them larger.
Oculus is the first “design launch” of Schöpfer Yachts LLC. This 250-foot vessel was designed by E. Kevin Schöpfer, founder and owner of his namesake company.
Designed to accommodate 12 guests in extraordinary comfort and style, Oculus is a long distance cruising yacht capable of speeds upwards of 25 knots.
The exterior styling is representative of the jaw and eye socket bone structure of large oceanic fish and mammals. Featuring a dramatic reverse bow configuration, the yacht’s armature balances an elegant expression of symmetry and structure.
In addition to the bow, Oculus also features a “low rider profile”. This slightly lowered surface allows for new side recreational areas, alternate dockage access and light cruising openness. Lateral retractable side panels close this area when heavier wave action is indicated.
The interior features of Oculus focus on a 12 foot high ceiling in the main salon, a cylindrical double height dining room, central stair and elevator tube, and seemingly anatomical ceiling and floor lighting extensions giving definition to the seating areas.
The second level is the dedicated Owner’s suite. Living areas and bedchambers are divided by a series of four freestanding tubes, which house bath and storage necessities.
In addition to the main common stair, the second Owner’s stair connects to the third level aft private salon and deck / water feature.
The third level also contains the forward pilothouse and separate captain’s quarters. The generous open decks with separate water features are located forward and aft for convenient guest use. Specifications and plans are in the final stages of completion and will be posted at a later time.
Ronald ‘Captain Obvious’ Arkin’s Theory: Robots More Ethical Than Humans in Battle
The New York Times has an interesting piece on the morality and use of lethal autonomous robots on the battlefield of the future.
Here are some choice cuts from the article:
He and others say that the technology to make lethal autonomous robots is inexpensive and proliferating, and that the advent of these robots on the battlefield is only a matter of time.
“My research hypothesis is that intelligent robots can behave more ethically in the battlefield than humans currently can,” said Ronald C. Arkin
“this is not a ‘Terminator’-style science fiction but grim reality.”
In a report to the Army last year, Dr. Arkin described some of the potential benefits of autonomous fighting robots. For one thing, they can be designed without an instinct for self-preservation and, as a result, no tendency to lash out in fear. They can be built without anger or recklessness, Dr. Arkin wrote, and they can be made invulnerable to what he called “the psychological problem of ‘scenario fulfillment,’ ” which causes people to absorb new information more easily if it agrees with their pre-existing ideas.
Dr. Arkin said he could imagine a number of ways in which autonomous robot agents might be deployed as “battlefield assistants”
Burj Dubai Photo – Almost Done
click on the picture to see it at full size
[See more dubai pictures and videos here and here | photo by fabidou]
Robot Keeps Your Plant in the Sun
Make:
This chair-like robot consists of a planter with robotic legs and some circuitry to detect sunlight levels in the room. When the robot finds the brightest spot it scurries on its legs over in that direction in order to give the plant the most exposure. This reminds us a bit of the “Photosynthesis Robot” by FutureFarmers, although this one would probably be a more manic version of the project.
Carcade: Augmented Reality In Car Video Game. You’ll Never Look Out The Window the Same Way Again
ar / augmented reality / cars / gaming / photos / transportation / videogames / videos
October 8, 2008 0
“Carcade is a concept for an in-car videogame for the passengers, which captures the landscape and uses it as a videogame environment. Existing objects, for example trees and architecture, are recognized by the camera and enhanced by videogame assets. The game is influenced by the manner of driving of the car. If the driver accelerates, the game becomes increasingly difficult. If the car comes to a stop a different game situation evolves. We developed a small game concept and a functional prototype, with which we did a test drive on the street. A webcam is connected to a laptop running camera tracking software which recognizes the horizon and objects in the environment. The player has to maneuver a spaceship and collect points whilst trying to avoid crashing into oncoming enemies.”