June 2010 ~ SP.ACE Success Contributors

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Fastest Electric Motorcycle

What you're looking at is the MotoCzysz E1pc, the world's fastest electricmotorcycle. Also, worst named. MotoCzysz E1pc, really? Sounds like a retarded computer hacker.

Even though it looks like multiple rows of batteries with two wheels on either side, it's the most advanced motorcycle in the world.

You're looking at lots of batteries there, 10 times the capacity of the Toyota Prius, giving this crotch rocket enough power to blast it to 140 mph, way beyond the next-fastest electric motorcycle.

140mph?! That's 14x faster than I feel safe on a motorcycle. Kidding, I'm a speed demon. Plus ~~cock goblin~~ meth monster. YAAAARGH! See? No teeth.

Hit the jump for a closeup of the batteries and a video of the bike in action.

store food in gross-looking gel

3digg

This is Russian designer Yuriy Dmitriev's take on the future of the humble refrigerator. Forget everything you know about fridges with shelves and doors and cooling. You don't need any of that. You just need a creepy green gel.

So, what is that stuff? The Electrolux blog — which lists Dmitriev's concept as one of 25 semifinalists for this year's Electrolux Design Lab contest — describes it as a "biopolymer gel," or more specifically a "non-sticky, odorless gel." You simply plunge whatever you want to keep fresh into the mass of your Bio Robot fridge and it'll stay where you left it until you come back.

The concept may be out there, but you have to admit it's an attractive idea. Imagine a kitchen without a big, clunky fridge, but instead something sleek, slim and colorful like the Bio Robot. Then again, when you have company over they'd be able to analyze your diet at a glance. Hey, Dmitriev, I know you're tearing down refrigerator walls here, but maybe we can still keep the door?

Here's a bigger version you can click on:

A Floating Museum

Physalia A museum, nightclub and filtration system, Physalia uses its hull and rooftop plants to scrub away pollution. Courtesy Vincent Callebaut Architecture

Physalia is half-boat, half-building, and all green. This mammoth aluminum concept by Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut is meant to travel Europe’s rivers, making filthy water drinkable. At the same time, the ship generates more energy than it uses.

A coat of titanium dioxide paint brushed onto the silvery shell will neutralize pollution by absorbing ultraviolet rays, enabling a chemical reaction that decomposes organic and inorganic toxins. (It’s the same technology used in certain high-tech concrete that breaks down airborne particulates.) As the vessel whips along, purifying waterways, it can draw on both solar and hydro power. Turbines under the hull transform water movement into electricity, and rooftop photovoltaic cells harness energy from the sun. The roof doubles as a nursery, whose carefully selected plants help filter river gunk, whether from the Thames, Rhine or Euphrates.

But Physalia isn’t just designed to be a working ship. The vessel will also be a floating museum of sorts. Scientists who study aquatic ecosystems can hole up in the dedicated “Earth garden” lab, and tourists can visit temporary exhibits in a “water garden” or settle into a submerged lounge that could easily pass for a London nightclub. Callebaut, 33, dreamed up the idea after last year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen shone a long-overdue spotlight on global water issues. He has some lofty terms for his project: It’s a “nomadic hydrodynamic laboratory,” a “fragment of living earth,” and a “floating agora” on a “geopolitical scale.” Others might just call it a cool idea.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

East Coast Park Activity

It was great weather and the evening warm up started before the run. This was the monthly physical activity project in line with our Core Value#10 "Stay Healthy" run and fun.