Thursday, February 21, 2013

The Rise Of The Supertalls | Popular Science

The Rise Of The Supertalls | Popular Science: "Barely 18 months after 9/11, Baker returned to New York—this time to talk about designing the world’s tallest building. The firm won the contract; six years later, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai topped out at 2,717 feet, more than half a mile tall."

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Fusion Power Could Happen Sooner Than You Think | Popular Science

Fusion Power Could Happen Sooner Than You Think | Popular Science: "In a presentation that seems ripped from the Atomic Age, Lockheed Skunkworks says it might be a decade away from producing a power plant based on compact fusion reactors. Unlike current nuclear reactors, all of which use fission, nuclear fusion does not easily produce materials that can be used in nuclear weapons. Fusion reactors also offer better containment, easier shutoff, greater energy efficiency, and less radioactive waste than their fissioning cousins. Of course, with something this promising, there has to be a catch."

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Frenchman nails perfect backflip ... in a Mini

Frenchman nails perfect backflip ... in a Mini: "Despite what you may have seen in movies and TV shows, cars aren’t generally much good for aerial acrobatic work. That hasn’t stopped professional skier and rally driver Guerlain Chicherit combining his two areas of expertize to become the first person in the world to perform an unassisted backflip in a car and execute a perfect landing on a bed of fresh powder snow."

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McLaren reveals P1 engine details – and it's a hybrid

McLaren reveals P1 engine details – and it's a hybrid: "We’ve seen the early images and taken a peek at the carbon fiber interior, but now McLaren has seen fit to let slip the finer details of just what's powering the P1. The long-awaited successor to the mighty F1 will sport both a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 petrol engine, and an electric motor – each of which combine to push out a total of 903 bhp, and 900 Nm of torque."

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NASA's basement nuclear reactor

NASA's basement nuclear reactor: "If Joseph Zawodny, a senior scientist at NASA’s Langley Research Center, is correct, the future of energy may lie in a nuclear reactor small enough and safe enough to be installed where the home water heater once sat. Using weak nuclear forces that turn nickel and hydrogen into a new source of atomic energy, the process offers a light, portable means of producing tremendous amounts of energy for the amount of fuel used. It could conceivably power homes, revolutionize transportation and even clean the environment"

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