Air Scooter

Some guys in Switzerland have designed and built retrofit of a compressed air power drive for one of those low cost electric scooters.

It appears that they have mounted two compressed air tanks near the seat. It appears to be a very quiet running vehicle. Contact the designers for further info.





Recommended Links:
- Air Powered Vehicles community forum

Cliff Railway

(NOTE: See video below)

In the UK, Wales more specifically, there is a place called Center for Alternative Technology.


Of the many things to do and see there is the:
“Water balanced cliff railway“

What is fascinating about this railway is that they are using a reservoir of water as their energy source to transport the people up the hill. The train uses water to increase the weight of rail car to allow the other to go up. A variation of this cold be applied to a people moving railway system to take people over the Sepulveda pass(on or along side the 405 freeway). This could mean that transporting from west Los Angeles to Sherman Oaks in the San Fernando Valley could be don by water stored in reservoirs up at the top of Sepulveda pass. And if the reservoir some how did not have enough water some day, water could be pumped into the reservoir using electricity. The electricity could be many renewable sources, and be done off peak time. The water in the reservoir could also be an energy storage device for electricity.

Here is an overview video clip from C.A.T. (Center for Alternative Technology)

Amphibious Bike

This bicycle has 4 pontoons which can retract or be extended for either riding the bicycle on land or on water. This kind of bike may be valuable to have in places prone to flooding especially in these times of global warming. The pontoons can also be used for dry storing cargo in and out of flood zones like in England's recent flood area(see 2nd video below)

This bike might be a bike that James Bond (agent 007) might ride in one of his films. However, his might come with an electric motor that gives it super speed in on land and water through an electric hub motor. And a seat behind him to carry his female spy master.



Here is video news report from the the recent floods in southern England.

Kyoto Trike

This Kyoto Trike can be pedaled by one or two people. It is set in recumbent bike fashion. And in one scene you can see it demonstrated with an electric hub motor in the front wheel. This trike can have a full canopy and/or shell installed to provide wind, rain, and cold protection. The shell would also provide a velomobile aerodynamics to reduce drag and allow for faster speeds and more energy efficiency.

Propeller Bike

This propeller bicycle is featured in the July 2007 issue of Popular Mechanics along with some other interesting DIY projects such as an electric three wheeled bike dragster made from a fighter jet gas tank, an electric motorcycle, and a biodiesel motorcycle.

Fastest Train

In a previous post, I spoke and shared a video of a high speed maglev(magnetic levitation) Train in China(LINK).

Apparently, the French have been seeking and achieving world speed records for trains with the TGV. And most recently they have gotten it up to 547 kilometers per hour(approx 357 miles per hour).

See a video of it in action below.


Video Description:

"The french TGV (train à grande vitesse, High speed train) sets a new conventional rail record, with a speed of 574.8 kmh. The record was established on April 3,2007, surpassing the previous record of 1990 (515.3kmh). The train is a special tgv, named "V150" (for 150 met/sec, ca. 540kmh)with a souded-up engine (25,000hp, like two F1 starting grids), and larger wheels.

Le TGV atteint la vitesse de 574.8 kmh, établissant un nouveau record du monde de vitesse sur rail. Le record est établi le 3 avril 2007, surpassant le précédent record de 1990 (515.3kmh). Le train est un tgv spécial, avec des moteurs survitaminés (25,000 cv, l'équivalent de deux grilles de départ de F1), des roues plus larges...

(france 2 coverage-couverture france 2"

Cartoon Caption

Anyone have any idea what the caption on this cartoon says? It appears to be in Finnish language(Finland)
It appears to be a guy, standing next and point at a bicycle he is holding while looking at a guy with a big stomach and short legs and arms, sitting on a moped, whom is holding a bag of chips.


And if even if you don't know what the caption reads. Do you have any suggestions for a funny caption to this cartoon? If so, send it to me or post it in the comments. Thanks.

AirPowered GoKart

This is a video news report about a homebuilt (garage built DIY do it yourself) compressed air powered go cart. It is a small version of an air car. It has about 3 compressed air tanks for energy storage. And one or more of them may be scuba tanks.



Please forward me the english translation of this French language news report so I may post the text. Thanks

Live Earth

Happy Live Earth everyone (7.7.07). Michael Jackson sings the "Earth Song"(includes subtitles)

Psychic bicyclists

This is an interview with a bicycling psychic in Venice Beach.

"Naked" Skating...

This video report (see below) presents perhaps a community, philosophical issue. One, is it acceptable to skate or rollerblade on beach bike paths? And is it ok to bike or skate on beach bike paths in various flavors of nudity or dress?

Additionally, in this case of Jennifer, did the police selectively single her out for offence of "skating on the beach bike path" because the police could see some of her pubic hair?

In other "civilized" countries around the world, such as France, Netherlands, and other countries, nudity seems to be much more accepted, tolerated, and dare I say "enjoyed", and legal than it seems to be in the U.S. (see video "Sex, Drugs, and Democracy" a documentary about the Netherlands "Holland" )



In the bike path arrest video (Venice/Santa Monica area), "Jennifer" talks about being arrested by the LAPD. She says the police(LAPD) charged her "being a pedestrian on the (Santa Monica) bike path"(rollerblading on the bike path) and for "showing to much pubic hair in public" while skating.

This story presents an interesting topic regarding the subject of should people be allowed to enjoy the beach with or without clothes, including sun bathing, bicycling, running or skating on the Santa Monica bike path.

And this presents to subject, if someone is arrested because they were skating naked or with not enough clothes, is that a violation of their freedom of speech or other liberties guaranteed by the United States Constitution.

Perhaps the community may like to explore creating free "skin zones" perhaps where people can skate bike, run walk with freedom to wear as much or little clothes as they like. And perhaps such a place could reasonably exist where the sun shines and people enjoying bathing their skin in clean ocean breezes and nourishing sun. I welcome feedback.

Video Description:
JENNIFER TALKING ABOUT HER LAPD ARREST

Related Posts:
- Skating Santa Monica (video link)

Smart Fortwo

Ok guys. I would like to present two videos of not on the new Smart Car (2007) called "Smart Fortwo".

Both of these videos present a little dilemma. Ok, yes, these cars can be parked perpendicularly along the curb street parking. However, existing California law states that when parking a car along a curb "...the front and back wheels must be parallel and within 18 inches of the curb." This law would make it illegal, technically, to park a smart car in the most space saving fashion, perpendicularly.(source: DMV.CA.GOV )

Maglev Train

With a train (Maglev) like this one in China, we could transport people (and their bicycle) from Los Angeles to San Francisco in about an hour to an hour and a half time.



Video description:

During the 2007 Shanghai Auto Show, our guys hopped on the Shanghai Maglev Train which reaches a beautiful 250mph. Another video short from WINDING ROAD Magazine. www.windingroad.com/videos

Corp Transport

Tyson Slocum from "Public Citizen", speaking at the "Taming The Corporation Conference"(June 2007-Washington D.C.)
He was speaking on "Public Control over Energy and Transportation"