News Archives - March 2013

Car drives on energy you harvest in one day

Will it be possible for a new design of car to redress the imbalance that exists between much of technology and nature? Designer and engineer Jim Kor believes so and set out to build one of the most world’s most environmentally-sustainable powered vehicles; the Urbree is designed to efficiently store and use exactly the amount of solar and wind energy…

Bicycle inspired collapsible wheel

Not content with helping originate pneumatic tyres, ball bearings, asphalt roads, lightweight steel tubing and powered flight, cycling has brought the world the collapsible wheel. The folding wheel was originally conceived as a folding bicycle wheel by Duncan Fitzsimmons when he was a graduate student at the Royal College of Arts. Following much public attention and calls from the wheelchair…

Pedal-powered Popemobile for the people’s pontiff

Having already established a reputation as the Pope who takes the bus, Pope Francis will take another step towards cementing his image as the people’s pontiff when he takes delivery of the first ever pedal-powered Popemobile. The entirely carbon-neutral, pedal-powered Popemobile was originally commissioned by the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) after the previous pontiff, Pope Benedict, expressed his desire for…

Invisible bicycle: harder to steal?

It seems like however stout your lock or careful you are about where you leave your bicycle, thieves will find a way to pinch your pride and joy. So why not make it harder to spot in the first place? Artist and designer Jimmy Kuehnle has done just that. The bicycle has has built is almost entirely transparent, except for…

President Obama’s petrol limo has an Achilles heel: Diesel

It’s a tank masquerading as a stretched limo; 8-inch armour plating, solid tyres and independent air supply make it immune to bombs, missiles and chemical attack, but the US Presidential limousine, a car designed to carry and protect the world’s most powerful man has an Achilles heel – the petrol-powered, 8-ton vehicle is as vulnerable to mis-fuelling as the average family saloon when filled with…