When you watch this dancing robot strut his stuff, you'll know why it won first place in Austria's annual Hexapod Robot Competition.
Colorized environmental scanning electron microscope photo of Gliocladium roseum, an endophtic fungus that produces myco-diesel hydrocarbons. (Photo courtesy of Gary Strobel.)
In a Patagonian rainforest, plant pathologist Gary Strobel has discovered a previously unknown species of fungus that excretes gases including at least eight hydrocarbons that are the most abundant ingredients in diesel fuel.
"This is the only organism that has ever been shown to produce such an important combination of fuel substances," said Strobel, a professor at Montana State University. "The fungus can even make these diesel compounds from cellulose, which would make it a better source of biofuel than anything we use at the moment."
Unlike other biofuels which must be broken down into less complex sugars for biological processing, Gliocladium roseumcan makes its hydrocarbons directly from cellulose, the fibrous material found in wheat, switch grass, corn stalks, rice straw, and even wood chips.
"This means that if the fungus was used to make fuel, a step in the production process could be skipped," says Strobel who suggests that G. roseum could be grown in factories, like baker's yeast, instead of on valuable farmland.
Diesel is normally obtained from crude oil. The startling discovery of G. roseum calls into question the accepted theory that oil is formed from the remains of dead plants and animals that have been exposed to heat and pressure for millions of years. "If fungi like this are producing myco-diesel all over the rainforest, they may have contributed to the formation of fossil fuels," says Strobel.
Ford Fiesta ECOnetic Photo: autobloggreen.com
Ford, one of the carmakers taking a beating from Congress and the American people for its reliance on gas-guzzling SUVs, actually manufactures a car that gets 65 miles the gallon. It's the Fiesta ECOnetic but we can't have it. Ford sells this little gas miser only in Europe. Why? Because it runs on diesel and, the common wisdom holds, Americans won't buy diesel cars even though diesel technology is now as clean, or cleaner, than gasoline-powered engines. Question: If the price of diesel fuel were equivalent to that of gasoline, would you purchase a diesel vehicle? Why or why not?
Rusty shovels and wheelbarrows, old oil drums and car parts – any disreputable, likely-to-be-discarded steel objects – are turned into lacy-looking, decorative art with an oxyacetylene torch and the keen eye of artist/welder Cal Lane. These "industrial doilies," as Ms. Lane calls them, mirror the yin yang forces of delicate and strong, industrial and domestic, and masculine and feminine. Who knew a welding torch could do all that?
Photo credit: U.S. Air Force Museum
First (and only) man to reach the speed of sound without an aircraft
On August 16, 1960, Air Force Captain Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., jumped from an open balloon gondola at 102,800 feet, breaking the sound barrier with his body as he descended. The jump, which lasted 13 minutes, 45 seconds and included a four-minute, 37-second freefall, set a world high-altitude parachute-jump record that stands to this day.
The jump was undertaken to help the Air Force determine whether crew members could parachute safely from disabled aircraft flying in the stratosphere. And yes, even at that early date, the jump was captured on film. To see amazing footage of this remarkable achievement visit Google Video.