In an exciting invention, a British engineer has built a high-tech, winged submersible that claims to “fly” beneath the water.

Dubbed the Super Falcon Submersible (and resembling Thunderbird 4), it can reach a depth of up to 1,500 feet and move through the ocean at 6 knots – that is, about 7 miles a hour. It has a range of nearly 25 nautical miles.

“After 20 years of prototyping, Super Falcon is our most advanced and elegant submersible yet, encompassing all the innovations we made in introducing underwater flight from the surface to the bottom of the ocean,” said Graham Hawkes.

The Super Falcon Submersible, which has a pressure hull made of carbon fibre, encompasses two cockpits with dual flight controls and instrumentation that are familiar to military pilots.

The craft can go down into the water at speeds of up to 200 feet a minute and can come up to the surface twice as fast – at a sped of 400 feet a minute.

According to its inventor, passengers would not have to worry about “the bends” because the cabin pressure remains at one atmosphere.

But the most interesting aspect is that the vessel can be “flown through 360 degrees or in a very smooth, near-silent horizontal flight for observation.”

The Super Falcon’s pitch, roll and yaw are controlled by “fly by wire” – that is, being operated using electrical signals.

Graham Hawkes says his invention is “advanced enough to go barrel-rolling with dolphins, spy-hopping with whales or searching for sunken galleons.”

To be on the safe side, the Super Falcon Submersible comes with an auto-return system that will bring the craft back to the surface in case it runs into trouble while under water. It also possesses life support for 24 hours even if a typical dive will not take more than 5 hours.

Anyone to be the first for a test drive? We’re in if anyone cares.

In an interesting development, a fish that can induce LSD-like hallucinations when consumed has been found in the waters of the United Kingdom.

The fish in question, the sarpa salpa species belonging to bream, is normally found in the Mediterranean and around South Africa.

The sarpa salpa fish that causes LSD-like hallucination

Britain’s DailyMail reported that Andy Giles, a fisherman, has said that he caught a sarpa salpa and right away recognized it by its gold stripes. Giles, 38, said he found the fish near Polperro in Cornwall, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain.

“We were trawling for lemon sole and hauled it up at the end of the day. After taking a photograph, I put it in the fish box and brought it back for experts. Perhaps, I should have taken it into town to sell to some clubbers!”

Experts say that, before this, there have only been three recordings of finding sarpa salpa in Britain’s waters and that the fish might have been attracted towards the north by warmer waters.

The fish is usually served in restaurants in the Mediterranean. However, there is but one catch— if the head of sarpa salpa is eaten, hallucinations, caused by the plankton that the fish eats, can last for many days!

It has been reported that, in 2006, two men in southern France – one of them aged 90 – suffered hallucinations and nightmares for days together after eating sarpa salpa.

LSD (d-lysergic acid diethylamide), one of the most potent mood-changing chemicals, was discovered in 1938. It is made out of lysergic acid, which is found in ergot, a fungus that grows on rye and other grains.

So anyone for some sarpa salpa?

The melting of one of the world’s largest ice-sheet would alter earth’s gravity changing the rotation in space and thereby forcing a rise in sea level along the coasts. A big loss of mass from the Southern Hemisphere would effectively make a pull of gravity stronger in the Northern Hemisphere, leading to a change in the pattern of rotation of the Earth.

This redistribution of mass would also affect the Earth’s rotation, which in turn would cause water to build up along the North American continent and in the Indian Ocean, said Professor Jonathan Bamber of Bristol University.

Vesleskarvet - a small nunatak in Antarctica

Scientists feel that North America would experience an average sea level increase of 25-percent. That is expected to cause catastrophic floods where cities such as New York and San Francisco could get hit by some sort of tsunamis.

However, the same scientists believe that the rise in sea levels would not be affected by the melting of ice into the oceans. And that’s something that Bill addressed a while ago …

[via Carbon-Based]

Duke Energy is determined to alter the traditional power plants from where North Carolina gets its electricity. No more conventional sources as Duke Energy would build up to 400 electricity generating mini solar plants through the stretch of the state in a $50 million proposal cleared by the NC Utilities Commission.

Duke Energy is futuristic with its low-carbon world strategy where electricity would be generated from natural sources like the sun and wind. Solar panels would be installed on roofs and grounds of the willing owners and the energy generated would be transmitted to a single grid from where it could power some 1300 homes.

This initiative is the first and largest of its kind where distributed generation involving numerous micro-generating sites would be on demonstration. Duke Energy will own and maintain these panels for the expected lifespan of 25 years.

Rental fee would be paid to the property owners where these installations would be stationed. The amount to be paid would depend on the size of the installation and the amount of power generated. The project would be completed in the next two years.

So if you’re from North Carolina would you sign such a deal? Would it be a good business for you?

[via Cleanergy] (Image by sakraft1)

With 12% of the total bird species listed as critically endangered, it’s no surprise that this year three more joined the list.

Ethiopian Sidamo Lark

The Ethiopian Sidamo Lark could potentially become the first African bird to be declared extinct with the Savanna getting thronged with more bushes. Then there are the medium tree finch from Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands and the gorgeted puffleg from the Columbian Islands. All these birds have been categorized as critically endangered in the Red List formulated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Galapagos Tree Finch

What’s funny (in a wrong way) is that the puffleg has only been recently discovered (in 2005), but as a consequence of coca farming in the Columbian mountains, it’s now on the verge of extinction.

Colombian Gorgeted Puffleg

Call it a relief, but there are some bird species where things improved. The Chatham petrel from New Zealand, the Mauritius fody and the Brazilian Lear’s macaw (increased four times in number), all moved from the critically endangered to the endangered bracket. Which is great!

[via dailymail] (Images courtesy of birdlife, stirwise, birdlife)

Pacific Gas & Electric on Wednesday announced it has gone into solar-power contracts with Oakland’s BrightSource Energy to produce a total of 1,310 megawatts of electricity. That’s enough to power 530,000 California homes during peak hours— 12 noon – 7pm.

Solar farm by BrightSource Energy

Go California! Wait! Let me check my PG&E bill. Somebody has to pay for this.

The new agreement includes seven power plants. This is in addition to a deal the two companies struck in April 2008. In that deal 900 megawatts would come from solar thermal power.

BrightSource now has 2,610 megawatts under contract. The new PG&E contract is the largest. BrightSource folk say their output represents more than 40 percent of all large-scale solar thermal contracts in the United States.

“The solar thermal projects announced today exemplify PG&E’s commitment to increasing the amount of renewable energy we provide to our customers throughout Northern and central California,” senior vice president of energy supply for PG&E, said in a statement. “Through these agreements with BrightSource, we can harness the sun’s energy to meet our customers’ power requirements when they need it most — during hot summer days.”

CEO of BrightSource Energy, said the additional contracts came about after BrightSource showed off its technology in Israel with results that were “at or above all the specifications.”

“It proved to them that our technology works. They saw us executing and delivering” efficient solar energy production.

Gov. Schwarzenegger terminated in “more evidence that reliable, renewable and pollution-free technology is here to stay and sunshine will eventually power hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across our golden state.”

Construction costs for BrightSource will be at least $3 billion and the facilities will be located in the southwestern deserts of California, Nevada and Arizona. The first plant, a 110-megawatt facility at Ivanpah in eastern San Bernardino County will begin operation by 2012.

What I want to know is who is going to pay for this? More specifically, how much will my PG&E bill be going up each month to fund this new venture?

The Coral Triangle needs no introduction as nature lovers admire it as one of God’s finest creations. Famous for coral reefs and mangroves, sooner than expected the entire stretch of water could soon lose everything.

If by now two-thirds of the coral reefs have already been destroyed by overfishing, industrial waste and climate distortion, everything is expected to be lost unless measures are being taken care of. Clearly speaking, it would only take another four decades for these reefs to be history .

Considering the fact that the life of people around this area is heavily dependent on the income generated from related marine life and its mangroves, the diminishing coral reefs could spell disaster for 100 of the 150 million natives.

The report also mentions that by 2050 food supplies would have been halved and that by the end of this century, 80-percent of the food would have be gone and there would hardly be any fresh water available courtesy of the swamping seas.

The only choice people would be left with is to flee to adjoining areas like Australia and New Zealand, thereby breaking down any cultural and traditional values.

With the area already ahead of the worst case scenario, there is very little time left to react, if at all.

[via Guardian] (Image courtesy of thespis377)

Electronic Gadgets a Rising Threat to the Environment

The world is doomed for sure and as per the International Energy Agency, even your iPod is contributing.

The stark reality is that we people are aware of the ill effects of greenhouses gases but, we still do not want to make a difference.

For those curious as to how we can contribute in saving our planet from this evil, even the judicious usage of electricity consumed by our doodads could help.

if we continue to ignore our role by 2030 the energy consumption coming from our beloved gadgets could triple, hitting a whopping 1,700 terawatt hours. And if that doesn’t scare you …

The world would have to build around 200 new nuclear power plants just to power all the TVs, iPods, PCs and other home electronics expected to be plugged in by 2030, when the global electric bill to power them will rise to $200 billion a year, the IEA said.

Needless to say that the increased need for energy would take the greenhouse gases level to … the next level.

Consumers alone cannot make a difference as the manufacturers also have to contribute by developing gadgets that could run on minimalistic specified standards. We are constantly being made aware of the ill-effects of gas guzzlers, the addition of consumer electronics is another surprise.

Imagine a world without commuters and gadgets! Even the thought is distressing. Don’t you think it’s better to play rational and be the good stewards Earth needs?

[via Timesonline] (Image courtesy of ibrotons)

For those who wish to make exercise more fun than labor and also for those who are in the habit of making excuses to shun exercise, here is a tempting idea from the Dutch that combines taking your baby/babies along with you while you exercise.

The makers of the Taga — which is a combination of a stroller and a bicycle, claim that the device is “a feat of engineering genius”. It’s an unique design that easily converts (in only 20seconds) from a regular stroller to a bicycle-carrier and even to a double-seat stroller, thus making it easy for the mother to exercise with her children.

The Taga weighs 44 pounds to 64 pounds, depending on the configuration. It has an aluminum-alloy frame, an internal Shimano gear system as well as front, rear, and parking brakes.

The Taga will, in addition to the existing ‘trike’ and stroller models, soon have options for a double-child seat, a car seat, shopping basket, and a wooden double-seat trailer. At present, the Taga is available only in Europe, at a price of £1,695, but the contraption is hoped to make its debut in the United States sooner than later.

[via TreeHugger]

Here is a mighty good example of how apparently “useless” objects— however big they are, could be put to good use.

Since the officials of the city of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, were not prepared to let go waste three abandoned sewage treatment silos, they invited proposals, on a competitive basis, in order to settle on the best use that these structures can be put to use.

An interesting and practical proposal came from NL Architects, based in Amsterdam, suggesting that the huge silos be turned into climbing towers. The silos would also house multi-purpose areas, offices, restaurants and such other commercial spaces.

According to the plan put forward by NL Architects, in the fashion of the Denmark Water Tower Renovation, the roofs of two towers of Amsterdam’s silos could be extended up to 18 meters – the maximum height the towers could support.

(more…)