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Submarine Express

Currently, the Navy’s fastest submarine can only travel at 25 to 30 knots while submerged. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which commissions research for the Defense Department. Electric Boat, the company contracted to design the Underwater Express mini-sub that could potentially transport high-value cargo or small groups of people as fast as 100 knots. The vehicle would travel inside a large gas bubble created in the water, a process known as supercavitation. The bubble reduces drag, since the drag is much lower in air than in water, allowing the vehicle to travel at high speeds. Now this project is enter the testing phase, Electric Boat is woking on a quarter scale model, which if successful, Electric Boat will begin production on a full scale 100-foot submarine.
“The sub utilizes the phenomenon known as supercavitation. Supercavitation is the process wherein an object moves so fast through the water that it creates a gas bubble around itself, nearly eliminating drag. Unencumbered by the high drag of water, the object is free to speed along at much higher speeds than otherwise possible. Supercavitation has been known since the end of World War Two, and the Soviets succeeded in creating a torpedo that utilizes supercavitation for high-speed travel, but so far no one has succeeded in scaling the effect up to the size of a whole submarine.”

Via automotto, gizmodo, popsci

Wings and things

From the dawn of intellectual thought, man has been contemplating the idea of independent flight, soaring through the clouds, nothing between us and the earth’s surface. What if us humans had wings?

No doubt, airplanes were a huge step towards the independent flight of man, but in order to fly a plane, you have to be a licensed pilot, and who has the time and patience for all of that mess? A Swiss man named Yves Rossy has unveiled his personal flyer, a jet-powered set of wings which allows humans to act as airplanes, even performing plane stunts such as the figure eight.

48-year-old Rossy sprang into the air at 7,500-feet, jumping from the inside of a Pilatus Porter aircraft, with nothing but a pair of eight-feed wide wings standing between himself and the unforgiving Earth below. As Rossy’s free fall slowly evolved into a steady glide, four jet-turbines were ignited, accelerating the man to speeds of 186 miles per hour, or “about 65 miles per hour faster than the typical falling skydiver.”

“I still haven’t used the full potential,” Rossy told reporters, exclaiming his hope to one day use the wings for a fly through the Grand Canyon. He explains how there is almost no stress caused to the body while using the wings, how it’s almost like “riding a motorbike.” Though he still must wear a heat-resistant suit to protect him from the heat of the jet-engines, with the air temperature also assisting in cooling him down.

Rossy and his sponsors have poured about $285,000 and countless hours of labor into producing the personal flyer, and he won’t comment on how much the device might be if it were marketed to the public. Though one thing is for sure, thrill-seekers everywhere just got a glimpse of the future. Something to really look forward to.

Project Page via Yahoo News

The Shortest War

The shortest war was that between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar, from 9:02 am to 9:40 am on 27 August 1896, after only 38 minutes of bombardment. The UK ships of war under Rear-Admiral Harry Rawson (1843 - 1910) delivered a final statement to the self-appointed Sultan Said Khalid to evacuate his palace and surrender.