Acura FCX 2020 Le Mans
Hydrogen fuel cell; "100 percent recyclable" lightweight materials; "nanotechnology would be involved somehow."
Credit: LA Auto Show
link to full article
Friday, February 2, 2007
Picture of the day
Acura FCX 2020 Le Mans
Hydrogen fuel cell; "100 percent recyclable" lightweight materials; "nanotechnology would be involved somehow."
Credit: LA Auto Show
link to full article
Quote of the day
Molecular nanotechnology promises to usher in the next Industrial Revolution and replace our entire manufacturing base with a new, radically precise, less expensive, and more flexible way of making products. These pervasive changes in manufacturing will leave virtually no product, process, or industry untouched. To be sure, nanotechnology has the potential to disrupt entire industries while leading to the creative destruction of current business models. It has already dramatically changed the competitive landscape of many industries worldwide including advanced materials/composites, aerospace/defense, automotive, energy, life sciences, medicine, electronics and semiconductors. Yet the future potential of nanotechnology depends on creating the tools that will enable us to effectively position molecules and build complex structures with atomically precise control. Every aspect of basic nanoscale science and the commercial production of nanotechnology will rely---first and foremost---on the capacity of these tools, instruments, metrology devices, and modeling/simulation applications to measure, sense, fabricate, and manipulate matter at the atomic level.
2006 SME Nanomanufacturing Conference
2006 SME Nanomanufacturing Conference
It is the year 2030
Get your motor runnin…
Even if it is silent. Fuel cells will finally bring about the “quiet car.” No sound when it “starts up” and none (other than the advanced composite tires on the road) as it moves along. You will, however, be able to broadcast sound effects; give it the sound of a 1970 SS 454 Chevelle, or tune it to be a street racer, or… And you won’t be needing those keys; biometrics will allow your car to recognize you as long as your wrist-comp remains connected to your personal ‘net. Once you approach close enough for the stereoscopic cameras to “verify” you, your car will automatically unlock the doors, prep your specified seat position and controls, upload your destination coordinates, and await your verbal command to get moving. Oh yeah, unless your override, all commands will be verbal, except steering, acceleration, and braking when in manual mode.
Head out on the highway…
Well, OK, it’ll be a sensor-monitored and -controlled highway. While drivers from 2007 will recognize it as such, functionally it will be very different. For one, you won’t need to do the driving, your car (assisted by the highway network) will do the driving for you. You’ll get to catch up on your email, do your nails, or any one of a million other tasks, all the while the hwy-net does the work. Need to arrive at your destination in less time than the tourists? No problem, just tell your car to choose one of the faster lanes.
Lookin’ for adventure…
How about a 100-mile long public track that simulates various driving conditions, including 90-degree banks, obstacle courses, and virtual landscapes? It will have the same sensor system as the highway, above, but will allow you to control steering, braking, and speed. Your new 2030 Pontiac NanoScorpion (built in a factory by trillions of nanomachines) will take you around the track at speeds as high as your body is able take the G-forces. Should you choose the “high speed” section of the track, wearing your military-grade flight suit enables you to withstand much higher G’s.
Or whatever comes my way.
Coming your way in 2030 will be “cars” serving as dial-a-ride public transport, autonomous ambulances (as well as manned versions with built in diagnosis and treatment functionality), recreation-specific, recyclable, fuel cell powered wonders.
They will not pollute when running, or when being dismantled for recycling. The processes used to construct them (and their materials) will contribute less to the waste stream and to general pollution (and may even amount to zero waste). They will protect you in crashes that today would turn you into a tangled mess, while avoiding over 90% of those that early 21st Century drivers experienced. They will also be highly customizable to their owner’s tastes, and convertible from one format (such as “dune buggy”) to another (such as “highway cruiser”) by simply mounting a new body (ten minutes at a “body shop”) and reconfiguring the suspension.
It is 2030, and things have definitely changed
Can you imagine driving in any major city, and being able to safely breathe the air?
Can you imagine being free from the idiocy surrounding the use of petroleum? Free from the latest nut case with a bomb, a grudge, or a fervor-of-the-week membership.
Imagine tomorrow’s automotive technologies; technologies that will allow your “car” to perform feats of exquisite ballet; coming to fetch you, delivering you on time, and giving you time to relax or catch up on your stuff. Protecting you from harm and being gentle on the environment, drastically reducing humanity’s negative impact on the Earth.
Even if it is silent. Fuel cells will finally bring about the “quiet car.” No sound when it “starts up” and none (other than the advanced composite tires on the road) as it moves along. You will, however, be able to broadcast sound effects; give it the sound of a 1970 SS 454 Chevelle, or tune it to be a street racer, or… And you won’t be needing those keys; biometrics will allow your car to recognize you as long as your wrist-comp remains connected to your personal ‘net. Once you approach close enough for the stereoscopic cameras to “verify” you, your car will automatically unlock the doors, prep your specified seat position and controls, upload your destination coordinates, and await your verbal command to get moving. Oh yeah, unless your override, all commands will be verbal, except steering, acceleration, and braking when in manual mode.
Head out on the highway…
Well, OK, it’ll be a sensor-monitored and -controlled highway. While drivers from 2007 will recognize it as such, functionally it will be very different. For one, you won’t need to do the driving, your car (assisted by the highway network) will do the driving for you. You’ll get to catch up on your email, do your nails, or any one of a million other tasks, all the while the hwy-net does the work. Need to arrive at your destination in less time than the tourists? No problem, just tell your car to choose one of the faster lanes.
Lookin’ for adventure…
How about a 100-mile long public track that simulates various driving conditions, including 90-degree banks, obstacle courses, and virtual landscapes? It will have the same sensor system as the highway, above, but will allow you to control steering, braking, and speed. Your new 2030 Pontiac NanoScorpion (built in a factory by trillions of nanomachines) will take you around the track at speeds as high as your body is able take the G-forces. Should you choose the “high speed” section of the track, wearing your military-grade flight suit enables you to withstand much higher G’s.
Or whatever comes my way.
Coming your way in 2030 will be “cars” serving as dial-a-ride public transport, autonomous ambulances (as well as manned versions with built in diagnosis and treatment functionality), recreation-specific, recyclable, fuel cell powered wonders.
They will not pollute when running, or when being dismantled for recycling. The processes used to construct them (and their materials) will contribute less to the waste stream and to general pollution (and may even amount to zero waste). They will protect you in crashes that today would turn you into a tangled mess, while avoiding over 90% of those that early 21st Century drivers experienced. They will also be highly customizable to their owner’s tastes, and convertible from one format (such as “dune buggy”) to another (such as “highway cruiser”) by simply mounting a new body (ten minutes at a “body shop”) and reconfiguring the suspension.
It is 2030, and things have definitely changed
Can you imagine driving in any major city, and being able to safely breathe the air?
Can you imagine being free from the idiocy surrounding the use of petroleum? Free from the latest nut case with a bomb, a grudge, or a fervor-of-the-week membership.
Imagine tomorrow’s automotive technologies; technologies that will allow your “car” to perform feats of exquisite ballet; coming to fetch you, delivering you on time, and giving you time to relax or catch up on your stuff. Protecting you from harm and being gentle on the environment, drastically reducing humanity’s negative impact on the Earth.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Picture of the day
Volkswagen Nanospyder
Recyclable; collision sensors; built by "billions of tiny nanomachines."
Credit: LA Auto Show
Quote of the day
"We envision biocompatible surgical nanorobots that can find and eliminate isolated cancerous cells, remove microvascular obstructions and recondition vascular endothelial cells, perform 'noninvasive' tissue and organ transplants, conduct molecular repairs on traumatized extracellular and intracellular structures, and even exchange new whole chromosomes for old ones inside individual living human cells."
~Robert A. Freitas, Jr. link
"I am certain that nanotechnology holds huge promise. In medicine. In energy. In computer processing. In so many areas. But unless environmental, health, and safety issues are addressed in a way that fosters public understanding and support for nanotechnology, that potential is in jeopardy. I, for one, am unwilling to let that happen."
~U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR)
"We're very optimistic that nanotechnology can markedly improve cancer therapy."
~James Baker, Director, the Michigan Nanotechnology Institute for Medicine and the Biological Sciences.
~Robert A. Freitas, Jr. link
"I am certain that nanotechnology holds huge promise. In medicine. In energy. In computer processing. In so many areas. But unless environmental, health, and safety issues are addressed in a way that fosters public understanding and support for nanotechnology, that potential is in jeopardy. I, for one, am unwilling to let that happen."
~U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR)
"We're very optimistic that nanotechnology can markedly improve cancer therapy."
~James Baker, Director, the Michigan Nanotechnology Institute for Medicine and the Biological Sciences.
2057 - The Body
Last night I watched 2057 – The Body. See yesterday’s post on The City, and Tuesday’s bit on The World for more on the series.
The theme for this production could be titled "A Day In The Life Of A Regular Guy" or "How Falling Out A Window Can Save Your Life."
As were the first two in the series, The Body is the highest-grade of educational production. The CGI is flawless, and the acting quite good. The science is plausible, and the near-future technologies promising.
Covered here: Intelligent homes, city-wide ‘net, privacy concerns, flying cars, artificial blood products, very advanced diagnosis, treatment, imagery, and printed organs, robotic sentries, robotic surgery, and remote surgery (teleoperation).
Again, I highly recommend this production. In fact, I will be talking it up every chance I get, and will write a blog note on the series as a whole, shortly.
Michio Kaku once again makes a very pertinent statement: "One thing we know for sure, hold onto your hats because, in the next 50 years, its gonna be a wild ride!"
To learn more about this program, visit:
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/2057/about/about.html
The theme for this production could be titled "A Day In The Life Of A Regular Guy" or "How Falling Out A Window Can Save Your Life."
As were the first two in the series, The Body is the highest-grade of educational production. The CGI is flawless, and the acting quite good. The science is plausible, and the near-future technologies promising.
Covered here: Intelligent homes, city-wide ‘net, privacy concerns, flying cars, artificial blood products, very advanced diagnosis, treatment, imagery, and printed organs, robotic sentries, robotic surgery, and remote surgery (teleoperation).
Again, I highly recommend this production. In fact, I will be talking it up every chance I get, and will write a blog note on the series as a whole, shortly.
Michio Kaku once again makes a very pertinent statement: "One thing we know for sure, hold onto your hats because, in the next 50 years, its gonna be a wild ride!"
To learn more about this program, visit:
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/2057/about/about.html
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