Something cool thread

[Captain Wiggles]

Corporations own most of the tracks tho. That's a yuge part of the problem. We're lucky they even lease out track usage to Amtrak for passenger service. 🤔

[Califan007 The Constipated]

 

 

[EmirOfShmo]

3 hours ago, China said:

It's too bad this country refuses to invest in a decent rail system.

Yeah it sure is. I can remember reading about these mag-lev trains in the '80s when I worked for a railroad. Pie in the sky back then. Pretty cool to see it come to fruition. 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

This is equal parts cool and frightening to me lol...

 

 

 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

 

 

 

[BleedBNG]

 

 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

 

 

 

[Renegade7]

 

[Renegade7]

 

[CousinsCowgirl84]

2 hours ago, Renegade7 said:

 

Bally doing that to a lithium ion battery…

[EmirOfShmo]

 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

 

 

 

[EmirOfShmo]

 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

 

 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

 

 

[China]

 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

 

 

 

[China]

David Aguilar was born without an arm. So he built one from Lego — and then set a Guinness World Record

 

David Aguilar was surrounded by toys as a child, from the tiny ones inside Kinder Surprise chocolate eggs to Transformers robots, which he knew instinctively how to turn into vehicles, with no need for instructions. Most of all, he loved Lego. “With Lego you can build anything,” he says. “All you need are the pieces and you can build whatever you want.”

 

He built his first model of Titanic from them at the age of five — and then, “one day in his room”, just four years later, “he assembled an arm”, his father, Ferran, recalls. It was made from “a wire, a key chain, duct tape, parts of a robot and the most traditional Lego pieces”.

 

Why an arm? Aguilar, who is from Andorra, was born without his right forearm, as a result of Poland syndrome, a rare disorder.

 

 

It hadn’t hindered his creativity as a child — “I always loved to play with my hands even though I was missing one,” he says. His father adds that seeing their son’s innate skill when he was five had made him and his wife, Nathalie, want to help David develop his abilities even further. Nathalie began to buy him Lego after being told it was the best thing he could play with to do this. “He would use his head and his little hand to develop a fine dexterity,” Ferran says. “The most educational toy that you can apply your imaginative skills to is Lego.”

 

But Aguilar’s disability did lead to some unpleasant experiences at school, with “teasing, laughter and even aggression”, his father says. When Aguilar built this first prosthesis “he was going through one of those difficult moments for being different ... I suggested that he take it to school to help with his self-esteem. When he got home he explained to us that everyone was fascinated — and it helped David a lot back then. But the bullying continued shortly after.”

 

He carried on building, and at the age of 17 he created the world’s first fully prosthetic Lego arm, which included fingers, a motor and even a pressure sensor. Mk-I, as Aguilar called it, went viral on social media, and set a Guinness World Record. He created the next version, Mk-II, using pieces from a Lego Technic Air Race Jet kit.

 

Lego prostheses: the five arms that David Aguilar has built for himself so far.

 

Click on the link for the full article
 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

 

 

[EmirOfShmo]

 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

 

 

[EmirOfShmo]

Step Aboard the First Flying Car Available in the U.S. Market 

You’ve seen flying cars in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Jetson’s, and Harry Potter—and soon you may see them coasting over your neighborhood. In late July, Samson Sky, a commercial flying car company, announced that its Switchblade model passed Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspection, clearing it for flight tests. After reaching this milestone, the Switchblade is poised to be the first flying car available in the U.S. market. 

Since the Switchblade passed the FAA inspection, the company has been inching closer to the vehicle’s first flight. In a series of blog posts, potential customers have gotten an inside look into speed runs and design decisions—like the best doors for flight tests or the most appropriate propeller angles—that go into preparing for wheels up. 

Once it hits the market, the Switchblade will cost $170,000. Interested buyers can join a waitlist for free, and will be expected to put down a $2,000 deposit within 45 days of the first flight. “It is a blast to drive, and if initial flight testing continues like we have seen, it will be a fantastic flying machine as well,” Samson says.

 

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/step-aboard-the-first-flying-car-available-in-the-us-market