I have been thinking about ways of reducing my fuel expenses due to the increasing gas cost. If this 150 mph British Steam Car could be converted from liquid petroleum to french fry grease we might just have my next vehicle pick.

"Burning liquid petroleum gas at 750° F to pressurize that 360-hp Curtis turbine, the 25-ft.-long Steam Car can turn 10.5 gallons of water a minute into some boiling-hot action for the record books—and wicked fast, with velocities in excess of 150 mph.

Unlike a steam locomotive, which uses a steam-powered injector system, the British Steam Car uses compressed-air-powered hydraulics to inject distilled water and pre-prime itself. The water is pumped into the start of 1.86 miles of tubing to develop three megawatts of heat to convert water into 750 F steam. This super-heated “dry” steam is then directed down the car via heavily lagged pipes and two enormous industrial steam valves, which act as throttles, and then into the two-stage turbine. “That’s where we turn pressure into velocity,” says Candy. The steam is injected into the turbine at over two times the speed of sound; under the assault, the turbine revolves at up to 13,000 rpm. The turbine drives the rear wheels via a conventional crown wheel and pinion. The vehicle turns 10.5 gallons of water a minute into super-heated steam at 40 times atmospheric pressure.

It takes longer to start the machine than it can run—eight minutes to get going with enough fuel, compressed air and water to run for three minutes, although the vehicle only needs two minutes to cross the measured mile. “We’ll actually coast through the line,” says Wales. “We’ll then let it roll to a stop rather than use the brakes, and by the time the team manages to find it, things should be cool enough to turn it around and prepare for the return run."

Via: TechEBlog and New Launches

I haven’t seen Iron Man yet but it is on my list of movies I want to see. Looks like there are lots of gadgets in the film, including this Iron Man Repulsor Light made by Carlitos’ Contraptions.

"Objective

To build a very powerful LED flashlight mounted on my hand palm that would turn on and produce brighter light as I move my hand back (and the angle between my hand and my arm decreases and gets roughly to 90°). Also, the flashlight should be comfortable, allow my hand to move freely, be very sturdy.
Materials

• An old (aluminum) heat sink (from a broken computer monitor I believe)
• A long and thin aluminum piece from a copy machine
• A street cleaner brush bristle (like the one used to build a Bogota Rake)
• An aluminum disk and a thick aluminum ring (they were the holder and separator for the plates on a very old hard drive)
• 6 5 mm and one 10 mm ultra bright LEDs
• A linear potentiometer (from an old sound system equalizer)
• A switch
• An old laptop battery
• Some cable, some female and male headers, heat shrink tubbing, a paperclip, a plastic cable tie, and lots of love."

You pass some of the large apartment buildings that look nice but they have dozens of unsightly satalite dishes hanging from the side. This Camouflage Satellite Dish system by Sqish looks like a great solution.

"What is it?

The Sqish is a quirky contemporary alternative to a
satellite dish.

What does it do?

The Sqish can can be aimed at mid and high powered satellites including Astra, Hotbird and Eurobird. It can be used to receive Sky and Freesat in the UK.

Why use it?

There are lots of places and reasons to use a Sqish:

· Discreet - extra discreet with sqishoflage sticker

· Minimises environmental impact

· Small - 48cm wide and 26cm high, 7cm deep

· Coastal towns - no rust!

· Conservation areas and listed buildings (subject to regulations)

· Mobile use - caravans, mobile homes, etc.

· Dish stigma - don’t want a dish!

· Just for the hell of it - it’s funky!"

Via: Technabob

Do you live in a rough neighborhood? Instead of getting a dog for you backyard have a look at this Paintball Sentry Gun. When you go out for the day just turn it on and you will be totally protected. When you return you will probably have to escort a few kids out from behind your tree where they took cover but that is a small price to pay for piece of mind. There isn’t much detail on the operation but it seems like a camera looks for movement and fires at it. I am amazed at how fast it can move and how accurate it fires!

This video shows a cool missile launcher that uses ultrasound to find targets. Youtube member feffe81 has done a great job on it. I would love more details though…

This Pan Tilt Airsoft Gun Mod lets you make your standard Airsoft Gun into a computer controlled unit!

"The robot airsoft kit brings together a simple pan/tilt servo setup with an automatic airsoft gun. Everything is controlled from your computer’s serial port. Attaching a camera allows you to have completely autonomous control of the gun, which makes it an ideal platform to enter the Defcon Robot Contest or the Robot Airsoft event at RoboGames! Overview

• The base has a servo which controls the pan.
• That connects to the U structure, which is the tilt, and holds all the control electronics.
• The gun is attached to the tilt rod. It’s a generic connection so any light gun will work.
• The pan/tilt is controlled from the computer’s serial port.
• Firing is done through a relay via the servo controller.
• Power comes from 8 AA batteries (4 for the gun, 4 for everything else)."

Here is a simple hack that gives you a cool looking clip for your money. You should be able to make it for a few dollars if you can find a few slim magnets.

"A real dollar bill adapted to form a magnetic money clip.
- Same size and feel as the cash it holds.
- No clutter.
- Use the money clip as currency when low on cash.
- Comprised of two steel plates and a thin neodymium disc strong magnet."

Thanks Scott