Techies 26

Invisibility 'time cloak' developed

An "invisibility" time cloak which is able to hide events in a continuous stream of light has been developed by scientists. The cloak works by manipulating the speed of light in optical fibres and means any interaction which takes place during this "hole in time" is not detected. That is, a beam of light can be manipulated along its path. This work is different to other "invisibility cloaks" in that it hides events in time, rather than spatial objects - which similar efforts have looked into.

The team from the Purdue University in Indiana has shown it can hide events in the path of a continuous light beam by having several "holes in time". The researchers were able to cloak nearly half the data put in the beam's path, which they would otherwise be able to detect. Cloaking, just as it sounds, is where an object or event is hidden from vision. This can apply to frequencies of light or sound. For example, stealth war planes can be difficult to detect on enemy radar.
"In our system, we can hide the 1s and 0s. There can also be other kinds of disturbances in the light but this cloak provides a zone where one doesn't see how the light is being changed," Prof Weiner told BBC News.

He compared how a stream of light is manipulated to a flowing river.

"Think about taking a region of that river and pushing some of it forward, and some backwards so there are holes where there isn't any water. Maybe there's a dam, and we can pop the dam on and off very quickly, to somehow disturb or divert the water.

"If we part the water so it doesn't see the dam popping up and down, it isn't disturbed, and afterwards we can put the water back together so it looks like a nice calm river again.

"That's how we control the flow of the light. We're pushing it forward and backwards in time, so it avoids events that would otherwise disturb it," Prof Weiner explained.

 1,300 MPG Student-Designed Ultra-Light Car Runs on a Tiny Lawnmower Engine

Students at Brigham Young University in Utah have designed a car that can travel the distance from Utah to Michigan on a single gallon of fuel. The fish-shaped car—which weighs less than 100 pounds and gets an astounding 1,300 miles per gallon—will participate at this year’s SAE Supermileage Competition, an annual contest that challenges students to create the most fuel-efficient vehicle in North America. This fantastic fuel efficiency is attributed to the car’s lightness-it weighs under 100 pounds, a tank that holds only 20 grams of fuel and a tiny lawnmower engine that is engaged just enough to get the vehicle to a desirable speed, after which it shuts off and lets the vehicle glide along the track.

The newest version of the BYU Supermileage Vehicle weights exactly 99 pounds-22 pounds less than its predecessor. To maximize fuel-efficiency, the BYU team added ceramic insulation to the lawn-mower engine and made several modifications so it can be electronically controlled.

At the competition, the teams are given 20 grams of fuel to race around a 10-mile track. Vehicles that achieve an average of 15 miles per hour, have their tanks re-measured by the judges who deduce the mpg capability based on the leftover fuel. At the last year’s Supermileage competition the BYU team won second place with a final mark of 1,135 miles per gallon. This year they aim even higher-2,000 MPG.

Japan's New 310 MPH 'Floating' Maglev Bullet Train Hits the Tracks for Testing

Japan is working on a blazing fast 310 mph maglev “floating” train – and the latest prototype just hit the tracks for testing! This week Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Central) unveiled the top-of-the-line Lo series maglev train, which is currently slated to enter commercial operation between Tokyo and Nagoya in 2027. The new train service will bypass the Tokaido Shinkansen Line, slashing travel time between the two cities from two and a half hours to one hour and seven minutes. The L0 series, also known as the “Linear motor car,” is expected to eventually service the entire Chuo Shinkansen Line, which links Tokyo with Osaka through Nagano Prefecture and Nagoya.

The train is designed to operate at 500 kph and it’s only 28 meters long – including a 15-meter-long streamlined “nose” that reduces air resistance at high speed. The subsequent cars are 24.3 meters long and they are designed to provide more interior space than current Shinkansen models. The maglev train has four seats in a row – one less than Shinkansen models.

“This is the first step toward commercial operations,” said Yasukazu Endo, director of the Yamanashi linear test center. “Everything is being done to gear up for a full-fledged test.” If all goes to plan, the new generation L0 Series trains will begin commercial service in 2027. The news marks the latest chapter in the ‘bullet train wars’ in Asia, wherein Japan is competing with China’s 268 mph Shanghai maglev train.