SWAROVSKI OPTIK are today launching a revolutionary optical device that pairs with a phone app to identify and catalogue wildlife. Swarovski is well known around the world as a costume jewelry manufacturer, but they also put their glass grinding skills to other uses and the Optik division,...
British Airways are looking at ways that 3D printing technology could improve punctuality and reduce carbon emissions by bypassing the need to fly spare parts out to its fleet around the world. The thinking is that 3D printers located at airports around the world, could be used...
You’ve gotta love it! What a spectacular piece of engineering the Napier Sabre is! At least, what a spectacular engineering concept. Sadly its early iterations at the start of WW2 weren’t always the finest examples of engineering quality control when they went into production. So they weren’t...
Electric safari vehicles are a bit of a no-brainer really. Not only does the pristine bush wilderness and wildlife cry out for a low-to-zero carbon footprint, but silent electric safari vehicles are perfect for sneaking up on, and observing, animals in the wild. Makanyi Lodge in South...
Energy Observer will be the first hydrogen vessel to sail around the world when she completes her 6-year mission to test a range of eco-friendly, zero-emission, marine power technologies, and at the same time, inspire people in the 101 stopovers in 50 counties along the way. Energy...
Here’s an interesting concept for eco-friendly, adventure tourism accommodation – a floating igloo houseboat. A Finnish company, AuroraHut, is producing a self-contained igloo boat™ that can be used as a houseboat on water in summer, and as an igloo on top of ice in winter. The 12-sided...
Gatwick will be the first UK airport to trial robots that valet park passengers’ cars. The airport signed a framework contract with Stanley Robotics on Tuesday, to set up a trial later this year. The trial will run from the second half of 2019 to early 2020...
Any nautical engineers or ship designers out there, who know the answer? We’ve all been enjoying the sight of Celebrity Edge being delivered and now embarking on her first cruises. Her stand-out (literally) feature is the ‘Magic Carpet’ – “the world’s first cantilevered, floating platform” that rises...
The Chinese city of Chengdu has announced plans to replace street lighting with the ‘light of a silvery moon’¹ reflected down from a satellite with a large mirror. According to People’s Daily Online, the Chairman of the Chengdu Aerospace Science and Technology Microelectronics System Research Institute Co,...
When the batteries in your flashlight or wireless mouse run out, most people just replace them and throw the old ones in the bin¹, but what do you do with a battery powering a car? This week EDF Energy and Nissan signed an agreement to work together...
This is a niche blog about technically-minded travel. It reflects my own interests in the mechanical, technical, historical, engineering, transport and military world.
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