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Imagine filling your gas tank in Boston and driving all the way down the east coast to Miami on a single tank of gas. A Volkswagen Passat Bluemotion car with minor modifications has done that: Passat BlueMotion enters record books after going 1,527 miles without refueling; that’s 74.8 mpg What makes it possible for this [...]
Underground mining is what we traditionally think of when we think of “coal mining”. Miners dig tunnels down into the earth to find coal seams. A seam is layer of coal that can be hundreds of feet deep. Using automated equipment, miners then start digging caverns or rooms into the seam, leaving behind large pillars of coal to support the roof. This is called room and pillar mining. As the miners dig, a conveyor system carries the coal back to the surface…
Currently there are two different “Big Science” approaches to fusion power. There is the laser approach, best represented by the National Ignition Facility, where more than a hundred high power laser beams hit a tiny pellet to create fusion in its core. There is also the magnetic confinement approach, best prepresented by the Tokamak approach.
Focus Fusion is a “little science” approach to fusion and is described here…
You Asked:
How can I build a windmill? — John, New York, N.Y.
Marshall Brain Answers…
You Asked:
How is coal converted to oil and gasoline? — Al, S Prairie, Wash.
Marshall Brain Answers…
Three “100 MPG” cars win the $10 million Automotive X-Prize – See all three here
by Marshall Brain | September 16, 2010
The Automotive X-Prize has been underway for several years, starting with hundreds of contestants, trying to find real-world cars that get 100 MPG or better. The contest finally has arrived at three winners to share the $10 million…
A different way to build a house #58 – Virginia Tech’s LumenHaus
by Marshall Brain | September 13, 2010
Virginia Tech’s LumenHaus uses the sun’s light in several different ways. It provides light and passive heating inside the home, powers solar panels on the home and helps plants grow to recycle greywater…
You could, in theory, power your home with Guinea Pigs
by Marshall Brain | September 9, 2010
In the following article/video, we learn that it is possible to power a home with Guinea Pigs:
How do they do it? Here are the steps…
A real car really gets 119 MPG on real roads at real speeds
by Marshall Brain | September 3, 2010
Almost always, when a car gets an unusually high MPG reading, there is something unreal going on. For example, the car might have an exotic shape that requires the driver to lie down while operating the car. Or the car never goes faster than 25 MPH. Or the car started at the top of a mountain. Or something.
But here is a real, 2-passenger car that got 119 MPG on real roads at real speeds…
Can I convert my truck to run off vegetable oil?
by Marshall Brain | August 26, 2010
You Asked:
Can I convert my truck to run off vegetable oil? — Kenny, Winter Haven, Fla.
Marshall Brain Answers…
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