Tag: water

Video: Chinese fire truck uses jet-powered water cannon

Filed under: Safety, Technology

Chinese fire truck with jet cannon

Chinese fire truck with jet water cannon – Click above to watch the video after the jump

Fire trucks are cool. With that established, Luoyang City, China’s new $456,000 super-soaker may as well be named Arthur Fonzarelli. This unique fire truck features a jet-powered water cannon with enough grunt to spray four tons of water per minute at distances up to 400 feet. Our friends at Engadget tell us that the water reaches the fire so quickly that it sucks the oxygen out of the area, suffocating the flame. You know what that is? Exactly: cool.

Hit the jump to watch a demonstration of the jet-powered water cannon. It’s not a real fire-fighting scenario, but it’s worth a look nonetheless.

[Source: Engadget]

Continue reading Video: Chinese fire truck uses jet-powered water cannon

Video: Chinese fire truck uses jet-powered water cannon originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 30 Jan 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Tata pours $15M into project researching water as fuel

Filed under: Technology, Earnings/Financials, Tata

Ratan Tata has a drink

The lure of extracting hydrogen from water in a somewhat real-time fashion in sufficient quantities to power an automobile has so far been a complete dead-end pursuit. One of the biggest problems is that it takes more energy to release the hydrogen from its water-tight bonds than is actually returned by the resulting hydrogen.

But those basic laws of physics haven’t stopped scientists with well-funded checkbooks from trying. The latest endeavor comes from Daniel Nocera of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is being funded by Indian businessman Ratan Tata, who, among other things, heads the global automaker that bears his name. At this time, the total grant comes in at $15 million.

As intriguing as all of this sounds, it bears mentioning that water-powered cars have repeatedly failed in their missions (see here) of offering nearly free fuel for all.

Take the story of the MDI’s air car. In 2007, Tata signed a deal with MDI to bring the air-powered car to market and the companies said in early 2008 that the car would require nearly two years of work. We have heard little about it since then except a name change to FlowAir and a lot of skepticism that it would ever see the light of day at all. Will Tata’s hydrogen bet fare any better? Thanks to Matteo and Roy B. for the tips!

[Sources: Sify News, ANSA.IT | Image: AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade]

Report: Tata pours $15M into project researching water as fuel originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 03 Jan 2011 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A glass of water a day can help keep your fuel consumption at bay

Glass of water

The idea of driving around with a glass of water on your dashboard may seem ludicrous, but if Toyota told you that a single glass of water could help you reduce your fuel consumption by 10 percent, would you think differently? Now, Toyota doesn’t want you to literally place a glass of water on the dash. Instead, the company is pushing the idea that driving in such a way that a theoretical glass of water there remains full would reduce fuel consumption significantly. To spread the word about this fuel-saving concept, Toyota has created a website appropriately called “A Glass of Water.”

So, how do you keep this imaginary glass of water topped off at all times? Well, provided you aren’t in a hurry to get somewhere, it should be quite simple. Begin by accelerating gracefully, leave plenty of distance between you and the vehicle ahead, brake gently, and apply tactics used by hypermillers.

If you’d like to learn more about Toyota’s “A Glass of Water” challenge and are interested in giving it a try, then click here. iPhone users can also download a virtual glass of water app by clicking here.

[Source: A Glass of Water]

A glass of water a day can help keep your fuel consumption at bay originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 24 Jul 2010 15:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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