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freaky polymers
design
Who said the future of travel had to require brand new vehicles? Foreseeing a coming trend in land travel, designer Kevin Fitzsimons restored a 1978 Sovereign 31' Airstream Land Yacht and turned it into a super-fancy high-tech mobile home for the luxe traveler. The Mobitat, or MObi for short, has built-in furniture with white leather and walnut finishes, stainless steel appliances, flat panel hi-def TVs, fancy plumbing, and eco-friendliness written all over it.
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Refurbished 70s Mobile Home for the Road Trip of the Future
Who said the future of travel had to require brand new vehicles? Foreseeing a coming trend in land travel, designer Kevin Fitzsimons restored a 1978 Sovereign 31' Airstream Land Yacht and turned it into a super-fancy high-tech mobile home for the luxe traveler. The Mobitat, or MObi for short, has built-in furniture with white leather and walnut finishes, stainless steel appliances, flat panel hi-def TVs, fancy plumbing, and eco-friendliness written all over it.
More »
world without cars
Urban history is littered with the dead bodies of scrapped public transit projects. When eager commuters and car companies turned the automobile into the most popular form of transit in the world in the twentieth century, many cities set aside plans for expanding their public transit systems, such as the electric tram system planned for regions feeding into Melbourne, Australia. In some cases, city planners actually ripped out existing transit systems like Los Angeles' once-enormous cable car network. What would these cities and others look like if their public transit systems had continued to thrive and we lived in a world without cars? We've got five alternate urban histories of public transport for you below.
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The Public Transit Projects that Should Have Been
Urban history is littered with the dead bodies of scrapped public transit projects. When eager commuters and car companies turned the automobile into the most popular form of transit in the world in the twentieth century, many cities set aside plans for expanding their public transit systems, such as the electric tram system planned for regions feeding into Melbourne, Australia. In some cases, city planners actually ripped out existing transit systems like Los Angeles' once-enormous cable car network. What would these cities and others look like if their public transit systems had continued to thrive and we lived in a world without cars? We've got five alternate urban histories of public transport for you below.
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architecture
Could this parking garage in Santa Monica, California, become the first certifiably "green" parking garage in the U.S.? LEED, a green building organization that awards certifications to structures that are demonstrably eco-friendly, says it may grant its certification to the garage any time now.
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Now Your Car Can Pollute an Environmentally-Friendly Garage
Could this parking garage in Santa Monica, California, become the first certifiably "green" parking garage in the U.S.? LEED, a green building organization that awards certifications to structures that are demonstrably eco-friendly, says it may grant its certification to the garage any time now.
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interview
Owen Paterson designed the bleak cityscapes of the Matrix movies and V For Vendetta, and now he's creating the candy-colored neopolises of Speed Racer. Not to mention concept cars with wheels that can turn a full 180 degrees. We tracked him down in Sydney, Australia and asked him about the visual influences behind Cosmopolis, the city where Speed races, and the cars which Speed and his opponents drive. Along the way, he dropped a surprising amount of backstory about the alternate world of the Wachowski's Speed Racer, coming in May.
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Speed Racer Designer Explains Future City's "Carchitecture"
Owen Paterson designed the bleak cityscapes of the Matrix movies and V For Vendetta, and now he's creating the candy-colored neopolises of Speed Racer. Not to mention concept cars with wheels that can turn a full 180 degrees. We tracked him down in Sydney, Australia and asked him about the visual influences behind Cosmopolis, the city where Speed races, and the cars which Speed and his opponents drive. Along the way, he dropped a surprising amount of backstory about the alternate world of the Wachowski's Speed Racer, coming in May.
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retro futurism
Fancypants Garage of the Future Runs on IBM Cards, 1964
Candy-colored floors, bright white Eames-ish work stands, and a "punched card" holding all your car's pertinent information: that's the "Auto Service Center of Tomorrow" presented in United Delco's ad for its exhibit at the '64 World's Fair. Your mechanic (is that him in the nosecone, dressed in antiseptic white?) takes the card, pops it into the computer and, boom, your automotive problems are solved. IBM cards have gone the way of the dodo bird and garages are as greasy as ever, but the predicted marriage of cars and computers was right on the money—even if they missed the part about how the onboard computer itself is often the very expensive problem. Click through for a closer look at Delco's vision of tomorrow's garage. More »
mad max reenactments
You've just seen Doomsday, and you're pumped to strap a bolt-gun to your car and go on a mohawked demolition-derby frenzy. Luckily for you, there's a whole society (cult?) devoted to reenacting Mad Max: The Road Warrior on the highways of America... and they've only gotten thrown in jail once. Details and a gallery below the fold.
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Vent Your Atomic Road Rage With Mad Max Reenactments
You've just seen Doomsday, and you're pumped to strap a bolt-gun to your car and go on a mohawked demolition-derby frenzy. Luckily for you, there's a whole society (cult?) devoted to reenacting Mad Max: The Road Warrior on the highways of America... and they've only gotten thrown in jail once. Details and a gallery below the fold.
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urban dystopia
Most cities built before 1900 weren't designed with cars in mind, and traffic jams are often one of the results. As we move towards a future that is looking increasingly urban, we're likely to see more traffic scenes like this one, in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. We're also likely to see more traffic jams created by war zones, and by climate change. Want to see what those look like?
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The Shape of Urban Traffic to Come
Most cities built before 1900 weren't designed with cars in mind, and traffic jams are often one of the results. As we move towards a future that is looking increasingly urban, we're likely to see more traffic scenes like this one, in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. We're also likely to see more traffic jams created by war zones, and by climate change. Want to see what those look like?
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mad environmentalism
A Zero-Emissions Car That Runs on Fossil Fuel
In the next year, students at Georgia Tech will be driving cars that run on fossil fuels but don't release tons of carbon into the environment. It's all part of the university's long-term plan to develop vehicles that produce recyclable carbon. Eventually they hope to eliminate fossil fuel from the equation, but in the meantime they are working with an engine that traps carbon emissions for dumping off and recycling at fuel stations. Let's hope they model it on this Swiss zero-emissions car called SAM, which looked cool but was discontinued due to lack of funds. More »
sentient cars
Scifi Cars That Are Smarter Than KITT
The two smartest cars in the universe get chained up and whipped, until they escape using their super lasers, in this scene from Power Rangers In Space. With Knight Rider zooming back onto our screens this weekend, everybody's acting as though KITT invented the super-smart car. But cars with a mind of their own have a long and awesome history in science fiction. Click through for our roundup of sentient cars that aren't called KITT or Bumblebee. More »
cars
Rinspeed's new sQuba is a concept car designed to dive into water. It's made with lightweight carbon nanotubes and has an electric motor, rear wheel drive, propellers and jet drives that propel it up to 33 feet underwater, and zero emissions. It makes its debut at the Geneva Auto Show in March. And yes, it's real. Rinspeed via Designboom
Amphibious Car Can Dive 33 Feet Underwater
Rinspeed's new sQuba is a concept car designed to dive into water. It's made with lightweight carbon nanotubes and has an electric motor, rear wheel drive, propellers and jet drives that propel it up to 33 feet underwater, and zero emissions. It makes its debut at the Geneva Auto Show in March. And yes, it's real. Rinspeed via Designboom
speed racer
The car that Speed's rivals drive in Speed Racer looks meaner and more next-decade than Speed's own disappointing Mach-5 from the Detroit Auto Show. This Japanese race car is decked out with tons of weird-looking pistons and coils, a space-cruisery hood and a rocket-looking rear. An actual popular Japanese racing team, the Autobacs Racing Team Aguri, will race Speed using this car, unveiled at the Tokyo Auto Salon this weekend. More futuristic race car pics below.
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First Look At Speed Racer's Japanese Rival Car
The car that Speed's rivals drive in Speed Racer looks meaner and more next-decade than Speed's own disappointing Mach-5 from the Detroit Auto Show. This Japanese race car is decked out with tons of weird-looking pistons and coils, a space-cruisery hood and a rocket-looking rear. An actual popular Japanese racing team, the Autobacs Racing Team Aguri, will race Speed using this car, unveiled at the Tokyo Auto Salon this weekend. More futuristic race car pics below.
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cars
Super-Car Of 2017 Smushes Fewer Pedestrians
Are we really just nine years away from cars that weigh half a ton, with super-efficient nano-paper batteries and pedestrian airbags? It may seem like fairy-tale tech, but one auto design whiz-kid thinks it's realistic. Australian Harsha Ravi won the Young Designer of the Year award for his far-out Globetrotter 2017 design. An interview, and sexy car pics, below the fold. More »
climate change
By 2050, Smog Monster Will Be Eating Mostly Cars
A new study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that about 20-25% of greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 and ozone) are coming from railway, shipping, and car or truck transportation. But the most interesting part of the study are its future projections. "In 2050, as much as 30-50% of total CO2 emissions are projected to come from the transport sector," write the authors. In addition, they say that many of the emissions causing climate change from transportation are not covered in the Kyoto Protocol. Climate forcing from the transport sectors [PNAS]
The Real KITT
Life imitates Knight Rider. Australian police are testing a new super-car that can recognize 5000 license plates in a day, respond to voice commands and calculate whether other cars are speeding. Best of all, the ESCV can fire a small dart with a GPS locator into other vehicles, so the cops can locate them later without a chase. [Courier-Mail]
Life imitates Knight Rider. Australian police are testing a new super-car that can recognize 5000 license plates in a day, respond to voice commands and calculate whether other cars are speeding. Best of all, the ESCV can fire a small dart with a GPS locator into other vehicles, so the cops can locate them later without a chase. [Courier-Mail]
speed racer
Too Late, The Wachowskis Fear Selling Out
The Wachowskis are using the ultra-commercial Speed Racer to work out their fear of being sell-outs, judging from the just-released trailer. The film's central conflict: either Speed signs an Evil Contract Of Doom, or the corporate overlord will destroy him. Luckily, John Goodman has canny advice. And a mongoose glued to his upper lip.
retro futurism
What to Wear to Motorama of Tomorrow?
Nine minutes of kitschy delight set at GM's Motorama, the 1956 video "Design for Dreaming" conclusively proves that the future is an all singing, all dancing extravaganza of old-fashioned girliness. Repeat after me: "Girls don't go to Motoramas/Dressed in a pair of pink pajamas." And what do they wear? A ball gown! Watch the movie if you don't believe us. Prelinger Archives.
knight rider
