Gizmodo: aerodynamics

Baseball Players Would Never Use the Performance-Enhancing Reebok Vector O Bat

Dan Nosowitz — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:00:00 EDT

In America's pastime, where honor and fair competition reign and unfair advantages are never tolerated, there is no place for the "aerodynamic" Reebok Vector O baseball bat. After all, ballplayers would do anything to avoid besmirching their sport!

The Vector O bat features three little air vents just above the handle to decrease both weight and air resistance, although it seems to us that a bat is rotated while swung and would thus render the aerodynamic benefits null. It's made of some kind of alloy, so even without any topical sarcasm about baseball, it can't be used in the pros—but at $280, you'd have to take your stickball at least a little seriously to buy it. [Reebok via Boing Boing Gadgets]

Research UAV is Preview of Hovering Spy Drones of Tomorrow

Kit Eaton — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:40:00 EDT

Meet STARMAC, the Stanford Testbed of Autonomous Rotorcraft for Multi-Agent Control. Possibly the cleverest remote control mini-helicopter you've ever seen, packed with GPS, sensors and computer power. It's a research quad-rotor that the Stanford team is using to develop algorithms for future aircraft like it.

The algorithms the team develops will allow hovering 'bots like STARMAC to navigate, deal with collisions or avoidance and even to work as a team, sharing info on their environment and navigating around each other.

That has all sorts of cool implications for things like future automated search and rescue drones, able to search large areas efficiently and quickly. But it also means spy 'bots. And when you've watched the video, you'll have to agree that the way the things move reminds you of the flying cameras in (insert name of sci-fi movie of your choice). [Danger Room]

Japanese Astronaut's Space Boomerang Came Back

Kit Eaton — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:00:18 EDT

Japan's Takao Doi has just checked out an aerodynamics conundrum we were all curious about: would a boomerang return when thrown in zero-G? World boomerang champion Yasuhiro Togai had asked him to find out, you see. So, taking time out from his work aboard the International Space Station, he gave it a whirl.

The answer: "I was very surprised and moved to see that it flew the same way it does on Earth," he apparently said during a chat to his wife. Sadly, NASA hasn't released a video yet.

Now, I can't exactly remember my boomerang physics, but I thought gravity was one of the balancing forces? I'm sure someone can set me straight in the comments.

Next up: juggling in space ... [AFP via Yahoo News]

180mph Car Treadmill Great for Designers, Dangerous for Pilots

gizmodo.com — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 06:32:16 EDT

Check this full size Nascar sitting on top of a steel belt sliding at 180mph. While wind tunnels have been used to design cars for years, the results can be affected by the fact that the ground is still. This machine solves that problem, in truly dramatic and dangerous fashion. Just like NASCAR itself. The image after the jump shows how giganormous this thing is.

It's been built by Nascar team owner, Gene Haas, in conjunction with Jacobs Engineering, and will be rented out to other teams to cover what I'm sure is the huge price tag. [Jalopnik]

Aptera Concept Car: 330mpg, Under $20K

Charlie White — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 10:00:54 EDT

Yeah, you're laughing at this weird-looking half-egg-shaped concept car now, but when gasoline costs $10 a gallon not too long from now, this 330 mile-per-gallon Aptera concept car might start looking pretty damn good. It cops that high-mpg efficiency with a fuel-sipping diesel engine lashed onto hybrid technology, coupled with its wind-slippery aerodynamics and 850-pound weight.

Stare at it long enough, and it starts looking like a lemon that's been cut in half. Will it be a lemon? Wait a couple of years to find out, because the Aptera's designer, Accelerated Composites, says the three-wheeled fuel miser will hit the road by the end of 2008 at a sticker price of less than $20K. – Charlie White

The Race to 100 MPG [Popular Science, via Sci Fi Tech]

TECA Concept Vehicle: Whats Wrong With This Picture?

Charlie White — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 17:00:12 EST

Certainly not for the claustrophobic, here's a new idea for a motorcycle body that s supposed to give you more energy efficiency, safety and convenience when you're riding that crotch rocket of yours. This concept vehicle from design group TECA is made of carbon fiber composite and honeycomb, and with its aerodynamic shape is said to give you 35% better performance and save lots of fuel. Notice the guy inside isn't wearing a helmet—maybe he figures that the vehicle is pretty much functioning as a brain bucket, too. Let's hope those doors open quickly, because when you stop, what happens? Does it just fall over on its side? Apparently function does not always follow form.

The TECA Concept [UberGizmo]

via TECA