The engines, built primarily by Aioi Works of Japan's Diesel United, Ltd, are available in 6 through 14 cylinder versions, all inline engines.

The cylinder bore is just under 38" and the stroke is just over 98". Each cylinder displaces 111,143 cubic inches (1820 liters) and produces 7780 horsepower. Total displacement comes out to 1,556,002 cubic inches (25,480 liters) for the fourteen cylinder version.

That means the 89 foot long 14 cylinder version produces 108,920 HP and 5,608,312 lb/ft of torque at 102 rpm. Not bad. It also weight 2300 tons with the crankshaft alone weighing 300 tons. Our only question — does it fit in a Fiero?

[bath.co.uk via TTAC]

The video above is the official promo for the concept vehicle, which will, sadly, never see a showroom. For more, see Jalopnik, which has up a gallery and oodles of facts and figures. [Jalopnik]

The Diesel DZ4160 "Freak of Nature" watch combines a steel-strapped, oval case watch with a leather-strapped, square case watch. The result is a metal/animal skin hybrid that's not quite as stylish as either elite substance is on its own. Then again, Frankenstein's monster was no looker, except maybe when he starred in Raging Bull. [Watchismo via boingboing]

Inexplicably, clocks for four time zones are embedded into the side of the Diesel DZ9044. So, you would need to twist the face or stick your arm straight out in order to tell the time. Let me just say that you might want to keep your arm down while doing that. A man doing a Nazi salute in public might be frowned upon. [Watchismo via Technabob]

Needless to say, we're being more than a little hard on the BioBot. In reality, it's a geek-worthy device that can produce almost 20 gallons of diesel per cycle. But unless you work at a french fry factory and have a BS in biochemistry, it's probably worth leaving this method to the pros.

If you're still interested, the BioBot runs $5000 and is said to pay for itself in two years. [BioBot via New Launches]

[Diesel via Technabob via Boing Boing Gadgets]

So how many trees would it take to match the oil output of, say, Saudi Arabia? Check our stats after the jump.

Saudi Arabia Oil Output Daily
11 Million Barrels

Output of One Acre of Copaifera langsdorfii Yearly
25 Barrels

Number of Acres Needed To Match Saudi Arabia Yearly Output
182,500,000 (Total Trees: 18,250,000,000)

Number of Acres in North America Alone
6,050,697,738

Number of Acres in North America Used For Corn (2007)
90.5 million

Amount of American Corn Spent on Ethanol
15% and growing

Frequency Corn Needs Replanting
Every Season

Frequency Copaifera langsdorfii Needs Replanting
Every 90 Seasons

UPDATE: Gallons of Oil In One Gallon of Diesel
7 (thanks lailoken!)

Some interesting metrics to think about. On a worldwide scale, it doesn't seem all that impossible to alleviate oil shortages with plants...and the natural carbon offsets seem worthwhile. It's just too bad these trees take 15-20 years to mature (by which time we plan on flying around in a hydrogen Jetsonmobile).

Is anyone out there a specialist on the topic who could enlighten us in the comments? [abc via treehugger]

Additional Sources: [world factbook] [nass] [yahoo] [popular mechanics]

Diesel powered with 40% better fuel economy than a standard police vehicle, the E7 will still get 0-60 in 6 seconds with a lifespan of nearly 3 times that of standard patrol vehicles. But the even more appealing advantage is its ability to shrug off bullets. Door and dashboard armor will deflect small arms fire up to 9mm. Meanwhile, cops can trace the shooters through infrared cameras that will cut through the cloak of night.

And that fancy paint job you are admiring wouldn't be paint at all, but thermoplastics that can take a lot more abuse from your area's pissed-off teenager with car keys.

Given that the E7's $20,000-$70,000 price tag could make it accessible to the masses, you might want to ditch that "herbal garden" before it's too late. Hit up Popular Mechanics for their other future cop tech. [popularmechanics]

It's available in stainless steel (DZ7080) for $215, but if you want just a leather band (model DZ7079), that's $136.50. We dig the idea of an OLED display, which has been commonplace on cellphones but rare on watches thus far. Too bad about that necessity of pushing a button on the side, which reminds us of LED watches from the mid-'70s. For us, time telling shouldn't be a two-handed activity. [Technabob]

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]