The World’s Largest Working Water Wheel

The most important factor for engineers is to be cost-effective and to come up with solutions which are feasible yet not expensive. This isn’t something new; it always has been this way! What you see in the picture is known as The Laxey Wheel and it is located at the village of Laxey in the Isle of Man. This small island is located in the Irish Sea surrounded by islands of Ireland and Great Britain. The wheel is quite huge; 22.2 meters in diameter with a width of 1.83 meters and enjoys being the only largest survivor of its kind in the world

The wheel was constructed to pump water from mine shafts which kept filling up with water. It was constructed in 1854 by Robert Casement, a Victorian engineer. The wheel was named after the wife of governor of Island, ‘Lady Isabella’. The infrastructure soon became quite popular and has remained so even after 159 years. Laxey was loaded with lead, zinc and other metals back in the day but the logging of water in the mine shafts prevented the mining from taking place. The industrial age was at its peak but unfortunately there was no coal at the island to power up coal-fired engine and the cost of importing coal was not feasible enough

This is where the engineer came in, and you’d be surprised to know that he was self-taught. What Casement did was to makes use of the water which was readily available and came up with a system of channels which helped in diverting hillside streams’ water into a cistern. A carrier pipe was then used to bring this diverted water up into a tower which reached above the gigantic wheel and fell into the buckets that had been installed into the rim. The weight of water turned the wheel and a crankshaft helped transfer the energy to a pumping station which is 600 ft away. Although the wheel only managed 3 revolutions per minute, it was enough to carry out water from depths of 1,500 ft and did so at an amazing rate of 250 gallons per minute

The wheel still turns (no water to lift though) and helps the tourists to have a view of the Glen Mooar Valley from the top

Read More

Gateshead Millennium Bridge – A Bridge That Rotates

So what happens when you combine Engineering  and limitations? Engineers are usually accustomed to thinking out of the box but every once in a while they tend to come up with something quite magnificent and legendary, such as; The Gateshead Millennium Bridge. The Bridge has been constructed upon River Tyne in England and is different from other bridges in a very unique way. We have Gateshead’s Quays arts quarter at the south bank while Quayside of Newcastle on the north bank

Bridge itself is essentially an assembly of two peculiar curves. One of these curves serves as the deck while the other supports it via cables. The idea was to entertain pedestrians and cyclists while also entertaining the ships that make use of river. So whenever a ship needs to pass through, the whole bridge rotates as a single assembly where both curves counter-balance each other as one rises up and the other drops down to give way to ships. These curves, parabolic in nature, extend the crossing distance of 105 meters to almost 120 meters providing an adequate length for the clearance above water

The Bridge is also known as ‘Blinking/Winking Eye’ because of the way it looks when it is in motion. Stylish and elegant are the words used to describe the motion of this bridge and watching it work is always a great view to look at. The operation of the bridge requires the use of six 45 cm diameter Hydraulic rams, equally distributed and each requiring the power of a 55kW electric motor to function. The bridge rotates a total of 40 degrees and it takes around 4.5 minutes to complete the rotation,though wind speed has a say in this time too

The bridge has won quite a number of awards over its design including the architects Wilkinson Eyre, the 2002 Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Stirling Prize, the 2003 Gifford IStructE Supreme Award, and in 2005, the Outstanding Structure Award from International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE)

Read More

Russia To Open A Hotel In Space by 2016

The rich and famous look for the most exotic places to spend their vacations. Orbital Technologies, a Russian company, has announced plans to make one of the most exotic hotel ever. Their idea to create a space hotel for commercial use is both metaphorically and literally out of this world.

The hotel, officially called Commercial Space Station, will be able to accommodate seven guests in four cabins. It will orbit the earth at a height of 350 kilometers above the earth’s surface. Guests will be able to relax in zero-gravity and can pass the time by watching TV, surfing the web, or sleeping (both horizontally and vertically). There will be no flowing water which means washing will be done using wet wipes and even the toilets will carry waste via flowing air. The waste water and air will all be filtered and recycled in the satellite and then reused by the occupants of the hotel. The food will be prepared on Earth and freeze-dried before being sent up to the hotel. Another drawback (for most customers) is the prohibition of the consumption of alcohol in the hotel.

The vacation has only one standard package costing close to a million dollars. This package consists of a 5 day stay in the Commercial Space Station and the two day trip to and from the Space Station via a Soyuz rocket. According to Orbital Technologies, development of the hotel is underway and it will be ready for launch by 2016. Below are computer generated images of the project:

A cross-sectional view of the space hotel

Inside view

Outward apperance

Read More

World’s Largest And Most Powerful Diesel Engine

Have your first look at Wärtsilä RT-flex96C, the world’s largest and most powerful diesel engine in the world today

Yes, isn’t it awe inspiring and amazing? Manufactured by a Finnish company known as Wärtsilä, this engine is capable of producing 80080 KW power, enough to charge an entire suburban town. The magnificent engine weighs an astounding 23,000 tons. It is a two-stroke turbo charges low speed engine.

Are you wondering where exactly will this huge intimidating machine be used? For a long time now, shipping has proved to be the most efficient form of trade. Just for your information, these massive trading ships weigh thousands of tons and go at decent speeds of more than 35 knots. To provide such huge engine power, the engine has to be robust. The Wärtsilä RT-flex96C will provide all that power and more. The engine has been put into use in September 2006 at Emma Mærsk

The huge engine has 14 built-in cylinders that consume about 6.5 ounces of diesel in one cycle. Each cylinder is capable of producing about 5700 kW of energy. The design is similar to the RTA96C engine however, the traditional camshaft, hydraulic actuators and pumps have been replaced by the all new state-of-the-art rail technology. The engine speed varies from 22-102 rpm

The efficient Wärtsilä RT-flex96C can consume 170 g/kWh and has bore of 960 mm. It is also environment friendly and does not release excessive amounts of harmful GHG emissions. The engine is highly efficient and is considered the largest reciprocating engine in the world.

The Wärtsilä RT-flex96C is undoubtedly a wonder of modern engineering. The huge machine is capable of powering any size of ships and its 14 built-in cylinders cater for huge amount of power demands. The remarkable engine is 44 feet tall and 90 feet long

The ships that transport goods from China to the U.S. are usually Huge. And when we say huge, we are talking about ships weighing 180,000 tons each and 13,000 feet or more in length. A lowly, measly turbo engine cannot even move these gigantic ships. The Wärtsilä RT-flex96C diesel engine produces 109,000 horsepower of energy that runs such ships. Currently, there are about 25 of these huge engines out there in our oceans and 86 more are coming soon. The improved fuel economy, longer life spans and better engine performance ensure bright future prospects for the huge Wärtsilä RT-flex96C engine

Read More

15 Year Old Teen Invents A Revolutionary New Method Of Cancer Detection

Many a times we see breakthroughs being achieved not by some renowned scientist but by a common man. It is as they say, sometimes the answer is right before us but we are not looking and then comes along the common man and finds it for us. Meet Jack Andraka, a 15 year old teen, who lost a close family friend because of pancreatic cancer

This loss motivated Jack to carry out research online and that led to his discovery. During his research he found out that in most cases (80%) the cancer is diagnosed when it’s in the later stages and very little can be done at that time. In fact, survival rate drops to two percent at that time. The method in use for detection of pancreatic cancer is older than Jack’s dad. This old test costs around $800 each time you take it and does not cater for around 30% of the pancreatic cancer cells. According to Jack; ‘Your doctor needs to be really suspicious before he will order a pancreatic cancer test.’

Jack’s research led him to find out that there are around eight thousand proteins which are found in pancreatic cancer. The next step was to find a common protein and Jack set out to put the numbers and find results. His attempt no. 4,000 proved to be a success; mesothelin. This protein is available in high concentration during early stages of pancreatic cancer

Jack’s criteria for the test he was about to design was as follows; rapid, cheap, sensitive, simple, selective and minimally invasive. The breakthrough for Jack came in his Biology class where he learned about antibodies and carbon nanotech research. A mix of the two and the design was ready. So how does it work? It is quite simple; you start with some water and then you pour in nanotubes, add to it the antibodies and mix the whole thing, strips of paper need to be dipped in and then dried and finally you’re all set to detect pancreatic cancer.

Priced at merely three cents, this sensor has a very good accuracy rate when the cancer is in its early stage. Jack’s eyes are set on improving the survival rate of patients suffering from pancreatic cancer from 5% to almost 100%

Our young inventor has won a lot of awards already including the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair Award.He has also met President Obama who congratulated him on his new invention

Read More

The Band-Aid Has Been Reinvented

It was in 1920 that the revolutionary Band-Aid was invented. Since then, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say, the Band-Aid has been saving thousands of lives by preventing infections of all sizes and shapes of wounds. It has saved people’s money by providing immediate treatment. It is the constant companion of handbags, purses, first-aid kits and tourist packs.

However, while we are not ungrateful of the thousands of instances when the Band-Aid has come to our rescue, there is a slight problem when it comes to the Band-Aid shape. Traditional Band-Aids are usually strips of plastic and gauze. All of us have had those moments when we try hard to cover a strategically placed wound in some hidden corners of skin. When one Band-Aid doesn’t cover the entire wound, two or sometimes even three may be needed. In certain tricky cases, even multiple Band-Aids are not enough to cover the wound properly!

A team of university students has solved this problem efficiently! The solution is simple. They have reshaped the Band-Aid to provide tear lines on the plastic strip that will help you place the strip literally anywhere on your body! This new invention has been named after the shape-shifting amoeba and is known as AmoeBAND. Here is what the amoeBAND looks like.

What is so great about the AmoeBAND, you ask? This genius Band-Aid is designed to fit literally anywhere on the body. For instance, the X-shaped tear lines are meant for the nails while the H shape will take care of any joints. Oh, and there is a pH sensitive pad on the amoeBAND that will tell the patient if his/her wound has been infected and if it’s time to pay a visit to the doc.

Not only this, but the Band-Aid is bionic and smart. The material allows you to investigate the condition of your wound from outside without disturbing the healing process. Interestingly, the amoeBAND will blend into your natural skin tone so as not to highlight any injuries! Isn’t that just so interesting? The Band-Aid will let you know of when to change it.

Even the packaging has been redesigned in the form of a matchbox and comes along with a complete set of instructions! Designer Tay Pek-Khai and his team acknowledge that material selection and tear line design was the hardest part of the amoeBAND project. However, we thank these great Asians for solving the world’s problem with conventional Band-Aids!

Read More

Scientists Invent the World Thinnest Circuit Board

Remember when we started from room sized computers and spacious data storage equipment? Today, we pocket gigabytes of information and the entire computers as sleek, handy devices weighing no more than a few pounds. Technology is racing today at a breakneck speed. Every now and then, the world of IT is witnessing mind-boggling inventions.

One similar astonishing invention in the world of IT is the thinnest and lightest electronic circuit! It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say this feather light circuit is literally going to revolutionize the IT industry, perhaps even the biomedical sciences. Let us explore this cool science invention.

Weighing no more than 2 microns, this circuit has been designed by professors from the University of Tokyo. It has impressed the scientific community worldwide due to the extreme malleability and lightness. They have been dubbed as ‘imperceptible electronics’ that will not impair human movement if worn on the body.

But don’t let the circuit’s appearance fool you! It is not as fragile as it looks. The circuit is capable of bearing tensile strains as great as 233% or more. Although the technology behind this seemingly tiny electronic circuit is complex, the circuit does not cost an extravagant amount.

The circuits are primarily aimed for boosting biomedical healthcare techniques however; the future holds a lot of promise for this invention. These circuits have a bend radius of 5 microns, effectively providing them the desired mechanical bending capabilities. Currently, most biomedical healthcare devices rely on heavy silicon and plastic devices that hinder physical movement. You could literally wear this lightweight circuit forever and not even feel its presence!

They are extremely tough and being only 1/5 the thickness of a kitchen wrap, these circuits are capable of withstanding fall from heights of 1 meter or more. In lab tests, they have demonstrated immense durability.

The project has been tested successfully and is ready to be introduced into medical sciences by the end of 2017. This little device will probably provide millions of patients around the world, a comfortable and normal life. In these photos below, you can see how the grids are arranged on an ultrathin plastic sheet. Physical movement is totally unaffected by the circuit.

So, let’s hope and wait for the large scale launching of this revolutionary electronic circuit. Let a new era begin in medical healthcare and perhaps, the IT industry too.

Read More