Large-scale
arcologies
are emerging as an alternative
to traditional cities
Super Train for China
“The latest plan from the People’s Republic calls for a high speed train that will combine the maglev system used in Japan and France with vacuum tubes. In theory, this train will be able to go 1,000 kph, or about 620 mph. That is twice as fast as most high speed trains travel today.”
Maglev systems can get trains going over 300 mph (with a record of 361 mph) smoothly and quietly using magnetics, but it is hard to get them going faster than that due to air friction.
China’s plan is to remove the air friction by using vacuum tubes (i.e. removing the air). Of course, this isn’t cheap — the vacuum tubes add $300 million to the already high cost of the maglev trains. But, over 600 mph?! That saves a lot of people a lot of money in what transportation economists (or economists, in general) call “time costs.”
“The latest plan from the People’s Republic calls for a high speed train that will combine the maglev system used in Japan and France with vacuum tubes. In theory, this train will be able to go 1,000 kph, or about 620 mph. That is twice as fast as most high speed trains travel today.”
Maglev systems can get trains going over 300 mph (with a record of 361 mph) smoothly and quietly using magnetics, but it is hard to get them going faster than that due to air friction.
China’s plan is to remove the air friction by using vacuum tubes (i.e. removing the air). Of course, this isn’t cheap — the vacuum tubes add $300 million to the already high cost of the maglev trains. But, over 600 mph?! That saves a lot of people a lot of money in what transportation economists (or economists, in general) call “time costs.”
from cleantech chaina.com
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| Super Train for China |
3D printing was no longer limited to inorganic materials like polymers or metals. It was being adapted to construct living, biological systems. Layer after layer of cells, dispensed from printer heads, could be placed exactly where needed with precision down to micrometre scales.
Initially demonstrated for simple components like blood vessels and tissues,more sophisticated versions later emerged in combination with scaffolds to hold larger structures in place. Eventually, the first complete organs were developed with sufficient nutrients, oxygen and growth vectors to survive as fully-functioning replacements in mouse models.
3D-printing of major human organs is becoming feasible for the first time. Although yet to be fully perfected (as certain types of organs remain too complex), this is nevertheless a major boost for life extension efforts. In the coming decades, more and more of the 78 organs in the human body will become printable.
From http://www.futuretimeline.net/
Initially demonstrated for simple components like blood vessels and tissues,more sophisticated versions later emerged in combination with scaffolds to hold larger structures in place. Eventually, the first complete organs were developed with sufficient nutrients, oxygen and growth vectors to survive as fully-functioning replacements in mouse models.
3D-printing of major human organs is becoming feasible for the first time. Although yet to be fully perfected (as certain types of organs remain too complex), this is nevertheless a major boost for life extension efforts. In the coming decades, more and more of the 78 organs in the human body will become printable.
