If your piston engine is powering a plane, that limits how fast it can fly, how much lift it can make, how big it can be, and how much it can carry.Photo: Piston engine: One way to make lots of power, consistently, is to use lots of cylinders. This classic Bristol Jupiter piston...
As we learned from Matthew, SpaceShipOne can't make a journey to the stars alone. It requires the help of a carrier ship called the White Knight. One of the greatest expenses and dangers in space travel comes from launching spacecraft from the ground. Just the cost of the fuel needed for...
Gasoline, diesel, alcohol, kerosene and propane can be used to fuel the Skycar, and its fuel mileage will be comparable to that of a medium-sized car, getting 20 miles (32.2 km) to the gallon. The initial cost of a Skycar will be about $1 million, but once it begins to be mass ...
Photo: Two flywheels on old engines at Think Tank, the science and industry museum in Birmingham, England. The flywheels are mostly empty space with long spokes and a large, heavy rim. Following the work of 19th-century electrical pioneers like Thomas Edison, electric power was soon widely ava...
In these Appalachian cabins, kerosene lamplight spilled out onto families who made everything for themselves, from food to rugs to pottery to music. Their hands left behind their spirit, a lure for today's collector. That can-do attitude carried the pioneers to the West, where another log ...