Transportation
Auto-dimming electrochromic panels reduce glare when driving (video)
It’s rush hour, and you’re headed due West on your evening commute — the sun burning holes in your eyes.
Clear security lanes storming back to airports, principled travelers high five one another
D on’t call it a comeback. Or do, because that’s precisely what this is. After Clear shuffled its final incorruptible passenger through a speedy security lane in June of last year, the company closed up shop and forced even the nicest of travelers to re-join the herds.
RIM converts BMW’s iDrive into ‘a remote control for your BlackBerry’ (video)
If there’s one thing business types love more than their BlackBerry , it’s their BMW — or so we’re told. It makes all sorts of sense, therefore, that the two companies would partner up to help the things they sell communicate with each other more effortlessly.
Nissan books 8,000 Leaf orders in nine days, gets turned on with that electric feel
Who says people aren’t willing to pay upwards of $30k for a car that can only go 100 miles before needing to be tethered to a wall outlet? Evidently Nissan has struck a chord with the US populace, as the automaker just announced that 8,000 orders for the all-electric Leaf were booked in a mere nine days after orders went live.
Lexus shows off hybrid bicycle, won’t sell you one
This Lexus bicycle has apparently been quietly making the rounds since the last year’s Tokyo Motor Show, but the automaker has rolled it out again to coincide with the Great British Bike Ride, and it’s taken the opportunity to dish some details on it. While it’s still just a concept, it does exist in prototype form, and packs a 240-Watt electric motor that’s powered by a 25.9-volt lithium battery pack, which promises to give you a little extra push when you’re tired of pedaling. Being a Lexus, it also follows the “L-finesse” design language, and it relies on the same principles of the Lexus Hybrid Drive system found in the company’s hybrid vehicles to recharge the battery through regenerative braking
Boeing X-37B autonomous space shuttle launched last night, due back ‘whenevs’
Boeing’s X-37B , the test craft that’s been kicking around for the last decade or so, has finally made it into orbit. Formerly a NASA project, we’ve heard little about the thing since it passed into DARPA hands in 2004 — and statements like those of the Air Force’s Gary Payton don’t help much: “in all honesty, we don’t know when it’s coming back for sure.” How’s that for autonomous? Also uncommented upon, yet tantalizing, are the military’s intentions for the unmanned vehicle, which can remain in orbit 270 days at a time
