Concept Cars: Bertone Mantide
The Jason Castriota designed Bertone Mantide was one of the vehicles displayed at the 2009 Shanghai Auto Show. Before its unveiling the Mantide concept had been teased for several weeks under the codename "Project M" and a series of images, videos and vague press releases had been circulated by Stile Bertone in order to whip up interest in the concept. The Bertone Mantide is based on the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 - an outstanding car to begin with, and features the same 638 horsepower, supercharged, 6.2 litre V8 driving the rear wheels. However thanks to the the lightweight carbon fibre body panels and wheels which help shave 100 kgs (220 lbs) off the weight and a more aerodynamic profile the Mantide can sprint to 62 mph (100 km/h) in just 3.2 seconds and carry on to a top speed of 217 mph (351 km/h)
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Amazing Star Trek Sculpture At Microsoft
Microsoft’s Studio D offices in Redmond, Washington have something that every Star Trek fan would love to have in their own home. However, it probably came at quite a price! The work called Mirror Universe by sculptor Devorah Sperber is based on images from the 1967 episode Mirror, Mirror. In this episode the crew encounter their evil counterparts from a parallel universe. The sculpture itself explores the relationship between art and popular science and how it relates to larger issues of a metaphysical nature. When we look at something our consciousness sees a stable and predictable world and this is what interests the artist. Part of a highly acclaimed body of work, this must be a wonderful sight to see as you enter your workplace each morning (as if Microsoft employees go home anyway!).
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Ferrari Boss Felisa: Hybrid means we can protect the V12
In the Eighties, you wanted your MTV. Now that you're a little older and a lot richer, you want your naturally aspirated V12 Italian cars, and both Ferrari and Lamborghini plan to deliver. The raging bulls at Sant' Agata are incorporating more lightweight materials into their cars in order to get over emissions hurdles, but Ferrari has different plans, likely including a road-going iteration of its kinetic energy recovery system, as seen fitted to its 599 HY-KERS concept car at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year. According to Autocar's quote from Ferrari CEO Amedeo Felisa, "Hybrid means we can protect the V12," suggesting Ferrari believes its unassisted 12-cylinder will live on. Autocar's theory is that the next Enzo could see its V12 paired with an electric motor to keep the government watchdogs happy. Of course, this contradicts Autocar's Ferrari piece from about ten days ago when, after speaking with Felisa, it wrote, "Felisa also hinted that the new Ferrari Enzo will be powered by a direct-injection twin-turbo V8 when it is launched in 2012."
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Up And Away! World's Largest Airship Lifts Off For The First Time
More than 70 years after the Hindenburg disaster ended the golden airship era, giant blimps will take to the skies again with the launch of the world's largest inflatable craft. The pioneering Bullet 580 is a 235ftlong and 65ft in diameter ship that can lift payloads of 2,000lbs up to 20,000ft in the air. It was inflated this week inside the Garret Coliseum in Alabama - one of the few facilities large enough to host the ship. The process took the developers at E-Green Technologies just over six hours.
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