Navy Testing New Suits
The Navy is testing a new suit designed to protect sailors from steam leaks on nuclear-powered submarines. When pressurized steam lines rupture, they can leak steam at extremely high temperatures, which can severely injure or kill the servicemen. The new suits will help personnel make repairs or rescue crew mates in emergency situations.
The new suit prototype is popular among the few sailors who have tested it, because:
- It's easier to move, and put on.
- It's nine pounds lighter.
- It has a new glove design that has improved dexterity and tactility.
- It has a gel pack to keep you cool.
It only takes about two minutes to put the one-piece suit on, which is less than half the time it takes to put on the decade old, HAZMAT-style chemical suits that crews are using today.
The crew on the USS Toledo will test the suits for the next few months, before they make final improvements and start issuing the final suits in the next couple of years.
Flying Car Launches in Monaco
AeroMobil, an advanced engineering company based out of Bratislava, Slovakia, plans to unveil its flying supercar at Top Marques in Monaco next week, and we got our hands on some of the concept renderings before the company pulls back the curtain.
The new flying car is a departure from the company's AeroMobil 3.0 prototype that was unveiled in 2014, and not just because this one will be commercially available.
On the surface, one of the biggest changes appears to be the car's more rounded front end, but this car has evolved significantly since the AeroMobil 1.0 prototype from the early 1990s.
According to the company, the new flying car is a completely integrated aircraft as well as a fully functioning four-wheeled car, powered by hybrid propulsion.
The company will give a live demonstration in Monaco, and if all goes well, start taking orders, but it won't be the only flying car in Monaco. Dutch company PAL-V will be showing off a scale model of the Liberty, the company’s three-wheel gyrocopter.
Man Builds Working Iron Man Suit
We have seen some pretty good semi-functional Iron Man suits over the years, but a thirty-eight-year-old UK inventor is flight-testing a jet-powered suit he calls "Daedalus."
According to Wired, Richard Browning has strapped six kerosene-fueled micro gas turbines to his arms and back and has flown for up to 12 minutes in his homemade flight suit that has already cost him more than $50,000 to build out of his garage. He hasn't yet pushed the suit to the brink, since it's capable of speeds up to 280 mph.
He recently added a heads-up display he received from Sony, and he has plans to work on upgrades, like an automated balancing system.
Now, I was excited, and hopeful, to be able to test one of these suits in the future, but then I heard about Browning’s training regimen. A former soldier, Browning is also a triathlete, ultra-marathon runner and endurance canoeist, that is a thing.
If he says that the suit tests the limits of personal fitness, I might need to put in a little more work before I strap on his mark one.
According to Red Bull, he bikes over 90 miles every week, runs about 25 miles every Saturday, and he still says the effort to steer the suit is severe.
