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In a European Patent Office application published on July 18 of this year, Ferrari seeks to protect its new design for an electric turbocharging system. Per the patent application’s abstract, the new system is:
“A method to control an electrically-operated turbocharger in a supercharged internal combustion engine, wherein the turbocharger has: a turbine, which is inserted in an exhaust duct to rotate under the thrust of the exhaust gases and operates an electric generator, and a compressor, which is mechanically independent of the turbine, is inserted in an intake duct to increase the air pressure and is operated by an electric engine; wherein the control method comprises the steps of: establishing when the intensity of the acoustic emission in the exhaust of the internal combustion engine needs to be increased; and reducing the mechanical power actually absorbed by the electric generator relative to the available mechanical power to increase the intensity of the acoustic emission in the exhaust of the internal combustion engine.”
It seems that the patent is aimed at the method of controlling the system, as opposed to the hardware specific to the system itself. From what we can tell from the patent application, which can be found in its entirety at the European Patent Office , the system is different from any of the other electric compressor systems we’ve seen before
How It Works
A really, really good sign that someone has read neither Thucydides, Tacitus, Homer, nor Plato is when that person talks about how Greek and Roman literature teach us about the Greatness of the West.
Pakistan’s cricket star-turned-politician 
I apologize for Message Board N° 3 having been locked somewhat... ummmm... errrr... uh... unexpectedly...
I'd like to say that I'll try not to let it happen again, but since I do not understand why it happened ....
Bob I don't know what happened there. Neither I or the mods did anything to your article.
A baby raccoon tried to bite me this morning
That's about how I feel
That is FABULOUS!
I thought you'd like that!!!
Neat. I couldn't pass it up. It was funny.
Sometimes I feel like this.....
Keep 'em comin' Bob! People need a message board, especially in these insane times...
These are fun! We can post whatever we want and we don't have to be on topic
Yes, I use to like the public chat feature that was on the bottom of the left side of the screen. No politics allowed. That was nice. You could chat and listen to songs people put up at the same time.
Polonius’ Advice to Laertes
Hamlet I, iii, 55-81
Yet here, Laertes! aboard, aboard, for shame!
The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail,
And you are stay’d for. There; my blessing with thee!
And these few precepts in thy memory
See thou character. Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportioned thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch’d, unfledged comrade.
Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel, but being in,
Bear’t that the opposed may beware of thee.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment.
Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy,
But not express’d in fancy; rich, not gaudy;
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous chief in that.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be;
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.
This above all: to thine ownself be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell: my blessing season this in thee!
Here's what I woke up to this morning. Just put me in a great mood. Took a walk around the area before breakfast.
Are you in Colorado?
Yep! Keystone
Thought so
Very nice.
Here's a couple pics from tonight on top of the mountain.
Wait!
Are there really people crazy enough to ride a bicycle down that hill?
The smoke looks thick. I had to go to Detroit on business then I headed down to the ocean for a while to get out of Colorado for a little while. It’s been very hot, dry and smokey from the fires lately.
Both Keystone and Winter Park have some of the more challenging downhill biking in the area.
Check out High county healing in Silverthorne just down the road from Keystone while you’re there to get that Rocky Mountain high experience.
When we visited Death Valley a couple years ago, we got rain (!) and a pollution alert.
Crud drifts up from the coastal cities.
I forgot this is your neck of the woods. I don't care about a little smoke. It's still takes my breath away and I can't wipe the grin off my face.
Yep - I watched a couple riding down the gondola this evening. Pretty wicked to watch from above. They are fearless!
That hill is nothing compared to going down Divisidero Street in San Francisco on roller skates. Trust me, I know.
or Lombard Street, lol?
Just the one section that goes Hyde Street. I burned out two clutches on that section of Lombard.
Maria Butina, the red haired Russian. Are there any nekked photos of her with a Smith & Wesson?
Dunno, but I grabbed a few "glamor" photos from the Russian GQ article about her, for the seed I put up a while ago.
Israeli defense firm demos kamikaze drone bomb...
Virgin Orbit will launch the first-ever flights to space from British soil
Click for video
Virgin Orbit, a company within Richard Branson’s Virgin Group , revealed its plans to conduct orbital launches from the spaceport by 2021. While rockets are usually associated with vertical launches, projects from the new port will involve an air-launch platform.
The company plans to use a Boeing 747-400 to carry its latest rocket, LauncherOne , to a high altitude and deploy the rocket into space. At specific intervals after ignition, the rocket will disengage its parts at different stages, and release its satellite payload into space.
Virgin Orbit also noted that by launching rockets in mid-air, it avoids heavy spending on infrastructure (like launchpads) and air traffic control that are required for launches from the ground. It claimed that this will allow for cheaper spaceflight, making it more affordable for space tourism in the future.
This could see the company compete more closely with Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. According to a recent Reuters report, the Amazon CEO’s rocket company could be shuttling space tourists as early as next year at predicted costs of $200,000 to $300,000 per ticket .
With the new partnership with Cornwall Airport Newquay, Virgin Orbit has two places to launch from – the first being its site in Mojave, California .
This public-private partnership is also an advantage for the UK. The last time it launched a satellite with its own rocket was in 1971 , and that too happened from a launchpad in Australia. If the planned spaceport becomes operational, it would allow the UK to become more independent in the modern space race.
Additionally, the UK has selected Sutherland, on the north coast of Scotland as the location for setting up a new launchpad. The government will be offering $3.3 million to a local business development agency, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, to ensure that the necessary launching infrastructure is built for rocket launches planned in the early 2020s.
I can understand at that latitude to launch an orbital vehicle from an aircraft.
I don't know how much folks are aware of the issues posed to our NASA Space Shuttle program when it was agreed to have Russia provide delivery capability to the ISS for us and others.
Just another clear cut example of politicians making engineering decisions.
As the launch facility in Kazakhstan was at a much higher latitude that our Kennedy Space Center the ISS had to by moved to a higher latitude. There was a couple/few year overlap period where our Space Shuttles continued to work after the ISS was moved and the Russians came on board as the taxi service for us and the rest of the world.
During this overlap period the ISS latitude move created a significant challenge for space flight capability to the ISS our Shuttles. A greater distance and of course a greater fuel burn time was now imposed on our Shuttle flights.
Without starting from scratch, there is only so much you can re-engineer on one of those things in this particular area.
The main fuel tank became the major obstacle. How do you keep weight under a certain ceiling while adding the needed extra fuel load and using the current alloy which the tank was constructed of, would prove too heavy for that weight limit when increased in size to hold that extra fuel?
New unknown alloy needed !!! Yep, got one of those right here in my back pocket.
So, where to start? Maybe something is close? Well a candidate meeting the weight - strength properties existed. Minor problem. Not form-able. Not malleable. Not welding friendly.
Hmmmm? Just perfect ??? !!!
Well, fortunately working with the provider of the alloy a variant was developed and iteratively tested and successfully passed.
This story does not in any way convey how tight this schedule was. Yet the effort was a success.
Okay, so how does that relate?
Latitude.
The story conveys latitude differences for launching orbital vehicles requires a lot of engineering and reading between the lines, a lot of money too.
The UK is at a high latitude. Typical orbital vehicles are near and around the equator. Launching from the ground requires a lot of on board fuel and a larger launch vehicle to hold that fuel.
I could have said something like "ground launches from the UK are impractical" but that most likely would not have meant very much.
Apologies for typos, I am sure it is filled with them.
Interesting background info. Thanks.
I remember back when Arianespace was creating its base at Kourou, in French Guiana on the northern coast of South America. It's hot, humid, and everything that doesn't rot is quickly overgrown. Terrible place! But close to the equator. Big advantage for launching, because the rocket has Earth's rotation already acquired.
Mr. Block goes for some "Sunday drives".
The tire budget....
LOL. I don't think he gets tire warranties either.
Motor tunes:
Memories.
My first car was a 1965 GTO convertible, 389, 4 speed, 3:55 gears w/posi.
One of the neighborhood kids won an all expense paid ticket to that wonderful vacation spot in south east Asia. Before shipping out he took his car out and thrashed it to the point of damaging the engine and left the car in his Dad's drive way.
Along the way the kid enjoyed his vacation spot so much he decided to take another tour, buy a Camaro when he returned and asked his Dad to sell the "Goat".
Along comes me with $300usd and the Little GTO was mine.
This was '70 - '71 and I was 14 - 15.
The first complete engine rebuild I did, top to bottom. Well, automotive engine rebuild that is, if we want to include the weekend during the summer between 4th and 5th grade when I disassembled and then reassembled the engine in the family lawn mowed that weekend my parents were away.
Who cares about reusing old gaskets? Meaningless, especially to a stupid kid who didn't know better.
In the end, got it back together and it worked. Guess it really didn't need those left over parts remaining in the parts box?
Anyhow, the GTO was beautiful...but, being young and stupid, it just wasn't fast enough and sold it. Would love to have it today, along with that '66 Austin-Healey 3000 GT MkII and that '69 Mach I toploader car. All of which I was able to get in bail out situations.
Memories
Cool.
I only had "practical" cars until my early 30s, when I got a Peugeot 104 ZS, a GTI-type hot hatch. Wonderful little car... but very little. It was replaced by a 7-passenger wagon.
I was in my 50s before I got my second hot car, an Alfa Romeo 147. Fabulous! But then a young woman ran a stop, and the Alfa was gone.
Nowadays, I care more about ease of entry / exit than about 0 to 60. Age.
The Alphas are beautiful and had a strong history in U2 competition during the Trans-Am golden era.
The second time I grow up, I want a Giulia bi-turbo.
For now I have an older ZX2 Escort which drives like a go-kart and is my project for now. A lot peppier than I imagined and fun to drive.
My 7.70 second 172+ mph (1/4 mile) Mustang sits in the garage and a friend uses the engine. Simply do not have the time, energy and money to run it these days.
Memories. Good to have.
Now there's a great idea! There are cars that justify reincarnation...
I met these dudes last night on the mountain. Had no idea they were part of the live music festival today.
Baxter will be giving dancing lessons to NT members starting tomorrow. There is a slight fee involved.
Two new peacock spiders identified in Western Australia
It is only a few millimetres in size, performs a dance as part of a courtship ritual and has striking coloured markings on its back that “look like a pharaoh’s headdress”.
But when biologist Jürgen Otto first spotted the peacock spider species he has named Maratus unicup , he didn’t immediately recognise how special it was.
“I didn’t think much of it because I’m partially colour blind,” he says. “But there was quite a reaction to photographs of it on the internet, with people saying it’s beautiful.”
The second species