The Intempo skyscraper in Benidorm, Spain—standing proud in this image—was designed to be a striking symbol of hope and prosperity, to signal to the rest of the world that the city was escaping the financial crisis. Sadly, the builders forgot to include a working elevator.
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Hmmm, it seems that obesity is not the only disease to strike and plague us humans, as we have also seemingly brought this “curse” upon our four legged friends – dogs. Assuming your pooch is overweight and needs some assistance to get around, how about this pet elevator that will let your dog go up and down the stairs without putting additional strain on those joints of theirs?
Basically, this prototype comes with a start button that is close to the ground, allowing your dog to learn to push said button with its paw in order to have it ride the basket up or down, depending on the direction where it wants to go. Of course, your dog would need to practice using this and a lack of fear of heights would help as well, as the dog elevator lifts several feet off the ground in order to traverse up and down the stairs. All I can say is, if your pooch is overweight, it is about darn time you sent it for daily walks – and chances are the owner is overweight, too.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Man Builds Spaceship For Son, HiSense Pulse Google TV Going For $99 ,
This is dumb. This is so goddamn dumb. Dumber than a bag of hammers. So dumb it’s making my ears bleed. Dumb, dumb, dumb. DUMB. But I love it. Perpetual energy wasting machine, I love you. [Thanks Karl!] More »
Do you know what it feels like to have an elevator fall apart while you’re in it? Nah, me neither. But these people did – and they lived to tell the stories of their harrowing experience.
Not that their lives were really at risk, because it was all part of an elaborate prank of sorts that LG pulled to show off the ultra-realistic images on their IPS flat-panel monitors.
I would think that some people got pretty pissed after realizing the stunt that LG had pulled. What LG did was added a layer to the floor of the elevator, with nine embedded monitors that looked like floor tiles. Once the elevator began moving, the video tiles would fall away to reveal an image of the elevator shaft.
And that’s when all the fun begins.
The effect looks so real, it’s scary. But for those of us who weren’t in that elevator, it’s freakin’ hilarious.
[via Geeky Gadgets via Dvice]
Maybe it’s just me, but as I see people jumping in and out the Paternoster—an elevator made of chained cars that never stop—I can only see myself being crushed between the car and the floor. Or losing a foot. Or some fingers. It’s terrifying. More »
Space elevators are slowly making the transition from science fiction to science fact… but we’re not quite there yet. LiftPort, a group that already holds the record for tallest elevator, is taking a second stab at the technology after going into “hibernation” in 2007. Founder Michael Laine has resurrected the company and taken to Kickstarter to drum up interest (as well as a little cash) in his latest project — a lunar elevator. As Laine explains in the video, an elevator from the surface of the Moon to a rendezvous point between the Earth and its satellite is actually possible using current technology. And, thanks to its low gravity and lack of atmosphere, a much simpler construction site. The first step is a $1 million feasibility study that will involve a two kilometer tall elevator here on Earth. LiftPort has already far exceeded its Kickstarter goal of $8,000, but the point was never to fund the entire project. The hope was to garner some media attention and get people involved and invested (both financially and emotionally) by offering rewards. You could even pledge enough money to base jump from the top of the tethered research tower, which will be held aloft by helium balloons. For more info check out the video after the break and hit up the source link to pledge your hard earned cash.
Continue reading Liftport turns to Kickstarter for space elevator experiment (video)
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Liftport turns to Kickstarter for space elevator experiment (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Aug 2012 18:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Typically, when I hear about a project over on the crowdsourced funding website Kickstarter, we’re talking about some sort of iPhone accessory or game. A project is up on Kickstarter right now that Arthur C. Clarke would really appreciate. The project is from a company called the LiftPort Group and is to fund an experiment that will help the company on its path to building a space elevator on the moon.
The company is seeking $8000 to conduct an experiment where they will launch a robot using a 2 km long tether into the atmosphere. The robot would climb that tether and break the previous world record set by the company of roughly a quarter mile. The company has so far raised over $19,600 and still has 16 days to go.
With each step above the $8000 the company needed, it has “stretch goals” that will see improvements made on its original experiment including more sensors and the ability to go higher into the sky. LiftPort Founder Michael Laine hopes that the experiment will eventually culminate with a $3 million feasibility study on the possibility of building a space elevator on the moon. The company wants to build a space elevator that will carry cargo from the surface of the moon to a point where spacecraft from Earth could rendezvous with it.
The total cost for the space elevator is estimated to be $800 million, which might be a bit more than you could raise on Kickstarter.
[via Forbes]
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