The Car Hub

Today we are going to focus on two objects which in the past have caused, in one case havoc, and in the other derision.

Imagine you have been subjected to derision and insults for years and there was no way you could get out of the situation. Throughout your life you’ve had to live in a no-way-out situation and you can’t wait to retire to the sidelines and out of the public glare.

No sooner are you partly out of your misery when our new world technology finds you and turns from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan.

Such an event has happened to that old east German car- the Trabant, which translated means “foot soldier” and was blessed with such technology as a petrol gauge in the shape of a dipstick and a smoke belching engine which greatly helped to maintain the smPictureg which engulfed East Germany for decades.

This ugly duckling is about to be transformed into a modern electric car with solar panels on the roof and a claimed 150 miles before a recharge and it is said the Germans can’t wait to welcome it back.

In the UK, probably more so in the autumn, as train passenger we, on some occasions, have had to endure delays and even non-running trains because of the havoc caused by “leaves-on-the-line”.

This recent phenomenon, which was really a non event during the steam era, might evoke laughter that such a fragile article as a leaf could prevent tons of steel machinery from passing over it. How on earth could that be? Technology once again comes to the rescue of a much maligned article.

According to some experts the leaf is “the most efficient power station” known to man. All the leaf requires to create energy is sunlight in order to help turn water and CO2. into sugar; the use of photosynthesis is the source of nearly all the energy that supplies every living thing on earth.

Now scientists in London are trying to develop an artificial leaf in order to try and mimic the process of photosynthesis. If they are successful it could be one of the biggest discoveries of modern times via the majic of new world technology.

Posted by Bill Williams