Friday, February 16, 2007

FutureCar, Pt II

Another series of made for TV programs from the Discovery Channel, FutureCar examines today’s technologies and designs and how they might lead to tomorrow’s vehicles.

Today I watched the second of 3 programs, this one titled “The Body.” The program covered these technologies:

* the GM Skateboard (link), with interchangeable bodies and powered by a fuel cell
* advanced composites
* carbon nanotube enhanced tires (1)
* the Tweel (Iink), Naro (link) and Carver (link)
* VR for design and testing, and the use of haptics
* Urban vehicles to combat congestion


Again, car enthusiasts will love this show, as will those that study the future.

As you see from the list above, nanotechnology is explicitly mentioned this time. As with the previous program, many technologies covered in this program will be enabled by nanotechnologies, and all of them enhanced.

(1) Visit the websites of Andrew R. Barron and James Tour

Bottom line: worth the watch.

Next week I will cover the third in the series titled “The Fuel.”

To learn more, visit discovery.com/futurecar

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