A Japanese Maglev train has just broken its own world record speed of 367mph, set last week, with 374mph. Japan is looking to introduce a new service by 2027. The country is also hoping to export the technology. Hopefully, back to Britain where the system was invented and developed by Professor and Electrical Engineer Eric Laithwaite and his own country has entirely forgotten about him. Train: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-32391020 Laithwaite: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Laithwaite
I remember Eric Laithwaite very well, he was always popping up on programmes like Tomorrow's World back in the 60's and 70's with various inventions, notably the Maglev system. It is to the eternal shame of this country that we didn't seize upon the idea and develop it ourselves, for want of the money to invest in the infrastructure.
The problem with this country has always been to try to do things on a shoestring. Being cheapskates and short termism has always been the case. And when we do actually spend money it's by successive seemingly uninformed govts. Even with the upcoming election, they're still tempting us with jam today. The next big faux pas will be the eras out-of-date nuclear power stations they signed to build, giving us the most expensive electricity in terms of cost and environmental damage. I spoke to Alan Whitehead the other day, an MP I have a fair bit of time for [sadly not my MP as I'm in the neighbouring constituency due to boundary changes - but that's another Tory story] and he had no idea of the upcoming new clean energy developments that are literally a couple of years away. All the investment is in USA, Germany, Japan, etc... while we screw around with hot fusion. So another British development isn't backed and is now entirely forgotten. It's almost laughable how we do it.
I am not sure how affordable the fast trains are in Japan, here in China they are a reasonably cheap way to get around. I regularly use them here takes less than 3 hours to travel 500km (300 miles). The cost for this is less a little over 15 pounds. because they are so cheap most trains are full and buying tickets in advance is essential at peak times.
Well, you may be talking about fast trains, but they are essentially highly developed old [British again] technology, which is why they are relatively cheap. Japan have long had their own conventional fast bullet trains.
Agree 100%. The likes of Laithwaite should be up there with Hargreaves and Brunel, but as you say, he's been forgotten in his own country while we squander billions on out of date technology and the rest of the world laughs up their sleeves.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-32382811 Good news, but still a warning about how you behave in these areas.
This week the wife and I have started watching Breaking Bad on some new sky channel.. We are four episodes in and I have been wracking my brains as to where I have seen the character Jesse before and tonight it dawned on me; he is David Connolly.
I have a dead leg. I chopped down a tree tonight and one of the large trunks bounced off my thigh in its way down.... Ouch
Interesting study of stats which might be a little sobering when you think of them, from a newly published book called Knowledge is Beautiful. For example... Men will die out in 5,000,000 years due to the weakening Y chromosome. Women will just have to soldier on by themselves. With a bit of luck they'll have evolved to reproduce completely asexually or customised semen will be reproduced synthetically. You'll live longer if you are optimistic. Having more orgasms and living in the countryside helps a lot too. As does being active well into old-age. A little red wine and/or beer is also pretty good. Oh, and live up a mountain if possible..! Living in the city, being non-active [i.e. having a sedentary job, and sitting around a lot watching telly] and sleeping too much can shorten your life considerably. And smoking will really knock you back, but that's a gimme. Doesn't mention anything about being grossly overweight, but hey, who are we kidding !?! Statistically, getting regular health checks doesn't do a damn thing for your life expectancy. Peace of mind counts for nothing except to the insurance company. I guess some people are just better off not knowing. Here's a little cracker: In 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 years the Earth's orbit will finally decay and the planet will plunge into the Sun. That's if the Earth hasn't been consumed by the Sun as a Red Giant well beforehand. The Earth's magnetic poles will reverse in 10,000 years. Compasses will read the opposite to today, so don't read the red end of the arrow, unless you want to look South, err.. New North. Whatever..! ...and 20,000 years from now, the nuclear power station at Chernobyl will finally be safe. Well, that's nice to know.
