Mercedez-Benz Creates Artificial Tornado [Guiness Record]

This is one thing that you’ve definitely got to see. In Germany, in the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, they can repurpose the building’s internal ventilation system to create an artificial tornado – indoors!

This twister takes about 7 minutes to form and is powered by 144 jets and 28 tons of air. The system was initially created to funnel away smoke from inside the museum to the ventilation shaft and the outside world.


The whole thing is more than 100′ tall, making it officially the world’s largest artificial tornado, which is not likely to be a very crowded category in the Guinness Book, is it?

[technabob via Presurfer]

Artificial Foot Recycles Energy With Every Step [Bionic]

Researchers at the University of Michigan have created a prosthesis that makes walking much easier on amputees than current options. The trick: an artificial foot that recycles the kinetic energy generated by walking.

The device works by mimicking the natural push-off of a human ankle, using a microprocessor to control the device and capture the energy normally dissipated by the leg:

In tests on subjects walking with an artificially-impaired ankle, a conventional prosthesis reduced ankle push-off work and increased net metabolic energy expenditure by 23% compared to normal walking. Energy recycling restored ankle push-off to normal and reduced the net metabolic energy penalty to 14%.

That means less cumbersome dragging of an artificial limb and a more natural walking sensation. It also only requires a small battery to operate, running off of less than one watt of power.

It's just a prototype for now, but assuming the current round of testing goes well, there's no reason not to expect a commercial application in the not too distant future.
[Gizmodo via PLoS ONE via Inhabitat]