This Engineering Newswire looks at throwing flames with the XMatter, flying the world’s largest plane and getting a real explanation for how Lexus’ hoverboard works.
Consumer Flamethrower Shoots 50-Feet
The XMatter X15 flamethrower retails for around $1,600.
The Ohio-based company, XMatter, claims the device can hold 3.3 gallons of fuel and can shoot flames up to 50 feet – right out of the box.
And surprisingly, the selling and purchasing of flamethrowers is largely unregulated in the US. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives doesn’t technically consider flamethrowers as firearms, so anyone over the age of 18 – not living in California or Maryland – could purchase one right now.
World’s Largest Plane
The world’s largest plane is set to launch next year. Developed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Scaled Composites founder Burt Rutan (the company being blamed for the SpaceShipTwo crash in October) the Stratolaunch carrier aircraft could change the way we travel to space.
Powered by six 747-class engines and featuring a wingspan of 385 feet and a weight of 1,200,000 pounds, the plane will climb to 30,000 feet to launch a rocket, reaching a maximum speed of around 530 mph.
Hoverboard Released
According to the company, creating the Hoverboard, named SLIDE, required reengineering various technologies. This included finding the right combination of superconductors, magnets, and liquid nitrogen.
The hoverboad is constructed from an insulated core that contains high temperature superconducting bocks. The blocks are housed in a reservoir of liquid nitrogen, called cryostats, which cool them to -197°C. When placed on a surface that contains permanent magnets, magnetic flux lines are “pinned” into place.
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