(ORDO NEWS) — Size matters. A hackneyed phrase, but in our case it is a literal definition. These projects impress with their incredible scope. To create them, it took a huge amount of materials, builders and engineering efforts.
Above the clouds
The giant HAV 304 Airlander 10 was nicknamed the “flying fifth point” not only because of its obvious resemblance to it, but also because of its difficult fate. The prototype was created to test technologies for the use of hybrid airships (a combination of a balloon with an aircraft) and was tested in the interests of the US Air Force.
However, after three years of development, the customer abandoned the expensive project, and since then Hybrid Air Vehicles has been implementing it independently, receiving support from the UK and EU authorities.
Since 2016, the Airlander 10 has taken off six times, two of them in an emergency. Despite this, the creators considered that the basic components of the system proved to be excellent, and decided not to engage in the restoration of the prototype, but immediately proceed to the construction of the next airship.
It is expected that Airlander 10s will be able to lift up to 10 tons of payload, and the future version will become even larger and take on board up to 50 tons.
Yellow Submarine
Boeing Corporation, which we used to associate with all kinds of flying equipment, is also engaged in underwater vehicles with no less success. So, in 2017, the developers demonstrated the ultra-large deep-sea drone Echo Voyager with a length of 15.5 m.
The hybrid power system allows the robot to independently recharge batteries and provides a cruising range of up to 6,500 nautical miles (12,000 km) of fully autonomous navigation controlled by intelligent systems on board.
The submarine is able to independently leave the home port and return to the site after completion of work a few months later. Its cargo bay holds up to 56.6 cubic meters of equipment and allows for long and complex research or military missions.
Let’s go to print
In the near future, the UK plans to acquire a new site for launching small spacecraft. The spaceport is to be built in 2021 in the mountainous Sutherland in the north of Scotland, convenient for launching satellites into polar and sun-synchronous orbits.
Well, local carriers will be new items developed by British startups, Rocket Lab’s Electron rockets and Orbex’s Prime. The latter recently presented a finished prototype of the upper (second) stage made of aluminum composite and carbon fiber, including a unique engine, the body of which is printed in a single piece on an industrial 3D printer.
Orbex says new technology has allowed them to create a rocket that uses usable cargo space even more efficiently than most heavy launch vehicles. It will be possible to check this already in 2022.
Fish place
Raising fish is cheaper than livestock and poultry, and safer for the environment, according to SalMar. With a grant from the Norwegian government, the company built Ocean Farm 1, the world‘s first ever and still the world’s largest ocean fish farm, over 100m in diameter and 70m high.
Salmon is grown here: a giant net is designed for 6,000 tons of fish, or 1.5 million adults, which, if necessary, can be divided into three age groups.
The farm was set up near the confluence of rivers where salmon spawn, in the warm waters of the Gulf Stream; despite the strong current, the multi-ton structure always remains in place. The farm is fully automated: the fish are fed, measured and caught by automatic machines, and the fishermen only have to take the catch.
Machine fury
Scorpio enters the ring of the League of Fighting Robots, a competition hosted by the Syfy TV channel in 2013. The fights were almost like in amateur boxing: anthropomorphic machines met in fights of three two-minute rounds, and three jury members counted points for each serious blow to the opponent’s vital organs.
There were also knockouts here – the same Scorpio effectively knocked down the opponent in the quarterfinals. However, there was no intervention of doctors: according to the rules of the competition, the cars were controlled remotely.
One operator controlled the arms and torso, the second – the legs and “special equipment” placed on board. The 340 kg Scorpio led by Diana Young and Chris Ardoun, armed with sharp blades, reached the semi-finals. Here, however, his light carbon-fiber armor could not withstand a collision with a steel opponent, nicknamed Crash.
Ninth horizontal
The translucent facade of the “crystal” through gallery connected the buildings of Raffles City in Chongqing, one of the largest metropolitan areas in China. The Lying Skyscraper complements the eight vertical towers of the luxury complex, which opened in 2019.
The 300-meter structure at a height of 250 m housed shops and restaurants, a pair of swimming pools and a viewing platform.
For installation, Arup engineers divided it into nine segments, four of which were built right at a height, on supporting skyscrapers, and three connecting ones were assembled on the ground and lifted with cranes, after which they were mounted together.
Observers note that developers are increasingly willing to build such “anthills for the rich”, trying to get the most out of the favorable location of their projects and buyers of expensive real estate.
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