So, one night, I was happily drinking my beer and tending to my inbox of endless boring emails that had be answered but were of no real consequence, when Lester, my landsailing buddy texted me a link to fasterthanthewind.org. Lester knows a lot, and if he says this needs my attention, then it gets it. I am not sure if it was how many beers I had had, or simply the inane nature of the quest, but I laughed enough to email all my friends to share the absurdity of their mission. My heart is split between belittling idiots, and saluting eccentrics, and this downwind quest lay somewhere in the middle. These loonies were pursuing a pointless goal, doomed to failure, but there was some genuine merit in the myth and their enthusiasm.

I dismissed it as utterly impossible. Travelling through zero apparent wind, with no stored power? Impossible. Why would you even attempt it? (Though I’m no stranger to that question myself!) But had I been asked to bet at that moment, I would have just lost a lot of money.

A few months later I actually met the idiots in question and, to my surprise and concern we not only have a few mutual friends, but they seemed to be rather technically credible. But, everyone makes mistakes, and I let them off as decent people with a blinkered view of fundamentally flawed engineering….

A few months later they were claiming success and if it was not for another great friend, Bob Dill, advising that they were actually correct, I would have discarded their claim as an April fool. I thought about the possibility that I was wrong, and then considered that as Bob was getting on a bit and had a bit of a shake with his stopwatch finger, maybe it was he who was mistaken. There was, however, a growing momentum of technical people (who should have known better), saying that these idiots have actually proven that it is possible to travel faster than the wind going directly down wind.

Not content, I had to witness this myself. When I heard it was on for the official record at El Mirage, I jumped on a plane and went to check it out.

The video speaks for itself. These guys are not idiots, but sincere, genuine, technical people who took a myth and made it real. It works. It starts from rest, trundles to true wind speed, then powers to a multiple of about 3 times the true wind speed. Bob will confirm the final number I am sure.

To all fellow skeptics, start baking that humble pie, or eat your hat. Your choice

Here’s a video Richard shot on the day he visited.

Check out the Faster Than the Wind site for more info.

ETA: Just in case you are wondering at the strange tone in Richard’s post (and references to ‘idiots’ and such) — this story has a lot of history, so Richard is referencing the often heated debates about whether this DDWFTTW idea is actually possible or not. As Wired magazines puts it “The concept known as DWFTTW can cause world-renowned physicists to throw their Nobel Prizes in fits of rage.”

You can check out some of those lengthy & heated discussions in the links below:

http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/propulsion/ddwfttw-directly-downwind-faster-than-wind-25527.html
http://forum.mythbustersfanclub.com/index.php/topic,12948.0.html
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=128483

So, one night, I was happily drinking my beer and tending to my inbox of endless boring emails that had be answered but were of no real consequence, when Lester, my landsailing buddy texted me a link to fasterthanthewind.org. Lester knows a lot, and if he says this needs my attention, then it gets it. I am not sure if it was how many beers I had had, or simply the inane nature of the quest, but I laughed enough to email all my friends to share the absurdity of their mission. My heart is split between belittling idiots, and saluting eccentrics, and this downwind quest lay somewhere in the middle. These loonies were pursuing a pointless goal, doomed to failure, but there was some genuine merit in the myth and their enthusiasm.

I dismissed it as utterly impossible. Travelling through zero apparent wind, with no stored power? Impossible. Why would you even attempt it? (Though I’m no stranger to that question myself!) But had I been asked to bet at that moment, I would have just lost a lot of money.

A few months later I actually met the idiots in question and, to my surprise and concern we not only have a few mutual friends, but they seemed to be rather technically credible. But, everyone makes mistakes, and I let them off as decent people with a blinkered view of fundamentally flawed engineering….

A few months later they were claiming success and if it was not for another great friend, Bob Dill, advising that they were actually correct, I would have discarded their claim as an April fool. I thought about the possibility that I was wrong, and then considered that as Bob was getting on a bit and had a bit of a shake with his stopwatch finger, maybe it was he who was mistaken. There was, however, a growing momentum of technical people (who should have known better), saying that these idiots have actually proven that it is possible to travel faster than the wind going directly down wind.

Not content, I had to witness this myself. When I heard it was on for the official record at El Mirage, I jumped on a plane and went to check it out.

The video speaks for itself. These guys are not idiots, but sincere, genuine, technical people who took a myth and made it real. It works. It starts from rest, trundles to true wind speed, then powers to a multiple of about 3 times the true wind speed. Bob will confirm the final number I am sure.

To all fellow skeptics, start baking that humble pie, or eat your hat. Your choice

Here’s a video Richard shot on the day he visited.

Check out the Faster Than the Wind site for more info.

ETA: Just in case you are wondering at the strange tone in Richard’s post (and references to ‘idiots’ and such) — this story has a lot of history, so Richard is referencing the often heated debates about whether this DDWFTTW idea is actually possible or not. As Wired magazines puts it “The concept known as DWFTTW can cause world-renowned physicists to throw their Nobel Prizes in fits of rage.”

You can check out some of those lengthy & heated discussions in the links below:

http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/propulsion/ddwfttw-directly-downwind-faster-than-wind-25527.html
http://forum.mythbustersfanclub.com/index.php/topic,12948.0.html
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=128483

With the Vac From The Sea concept, Electrolux hopes to highlight two major problems with plastic. Firstly the demand for plastic to recycle into more sustainable goods actually outstrips supply, meaning many who wish to create products from recycled plastic can struggle to do so. Secondly, and more importantly, there is a huge amount of plastic in the worlds waters. The oceans of this planet hold great amounts of plastic – there are vast floating island of plastic some, Electrolux informs us, are several times larger than the state of Texas. There is also a large quantity of plastic washed up on the worlds shorelines.

This plastic causes enormous problems for the environment, killing wildlife and destroying surrounding ecosystems. With only around 1% of plastic being recycled the amount of plastic going to waste is staggering. With Vac From The Sea this environmental horror can be turned into a new resource, helping to provide more recycled plastic that can be used to construct useful household items such as these vacuums. Electrolux plan to remove the plastic in different ways depending on the area they are working on, but methods will include diving for the plastic, scooping it from the waves, and clearing coastlines by hand. Hopefully the plastic reclaimed from the sea that is made into these products would never find its way back there. The dream would be that no other plastics find their way to our seas and that this clean up can highlight the action many need to take to recycle.

The Asus O!Play HD2 supports the playback of a wide array of multimedia formats and is the world’s first media player to support USB 3.0 for ten times faster data transfers compared to current USB 2.0-based players. It is equipped with a large capacity 3.5″ hard disk drive and NAS support, allowing it to store and stream multimedia files without any hassle. The O!Play HD2 also comes preinstalled with Opera browser, delivering live online streaming of over 20,000 radio stations.

Users can now perform Google searches, visit Facebook, news websites such as CNN.com and BBC.co.uk, and download photos from Picasa/Flicker—right from the comfort on their living room sofas. In addition, the O!Play HD2 boasts full HD audio bitstream support that delivers uncompressed 7.1-channel sound output for stunning surround sound.

I normally travel with some greens and protein sachets as well just in case you get stranded and at the mercy of garage foods!

My postcode has little public green space that isn’t small and lacking privacy. A run can be frustrating along streets teeming with workers and tourists. Plus, I have given up a concrete yard in which I could weight train to my hearts content for downstairs neighbours that require a quieter time of it.

On top of all this, on some days my work schedule won’t permit me to travel outside the local area to an outdoors gym.

So, I have scoured the West End for street furniture I can use with a bodyweight programme and out-of-the-way steps and inclines that make a run more challenging. As I now live on the 4th floor, with no lift, my stairs have become an essential part of my cardio training. And, because I think I’d get a little self-conscious doing hamstring stretches on Oxford Street, I’ve brought my flexibility programme indoors into the front room.

Finally, when I can get to an outdoor gym, I make best use of the occasion. I use every piece of equipment I find to supplement my new, ‘urban’ workout. The key is programming home workouts that complement outdoor training in order to keep seeing results.

My postcode has little public green space that isn’t small and lacking privacy. A run can be frustrating along streets teeming with workers and tourists. Plus, I have given up a concrete yard in which I could weight train to my hearts content for downstairs neighbours that require a quieter time of it.

On top of all this, on some days my work schedule won’t permit me to travel outside the local area to an outdoors gym.

So, I have scoured the West End for street furniture I can use with a bodyweight programme and out-of-the-way steps and inclines that make a run more challenging. As I now live on the 4th floor, with no lift, my stairs have become an essential part of my cardio training. And, because I think I’d get a little self-conscious doing hamstring stretches on Oxford Street, I’ve brought my flexibility programme indoors into the front room.

Finally, when I can get to an outdoor gym, I make best use of the occasion. I use every piece of equipment I find to supplement my new, ‘urban’ workout. The key is programming home workouts that complement outdoor training in order to keep seeing results.

I normally travel with some greens and protein sachets as well just in case you get stranded and at the mercy of garage foods!