Ever since the last flight of the Concorde, the priorities for air travel have changed from going faster to going more efficiently. An EU-sponsored study called LAPCAT has been trying to shake things up with a hypersonic aircraft called the A2, which would take 300 passengers anywhere on Earth at over Mach 5.

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ESA working to develop hypersonic airliner for 2040

The Christmas shopping rush is on, so if you want to get all of the hottest tech toys before they’re sold out, you need to get to the mall pronto. I can think of few better ways to do that than this 805 horsepower Jeep Grand Cherokee from Hennessey Performance.

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Beat all other shoppers to the mall with this 805 horsepower Jeep

Normally a fan of anything that would keep my car from getting jacked, this new technology gives me pause. Japanese engineers have designed a high-tech car seat using a series of 360 pressure sensors to make an imprint of your butt and — much like a fingerprint scanner — it uses this data to distinguish an owner from a thief.

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Butt imprint seat could prevent car theft; destroy self-esteem

There are a bajillion smartphone cases out there that come with extended battery packs, as well as all manner of other accessories of varying degrees of usefulness that let you tailor your phone to your needs. So, why not just extend that concept to electric cars? Makes total sense, right? Right!

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Swappable butt-packs give concept EV extra features, more range

Unless you drive a tank (in which case you should totally offer to give me rides to work), no matter how obsessive you are about your car there’s always gonna be one thing that you have no control over: flat tires. We’ve been using air-filled tires for like 150 years and at times they totally blow, so isn’t it time for something better ? Bridgestone thinks so.

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Never worry about a flat again with these crazy airless tires

Unless you drive a tank (in which case you should totally offer to give me rides to work), no matter how obsessive you are about your car there’s always gonna be one thing that you have no control over: flat tires. We’ve been using air-filled tires for like 150 years and at times they totally blow, so isn’t it time for something better ? Bridgestone thinks so.

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Never worry about a flat again with these crazy airless tires

Sixty miles an hour may be an easy speed to reach in a car, but if you’re in a boat, sixty is damn fast, even if you have a very powerful motor pushing you along. Sailrocket can hit sixty no problem, and it doesn’t have any motor at all, just a sail and the wind.

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Sailrocket hits 60 mph on water with just sails, no rockets

It turns out that the classic science fiction film The Last Starfighter was wrong, video games are not actually spaceship training devices. But now a very real option has arrived for those of us looking for flight training at home.

Link:
Pod flight simulator offers realistic training at home

Electric planes are a great idea, but they’re still a long way of from carrying any serious payloads. In the meantime, one airline wants to make their jets into Prius like hybrids, at least while they’re still on the ground.

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Airline plans to convert its 737s to hybrid electric power

Devices that check whether you’re too drunk to drive are nothing new, but now a group of German researchers want to take that type of driver assessment a step further. Their smart steering wheel constantly checks the driver’s vital signs, looking for any indicators of a pending medical emergency.

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Smart steering wheel checks your vital signs as you drive