Kelsey D. Atherton
at 09:44 AM Jan 25 2017
Tech // 

A burning car on a bridge is two kinds of traffic problems: it's a danger for everyone around it, and it's an obstacle for traffic trying to get around it and out of the way. The combination can slow a fire truck driving to extinguish the burn. To solve this problem, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates reached into the future. How do you stop a car burning on a bridge? Send a fireman on a jet ski through the water, and then have them fly on a jetpack so they can tackle the flame.

G. Clay Whittaker
at 10:16 AM May 30 2016
Make // 

3D printing is still a young technology, but when you can use it for important tasks like making gummy snack figures of yourself, or building a home, it's no longer in its infancy. And Dubai has reached that second (and arguably more important) milestone, with an entire building 3D printed.

Kelsey D. Atherton
at 16:06 PM Mar 15 2016
Drones // 

Dubai is a city in a desert on the edge of the future. Obscenely wealthy and home to the world's tallest building, the emirate combines modern technology with an aristocrat's glee in flaunting wealth. Dubai already has jetpack stuntmen in the sky, camera-strapped eagle videographers on the buildings, and police in Lamborghinis on the ground. How does a city improve upon that? With a drone grand prix, offering a $1 million in prizes, of course.

Kelsey D. Atherton
at 09:50 AM Nov 16 2015

The future is already here -- it's just mostly in Dubai. This week, the city, part of the United Arab Emirates, signed a deal with real-life jetpack maker Martin Aircraft Company to purchase 20 jetpacks for first responders. Why do rescue workers need jetpacks? Well, how else can they get to people stuck on the world's tallest building.

Kelsey D. Atherton
at 11:01 AM Nov 6 2015

Jetpacks are here, but they're unevenly distributed to a couple of guys who love doing stunts in Dubai. French daredevil and pilot Yves Rossy, also known as Jetman, has flown over the Grand Canyon and in Rio de Janeiro, but he seems to have really found a home in the skies above the United Arab Emirates. Rossy, not content to simply dance in the sky with his protege Vince Reffet, now flies alongside an Emirates Airlines Airbus A380. Like this:

Kelsey D. Atherton
at 10:53 AM May 12 2015

The future is unevenly distributed in favor of the United Arab Emirates. Recently, two men donned jetpacks and flew into the night air above Dubai. Yves “Jetman” Rossi previously flew over the Emirati desert in his custom-built wing with jets, but for this paired flight, he was joined by Vince Reffet, a skydiver who once base jumped off the Burj Khalifa. According to a statement accompanying a video release of the flight, the pair fly over the “Burj Khalifa, The Palm Jumeirah, and the Liwa desert.” Their flight together was teased at the end of Jetman's last video.

AthertonKD
at 10:47 AM Dec 12 2014

Dubai is an unreal city, where the buildings are gigantic, the police drive lamborghinis, and drones rescue window washers. And, very rarely, home to aerial acrobatics from brave people in jetpacks.

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