In 2003 Popular Science asked readers: "Will most Americans be driving hydrogen-powered cars by 2015?" The results to that poll are lost to time, but we already know the answer, even if 2015 isn't over yet. Unfortunately, the green technology hasn't been adopted in the past 12 years--but the next decade looks promising.
No one wants to be the first to discover the use of a chemical weapon on a battlefield, but if anyone must have that job, the new Par Chemical Biological Radioactive Nuclear (CBRN) Reconnaissance Vehicle is the car to do it in. Developed by Turkish defense contractor FNSS, the CBRN version is a light armored vehicle ready for the end of the world. Even if its name is a jargony mess.
China's most powerful aircraft engine, the WS-20, is getting closer to finishing its tests. With a power output of 14 tons, the WS-20 will replace the less powerful and less efficient Russian D-30KP, which has only 10.5 tons of thrust. The WS-20 turbofan has been flying on this Il-76 test aircraft since 2014, and it's likely that aerial testing will wrap up in late 2015.
In the future, when the United Kingdom goes to war, it will do so with small, tank-like vehicles. Last month, the U.K.'s Ministry of Defense approved the next stage of development for the General Dynamics Scout Specialist Vehicle. From the body of the Scout, the U.K. plans to build and use a family of vehicles.
On Monday, 27 tanker cars carrying oil from North Dakota derailed in West Virginia. The train had 109 cars and was carrying 3 million gallons of crude oil. Nineteen of the cars, each capable of holding thousands of gallons of crude, caught fire, and despite freezing weather and snow, several small fires were still blazing on Thursday, days after the crash, with emergency responders deciding to let the flames burn themselves out.
Unlike Copenhagen, London isn't known for a robust cycling culture. But that is slowly changing. Cycling in the city is more popular than ever before, and it will likely continue to expand.