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Filed under: Gadgets, Wheels

A fully armored Rolls-Royce Phantom, able to withstand everything from a direct assault with an AK-47 to a poison gas attack, is for sale in Germany via online global luxury marketplace JamesList for about $1.5 million. Engineered to the highest international protection rating, the armored Phantom is virtually indistinguishable from the standard version to lure attackers into a false sense of security.

The car features high-tech fiber composites and special steel plating to provide protection for the bodywork, with bulletproof glass for all windows and its own oxygen supply in the trunk in case of a gas attack. The ultra-luxe car’s aluminum spaceframe chassis and suspension have been strengthened and the 453 hp powertrain remains unchanged, while nothing has been sacrificed in the way of luxury, refinement and comfort.

$1.5 Million Armored Rolls-Royce Phantom for Sale originally appeared on Luxist on Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Wheels, Auctions

This year’s Leggende e Passione auction event at the Ferrari factory in Maranello is shaping up to be, well… legendary. RM Auctions has run the historic Ferrari and Maserati auction at the factory for three years running now, but this year’s roster of classic exotic machinery going under the hammer looks to be the best crop yet. In addition to the 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa and 1967 Ferrari 330 P4 (among the myriad other priceless classics) we’ve already reported on, the auction will feature the historic Formula One race car which Alain Prost drove in his infamous duel against Ayrton Senna in 1990.

Packing a 685-horsepower 3.5-liter V12 revving up to 13,000 rpm and mated to a ground-breaking seven-speed sequential transmission, Chassis #121 is what Prost drove to five podiums over the course of the 1990 championship, including one race win. It’s also what Prost was driving when arch-rival Senna crashed into him on the penultimate race of the season in Japan, ending the race for both but handing the title to Senna by default. It was one of the most controversial championships in motor racing history, and now the car in which it all happened is up for sale. Following a nearly €110,000 restoration at the Ferrari factory where it’s being sold, Chassis #121 is expected to fetch €300,000-€400,000 when the hammer drops next month in Maranello.

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Prost’s Historic Title-Deciding Ferrari 641/2 F1 Car Up for Auction originally appeared on Luxist on Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A new retractable roof made from Tenara, a light weight strong and flexible waterproof architectural fabric has been installed over England’s Centre Court Celebrations. The air management systems are currently being tested in preparation for its official debut in May. This new roof will is made out of translucent fully recyclable fabric, minimizing building materials while allowing daylight to stream down from above. The design will conclude the All England Club’s Long Term Plan, providing greater security for the grass courts, decreased play delays and more comfortable viewing for fans. Even though the roof will halt the rain from pouring in, moisture from the lawn and people as well as humidity must be controlled in order to provide optimum playing and viewing conditions.

The air management system will mostly control humidity and prevent condensation on the grass and underside of the roof, not to mention keep everyone looking dapper. The system will also ensure that enough oxygen is pumped into the stadium. Andre Agassi, Stefanie Graf, Tim Henman and Kim Clijsters will be some of the first players to play after the roof is installed.

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If you have the money, the sense of design and the heart to save the world, you can work wonders. As is proven by artist Katherine Harvey who created a huge 21 foot tall, 15 foot wide chandelier installed at the Santiago Calatrava’s Galleria in Toronto. She made this by transforming plastic recyclable containers into a massive chandelier. It doesn’t look very pretty but this wasn’t apparently made to look pretty but to send out a message on the horrors and the evil of plastic consumption.

The artist in question has previously created a waterfall called Nuit Blanche in 2008 which used 6000 pounds of recycled water bottles, hockey arena netting and aircraft cable with a total size of 30 x 74 x 20 feet.

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I want to live in this place! It’s amazing! Imagine having to go to your home on a cycle in this century! Ok, maybe that’s not as appealing to most of you, but what about going underground and ride to your home or friend’s home or wherever at Abu Dhabi’s eco-friendly 50,000 one mile square Masdar City in a personal transit vehicle or PRT or in normal layman language – a robot or electric taxi! These vehicles are electrically-powered, centrally-controlled pods and can carry four to six people and go in speeds of up to 25 mph, following magnets embedded in the pathways. The really neat thing is that no cars will be allowed in this zero-carbon, zero-waste city.

The designer of the system is Dr Luca Guala. The city will be completed only by 2015 but you can use the robot taxi around the first part of the network connecting the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST) later this year.

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The PiSAT Solar’s K-Light is a very useful product especially while going on a hike or if you take a trip to someplace that is low on electricity. The unit, in 10 hours of daylight charging can give up to 20 hours worth of battery power for use in the low-power 8 LED mode or 10 hours of life if used in 16 LED mode. It’s also switchable between flashlight and lantern modes making it a good option for camping trips. K-Light is designed for up to 10 years of full daily use in such a scenario and PiSAT is working on an adapter to let the lantern’s battery also charge a cellphone.

The cost is $50. The company is also looking forward to work with the Koinonia Foundation to provide start-up grants of K-Lights to groups of African women to create local businesses selling the lights.

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Asia had the biggest number of two-wheelers hence amounting for a huge amount of pollution in that zone. Now with so many alternatives, that could be one of the least-polluted areas on earth. Zero S Electric Supermoto is an all-electric motorcycle, designed for street use and can go up to 60 miles at a maximum speed of 60 miles per hr. the best thing is that this will charge up completely in just 4 hours. It has a magnet electric motor which is able to develop 62.5 fl-lbs torque and 31 HP, and a lithium ion battery array of 4kW.

The bike is also very light and looks like something people use for dirt biking. But as long as it takes you to your destination without leaving a trail of pollution behind you, there can be no complaints. It is priced at $9950.

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Old is gold and who can argue with so many stories of using the age old techniques, recycling them to work in the current living conditions and creating a useful alternative to wasting energy. Tibetan designer Taikkun Li is using tourists as an energy source for his Prayer Wheel Energy Generator, envisioned for Tibet. This is how it works - when tourists spin a multitude of prayer wheels, the positive energy can be harvested along Tibetan streets, turned into electricity, and used to provide evening lighting along those streets and inside the adjacent homes.

The prayer wheel generator is built on a base of used bicycle parts and a discarded surplus fan motor, making it ideal for use in the developing world. Hence the combination of three elements - low-cost efficiency, LED lighting and the efficiency of a bicycle, the Prayer Wheel Generator is a perfect alternative for countries that is so beautiful to succumb to the global warming conditions.

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Retro is in and so is eco-friendly products and alternatives. Finnish designer Pekka Salokannel has come up with a great concept. It is a solar-powered Gram Speakers which is patterned in the old gramophone record player style that gives such a nostalgic feel. It will be charged up by three layers of solar panels and the batteries will help play music long beyond sunset. The volume can be changed with the touch of a finger.

When you aren’t using them, you can just fold it up and put it in your pocket before calling it a day. It is a great idea for beach parties where you don’t have to lug the huge speakers each time you want to have some fun. Great concept.

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Filed under: Wheels, Auctions

This year’s Leggende e Passione auction event at the Ferrari factory in Maranello is shaping up to be, well… legendary. RM Auctions has run the historic Ferrari and Maserati auction at the factory for three years running now, but this year’s roster of classic exotic machinery going under the hammer looks to be the best crop yet. In addition to the 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa and 1967 Ferrari 330 P4 (among the myriad other priceless classics) we’ve already reported on, the auction will feature the historic Formula One race car which Alain Prost drove in his infamous duel against Ayrton Senna in 1990.

Packing a 685-horsepower 3.5-liter V12 revving up to 13,000 rpm and mated to a ground-breaking seven-speed sequential transmission, Chassis #121 is what Prost drove to five podiums over the course of the 1990 championship, including one race win. It’s also what Prost was driving when arch-rival Senna crashed into him on the penultimate race of the season in Japan, ending the race for both but handing the title to Senna by default. It was one of the most controversial championships in motor racing history, and now the car in which it all happened is up for sale. Following a nearly €110,000 restoration at the Ferrari factory where it’s being sold, Chassis #121 is expected to fetch €300,000-€400,000 when the hammer drops next month in Maranello.

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Prost’s Hisotric Title-Deciding Ferrari 641/2 F1 Car Up for Auction originally appeared on Luxist on Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Estates, Wheels

We keep seeing more of these car and estate deals. The seller of today’s estate in Nissequogue, New York is throwing in his $130,000 Maserati Quattroporte. Newsday’s Real LI says the seller is Yucel Edebali, a real estate developer and the president of Crest Contracting Inc. The home is on 14.5 acres and overlooks Long Island sound. The 8,500-square-foot home has two home theaters, six bedrooms and both indoor and outdoor pools as well as a tennis court. The home was built in 2008 and is listed at $13.9 million.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.
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Continue reading It Comes With A Maserati, Estate of the Day

It Comes With A Maserati, Estate of the Day originally appeared on Luxist on Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Journeys, Wheels, Events

Gotham Dream Cars, the premier exotic car rental and touring company that has a fleet of Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley, Porsche, Aston Martin and Maserati supercars, is planning their first ever Legends Dream Car Tour on June 9 and 10. Sports car and luxury auto enthusiasts will enjoy an exciting and scenic drive in the New York area, switching between five Lamborghinis led by one of the most famous test-drivers of all time, Valentino Balboni (above) of Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. The four-hour event will take participants on more than 150 miles of open road as they experience the newest Lamborghinis including the Gallardo LP 560-4 Spyder and the Murcielago LP 640 Roadster. Space for the exclusive, adrenaline-packed event is extremely limited.

Gotham Dream Cars Debuts Legends Dream Car Tour originally appeared on Luxist on Wed, 29 Apr 2009 09:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve been harping about serious green products and technology since some time now. Allow me to bring your attention to something lighter yet greener. Sixty five students of the Ocean View Elementary School put up an exhibition of robots, different types of animals and an iPod out of recycled items at the Recycle Art Show. They used materials like plastic, paper, cork and Styrofoam. The body of a music-playing gadget was made from a plastic baby food container, sticky notes, string and two bottle caps. Another kiddo made a dog using 12 diet Coke cans, construction paper and tin foil. A lot of children joined hands in showing adults what they could do if they properly used their brains and did something to help the environment rather than mess it up.

[WhittierDailyNews]

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Renault has unveiled the E0 concept car which will be eco-friendly with zero emissions. The design was based on a particular style of Renault, inspired by the architecture of Frank Gary. The car has four seats and is deigned in two different platforms: one contains an electric charging mechanism and other one includes an electric combustion piles which is fueled by liquid hydrogen. The main component of the body work is aluminum and few other light materials. The battery is charged by the solar panel whenever it is possible.

[Tuvie]

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Abengoa Solar has begun commercial operation of the new PS20, the world’s second largest power tower plant, located at the Solucar Platform, near Seville in Spain. The testing has gone quite well as they found that the PS20 surpassed the predicted power output, thus further validating the high potential of power tower technology. PS20 features a number of significant technological improvements with respect to PS10, the first commercial power tower. These enhancements, developed by Abengoa Solar, include a higher-efficiency receiver, various improvements in the control and operational systems, and a better thermal energy storage system. Plant construction was carried out by Abener.

With a power capacity of 20 megawatts, the new PS20 solar power plant will produce enough clean energy to supply 10,000 homes, and will avoid the emission of approximately 12,000 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere that a conventional power plant would have produced.

[PRNewswire]

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Sixty five students of the Ocean View Elementary School put up an exhibition of robots, different types of animals and an iPod out of recycled items at the Recycle Art Show. They used materials like plastic, paper, cork and Styrofoam. A lot of children joined hands in showing adults what they could do if they properly used their brains and did something to help the environment rather than mess it up. But these are the children who anyway grow up to later on become like them adults.

[WhittierDailyNews]

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The European Union is pulling harder at forcing all force European automakers to find a new refrigerant to use in their vehicle’s air conditioners which will be more eco-friendly. Their latest ruling will ban the current R-134a coolant starting in 2011 for both new vehicles and aftermarket solutions. At present, there isn’t a commercially available alternative that’s ready to use in our current A/C systems, but there are a number of new chemical formulations currently being tested. One alternative is carbon dioxide, the same greenhouse gas that internal combustion engines emit when burning fuels. If used in car A/C units, the CO2 would need to be stored at extremely high pressures to be effective. Although CO2 does contribute to global warming, conventional hydrofluorocarbons are considerably worse.

In short, surpassing the financial crisis, car makers now will have to make plan pretty soon to avoid going completely out of business.

[Autobloggreen]

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Panasonic has launched its new circular fluorescent lamp “Palook Premiere LS” which will be the first energy-saving model in 30 years since 1979, when it released a power-saving lamp called “Palook.” It will be able to reduce power consumption by approximately five per cent when attached to an inverter. The luminous area is reduced while increasing the luminance efficiency by using a new fluorescent material with a high luminance keeping the brightness intact. It also has a reduced length of the discharge path by 20cm to cut the power consumption.

The company also included krypton (Kr) in the filler gas to reduce power consumption. The Palook Premiere LS has a longer rated life (the length of time for the illuminance to be reduced to 80% of the initial level) of 15,000 hours. It comes in three sizes, 30, 32 and 40 inches, which are respectively available in incandescent, natural and cool colors. The expected prices are ¥1,200, ¥1,700 and ¥2,000, respectively.

[Techon]

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A $28 million state-of-the-art office building, on the site of a former parking lot next to UC Berkeley, will house at least 10 environmental nonprofit groups. The building will be made of 53 percent recycled material and will have four levels. The Brower Center also includes a 180-seat theater, art galleries, meeting rooms, a restaurant and other public spaces. The organizers’ hope is to create a place where environmentally minded people can meet, brainstorm and help solve some of the world’s most challenging ecological dilemmas.

The building officially opens May 8. The center was designed by San Francisco architect Dan Solomon. The Center requires no artificial light during the day, and uses rainwater collected from the roof to irrigate the patio garden. Most of the wood is either sustainably grown or reclaimed, and much of the concrete and carpets are recycled. It’s also filled with artwork. One wall is coated with four different-colored local soils mixed into the plaster, creating a textured mosaic of tans, browns and ambers. An irrigation tool on the patio is made from used artillery shells, and the bathroom counters are a colorful panoply of recycled glass. A wooden conference table is shaped like a tree.

[SFGate]

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Keeping your PC on the sleeping mode to save energy is a good thought but apparently boring. So some researchers from the University of California, namely Ph D student Yuvraj Agarwal, in collaboration with Microsoft Research decided they would give lazy people who cannot stand the sight of sun and prefer to be married to their PCs a way to be entertained when their PCs are sleeping. They introduced Sleep Talking which is a way to cut down on the energy used and also provide some of the most common services we require including network access, the ability to run a virus scan and backup, or even having an instant messaging conversation and receiving a VoIP call.

For Sleep Talking to work a new piece of hardware was required that allowed for this level of functionality while a PC was in sleep mode called Somniloquy (meaning talking aloud in one’s sleep). It has its own processor, memory, OS, and flash memory for storage, and gives a sleeping machine the capability to handle IM, VoIP, P2P, web downloads, and remote access in its current form. It works with both wired and wireless networks.

[Geek And Physorg]

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