Self-taught rocketeer's....[ 1811 ]

VBS.TV

Self-taught rocketeer's backyard is Jetson-like reality

By Motherboard.tv staff

September 15, 2010 -- Updated 1536 GMT (2336 HKT)

Man's backyard is Jetson-like reality

• Lozano's other creations include rocket bicycle, rocket motorcycle, personal helicopter

Editor's note: The staff at CNN.com has recently been intrigued by the journalism of VICE, an independent media company and website based in Brooklyn, New York. VBS.TV is Vice's broadband television network. The reports, which are produced solely by VICE, reflect a transparent approach to journalism, where viewers are taken along on every step of the reporting process. We believe this unique reporting approach is worthy of sharing with our CNN.com readers.

Brooklyn, New York (VBS.TV) -- Before you complain again about living in 2010 and not yet having a jetpack to fly you to work, consider taking a trip to Mexico. There's only one person in the world who produces a complete flying rocket belt from start to finish -- from the parts to the fuel that powers it. His name is Juan Manuel Lozano and he lives in Cuernavaca, a city two hours south of Mexico City.

So VBS sister technology channel Motherboard.tv traveled to visit him at his company, TAM (Tecnología Aeroespacial Mexicana). A self-taught scientist and inventor whose technologies have traveled the world from Turkey to Switzerland, from Boeing to the U.S. Navy, Lozano considers his biggest achievement not his jetpack, but a machine that produces pure hydrogen peroxide that he uses as fuel for most of his inventions. Apart from his rocket belt, he's assembled a rocket bicycle, rocket motorcycle, rocket dragster and a personal helicopter.

Then there's the hydrogen-peroxide-powered rocket belt. While at least one company has recently promised to bring personal flying machines to market, these conveyances only rely on propellers, not jets. But the real thing ain't cheap. If you can't afford the system, priced at around U.S. $125,000, you can pay him to drop by your party for only $20,000.

See the rest of Backyard Rocketeer at VBS.TV

Among many other projects, Lozano's working with a group of scientists on a car that will run on seawater, converted into hydrogen peroxide by electrolytic cells powered by solar energy. It's a project, he says, that will completely transform transportation and energy in the near future.

Lozano and his daughter -- the only woman to fly a jetpack -- take his creations for test-drives in their backyard. While he couldn't fly for us (he recently broke his ribs and shoulder while taking his rocket bike for a spin at 80 mph), he gave us a tour of his workshop to share with us his favorite machines and a philosophy of invention built on hard work, self-teaching, and lots of jet fuel.

NASA Inage of the Day, Sep 15th..[ 1810 ]

The latest NASA "Image of the Day" image.

The Rosette Nebula

Located about 5,000 light years from Earth, this composite image shows the Rosette star formation region. Data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory are colored red and outlined by a white line. 

The X-rays reveal hundreds of young stars in the central cluster and fainter clusters on either side. Optical data from the Digitized Sky Survey and the Kitt Peak National Observatory (purple, orange, green and blue) show large areas of gas and dust, including giant pillars that remain behind after intense radiation from massive stars has eroded the more diffuse gas. 

A recent Chandra study of the cluster on the right side of the image, named NGC 2237, provides the first probe of the low-mass stars in this satellite cluster. Previously only 36 young stars had been discovered in NGC 2237, but the Chandra work has increased this sample to about 160 stars. 

The presence of several X-ray emitting stars around the pillars and the detection of an outflow -- commonly associated with very young stars -- originating from a dark area of the optical image indicates that star formation is continuing in NGC 2237. 

By combining these results with earlier studies, scientists conclude that the central cluster formed first, followed by expansion of the nebula, which triggered the formation of the two neighboring clusters, including NGC 2237. 

Image Credit: X-ray (NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Wang et al), Optical (DSS & NOAO/AURA/NSF/KPNO 0.9-m/T. Rector et al)

Τετάρτη, 15 Σεπτέμβριος 2010 7:00:00 πμ

Storm "Karl" hits Mexico..[ 1809 ]

Tropical Storm Karl hits Mexico, some evacuated

Tropical Storm Karl is seen in a handout image from the NOAA taken September 15, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/NOAA/Handout

By Isela Serrano

 

CANCUN, Mexico | Wed Sep 15, 2010 10:58am EDT

CANCUN, Mexico (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Karl hit Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula on Wednesday and was expected to head into the Gulf of Mexico, threatening oil installations and possibly gaining hurricane strength.

Mexico's state-run oil giant Pemex has not yet curtailed any operations but said it would continue to monitor Karl's progress as it approached its vast oil production operations in the Bay of Campeche, in the southern Gulf of Mexico.

Hundreds of people, mostly from Mayan towns and villages, were being evacuated as Karl dumped rain and brought strong winds to the Yucatan, civil protection authorities said.

Majahual, home to a large cruise ship port, and the ecological reserve of Sian Ka'an, near the Mayan ruins of Tulum, were also being affected by the storm.

Karl, the 11th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, had winds of 65 mph with higher gusts. It was expected to cross the Yucatan peninsula on Wednesday and enter the Gulf of Mexico after nightfall.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Karl "is likely to become a hurricane" as it gathers strength in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico on Thursday.

After it moves through the southern Gulf, it is expected to make landfall again at hurricane strength near the Mexican ports of Tampico and Tuxpan by the weekend. Tuxpan is a major oil products import hub.

But Cancun, a top beach destination for U.S. and European tourists, was untouched by the storm, and it was also likely to pass far south of U.S. oil and natural gas platforms in the northern part of the Gulf of Mexico.

A tropical storm warning is in effect for the east coast of the Yucatan peninsula from Chetumal at the Mexico-Belize border northward to Cabo Catoche. This area is known for its white sand beaches and coral reefs.

Karl may bring some coastal flooding as well as large, damaging waves, forecasters said.

Two hurricanes, Igor and Julia, also raced across the Atlantic Ocean but posed no immediate threat to land or energy interests along their projected tracks.

Igor was 1,090 miles southeast of Bermuda and showed signs of weakening overnight but was still a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale with 145 mph winds.

Strengthening overnight, Julia -- 525 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands and moving northwest -- was also a Category 4 hurricane with 132 mph winds. It was farther from land than Igor, a day after developing into the season's fifth hurricane.

(Additional reporting by Cyntia Barrera Diaz, Robert Campbell in Mexico City. Editing by Kieran Murray)

Hurricane Igor continued its westward trek ..[ 1808 ]

Hurricane Igor

Posted September 15, 2010

(4 MB, JPEG) acquired September 14, 2010

Hurricane Igor continued its westward trek across the Atlantic Ocean on September 14. At 11:00 a.m. Atlantic Standard Time (AST) on September 14, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported that Igor was located roughly 710 miles (1,140 kilometers) east of the northern Leeward Islands. Igor remained a Category 4 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 135 miles (215 kilometers) per hour.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural-color image of Hurricane Igor at 10:15 a.m. AST (14:15 UTC) on September 14, 2010. As it did the day before, the storm shows the characteristics of a powerful hurricane—spiral arms stretching across hundreds of kilometers, and a distinct eye.

On September 14, Igor was traveling slowly toward the west-northwest. The NHC warned of swells from the storm affecting the Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico over the next couple days, although no coastal watches or warnings were in effect.

The same day that MODIS acquired this image, observations by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument on NASA’s Aqua satellite detected a 170-degree difference between the frigid cloud tops of Hurricane Igor and the warm sea surface below, which fueled the powerful storm.

1. References

2. Gutro, R. (2010, September 14). Stunning NASA infrared imagery of Hurricane Igor reveals a 170 degree temperature difference! NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Accessed September 14, 2010.
3. National Hurricane Center. (2010, September 14). Hurricane Igor Advisory Archive. Accessed September 14, 2010.

More images of this event in Natural Hazards

NASA image courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Michon Scott.

Instrument: 

Terra - MODIS

Earthquake struck the Islas Marias region of Nayarit, Mexico ..[ 1807 ]

5.9 earthquake strikes Mexico

By the CNN Wire Staff

September 15, 2010 -- Updated 0034 GMT (0834 HKT)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Quake was centered offshore near the Islas Marias region of Nayarit
• Struck at a depth of 36 kilometers (22.4 miles)

Mexico City, Mexico (CNN) -- A 5.9-magnitude earthquake struck the Islas Marias region of Nayarit, Mexico Tuesday, according to U.S. Geological Survey.

The quake was centered offshore -- 755 kilometers (469 miles) west-northwest of Mexico City and 113 kilometers (70 miles) west-northwest of Puerto Vallarta.

It struck at a depth of 36 kilometers (22.4 miles) at 5:32 p.m. (7:32 p.m. ET).

The USGS received reports from people who said they felt the shaking from as far away as Mazatlan in Sinaloa, 227 kilometers (141 miles) away.