Tech Universe: Friday 10 June

A model airport in Hamburg cost $4.8m to make and covers 150 square metres. Photo / Thinkstock

LOW FLIER: There's a new airport in Hamburg, Germany. It has 300 buildings and 40 planes and cost $4.8 million to build. It's only 150 m² in size though. That's because it's the world's largest model airport. It's a scale model of the Hamburg airport and was built with amazing attention to detail. 90 vehicles move autonomously around the model, run by a sophisticated computer control system. Small wires lift many planes in apparent takeoffs and landings. The whole thing took 7 years and 150 people to build. All the fun of an airport with no jet fumes or security screening. More at Singularityhub and video here.

HIGH FLIER: A Danish non-profit organisation last year tried to launch a one-person rocket. That launch failed, but a few days ago they succeeded with the second attempt. This one reached two km, rather than the 16 km they hoped for. Unfortunately the rocket veered off course so was shut down by remote control. They're not ready yet to carry a human on the flight but they count this second attempt as a success. Every space programme starts with problems - details at New Scientist and video here (actual launch at approx 5 minutes 40 seconds in).

CAST A LITTLE LIGHT: Toshiba created special limited edition OLED lamp, that uses solar powered rechargeable batteries, for use in areas of Japan affected by the recent earthquake. It's producing only 100 units and none will be available for general sale. At full strength the lamp is as bright as a desk lamp and can be used for several hours before the batteries run out. At 10% brightness — about as bright as a mobile phone — it will last for 20 hours or more.
A nice idea, but only 100 units seems like a publicity gag rather than a helpful contribution. More info here.

HIGH SPEED CAMO: Traditionally military camouflage users splodges of muted colours to make a person or equipment difficult to see. Another approach though is to use bright geometric patterns. At high speed such patterns can be extremely confusing for a viewer. They can make objects appear to be moving faster or slower than they really are or make an object appear to be in a different position than it really is. Although such dazzle camouflage was tested and rejected in a couple of wars, the authors of one study point out that vehicles of that time were moving too slowly to really make use of the effect. So then they wouldn't be hidden when they're standing still. Details here.

SOLAR TREE SAVER: There's a two mile long tunnel in Belgium, but it doesn't go underground or through a hill. Instead it's built to shelter trains from falling trees, and more than 16,000 solar panels have been installed on the roof. The power it produces can help power trains and the Antwerp station. Building the tunnel meant they didn't have to fell protected trees from an ancient forest. So it's a win all around. More at The Guardian and video here.

- Miraz Jordan knowit.co.nz