Gadgets Blog » Transportation

It’s an idea that has captured the public imagination in California, even prompting Barrack Obama’s administration to set aside money for research and development. High-speed rail is a concept that looks great on paper, but is immensely complicated in terms of implementation. The numerous factors, including distance, estimated usage, and safety, all create difficult obstacles to widespread implementation in the United States. While train aficionados might be disappointed by this slow progress, a look to the far east would reveal several successful high-speed rail lines.

Joining Japan’s world-famous Shinkansen bullet trains is China’s own demonstration line of a nationally planned high-speed rail system. Running from a station in downtown Shanghai to the large international airport, the train is the fastest in the world, reaching speeds of over 250 miles per hour. Still in the planning stages of design, the technical limitations of high-speed rail have caused a debate over what style of train to use. This airport line shows off MagLev technology, which employs magnetic energy to propel the train along the tracks.

The result is impressive to say the least. Tickets on the line cost the equivalent of about $8, with a discount being offered if you can produce an airplane ticket from the international airport at the end of the line. Two trains run on parallel tracks, with spacious seats for the remarkably short trip. The trip takes about 20 minutes on ordinary rail lines, but only 7 on the high-speed train. Within thirty seconds of departure, the train accelerates well over 150 mph, approaching its 250 mph upper limit. At certain times of the day, the train is limited to only 300 km/hr, about 180 mph.

Ever since I’ve moved off campus, my day-to-day activities have changed pretty dramatically, with the vastmajority of my time at home spent worrying I will forget something and the majority of my time away from home spent trying to figure out how badly I need what I forgot. My commute, however, has spawned a love for the bicycle that hasn’t existed since the days of riding bikes around the neighborhood. An old 80s road bike (I’m so hip) from Craigslist has managed to capture my heart, in spite of the fact that its front tire goes flat frequently enough to induce bouts of anger.

Today’s gadget, then, is fascinating in how it takes something we are so familiar with and makes ingenious changes to it. Schwinn, one of the world’s leading bike manufacturers, debuted a cycle that does away with the drive chain, one of the fundamental elements of the bike. In its place are two pairs of wires, running from the pedals to an altered real axel. The design eliminates the feelings of “slip” between pedal action and the rotation of the back wheel. Amazingly, the dismounting of the real wheel doesn’t effect the wiring at all, making this bike even more compact and easy to transport than current cycles.

The secret to this wired bike comes in two kidney-shaped discs attached to the pedals. The device rotates forward with the forward pedal stroke on that particular side, pulling a pair of wires that draw the tire forwards. As the pedal cycles backwards and towards the top of its circle, the wires similarly slide back into the ready position, and the tire is instead powered by the forward stroke on the opposite side. The pulling wires remain under constant tension, motoring the bike along and allowing the rider to change the transmission ration aka shift the gear at any point in the pedal cycle.