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VTOL 垂直起降落 modular 模块化的 autonomous 自动的 patent 专利 rotatable 旋转的 conveyor 传送带 configured 配置的 insole 鞋垫 kinetic energy 动能 piezoelectric 压电的 disinfectant 消毒剂 antibacterial coating 抗菌涂层

A German-based company is currently developing a self-cleaning airplane seat that promises to destroy almost every germ it comes in contact with.

Recaro Aircraft Seating GmbH, whose custom-ers include Cathay Pacifi c Airways Ltd., says that the seats are infused with a dis-infectant*.

The seats are developed only for business class and they will somehow tell the customers how well they’ve done their job.

The Recaro seats will also give massages and predict

backaches, Recaro CEO Mark Hiller said.

Antibacterial coatings* have long been used for hard surfaces, but Recaro faced a

challenge in applying them to fabrics. The hope is that the coated fabric can combat the amount of germs found on planes.

Hiller also said the com-pany is still fi guring out how it would tell customers that the chair is clean.

Recaro hopes to have the chairs ready within the next year or two. Their business-class seats already cost up to US$95,000 each.

Hiller claims that in the future the seats will offer more control over the noise, light and temperature in a passenger’s personal air-space.

“There’s still more to do and more improvement pos-sible,” Hiller said.

(SD-Agencies)

Self-cleaning airplane seats could soon become a reality 自动清洁的航空座椅

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SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD

In a patent* fi led early May, Nike has designed a shoe with a “rotatable* conveyor* element” that intends to help people put on their footwear.

It is essentially a conveyor belt built into a shoe’s sole and “confi gured* to rotat-ably engage a body part of the wearer as the foot enters the space and draw the foot into the space.”

The patent includes an “insole*, an upper confi gured to form a space between the upper and the insole,” which in turn is “confi gured to admit and secure a foot of a wearer.”

It also implies that the patent might be motorized, as it’s “coupled to an activation mechanism, such as a switch or mechanism to detect the presence of a foot.”

It also might have a rechargeable battery paired with a kinetic energy* gen-erator, “such as a piezo-electric* generator or other suitable power generation mechanism.” (SD-Agencies)

Nike files patent to help people put shoes on easily耐克新专利帮你自助穿鞋

An Australian brewery and a space-engineering fi rm have teamed up to design a bottle to allow astronauts to drink beer in space.

Saber Austronautics Aus-tralia and 4 Pines Brewing created Vostok Space Beer fi rst and now, they’re trying to raise US$1 million on Indiegogo to make their new design a reality.

The biggest challenge they faced is liquid’s inability to pour in zero gravity. To drink beer from a bottle the same way that as on Earth, a spe-cial space beer bottle needed to be created.

The Vostok Space Beer Bottle used modifi ed tech-nology based on fuel tanks to defy the challenge of drinking in zero gravity.

4 Pines Brewing wanted to ensure that astronauts had the same feeling drinking a beer in space as they do at

home on Earth. That meant that straws or squeegies, plungers, and springs were out of the question.

Instead, Saber made an insert that wicks the beer from the bottom of the bottle to the neck, turning any normal bottle essentially into a fuel tank.

The bottle design has already undergone several rounds of testing. Various versions of it were dropped from a height of 23 meters to test how well the beer inside maintained surface tension on glass, plastic and stainless steel. They then settled on plastic.

(SD-Agencies)

New design lets astronauts enjoy alcohol in orbit 太空啤酒瓶即将面世

VostokVostok

Uber has teased a look at what its futuristic Skyport fl ying taxi hubs could be like when UberAir comes to life.

At the fi rm’s Elevate Summit in Los Angeles, Uber unveiled elaborate concept images of the Con-nect system developed by Corgan that could provide infrastructure for the ver-tical take-off and landing (VTOL*) craft.

The modular* system can essentially be installed anywhere, be it an open site, atop a parking garage, or even on the roof of a skyscraper, according to Corgan.

Uber has plans to begin

its fi rst fl ight demonstra-tions as soon as 2020, and begin taking passengers by 2023. And when it does, it will need a place for its air taxis to take off and land in busy cities.

The company explains that each “connect module” Corgan’s Mega Skyport system is made up of four parts: the connection plaza, the bridge, the station and the fl ight deck. As it’s modu-lar, it can be adapted to suit different environments.

“The connection plaza is the main entrance and anchors the Skyport to an existing highway network,” according to Corgan.

“The station is the heart

of the module, providing a destination for anyone to enjoy. The fl ight deck houses the operations where pas-sengers connect with their Uber eVTOL.

“For effi ciency, eVTOLs join an autonomous* queue as passengers load and unload. To maximize throughput, modules can be paired,” the fi rm says.

“There’s also a dedicated landing and lift-off pads. As eVTOL fl ight matures, mod-ules can be stacked for maxi-mum vertical clearance. By providing unlimited access to the sky, the Uber Mega Skyport reclaims more than just time.”

(SD-Agencies)

Uber’s futuristic Mega Skyport revealed

Mark HillerMark Hiller

A drawing from Nike’s patent fi le.A drawing from Nike’s patent fi le.

Uber飞行汽车站将于2023年运行Uber飞行汽车站将于2023年运行

A concept image of Uber’s Mega Skyport.A concept image of Uber’s Mega Skyport.