This is another case of time winning against – well whatever you want to call this.
Some 900 years of male-dominated gondola history may be at an end with a court’s ruling that a woman can be a gondolier on Venice’s canals.
boat
Future Ships to Float on Air
Some researchers are trying to find a way to let ships ride bubbles through the water. Ships built in the future my have a specially built hull that releases tiny bubbles using an air pump to provide less friction than water.
The New Scientist article goes into the technical challenges of designing what they call a slippery ship and the positive impact that these ships can have on the environment.
“A craft that has less friction as it slides through the water will be far more efficient than standard ships. Slippery ships could travel across the sea much faster or carry a bigger load on the same amount of fuel, saving money and reducing pollution. This is crucial, considering that in 2003 more than 90 per cent of all goods that were sent around the globe went by ship – that’s more than 6 billion tonnes, and the figure is set to increase.”
Across the Atlantic With no Sail or Gas
The Transatlantic21 is going to cross the ocean with no gas, instead it will use only solar power! After a successful voyage they will sell solar powered boats based on the successful design.
“The time is ripe for a breakthrough of solar techniques into the world of boat and ship navigation. Demonstrating the potential of solar power is the objective of Transatlantic21. In September 2006, “SUN21″, which has been constructed specifically for this purpose, will begin its journey from Basel to New York. It will be the first solar boat ever to cross the Atlantic: entirely dependent on sunlight, not consuming one drop of gasoline.”
Previously on ThingsAreGood we covered solar powered boats, hybrid boats, and a thing called the skysail.
Soaring Solar
It seems that every year solar power efficiency improves and that this increased energy production allows for more and more uses. People also figure out other ways to use the sun’s heat. And what’s technological innovation without a competition? Well, we all know there are solar-powered competitions around the world like the classic World Solar Challenge that travels across Australia.
Did you know that there are solar powered boat competitions? I didn’t. The Frisian Nuon Solar Challenge is all about raising boats that gather power from the sun’s rays. Recently, Technical University of Delft won the competition.
Tempted to get your own solar boat, check out all of these crazy looking solar boats.
Wind Powered Boats
It looks like the more things change the more they stay the same. A German company, SkySails, is going to start selling a new style of sail to help large freighters move through the ocean faster.
“SkySails’ system consists of an enormous towing kite and navigation software that can map the best route between two points for maximum wind efficiency. In development for more than four years, the system costs from roughly $380,000 to $3.2 million, depending on the size of the ship it’s pulling. SkySails claims it will save one third of fuel costs.”