SCIENTISTS have built the smallest petrol engine, tiny enough to power a WATCH. The mini-motor, which runs for two years on a single squirt of lighter fuel, is set to revolutionize world technology. It produces 700 times more energy than a conventional battery despite being less than a centimeter long not even half an inch.
It could be used to operate laptops and mobile phones for months doing away with the need for recharging. Experts believe it could be phasing out batteries in such items within just six years.
The engine, minute enough to be balanced on a fingertip, has been produced byengineers at the University of Birmingham. Dr Kyle Jiang, lead investigator from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, said: “We are looking at an industrial revolution happening in peoples’ pockets. The breakthrough is an enormous step forward. Devices which need re- charging or new batteries are a problem but in six years will be a thing of the past.”
Other applications for the engine could include medical and military uses, such as running heart pacemakers or mini reconnaissance robots.
At present, charging an ordinary battery to deliver one unit of energy involves putting 2,000 units into it. The little engine, because energy is produced locally, is far more effective.
One of the main problems faced by engineers who have tried to produce micro motors in the past has been the levels of heat produced. The engines got so hot they burned themselves out and could not be re-used. The Birmingham team overcame this by using heat-resistant materials such as ceramic and silicon carbide. Professor Graham Davies, head of the university’s engineering school, said: “We’ve brought together all the engineering disciplines, materials,chemical engineering, civil engineering, and mechanical engineering.
What better place to have the second industrial revolution in nano-technology than where the first took place, in the heart of the West Midlands.

Who needs hybrids !!!

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Grumpy Old Diesel Owners Club group

I no longer question authority, I annoy authority. More effect, less effort....

1967 230-6 auto parts car. rust bucket.
1980 300D now parts car 800k miles
1984 300D 500k miles
1987 250td 160k miles English import
2001 jeep turbo diesel 130k miles
1998 jeep tdi ~ followed me home. Needs a turbo.
1968 Ford F750 truck. 6-354 diesel conversion.
Other toys ~J.D.,Cat & GM ~ mainly earth moving

It'll never work. The International community won't be able to agree on its standards.

The U.S. EPA will regulate the speed to a "safe" maximum, add a catalytic converter system to it and require safety features which will bring its weight to over 4 kilos. There will be a "California" version which will run only on cotton-seed oil due to emissions.

The British will develop a highly efficient version but unfortunately it will cause all your computer icons to appear on the opposite side of the page.

The Italians will create one which goes twice as fast, costs 10 times more but will only last 6 months.

The Aussie will re-engineer the British version into a major monster but it will have the same icon problem along with the nasty annoyance of refusing to run any British made programs.