Daimler AG to Produce "smart escooter" Electric Scooter

This appears to be an actual fact and not some rumor. According to high-level officials at Mercedes-Benz, and parent Daimler AG, the company will begin selling an electric scooter under their smart automobile brand. It is now known as the smart escooter (all lower-case letters as is their standard with smart) and will be seen in dealerships and on the roads by 2014. Almost no details are available presently, but this is a firm commitment, so more information is certainly forthcoming. Until then, have a read:

http://tinyurl.com/d27z8uo

Chip Yates and the Flight of the Century

Chip Yates will be familiar to those of us following American motorcycle road racing - not only is he an accomplished racer on gasoline-powered bikes, he is also the only person to put an electric motorcycle on a podium in a race full of old-school fire-breathers - but he may also be known for his technological prowess. His SWIGZ.COM team - both the engineers and the race crew - are all top-notch on their own, and they make Yates look good. However, this is a different story; this is about the guy who wants to fly an electric airplane around the world - Chip Yates is after the Flight of the Century:

http://tinyurl.com/7g23fxr

Rocket Science Meets Triumph Street Triple

The idea was for XCOR Aerospace - a private company developing a reusable launch vehicle for low-earth orbit research and just about anything else someone would want to do in space - to test a piston pump which they plan to use in their Lynx spacecraft. Considering the cost of doing such tests in the far upper atmosphere, they searched for another test bed. It turns out that the Triumph Street Triple has the same cylinder arrangement as their engine's liquid fuel pumps, so they took a far less expensive route - and it worked brilliantly!

http://tinyurl.com/7vclut4

A Pair from New Zealand Arrive in Alaska

They call themselves "Two Moto Kiwis" and they are on an 'epic mission' from Prudhoe Bay in the great US state of Alaska all the way to the southern-most point of South America at Ushuaia, Argentina. The pair on this incredible motorcycle trip are Andi and Ellen Delis (44 and 43 years of age, respectively) and they are riding the entire route on two Suzuki DR650's with a wide assortment of adventure gear bolted on. Now that they have arrived in Alaska - about a week ago now - they will be on to build up their mounts for the trip; the bikes are new and showroom fresh, so they must be outfitted expressly for this trip. Next, it's a trip around Alaska and then a drive to make the Laguna Seca round of the 2012 MotoGP Championship. Check their site for the latest and see if you might be able to catch them when they come through your town!

http://www.twomotokiwis.com/