World Records
On November 17th of last year, a group of four wave-powered autonomous aquatic robots set out from San Francisco, embarking on a planned 37,000-mile (60,000-km) trip across the Pacific ocean. Recently, the fleet of Wave Gliders completed the first leg of their journey, arriving at Hawaii’s Big Island after traveling over 3,200 nautical miles (5,926 km). By doing so, they have set a new distance record for unmanned wave-powered vehicles – that record previously sat at 2,500 nautical miles (4,630 km). Read More
Whether you think the Bugatti Veyron is the pinnacle of sports car development or agree with Professor Gordon Murray that it's the "most pointless exercise on the planet," we all somehow seem drawn to the name and its continuing deeds. This week saw the unveiling of another Bugatti milestone, the 1200 bhp Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport Vitesse - the roadster version of the world's fastest production car is also the world's fastest roadster at 255 mph. Great picture library of this quite arresting automobile. Read More
Milhous Collection auction racks up US$38.3 million in sales
The final hammer has come down on the Milhous Collection auction we previewed last week. The two-day event resulted in 100 percent of all lots being sold for a total of US$38.3 million. The item to fetch the highest price was a 1912 Oldsmobile Limited Five-Touring, which set a world record auction price for an Oldsmobile at $3.3 million. Read More
Ferrari F40 mass gathering will be a world record
Ferrari F40 fans might wish to put the date July 22 in the calendar now, maybe even if you live somewhere a long way from Silverstone. The annual three-day Silverstone Classic is claimed to be the world's biggest classic motor racing festival. Held at the Silverstone F1 circuit in mid-July, the central focus of the massive festival is the historic racing which features the cream of motor racing drivers and cars from every era of motor sport. Whenever there's a significant automotive anniversary, such as the 50th anniversary of the E-type Jaguar, there's also a mass gathering of vehicles. This year the festival is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Ferrari F40 - already more than 50 of the original 1315 F40s produced have RSVP'd for the event, guaranteeing a world record. Read More
So how do you show off the fact that you are Russia's largest private bank and at the same time curry a little favor with Moscow's ruling elite? You entertain 800,000 Muscovites with a world-record 25,500 square meter (275,000 sq. ft.) audio-visual projection show to celebrate Moscow City Day, of course. Read More
An international team is claiming a data transfer record that puts any home broadband connection to shame. At last month’s SuperComputing 2011 (SC11) conference in Seattle, researchers reached transfer rates of 98 gigabits per second (Gbps) between the University of Victoria Computing Centre located in Victoria, British Columbia, and the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. Coupled with a simultaneous data rate of 88 Gbps in the opposite direction the team reached a two-way data rate of 186 Gbps to break their own previous peak-rate record of 119 Gbps set in 2009. Read More
If the idea of floating along in a boat propelled only by the gentle push of an ocean breeze is your idea of relaxing then you might want to steer clear of the aptly named VESTAS Sailrocket 2. Designed and built from the ground up with a focus on speed, the boat and the VSR2 team have headed to Walvis Bay in Namibia with the aim of breaking the outright world speed sailing record for the short distance 500 meters (1,640 ft) of 55.65 knots (64 mph/103 km/h) set in October 2010 by American kite-surfer, Rob Douglas. Read More
One of the world's most valuable motorcycles will go under the hammer early next year. Built by Sylvester H. Roper, one of two people with legitimate claims of having invented the motorcycle. Though built in 1894, 27 years after the first Roper Steam Motorcycle, the machine is one of a very small number of motorcycles built by Roper (around nine), and was ridden by him regularly before his death in 1896. The Roper Steam Cycle hence has a provenance of massive historical importance, and is expected to establish a new world record for a motorcycle sold at auction in Las Vegas on January 12 – 14. Read More
E-cyclist pedals over 1600km into record books
The CEO of Australia's Hahn Environmental Services, the largest producer of biodiesel in Queensland, has smashed the distance set by Guinness for the Longest Distance Traveled by Electric Bicycle in One Week. Riding a modified Stealth Bomber e-bike, which had its battery packs charged by a wind turbine sitting atop a Mini Moke running on green fuel, Allan Lear managed to pedal an amazing 1,629 km (1,012 miles) through Australia's outback - he is now waiting for the achievement to be verified by Guinness as a World Record. Read More
