Eco Transport 2.0: It’s Leaps and Bounds
When I was nine years old - I just knew something along just these lines was in our futuristic future!
My Jetpack: finally! Here it is; invented by German aerospace engineer Alexander Boeck, and first seen (by me) in the Chinese Olympics. Here, finally, on sale in stores near you, at $269; is that new high tech transport!
I am so down for casually commuting to work at 25 miles an hour, and striding nine feet at a time, and loping gracefully along with the occasional leap over a short building or two. All while looking like some kind of robotic gazelle - - and one that is two feet taller than me!
And the carbon footprint of this amazingly delightful form of transport? It’s Zilch!
- » See also: Heathrow Airport Gets Fleet of Electric Shuttle Cars
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Of all the various bionic assisted-mobility options being developed; like those muscles that help nurses lift 300 pound people and that help the military carry incredible weights; this one is the most charming. It adds an almost superhuman grace to mere mortals.
This transportation 2.0 solution builds on the natural way that we bipeds actually do move - (note that there are no wheels in nature) - one leg after the other.
The inventor studied kangaroos to develop his idea. The Powerbock gives humans an artificial Achilles tendon like kangaroos and ostriches have. The 3 foot long springs use the body’s own weight to generate power. Like a trampoline, the spring accumulates, stores and returns the amount of energy put into it.
Powerbocking into our glorious future will help you lose weight, be capable of the most extraordinary feats of athleticism, build strength and reduce cholesterol, flip backwards 20 times in 20 seconds, burn calories five times faster than jogging, leap over cars, scare the bejesus out of passers-by and be part of a craze that’s swept the world from Korea to Canada.
Canada? That’s where it will stop, at the border’s edge. It will never take off in America because in this country, where we’re not allowed to have socialized medicine like the civilized world has, simple injuries can bankrupt you. A broken extremity is an extravagance we can’t afford: $24,139. I know. I broke an ankle few years ago.
Powerbocks cost $269. Or….$24,139. Depends on if you have health insurance or not.
Via Gizmag
Oh my gosh, that looks amazing, I want one!
I like the last 2 paragraphs. The author inadvertantly points to why socialized medicine and socialism in general suck. If you do stupid stuff in a free contry, you pay for the consequences and therefore learn to avoid doing stupid stuff. In socialism the punishment for stupidity is redistributed to the responsible folk, leading to more stupidity. I certainly don’t want to pay 24,000 more in taxes so some knucklehead can go out and jump into a wall with kangaroo shoes. I wonder if the author considered that.
Don Thorpe has inadvertently pointed out why he is an idiot - and it’s not just the misspelling and typos. A broken ankle doesn’t actually cost $24K, it’s just commercial medicine that charges that much. But you’re right Don, I wish all those idiots who get cancer would just wise up and NOT get cancer, that way us “responsible folk” could just go about our business (reading Ayn Rand books, watching “Dance Your Ass Off”) in peace and quiet… except when we have to fire our shotgun out the trailer window at any startling noise.
That would make for an interesting trip to work.
Poor Don. He must be one of those well off rednecks who cant see the writing on the wall.
Any civilized country will provide Healthcare, Education, Food, and Water to it’s citizens. De-facto. My America is the most backward country in the developed world.
Well, thank goodness we still have socialized firefighters in America. We are still that civilized.
Our fire stations don’t have to have a skyscraper-full of full-time legally trained paper-pushers on top of them - to battle an entire parasitic industry of “health” insurance companies (like the one that has inserted itself between doctors and patients) just in order to just get paid (on a house by house basis: so inefficient) for each house that catches fire, without having to make a profit as a business, as well.
Firefighters just get paid by the gummint to just get ‘er done. So they can put each fire out for only what it actually costs. Socialized firefighting. So much cheaper.
And how nice for us too, once our house is burning down and we call 911 - not to first have to check that some kind of “firefighter” insurance will actually pay (10 times the cost of) the fire truck coming to put it out!
Sorry Susan, but we don’t have socialized firefighters in this country. We have firefighters who are employed by the LOCAL government, or citizens in the district to fight fires. Many of these fire departments are Co-ops.
In any case, the firefighters in Buffalo, NY are not paid with taxes on the residents of Millersport, OH. There are even areas of this country where you are your own firefighter.
Addendum, for Susan.
Some of these fire companies are actually VOLUNTEERS. They do solicit those in the area hat they cover for equipment but they work without tax support. I lived only a quarter mile from the firehouse that served the city where my post office was located, but my fire protection came from one of these VOLUNTEER fire departments which was located over 2 1/2 miles from my home. The local department would not respond if I had a fire.
I think that firefighters are true heros… too bad I can’t say the same for the doctor that charged me $60 to tell me I that my finger might be broken. (X-rays are extra ;-p)
It looks like you would have to be a super athlete or super foolhardy to use those things. What happens when you turn?
Bobomo: I do always enjoy a post that starts with name calling; It is more often an indication the character of the person posting it, than of the intended target. That being said you do nothing to challenge my assertion that redistributing the problems caused by bad decisions leads to more bad decisions. In addition your example of cancer is a great one to illustrate the flaws in socialized medicine. Look at the survival rates of all different kinds of cancers and you find that if you are unlucky enough to get cancer, you are doubly unlucky if you depend on socialized medicine to cure you. I would much rather bankrupt than dead.
PS: I know that I am dependant on spell check, I guess it comes from years studying technical books rather than poetry. At least it is not as detrimental to my health and well being as being dependant on government.