650 km/h in seven seconds

Next August 17 years of the Beijing Olympic Games will be completed. Games that served the country, as always in this type of events, to sell to the rest of the world. But in the Chinese case it also served to modernize the infrastructure of the country and project the image that we were attending the definitive launch of a new superpower. One of those hallmarks was the launch of the first high -speed line In the country. China opened its first high -speed rail line, then 120 kilometers between Beijin and Taijin. By then, in Spain we had been enjoying high speed 16 years, from the AVE Madrid-Sevilla from 1992. Japan did the same since 1964 when Tokyo’s Olympic Games also promoted The high speed network. 17 years after those first 120 kilometers, China is The country of the world with more kilometers of high -speed roads. They are followed by Spain and Japan. The country has passed through the right to those who were the great referents in the sector. And not only that, promises for the future are still surprising. A MAGLEV at 650 km/h While the country continues to expand its roads, the next great expected milestone is at the very high speed they can get with their trains. And the evidence tells us that they are on the right track. Or, at least, that they begin to have enough technology to position themselves at a little less level than unattainable. Just a few days ago, in the tests with your Maglev more advanced managed to reach 650 km/h in seven seconds In your laboratory. But the very high figure is not the only striking thing. From China they say that to reach this speed They barely needed 600 meters. The acceleration and detention capacity of the train is brutal because the test tunnel barely measures 1,000 meters. A ridiculous distance with the usual tests that are performed in high speed, with roads that extend for tens of kilometers. AND The promise is to reach 800 km/h as maximum speed. To get to this point, China also wants to be the undisputed queen of the Maglev. These trains work by magnetic levitation. The train travels just over the road, taking advantage of a magnet system that keeps it on the railroad but that allows it to move without generating friction on it. This allows Magleb reach such high speeds. For the moment, The fastest maglev in the world It reaches 431 km/Hy is in operation in the railroad that unites Beijing and Shanghai. Yes, the same that has managed to put the airlines in check because Your 1,300 kilometers journey just lasts four hours. For years, China and Japan live their particular space career. Japan has managed to exceed 600 km/h In experienced evidence but China is still ahead. The big challenge now is make useful trains that can move at this speed, to seek commercial viability to them and, above all, provide them with the necessary infrastructure. For example, The tunnels have a problem To travel at such high speeds because within them the train itself creates so high pressures that they can be annoying for passengers and, above all, compromise trains’ safety. Problem that China may be willing to save if it is about showing financial muscle and work capacity. If you don’t believe it, Danyang-Kunshan’s big bridgewhere the high -speed line between Beijing and Shanghai circulates, it is a good example of this with its more than 160 kilometers long. Photo | Chinese State Agency In Xataka | This Chinese train has no driver, but it is not rail: it is autonomous, and it circulates on virtual rails

25 years ago, Europe was close to panic at the barbarism of Japanese motorcycles. So Japan limited them to 299 km/h

The 90s were one of the golden times of motorcycling. A time when there was no Electronic controls, Anticontamination regulations No concern for security. Where now we see chaos and lack of control, a few years ago motorcycle manufacturers saw a test field to launch the fastest vehicles in the world. So much so, that the brands themselves had to put a limit to stop competing fiercely between them. What was happening. The motorcycle market has changed. Currently what is sold the most They are scooters and comfortable motorcyclesl, the SUV made motorcycle. In the 90s, the icons were the Japanese sports of Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki. There came a point where virtually great street sports car reached vertigo speeds. In the early 90s, Honda launched her CBR900RR Firebladeone of the fastest production motorcycles in the world. It soon being overcome by the kawasaki ZZR1100 and later by the Hayabusa. A race to step on the grass of the neighbor that ended up uncontrolled. The 300 km/h. Motorcycles like Hayabusa ranly passed the 330 km/h, and in fear that governments imposed new regulations and prohibitions against such powerful vehicles, the industry decided to self -control with A gentlemen pact. The industry wanted to continue selling supercardives, but I did not want to intimidate the regulatory agencies with motorcycles that began to get closer to the barrier of the 400 km/h than to that of the 300. A secret pact. The gentlemen’s pact among motorcycle manufacturers is an open secret, although given the nature of the agreement there were never official statements. It is rumored that BMW began conversations with both Japanese and Italian manufacturers. Interestingly, when BMW did not have a single motorcycle capable of competing for being the fastest. Be that as it may, in the early 2000s the pact began to be fulfilled: the motorcycles launched by manufacturers, such as the Kawasaki ZZR1200 Or Honda’s proposals, did not exceed 299 km/h. But the sports market demanded speed and muscle, flying through the air the pact. It didn’t last long. Just seven years later, Italian as MV Agusta They left the pact in the air, with models such as the F4 R exceeding 300 km/h. It is something that BMW itself also did with its S1000R And, again, the fastest sports race began. Honda CBR1000RR-R-SP, much more than 299 km/h, although the scoreway says otherwise. What remains of the pact. Although there are numerous street motorcycles that exceed 300 km/h, the Japanese keep the pact alive. Manufacturers like Honda do not mark speed beyond 299 km/h, although the motorcycle is really running beyond her. The same happens with Yamaha. Versions such as the New Hayabusa or the Kawasaki H2, motorcycles that could touch the 400 km/h, remain electronically limited to 299 km/h. The Japanese respect and tradition keep the pact almost intact, maintaining the exceptions for circuit such as the Kawasaki H2R and its 400 km/h … with the house motorcycle. There are also those who dedicate themselves to prepare motorcycles to pass from 440 km/h. Luckily, they can’t step on the street. Not only in motorcycles. The pact among Japanese giants was not the only one decades ago. In the 80s and until well entered the 2000, manufacturers such as Nissan, Honda, Subaru and Toyota They signed a pact so that their cars had no more than 280 hp nor exceed 180 km/h. It is especially striking to upload a Japanese of almost 300 hp, and see that Your marker is tarado in those 180. The measure arose in response to the growing concerns for road safety in the country, an agreement not formalized before the public, but evident when analyzing car after car. This is still the limitations at 250 km/h in large part of current sports. Image | Austin Hervias In Xataka | Chinese motorcycles are sweeping in Spain: who is who in this brand puzzle

From 0 to 252 km/h at 6,0542 seconds. It is not magic, it is a motorcycle that works with water

When one looks for the benefits of a motorcycle or a car, it is usual to meet the term “Mile room”. In Spain we are perhaps more familiar with the figure from 0 to 100 km/ho how long it takes to travel a kilometer from standing. However, the mile room, those 402 meters is the usual measure that is taken as a finish line in the Drag Races. Yes, the Acceleration races So famous in the United States in which we see artifacts of all kinds to launch from standing at impossible speeds and, in some cases, let out a parachute once the finish line has passed. As with cars, in the world of motorcycling it is also competed in these particular races. The most striking use modified motorcycles that, such as You can see in this videothey have a huge distance between wheel and wheel and gigantic tires. The objective: maximum traction and aerodynamics to achieve the highest speed in the shortest possible time. If this does not seem striking enough, you still have to meet Graham Sykes, a pilot who has managed to cover the 402 meters of the mile room in six seconds reaching a tip of 252 km/h. Figures that become difficult to assimilate and impossible to believe for a steam motorcycle. That? At 252 km/h with water as fuel “We did the first 18 meters in 0.73 seconds, 100 meters in 1.99, 201 meters at 3.2 and 402 meters in 6.05” With these words, as the one who describes the figures pointed on an excelll sheet, Graham Sykes had his experience aboard the “Force of Nature”the faster steam motorcycle ever built, they collect in Motorpasion motorcycle. Sykes explained at the end of the test he had achieved beat your own record and had reached 201 meters faster than anyone aboard a steam motorcycle. The eighth mile, those just over 200 meters, is another of the usual distances in this type of racing. Although it is far from the world record on a motorcycle Dragster (less than five seconds and 469 km/h of peak speed) the merit is double because it is built in the house garage only for exhibition purposes. And warns: “We are very close to running the 402 meters in five seconds. We really want to finish the great engine at the end of this year, with 120 liters of water and three seconds of power. “Because the current motorcycle only has a water tank of 88 liters and generates its maximum power for 1.9 seconds. Yes, it’s talking about water. Because that is a steam motorcycle, right? In which it moves with water. How do you do it? They explain in Motorpasion motorcycle that the system is as simple as water, heat and pressure. To heat the water they use hydrogenated vegetable oil to produce pressure. This accumulates until being expelled by a Laval nozzle. At that time, overheated steam is in charge of throwing the motorcycle at more than 250 km/h. In fact, according to Sykes, the motorcycle can reach up to 320 km/h (once the mile room is exceeded) and is trying to increase the capacity up to 130 liters of tank and with two heating pipes Take the water up to 200ºC of temperature and generate 30 pressure bars. Objective: break the barrier of six seconds in 402 meters. Photo | CPE In Xataka | The crazy and crazy story of nuclear cars: the projects that played to be God during the twentieth century

The Bugatti Veyron broke with everything thanks to a brutal engine. One that was born with some scribbles painted at 320 km/h

Year 2005. Spain sings unleashed “El Nano” De Melendi. No doubt luked by Fernando Alonso, The Renault Mégane was the best selling car That year. It entered into force Euro 4 That, we did not know yet, but it would be the border that now marks what diesel cars can receive the DGT’s sticker. But while Renault lives a golden era chaining two pilot titles in Formula 1, in Europe they are to other things. Those things represents them well Volkswagen, who will present 20 years ago a unique car that marked a before and after in the history of the car: the Bugatti Veyron. A car that was born before, drawn on a 320 km/h paper. Because the origin of Bugatti Veyron must be looked for in a Japanese Shinkansen. Almost a decade before. Paper and Boli at 320 km/h Year 1997. Ferdinand Piëchgrandson of Ferdinand Porsche, directs the Volkswagen Group. His career supports him. He has played a fundamental role in the victories of Porsche in Le Mans, in the six -cylinder boxer engine for the Porsche 911 and in the Quattro de Audi traction. Piëch travels in the wagon of a shinkansen, The Japanese bullet train that reaches 320 km/h. At that time, Japanese high -speed railway lines seem to arrive from the future. Next to him is Karl-Heinz Neumann, head of motor development of the Volkswagen Group, which shows a completely crazy idea to which he has been trying to shape in his head. To explain the ideas on paper, an engine with 18 cylinders. What would happen if you take three VR6 motors from Volkswagen and put it online? Piëch is clear, would transform an engine that is already one of the jewels of the market and the group into a masterpiece. A engine of more than 600 hp. Enough to get its great ambition to put on the street a car that exceeds 400 km/h. The problem is that it would be a development and a product so expensive that there is no way to fit it in one of the group’s brands. That is why the company is behind a new brand to turn its flag. Its impossible engine must arrive from the hand of a brand that represents the most extreme luxury. Rolls-Royce It is the chosen one. But at the auction for acquiring the company, BMW advances to its buyatiots. In an exploitation license game, Volkswagen reaches an agreement with Vickers but it is a wrong decision because this group has the right of exploitation but the company is owned by Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC, the Motor Manufacturer for Aircraft. It is with them with whom BMW reaches an agreement. Aware that they cannot do anything, Volkswagen ends up selling the rights of the spirit of ecstasy, The mythical figure that Rolls-Royce cars look on the front. They count on Motorpasion that fate seems to have changed because on a visit to Mallorca, Piëch’s son asks his father to buy him a reply of a Bugatti Type 57 SC Atlantic. The mandamás is clear, it is time to buy Bugatti, a brand that had fallen in bankruptcy after a first attempt to return his former French aura. With the purchase in 1998, Giorgetto Giugiaro is incorporated, who had directed the design of the Bugatti EB112 in command of Italdesign. In a few months, Bugatti already presents prototypes with the famous W18 devised by Piëch. But it is in September of the year 2000 when the first sketch of the Veyron is finally seen. We talked about the Bugatti EB 16.4 Veyron that left aside the W18 to unite two V8 and thus give life to the very well known W16. The engine, unlike the version with 18 cylinders that was atmospheric, uses four turbocompressors. A few months later, Bugatti confirms a decision that seemed out of science fiction: he would manufacture the car in a limited roll. The figures were unthinkable for the time. The W16 8.0 engine generated 1,001 hp of power, reached 401 km/h peak speed and delivered a 1.250 nm motor torque. To understand the challenge facing Volkswagen in his idea of ​​breaking the barrier of the 400 km/h, the McLaren F1 It had stayed at 386 km/h of peak speed but that record was in force since 1994. We would have to wait until 2005 to see on the street the first Bugatti Veyron that broke, as anticipated, the US speed record Sale in S7 Twin Turbo that record 399 km/h only one year earlier. In the end, A few km/h went above. Ferdinand Piëch managed to fulfill the dream of breaking two barriers. Bugatti Veyron was the first car in Overcome 1,000 hp and the 400 km/h standing speed. It was the beast that the group needed, a car at the height of a brand like Bugatti, hyperluvian, unique and extremely fast. Photos | Bugatti In Xataka | Bugatti Veyron was a jewel that cost 1.7 million dollars: Volkswagen lost 6.7 million with each one that sold

Without tolls, the AP-7 has become hell. The solution passes through speed limits of 60 km/h

The AP-7 is known as the Mediterranean highway. It is an essential axis for Spanish traffic since it allows to circulate without interruptions between Tarragona and Alicante. And if we add their links to other roads, it allows to circulate between France and Cádiz. A road, yes, that until 2021 was marked by various tolls. Some sections, in fact, They were one of the most expensive in Spain. The road, however, is fought from the Tolls in 2021. What it was A historical claim In the area it soon became a problem. In its first year, the road saw tourism traffic increasing 40% and 80% of trucks, collected in The country. The obvious result: more jams, more accidents … and more jams accordingly. Specifically, only the first year the AP-7 concentrated 20% of the dead on the road throughout Catalonia. A figure that contrasts with the trend of the rest of the country where the deceased on the road They concentrate on secondary roads. The New free routewith France at one end and Barcelona to one of its sides, it has turned the road into a parade of merchandise vehicles. And the problem is such that since then solutions are being sought. First with a partial reduction of speed limits. An action that has arrived in 2022 and added 82 kilometers. The next step is to copy Europe. A solution to the European Since then, the AP-7 situation has not improved much. Although mortal figures have been reduced over time, only in 2024 more than 1,600 incidents on the road. The response of traffic managers has been to reduce speed. How much? It will depend on the Meteorology and traffic congestion. Because the proposal goes through a changing management of the maximum speed of the road. A solution that already applies to other roads in Europe and that can reduce the maximum allowed limit to 60 km/h. The person in charge of announcing the measure was the Minister of Interior, Núria Parlon. They point out in The newspaper that this section of variable speed will extend for 150 kilometers between Maçanet de la Selva (Girona) and the Vendrell (Tarragona). For this, panels controlled by artificial intelligence will be implemented that will limit the traffic speed based on the different circumstances that are giving. The measure takes as reference what happens, for example, In German autobahn. On these roads there is no defined speed limit. In fact, if circumstances accompany, There is no speed limit. But at nightfall, when it rains or if there are works on the road, the panels show a speed limit equal to or less than 130 km/h. The operation is exactly the same as on the German roads but the director of the Catalan Traffic Service (SCT), Ramon Lamiel, already warns in an interview with EFE: The speed can be reduced up to 60 km/h at some points. At the moment, the project is in the development phase by the Servei Català de Trànsit (SCT)who has the competitions on Catalan roads. In the second quarter of the year it should be written to be able to get it as a tender. They explain in The countrythat the intention is to deploy a progressive reduction in the maximum speed before the driver is suddenly with a bottling that forces him to reduce the speed much more drastic. Speaking to the newspaper, Lamiel insists that speed will be reduced Only in the most congested sections since they believe that the increase in accidents is derived from a greater volume of traffic and not from the danger of the road. In addition, he points out that they already proposed this measure to extend it nationwide by the roads that are the competence of the DGT but that its proposal was dismissed. The truth is that The theory says that when we circulate more slowly, traffic jams are reduced. Atasco are a sum of errors. When we circulate at a lower speed, the time to alleviate errors is greater and these are reduced. It is a matter of effectiveness and not so much speed. Traffic circulates more slowly but flows. If we circulate too fast, the braking are more abrupt, it costs more to recover a sustained speed and, little by little, we end up stucking the road. Photo | ENRIC In Wikimedia In Xataka | Catalonia has its own DGT Pegasus: Falcó is the most powerful radar in Spain and the most complicated to detect

100 mm of rain and gusts up to 90 km/h

When it seemed that the heavy rains seen throughout this week in Levante and other adjacent areas was going to send, a new front has opened in the west peninsular. A new storm arrives today, which implies new rainfall, you are accompanied Atlantic storm. The State Meteorology Agency (Aemet) has given New details about the arrival of the new Atlantic storm to the Peninsula. Borrasca that, according to the agency’s forecasts, will leave us “abundant rainfall and intense winds” on the peninsula. The arrival of this storm implies a change in the distribution of rains in the Peninsula, until today caused by a Mediterranean storm that has left important rainfall in the south and west of the country. With the arrival of fronts associated with the new storm, rainfall will become generalized. Of the day of transition to the day of maximum activity. Although the effects of the new storm will begin to feel today in different places of the Peninsula, meteorologists They agree to indicate that Saturday will be the day in which the storm reaches its peak activity. What can we expect? The latest spare parts of the Mediterranean storm are leaving “strong and/or persistent rainfall” In part of the east peninsular, affecting areas such as Castellón and east of Catalonia. The arrival of the fronts could also leave persistent rainfall, with accumulated 40 mm in 12 hours in areas such as Western Andalusia, Sanabria and part of the central system. Meanwhile, the new creeper, high Ebro, Navarra, Navarra, Western Pyrenees, Western Central System, Mountains of Ourense and Western Coast of Galicia, ” Aemet’s prediction. Saturday, day “more adverse episode”, The accumulated could reach 100 mm in 24 hours, being the most affected area will be Western and Central Andalusia. With regard to the wind, “very strong” gusts are expected, up to 90 km/h in mountainous systems, although they could also be seen in lesser altitude. New change. Aemet’s forecasts point out that Borrasca will lose strength already on Sunday, although its effects will still be noted, as progress towards the east, also on Monday. From there the uncertainty in the forecasts is very high, so we will have to wait until you know what time it will bring us next week. In Xataka | Spain has good news between so much rain this March: there is finally water in the swamps Image | ECMWF

We have just detected winds of more than 30,000 km/h on an exoplanet

According to extreme weather record According to the World Meteorological Organization, the fastest wind gust ever recorded on our planet occurred on Barrow Island, Australia, and reached 113.2 meters per second or 407.5 km/h. If we expand the search to the solar system, we will discover that the winds can accelerate even more: up to 1,770 km/h on Neptune. 33,000 km/h. Wind records on Earth and other planets in the solar system pale in comparison to those recently observed by VLT instruments (Very Large Telescope) from the European Southern Observatory (ESO), located in the Atacama Desert, in Chile: up to 33,000 km/h is the speed they can reach in WASP-127b. WASP-127b. Exoplanet WASP-127b is located in our own galaxy, about 500 light years from Earth. The planet was discovered in 2016 and has since attracted interest from the astronomical community. It is a planet very little densewith a volume somewhat larger than that of Jupiter (it is approximately 1.3 times its size) and a mass only 0.16 times the mass of the gas giant in our solar system. We also know about this planet that it orbits close to its star, so much so that it is believed to be in the state we know as tidal lock. That is, like the Moon with the Earth, WASP-127b orbits its star while rotating on itself, always offering the same face to it. Supersonic winds. The team responsible for the study used the CRIRES+ instrument of the VLT observatory to analyze the climate of the planet WASP-127b. The team was analyzing how light from the star WASP-127 interacted with the planet’s outer atmosphere to understand its composition when they came across a double peak in the spectrum, which seems to indicate that part of the atmosphere is moving towards us and part is moving away. moves away, both at high speed. “Part of the atmosphere of this planet is moving towards us at great speed, while another part is moving away from us with the same alacrity,” explained in a press release Lisa Nortmann, who led the study of the planet’s winds. “This signal shows us that there are very fast, supersonic winds around the planet’s equator.” With these data, the team estimated that the speed at which the atmosphere was moving could reach 9 kilometers per second, or in other words, about 33,000 km/h, something never seen until now. Job details were published in an article in the magazine Astronomy & Astrophysics. More than wind. The study of the planet’s atmosphere allowed us to learn other details about WASP-127b’s atmosphere and its climate, for example, its composition. The team was able to confirm the presence of water vapor in this atmosphere, as well as carbon monoxide molecules. They also observed that the atmosphere showed slight differences in temperature on its day side compared to its night side. “This shows that the planet has complex weather patterns like those of Earth and other planets in the solar system,” added Fei Yan, co-author of the work. In Xataka | The most extreme weather is not on our planet Image | IT/L. Calçada

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