Tech Universe: Thursday 30 June

A single frame from Pixar's Cars 2 movie took an average of 11.5 hours to render - some took up to 90 hours.

LOOPY JOURNEYS: 1,100 cars circulating on 18 lanes of freeways in endless loops sounds like a true urban nightmare. Luckily though the cars in the multimillion dollar sculpture called Metropolis II are only toys. The sculpture's around 8 metres wide and 3 metres tall, and includes numerous skyscrapers. This piece of art cost millions to make and sold for millions too. At least the cars are electric. More at Makezine and video here.

FAST LOOPS: It's dizzying. It's stomach-lurching. It's the world's steepest roller coaster, opening soon in Yamanash, Japan. The ride includes includes 7 major twists over 1 Km of track, and a drop of 43 metres. At times the cars reach 100 km/h, but the whole rides lasts only 112 seconds. Bring a strong paper bag. Daily Mail has more, video on here.

CARS, BOATS AND BLADES: Pixar's Cars 2 movie needed a lot of CGI rendering to create extremely realistic effects. A lot. Stormy seas, with boats and oil rigs at night, with shadows and waves were just some of the challenges. Each frame of the movie took on average 11.5 hours to render, though some needed up to 90 hours. The render farm they use features 12,500 cores on Dell render blades. Actors used to be central to movies, now it's computers. Cnet has details.

CRUISING TO SLEEP: Volkswagen's Temporary Auto Pilot takes control of the car and drives it for you at up to 130 km/h on the motorway. The driver still has to be in control and monitor what the car's doing, but adaptive cruise control and tech to help you stay in the right lane take the work away. The system can also maintain speed, safe distances, and handle traffic jams. Radar, camera, and ultrasonic-based sensors work in with a laser scanner and an electronic horizon to do the job. On long trips who'll be able to stay awake to watch a car drive itself? More at Motor Authority.

FUEL TO BURN: The DA36 E-Star aircraft uses a conventional fuel engine along with a battery. The purpose of the engine though is only to recharge the battery, not to drive the plane. The 94-horsepower Siemens electric motor drives the plane for takeoff, then once the plane's cruising a 40-horsepower Wankel rotary engine drives a generator to feed electricity to the motor. Since the plane's already moving, couldn't a small wind turbine help recharge the battery?
Wired has more.

- Miraz Jordan knowit.co.nz