Hyper-kinetic presenter Tony Robinson and a team of experts travel to Mametz, a famous battlefield in World War I, in search of a secret tunnel and a massive flamethrower lost for almost a century.
The Livens Flame Projector, strictly the Livens Large Gallery Flame Projector, was used on the first day of the Battle of the Somme in 1916 and only once after that in 1917. Nothing of it exists today though Robinson is determined to find remnants of it on the Somme battlefield near Mametz.
With historian Peter Barton and archeologist Tony Pollard, the bustling Robinson is determined to recover what's left and with the help of the British Royal Engineers build a working replica. The Projector took just 25 weeks to produce from the planning stage to actual deployment. It was almost 10m long, over a metre wide and required a crew of seven trained men.
War diaries kept by officers at the time indicate that on June 28, 1916, about 200 British troops from the Royal Engineers gathered in great secrecy near Mametz. They worked underground in secret tunnels out of sight of German lines.
The weapon was powered by air pressure. Once it reached a certain level, the head (monitor) of the weapon was pushed out of the ground. A mixture of kerosene and diesel was ignited and shot towards the German lines.
How effective the weapon was is not known but war historians speculate that where it was used, it was spectacularly effective.
2011年11月6日 星期日
2011年3月27日 星期日
From Bulky Machines to the 'SixthSense': Projector Lamps Have Come a Long Way
With only four years out of college, it's hard to imagine the classroom tools and methods I used on my path toward a bachelor's degree are almost extinct. Gone are the days of taking notes on white, lined paper, as they've been replaced by high-tech laptops and tablets. Meanwhile, students are able to "check in" with their teacher through telepresence and online sessions – right from the comfort of their dorm rooms (pajamas, anyone?)
Go even further back in time, and it's hard to forget my elementary school days – pre-PowerPoint presentation – when teachers displayed slides of images and text on white pull-down screens using old-fashioned DLP and LCD projectors. Who can forget the monotonous humming sound that emanated from these pre-historic machines, better yet the simplicity of turning a dial to take you to the next slide?
Flash up to the present, and projectors, as well as the bulbs used to power them, are nowhere near where they originated. They've come a long way, starting as bulky machines that over the years transformed into less bulkier machines often seen on conference tables and in entertainment spaces, and eventually molding into what they are today: innovative, creative and often portable devices that resemble something out of an action movie.
Technology innovators are racing to bring fresh, revolutionary projector lamp inventions to the market, some of which include watches, cell phones that display images, smartphone devices and others in true James Bond fashion, according to MyProjectorLamps.com.
One recent innovative projector lamp to come to fruition is a portable projector that takes the functions of a basic projector lamp to a whole new level. Fittingly called "SixthSense," users can perform "out of this world" tasks, including dialing a phone number from the palm of your hand and snapping photos that can be displayed on any surface imaginable. Even further, it functions almost like an application, as it provides users with helpful information when it comes to purchasing products.
In a video demo of the new product, Pattie Maes, one of the experts to spearhead the revolutionary projector product, categorizes this invention as a way to have easy access to relevant information for making optimal decisions without requiring the user to change his or her behavior.
Using a camera, projector, mirror, colored caps and a simple phone, all placed on the user's body, these components communicate with each other to interact with any surface. For example, the camera is able to recognize natural movements performed on the finger caps that help the user perform everyday tasks such as reading a map or reviewing a picture previously taken on any surface, even your own hand!
"It really can act as one of these sixth sense devices that gives you relevant information of what is in front of you," said Maes, who further explained how consumers can use this projector creation to obtain product reviews and further information by simply scanning an item with the components.
This creation is also perfect for those judgmental people out there, whom can see words associated with another person through the information posted on their personal blogs, social networking sites, etc. Though controversial, it's pretty clever! If only we had this during our lecture halls…
Go even further back in time, and it's hard to forget my elementary school days – pre-PowerPoint presentation – when teachers displayed slides of images and text on white pull-down screens using old-fashioned DLP and LCD projectors. Who can forget the monotonous humming sound that emanated from these pre-historic machines, better yet the simplicity of turning a dial to take you to the next slide?
Flash up to the present, and projectors, as well as the bulbs used to power them, are nowhere near where they originated. They've come a long way, starting as bulky machines that over the years transformed into less bulkier machines often seen on conference tables and in entertainment spaces, and eventually molding into what they are today: innovative, creative and often portable devices that resemble something out of an action movie.
Technology innovators are racing to bring fresh, revolutionary projector lamp inventions to the market, some of which include watches, cell phones that display images, smartphone devices and others in true James Bond fashion, according to MyProjectorLamps.com.
One recent innovative projector lamp to come to fruition is a portable projector that takes the functions of a basic projector lamp to a whole new level. Fittingly called "SixthSense," users can perform "out of this world" tasks, including dialing a phone number from the palm of your hand and snapping photos that can be displayed on any surface imaginable. Even further, it functions almost like an application, as it provides users with helpful information when it comes to purchasing products.
In a video demo of the new product, Pattie Maes, one of the experts to spearhead the revolutionary projector product, categorizes this invention as a way to have easy access to relevant information for making optimal decisions without requiring the user to change his or her behavior.
Using a camera, projector, mirror, colored caps and a simple phone, all placed on the user's body, these components communicate with each other to interact with any surface. For example, the camera is able to recognize natural movements performed on the finger caps that help the user perform everyday tasks such as reading a map or reviewing a picture previously taken on any surface, even your own hand!
"It really can act as one of these sixth sense devices that gives you relevant information of what is in front of you," said Maes, who further explained how consumers can use this projector creation to obtain product reviews and further information by simply scanning an item with the components.
This creation is also perfect for those judgmental people out there, whom can see words associated with another person through the information posted on their personal blogs, social networking sites, etc. Though controversial, it's pretty clever! If only we had this during our lecture halls…
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