THE 2011 SEASON (THE DANGER ZONE)

The organizers of the "24 Hours of Lemons" recently announced the race schedule for 2011. This year the series will have a total of twenty-four (24) races across the country, four (4) of which are in California. Following are the races in California we have selected for participation:

August 6-7              Thunderhill Raceway

December 3-4          Buttonwillow Raceway

December 22-23       Infineon Raceway

Our season opener will be at the Thunderhill Raceway on August 6-7. We've decided to skip the first race at Infineon Raceway to be held in March because the series will return there in December, where we intend to race.

The $500 limit set by the promoters make it rather difficult to find a car that will last more than one full 24 hour race if driven close to the limits. We can participate as moving fixtures on the track and do the laps, or we can race. We view the track as our laboratory and will try to stress our equipment so we can determine where the breaking points are. We want to do this so we can develop technology that is durable and less expensive in the long haul.

Since we have a limited budget and could not afford the usual logistics mix of crates, boxes and transporters, we may have to drive the car to the race. That would be an 8 hour drive one way to Thunderhill Raceway from Aliso Viejo CA, where we are based. We fear that by the time the car gets there, it would be, for lack of a better word, completely spent. That would be a bummer - getting to the starting line and not be able to race. That would be like a Howard Jones song - “You can look at the menu but you just can't eat”. What would be the point of all that? We want something that invokes feelings of adventure and achievement like a Kenny Loggins song celebrating the virtues of going supersonic in the “Danger Zone” with an F-14 Tomcat. Unfortunately, we are an underfunded privateer team with no budget to speak of. Actually, we don't even have a checkbook making it appropriate to add this clip of an angry Commodore enraged with his men and their egos “ ... writing checks (their) body can't cash”.

Stay tuned.

SALT WATER AS FUEL

There are a slew of promising technologies available to power vehicles at this moment. Some are being suppressed for strategic reasons by its developers and are sitting in vaults. Yet there are others that are out in the public domain languishing for lack of need. Finding the balance is difficult because without the right economic incentive investment is hard to attract. On this post, we want to feature a technology that turns regular salt water into flammable fuel. Every time we discover clips that demonstrate the feasibility of hydrogen as the fuel of the future, we get very excited. As you read this post, you'll find out why.

On this clip, featured on another television show, John Kanzius, an inventor, demonstrates a way to turn salt water into combustible fuel. Like many inventions, he was actually looking for a solution for another problem – in this case a cure for cancer. His tinkering led to the development of a potential fuel system that can displace most of the systems currently in use. I suppose, such is the process of invention. You'll never know what you create until it stares you in the face. The 3M Sticky Note, for instance, was the result of an adhesive that did not quite meet the standard set by the team of scientists working on the project. For a while it was placed on the shelf until eventually they found another application that proved to be commercially successful. Another example is the popular drug developed by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer called Viagra. It was actually designed as a treatment for certain kinds of heart diseases. After a few rounds of medical trials, it turned out to be a lot more effective in treating another kind of heart malady - the Valentine Day variety.

We are glad that Mr. Kanzius had tinkered about and came upon this fantastic solution that may prove to solve many of our nation's problems. We would like to visit with him at some point to investigate the potential of his technology. We hope to report back on this blog some time soon. In the meantime, take a look at the astonishing thing he can do with salt water.

CLICK TO VIEW CLIP