U.S. Leading the way in the new Super-Sonic Age!

 Smaller business class Jets?

Britain, and France lead the way with the one-hundred seat Concorde until a crash in France twenty-five years ago ended a most successful trans-Atlantic affair, meanwhile only Singapore airlines operated the type and the Soviet-Russians operated their Tupolev TU-144 between Moscow and the far east, but the demand was not strong and the type was retired too!

On the other hand the U.S. has gone it alone with several larger Boeing concepts, but this new type will allow a one third version to be built more so for private and business flights and to be employed world wide, the secret to this type is perhaps alternative fuel, speed and operational costs being much lower than the original types?

One will just have to wait and see what will happen, or is this another red herring, pink elephants ect, that we will never see the light of day as so many went before!

Movable Drilling Platforms. Two.

The ability to build a rig at Sea!

This is to be the future for gas and oil drilling at sea, it will cut out the shipyards and the need to tow rigs by barges! The two reasons for this change is the costs in ordering and the insurance, you think you have problems each year with your car?

These vessels will still have to dock for certain components, but Meccano and Lego ideas have now come to fruition in the drilling industries? Crew transfers may be made directly from these vessels and pumping to a hub if to far out in that of laying cable!

Much has been learnt in this industry over the last fifty years, despite the many accidents! This technology will open the Oceans of the world up to exploration and with the melting of the North pole the possibility to take advantage of seasonal drilling. It is also hoped that in time these ships and their larger variants will also be enabled to disable rigs new and old?

The Railways 2018. One.

Improvements?

Every nation in the world this year will be making or trying to make improvements to its railways infrastructure, wither it is new stock, new expanded or changed railway track layouts, signalling or ticket operations and security?

We can only go forward with technology and with comfort, many countries will not focus to much on safety but will rather make some changes somewhere within their remit? Others may do little or nothing to what they already have or they will cut back in place of buses and coach travel for one reason or another!

The battery train looks promising over the demise of Diesel and electric over that of the same and steam, this is the future for modern railways! But it is not the end for some countries who as yet cannot afford this or are stuck and have to make do with their existing parameters?

The decline in the price of Steel. Part-One.

TATA-U.K. and Port Talbot Steelworks.

We tend to forget that most machines built where made from either iron or steel and today there is a big change with the introduction of Polymers (Tough Plastics). 

The Peoples Republic of China has flooded the world market with cheap steel and many nations have been effected by this slump in the prices. This was not done deliberately, because they have undermined themselves too! 

Port Talbot has been around for over 100 years like many of its now defunct counterparts, it started life as an iron foundry and progressed as science required it to do so. Steel today is used in cannery, automobiles, military vehicles and ship building. But many countries, including the U.K. have lost much of this, the other serious problem with steel is the amounts of scrap and the need to re-cycle it.

The costs lay in the electrical supply for maintaning production, the transportation and mining of fossils from coal to alumina and ore, much of the third world has been left scarred with the removal of bauxite-alumina. Because once it is exposed to the atmosphere it is highly dangerous and this toxic problem has been no stranger to the workforces in the steel working industry and those down wind of smoke.

There is that other side of of heavy industry that people forget as they strive for new things, respiratory problems, lung disease, cancers, asbestosis exposure, that has left generational marks and continues world wide to do to this day.

Harvestors. Part-Two.

Big Business.

Today there is now nearly a harvesting machine for every crop that can be sown/planted on farms, vine-yards, cane plantations and paddy-fields. The day of the cropper has arrived, thus cutting the need to employ vast numbers of people to pick.

In some cases picking by hand is still preferred, especially with soft fruits and asparagus this is because their is a demand by the supermarket chains for quality in appearance. Many new kinds of harvesting machines have been designed to pick, pull and twist and capable of covering a wide area.

The initial machines of say thirty to forty years ago have now been well classed out, but sizes and quality of farm machinery remains to the cost of purchase and the types that are needed. 

FMC Model 679 Range, Smallford Model Multi, Carib Bruff Cane Cutter, FABCO, David Thomas, Todd, Moreau, Aquamarine, Grimme.

Bio-Fuels.

Bio-Fuels.

With the ever increasing tension's across the globe and the uncertainty to the constant flow of cheap energy, will this effect the use of machines? 

There does need to be a call for more investment into the development of bio-fuels and the use of other forms of energy such as hydrogen cell technology to drive aircraft, trains, and all other vehicles. 

The question is will it happen globally or will it be limited, because of the final call by the energy producing giants and the costs or profits for them?