July 2009

  • Cars to Be Started By Lasers

    By sarajean on 7/14/09 8:53am
    2 Comments

    The hum of a light saber may have you thinking of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, but I doubt it conjures images of an idling car.

    A team of scientists from the UK have announced that they’ve developed a car ignition system that uses laser beams. In the current spark plug system, the spark plugs are located at the top or bottom of a cylinder, which causes them to fail if the car’s gas isn’t in position upon starting. The lasers are supposed to remedy this by using optical fibers to send power to the car’s battery, which is said to be a straight, surer path to ignite the vehicle through heat.

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