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Tribute to Abbey Rd (40 yrs ago, 08/08'69), to Beatles: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison & Ringo Starr

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A day in the life of Abbey Road, an ordinary-looking street in north London.
"A policeman held up the traffic, the band walked back and forth a few times and that was that" - Brian Southall
On the 8 August 1969 that the Fab Four walked out of No 3 Abbey Road, having finished basic work on what would be their penultimate album. The photographer who took the famous cover shot was the late Iain Macmillan, a close friend of Brian Southall's, who knew the Beatles through working with Yoko Ono. "He was given about 15 minutes," says Mr Southall. "He stood up a stepladder while a policeman held up the traffic, the band walked back and forth a few times and that was that."

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Photos courtesy of Sang Tan/ Associated Press and BBC News
Original Source: BBC
72 years ago today, iconic Golden Gate Bridge finished construction ahead of schedule & $1.3 million under budget

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*update* 2019
Street cleaning cost doubled in 5 years from $33.4 million (2012-2013), to $65.4 million in the current 2017-2018 budget.
4,200 foot long main suspension span
clearance above high water averages 220 feet (67 m)
2 towers rise 746 feet (191 feet taller than the Washington Monument)
length: 8,980ft (2,737m), or 1.7mi (2.7 km)
Width: 90ft (27.4m), 6 lanes, pedestrians and bicycles
opening in 1937, then both the longest and the tallest suspension bridge in the world
The iconic Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, turned 72 years old on Wednesday. The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most beautiful, and most photographed, bridges in the world. Its 4,200 foot long main suspension span was a world record that stood for 27 years. It is still the second longest in the United States after the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge which links Staten Island to Brooklyn in New York. The bridge's two towers rise 746 feet making them 191 feet taller than the Washington Monument. read more »
Vauban's streets are nearly "car-free": on outskirts of Freiburg, Germany - suburban pioneers give up their cars

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VAUBAN, Germany - Residents of this upscale community are suburban pioneers, going where few soccer moms or commuting executives have ever gone before: they have given up their cars.
Street parking, driveways and home garages are generally forbidden in this experimental new district on the outskirts of Freiburg, near the French and Swiss borders. Vauban’s streets are completely “car-free” - except the main thoroughfare, where the tram to downtown Freiburg runs, and a few streets on one edge of the community. Car ownership is allowed, but there are only two places to park — large garages at the edge of the development, where a car-owner buys a space, for $40,000, along with a home. As a result, 70 percent of Vauban’s families do not own cars, and 57 percent sold a car to move here. Vauban, completed in 2006, is an example of a growing trend in Europe, the United States and elsewhere to separate suburban life from auto use, as a component of a movement called “smart planning.”
19-year-old MIT freshman invents one-wheeled zero-emissions electric motorcycle

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Ben Gulak invented an electric motorcycle that landed the 19-year-old freshman on the cover of Popular Science magazine for developing number one of their top 10 inventions of the year.

Earth must be happy to see world's first heavy traffic road bridge made of wood, non-toxic, sequesters carbon


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On Saturday November 29th, the successful transportation and installation of the world’s first heavy traffic road bridge made from Accoya wood took place. The bridge, located in Sneek in the Netherlands, is the first wooden bridge in the world that can support the heaviest load class of 60 tons. Spanning 105 feet and rising more than 50 feet in the air, the structure will serve as a grand entrance to the city of Sneek.
On Mar 2, 1969 world's first supersonic jetliner Concorde took flight, feat of collaboration eng. & work of beauty

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It was a feat of engineering and a work of exceptional beauty and grace. It won the hearts and minds of millions of people.
Forty years ago today the supersonic Concorde took its first test flight, and a design paragon flashed across the skies over Toulouse. With its droop nose and delta wing, the Concorde was a high point of 20th century engineering (its maiden flight came three months before the first moon landing) and the kind of cooperative effort that now seems beyond us. As we enter a period of infrastructure spending, it’s worth noting what kept the Concorde aloft for 27 years.
MIT Solar Electric Vehicle Team unveils sleek 90-mph car, will compete in World Solar Challenge in Australia

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MIT's Solar Electric Vehicle Team, the oldest such student team in the country, has just finished construction of its latest high-tech car and unveiled it to the public this Friday. "It drives beautifully," said George Hansel, a freshman physics major at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a member of the team. "It's fun to drive and quite a spectacle." With six square meters of monocrystalline silicon solar cells and improved electronic systems and design, the car can run all day on a sunny day at a steady cruising speed of 55 mph. The car will be competing in October in the World Solar Challenge race across Australia, and in preparation for that the team plans to drive the car across the United States over the summer. About a dozen team members are expected to go to Australia for the race, although only four will drive the solar car in the competition.
















