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NYC Subways Testing Flywheels

Posted by michael on from the next-stop-42nd-street dept.

socolow writes "The New York Times (free registration required) has an article about the NYC subway system's use of flywheels to store the braking energy of trains approaching stations. Not only does this advance the development of flywheel energy storage, but it will help relieve a lot of the heat subways generate (always appreciated during the summer)."

10 of 363 comments (clear)

  1. levitrain by Mt._Honkey · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now if they just make the flywheel out of a superconductor, then not only will it store energy, but the train will be weightless!!!

    Boeing, get on it!

    --

    Don't Bogart the fish sticks
    1. Re:levitrain by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Considering how trains in the US are rarely on time, I'd prefer they be waitless :)

    2. Re:levitrain by Surlyboi · · Score: 3, Funny

      Of course they have a timetable.

      Yeah and all the entries on that timetable read,
      "when we get around to it." The New York City
      subway system is a study in chaos theory sometimes.

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      Mod me down and I will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine...
  2. Pros and Cons by teamhasnoi · · Score: 4, Funny
    Every seat will have a little crank to turn to help drive the flywheel.

    Unfortunately, it takes 45 minutes of winding for 4-5 seconds of run time.

  3. I don't buy it by L.+VeGas · · Score: 5, Funny

    I still think my hamster could spin a wheel faster than some dumb fly.

    --
    Best Windows Freeware
  4. A little too excited? by dr_dank · · Score: 3, Funny

    Or, as Robert Schmitt, another transit electrical official, put it, excitedly: "They're sitting here, saying: `Give it to me! Give it to me! Give it to me!'

    Ok, this guy needs to get laid. Now.

    --
    Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
  5. Flywheels: Just Say No!! by dfn5 · · Score: 4, Funny
    Yes, but they have a nasty habit of slowing down the Earth's rotation.

    Save the planet. Vote NO on flywheels.

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    -- Thou hast strayed far from the path of the Avatar.
    1. Re:Flywheels: Just Say No!! by Nightpaw · · Score: 3, Funny

      No no, keep using them until our day is 25 hours long. Then we can get another hour of sleep each day.

  6. Re:Could we get a "No NYT" option? by donutello · · Score: 3, Funny

    any /. story where the bulk of the information is on a NYT-hosted page is useless to me

    Why can't you just post without reading the articles - like everyone else?

    --
    Mmmm.. Donuts
  7. Re:Regenerative braking by 4of12 · · Score: 5, Funny

    clue me in please... why is the resistance such a problem, if the third rail is how they are powering the trains in the first place?

    It's all tied together with social security.

    Politicians are often heard saying something along the lines of

    "Social Security is the third rail. Don't touch it."

    You've probably noticed that Social Security benefits are mostly received by old people.

    You've probably also noticed that those old people move slowly. The reason they move more slowly than you or me and the reason they can't drive more than 20 mph under the speed limit is simply because they are encountering resistance.

    Hope that clears it up.

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