Nissan’s new black cab taxi for London – an annotated graphic

With all this talk of London, the Olympics and now the Paralympic Games, our minds turn today to how all the visitors might be ferried around the capital. Black cabs are the typical road vehicle of choice for people in a hurry and with close to 20,000 licensed taxis buzzing about the winding streets of this fair city, undoubtedly with 20,000 hairy sunburned elbows leaning out of 20,000 drivers windows, it’s big business.

Today’s graphic looks at Nissan’s new take on the black cab concept, with its NV200 London Taxi. Claimed to be 50 per cent more fuel efficient than other taxi options, the new taxi for London builds on Nissan’s previous success with its new taxi for New York City. E&T wrote about that particular race last year.

Click on the graphic for an expanded view.

Nissan joins London’s black cab race

London 2012 Paralympic games, Oscar Pistorius’ blades – an annotated graphic

Already a star of the London 2012 Olympic Games, double amputee Oscar Pistorius – aka Blade Runner – is now poised to make an even greater impression on the Paralympic Games. Today’s graphic looks at how Pistorius’ blades work and compare them to human limbs.

You might also be interested in the latest edition of the E&T podcast, in which we talk to Richard Hirons, clinical specialist prosthetist at Össur UK Ltd, about his company’s involvement in the design of Pistorius’ running blades. All our podcasts are free to download.

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Oscar Pistorius: Paralympics Blade Runner

London 2012 Paralympic Games – an annotated graphic

Five days until the start of the next Olympic spectacular, the 2012 Paralympic Games, so now seems like as good a time as any to share this schedule of events.

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London 2012 Paralympic Games: the schedule

London 2012 Olympics, the total cost – an annotated graphic

So with the greatest show on earth still fresh in our minds – and we’re not just talking about the Spice Girls reunion – we thought folk might like to see this infographic about how much of a financial success the London 2012 Olympic Games is estimated to have been.

Jessie J might have urged us to forget about the pricetag, and how it ain’t about the money money money, but for the record it looks like a tidy profit of five billion quid or thereabouts, deducting total costs against total revenue. Ker-ching for Team GB as it takes another Olympic Gold!

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London 2012 Olympic balance sheet

London Olympics 2012, Usain Bolt’s sprint records – an annotated graphic

Usain Bolt: he one nippy fella. The first athlete to retain the Olympic 100m and 200m titles. Richard Branson is going to have to up Bolt’s appearance fees for those Virgin Media ads now.

Today’s infographic salutes Bolt’s Billy Whizz-like achievements, detailing his medal haul en route to double gold in the 2012 Olympics. Zoom!

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Olympics 2012: Usain Bolt factfile

London 2012 Olympics atheletes expelled from Games – an annotated graphic

Naturally, we’re positively cock-a-hoop about the success of Team GB at the London 2012 Olympics. We’re also magnanimous enough to acknowledge and celebrate the triumphant achievements of all the athletes competing in the Games, whatever their race, creed, colour or national affiliation.

However, there are inevitably some athletes who have lost sight of the spirit of the Games. With this in mind, we share this graphic today that documents those atheletes that compromised their own Olympic dreams by consuming known banned substances to enhance their performance, who insulted other athletes via social media channels (so very 2012, dahling!), who just didn’t really try hard enough, or who – as in the case of US judo representative Nick Delpopolo – may have “accidentally consumed marijuana” prior to their arrival at the Games.

Quite how one “accidentally” consumes marijuana is a mystery to us – “My, those chocolate brownies look most appetising. And you say they’re called ‘space cakes’?” – but we will assume positive intent and choose to believe that it is indeed not impossible.

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Olympics 2012: Athletes expelled from the Games

London 2012 Olympics – the engineering legacy. Join the E&T debate online

In the current issue of E&T magazine, we discuss what will be the engineering legacy of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Is the engineering legacy destined not to be just a technical one? Will the British engineering community also be able to proudly say that we do major projects well in this country? Has Britain proved to the world that if you want complex major engineering projects done well, you can have every confidence in turning to British companies?

Or is there precious little legacy to be had from London hosting the games, technological or otherwise? Do all the blinking lights, sensors, relays and grass-roots components, as well as the IT, communications, measurement and broadcast transmission systems, ultimately mean nothing once the Games are over?

Read both sides of the debate online, have your say and cast your vote.

London Olympics 2012 – drug tests catch cheats, an annotated graphic

What with all the hoo-haa about the Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen and the did she/didn’t she debate over performance-enhancing drugs, now seems like a good time to share this graphic about what the London Olympics drug czars will be doing to weed out cheating.

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London 2012: Olympics drug testing

London 2012 Olympics – the unofficial Czech team mascot!

A little Olympics fun today, as we share this image of workers checking the hydraulic arms of a London bus that has been transformed into a robotic sculpture by Czech artist David Cerny.

The bus, which Cerny hopes could become an unofficial mascot of the London 2012 Olympic Games, does push-ups with the help of an engine powering a pair of robotic arms. The bus’ exertions are accompanied by a recording of sounds evoking tough physical effort.

The bus will be parked outside the Czech Olympic headquarters in London for the duration of the Games. If you happen to see it, send us a photo! E-mail online.editor@theiet.org

Actually, thinking about it, if you see anything on an engineering and technology tip that you think we might like, send it to us and we’ll whap it up here toot sweet.

More great photos like this – both Olympics themed and our usual engineering and technology specials – can be found every day on the E&T home page.

London bus Olympic sculpture

London 2012 Olympics, pole vault technique – an annotated graphic

We’re back riding round on the Olympics horse again today, with a look at the wacky world of pole vaulting – one of those Olympic sports that has precious little application outside of the Olympic arena. Running, shooting, throwing things – these all come in handy and we can readily see a human use for them, even if the last time London experienced such public spectacles en masse was during the riots of 2011.

Anyhoo, take a look at the art of pole vaulting and add the Olympic dates to your diary.

This also seems to be an opportune moment to mention that the latest issue of E&T magazine is out now and available online. Fittingly, if somewhat predictably, it’s our Olympics special issue. We hope you enjoy it.

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Olympics 2012: Pole Vault