Kiamat Makin Dekat

This is technology news. See the two pictures below. There is a Mercedes Benz B Class in both the pictures. Using LED technology (see the short video) and a video camera they have made the car invisible. See the short video how they do it. This is just integration of technology, the technology itself is now old.

Mercedes is not selling the "invisible car" technology. Instead this is an advertising and promotion campaign for the new B Class Mercedes that uses WATER as fuel.

This is the world's first "production" hydrogen fuel cell fired automobile. Production means it is being manufactured and sold to buyers. They have moved beyond experimental and prototype stage. The hydrogen fuel cell technology has been developed - sufficient to launch a production model car. Here is the short news:

Invisible Mercedes brings James Bond technology to life

In a promotion for its first production fuel-cell vehicle in Germany, Mercedes-Benz turned a B-Class hatchback invisible -- at least, from a distance, using the same idea behind the invisible car in the James Bond film "Die Another Day." See if you can see it before it sees you.

The invisibility cloak had its tryout this week on the streets of Stuttgart, Germany. To make Q's idea of an invisible car real, Mercedes employed dozens of technicians and some $263,000 worth of flexible LED mats covering one side of the car. Using a camera mounted on the opposite side of the vehicle, the LEDs were programmed to reproduce the image from the camera at the right side, blending the vehicle into the background from a few feet away. Doing so required power sources, computers and other gear totaling 1,100 lbs. of equipment inside the B-Class.

Mercedes' point was to show how the F-Cell hydrogen fuel cell powered car would be invisible to the environment, producing only water vapor and heat for emissions. For an invisible car, it's getting a lot of stares.

Here is that short video:

Well the Germans have quietly gone ahead and just started manufacturing and selling this hydrogen fuel cell powered Mercedes. If it catches on, I think it is just a matter of time before other German car manufacturers do the same. Then the whole world will follow suit.

Mercedes has always been a technology innovator and technology leader. They have so many firsts to their name. They built the first four door coupe the Mercedes Benz CLS 350. After that Porsche (and Ferrari?) have followed suit with their own four door coupes.

What does this hydrogen fuel cell really mean? Folks the hydrogen fuel cell uses water as fuel.

Water is split, producing hydrogen and oxygen. Then the hydrogen and oxygen are burnt again to produce power. The "exhaust gas" is water. So this car has ZERO carbon emission. That is the logic behind the "invisible car" campaign - to show that the new Mercedes does not leave a mark on the environment.

The Americans are thinking in the same direction as the Germans. Here is some quick news:

President Barack Obama on Wednesday dismissed oil as "the fuel of the past" as he made an unapologetic election-year pitch for his alternative energy industry policies

"We've got to develop every source of American energy—not just oil and gas, but wind power and solar power, nuclear power, biofuels."

Obama also used the speech to roll out some new initiatives to promote the use of alternative fuels and electric-powered and other "advanced vehicles."

It was Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Sheikh Zaki Yamani who said quite wisely, 'the stone age did not come to an end because there was a shortage of stones'. Human beings discovered new technology and moved away from the stone age.

Similarly, the oil age will not come to an end because of a shortage of oil. Human beings will develop new technologies and move away from oil. And they have done so. This new hydrogen fuel cell automobile by Mercedes proves this point.

If this technology is succesful (meaning it becomes proven and eventually much cheaper), hydrogen fuel cell cars will replace petrol and diesel burning automobiles. The need for petrol and diesel will reduce tremendously.

If hydrogen fuel cells replace fossil fuels, what will become of the oil producing countries? Oil prices will drop. Their oil revenues will drop. Kalau silap kira, the Arab countries will have to go back to camel herding. Dunia mereka akan kiamat.

Malaysia too is overdependent on our oil revenues. And I just heard that this year Petronas is contributing only RM30.0 billion (??) to the Government's coffers, down from a high of RM48.0 billion a few years ago. But we waste a lot of our oil wealth and our time as well. Arguing about really stupid subjects like Eryka Badu'a tattoo, listening to the Bani Bahalol's "memikir sambil korek hidung" arguments about Valentine's Day and other stupidities. Esok kalau duit Petronas habis, kita pun akan kiamat.

As you are reading this, the price per square foot of the cheapest land anywhere inside the Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur is in the three figures. A double storey link house in Sungei Buloh is now around RM400,000. In Bangsar an intermediate double storey link is now worth RM1.6 million. In Taman Desa a double storey link is worth RM1.3 million. How many of us can afford to buy these houses?

So please wake up. Kiamat sudah dekat.