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Guinness World Records has confirmed that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2′s launch-day success is the best launch of any entertainment platform in history.
One of the biggest obstacles that prevents electric cars and other vehicles from becoming mainstream is the insufficient battery life. In most cases, potential buyers of those green vehicles are scared off by the fact that there still aren’t enough charging stations out there or that the travel distance (on a single charge) is just too short.
But many companies are working on the battery problem, and one of them apparently is Sanyo. Today the company issued a press release in which it claims one of its lithium-ion battery “systems” helped an electric vehicle to drive exactly 555.6km (345 miles) from Tokyo to Osaka – on a single charge. The car in question is a special version of the Daihatsu Mira (whose non-electric original is widely considered to be “green”, too).
Sanyo says they used a total of 8,320 cylindrical lithium-ion batteries, which the company usually sells to laptop makers and such, to power the vehicle. The Mira actually drove those 555.6km back in November last year, but it took Guinness World Records a while to officially recognize the journey as the longest ever for an e-car.
A camera developed at the Nagoya Institute of Technology has been certified by Guinness World Records to sport the most lenses in the world. The device has no less than 158 lenses. Associate professor Yojiro Ishino and his students built it to capture images of a swaying flame from as many angles as possible.
It took the team a total of six months to finish this monster. The lenses are attached in four rows on the body of the device, which is 7.2cm high and 47cm in diameter. Each lens costs $2.10.
The camera can also shoot 3D pictures of a flame by using CT technology. It received the Guinness certificate on November 24 already (but was on the news in Japan only today).
The little fellow you see on the picture here is called Evoia and is powered by two Panasonic EVOLTA AA alkaline batteries. We like to think of him as a modern version of the Energizer bunny. And his claim to fame is that he entered the Guinness Book of World Records as “the longest distance covered by a battery-operated remote-controlled model car.” That’s right, the little guy kept pedaling non-stop, following an infrared beam from a lead car for 5.6 laps – 23.726 km or 14.82 miles – around the 4.2 km Le Mans race circuit for 24 hours.
We’re not sure whether the toy ran out of juice at the end of the 24 hours, or if the stunt was simply stopped due to the lead car’s driver going insane from driving around at 0.6mph for 24 hours. Either way, hit the jump for an entertaining video of a bunch of photographers getting all paparazzi-ish around a two inch tall cycling toy.
PRESS RELEASE
Osaka, Japan – Panasonic Corporation today announced that its EVOLTA batteries powered a tricycle robot to achieve a Guinness World RecordTM on August 6 at the Le Mans Circuit in France. This is the second Guinness World RecordTM for the EVOLTA battery which was already recognized as “the longest lasting AA alkaline battery”* in January 2008.
The new honor is based on the robot’s challenge for the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race.
The robot on a tricycle with a pair of AA size EVOLTA dry cell batteries on its back kept pedaling non-stop, following an infrared beam from a lead car, for about 5.6 laps – 23.726 km or 14.82 miles – around the 4.2 km Le Mans race circuit for 24 hours. Guinness World Records recognized the feat as “the longest distance covered by a battery-operated remote-controlled model car.” The robot, measuring 30 (L) x 20 (W) x 20 (H) cm including the tricycle, was designed by a renowned robot creator, Mr. Tomotaka Takahashi.
The Le Mans challenge was the second endurance test for the EVOLTA battery, whose name derived from “evolution” and “voltage.” The first test confirmed its durability when the humanoid robot, also powered by two AA EVOLTA batteries, successfully scaled a Grand Canyon cliff by climbing up a 530.4 m rope suspended from the cliff in about 6 hours and 46
minutes.
Widely recognized for its durability and long shelf-life of up to 10 years, 180 million EVOLTA batteries were sold worldwide in 2008 since its debut in the Japanese market in April 2008. Panasonic expects its global sales will increase to 300 million pieces in 2009. The EVOLTA batteries are suitable for any application from low-current applications such as TV remotes to high-drain applications like digital cameras. Coming in four different types, AA, AAA, C and D, they can be used for a wide variety of equipment.
We always try our best to keep a positive mental attitude on The 404, so it makes sense that we’ve chosen The Hold Steady’s latest album, “Stay Positive,” as today’s Audio Draft Pick. We also run through the accidental video game archive, shame the Guinness World Records, and warn our listeners about open manholes, literally.
Today’s “Best Web site you’ve never seen” award goes to Derek Yu’s Accidental Video Game Porn Archive that showcases sexual innuendos found in your favorite video games. It’s an easy way to waste a few hours at work. They’re all hilarious, but this Menage a Kong has got to be one of my favorites, with this Star Fox violation in a close second. I also like that Derek and I share the same last name–this Web site is totally something a Yu would do. Nice job, cuz!
We don’t wag our fingers as much, but we have to scold the Guinness World Records for this record-breaking fail. One of the entries on its Web site awards the “Most Individuals Killed in a Terrorist Act” to the terrorists behind the attack on the World Trade Center towers and even invites viewers to “break this record.”
Instead of immediately taking down the award, Guinness World Records compounded the fail by threatening legal action on the ICanHaz network for posting a screengrab that features the Guinness World Record logo without proper authorization. If that isn’t a case of corporate cowardly B.S., I don’t know what is. Daps to Fail Blog for their hilarious response complete with a Rick Roll at the end!
Jeff’s pick for today’s “Audio Draft,” sponsored by Beck’s Beer in conjunction with Last.FM, is Brooklyn local band The Hold Steady. In our own words, these guys sound like the aural lovechild of Bruce Springsteen, Social Distortion, Joe Strummer, and Billy Joel. The music combines various instruments (banjos, organ, piano, theremin) to produce a jamming rock theme, and then adds gruff vocals with epic storytelling lyrics to complete the circle.
