Get Your Very Own Street-Legal Tron Light Cycle

By Keith Barry  

November 30, 2010  |  

7:00 am  |  

Categories: Design, Motorcycles

Just in time for Tron: Legacy, a Florida bike shop put together 10 custom-built, street-legal Tron Light Cycle lookalikes. For a cool $55,000, you could be riding one to the Dec. 17 premier.

According to Jeff Halverson of Parker Brothers Choppers, each bike features a steel frame, fiberglass bodywork and a V-twin engine from a Suzuki TLR1000. Stopping power comes from a custom made friction drum that keeps the bike true to the look of Daniel Simon’s latest Light Cycle design. Customers have a choice between actual gauges and an iPad dock that displays vital statistics on the iPad’s touchscreen.

Though the bike looks like it drove straight off the movie screen, it’s not a replica or recreation since the Light Cycles in both Tron films were virtual. “We basically used the images we could get off the web in order to make the bike,” said Halverson. “Keep in mind, no one ever made this bike before.”

The bike weighs 474 pounds and is just over 100 inches long and 23 inches wide. The rider sits (lies?) 28.5 inches off the ground. Halverson said that it rides like any sportbike, though we’ve gotta wonder with that huge front tire. Still, we’d welcome the chance to ride one to find out.

Four Light Cycles are still available just in case anyone has us on their shopping list.

Photos, video (below): Parker Brothers Choppers

Earth's Water Didn't Come From Outer Space

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday November 30, @05:09AM
from the no-word-on-elvis dept.

earth

space

science

sciencehabit writes"Where did Earth's oceans come from? Astronomers have long contended that icy comets and asteroids delivered the water for them during an epoch of heavy bombardment that ended about 3.9 billion years ago. But a new study suggests that Earth supplied its own water, leaching it from the rocks that formed the planet. The finding may help explain why life on Earth appeared so early, and it may indicate that other rocky worlds are also awash in vast seas."

US Army Unveils 'Revolutionary' $35,000 Rifle

 by Soulskill on Monday November 29, @10:23PM
from the don't-even-have-this-in-video-games dept.

military

technology

rbrander writes"Don't call it a 'rifle,' call it the 'XM25 Counter Defilade Target Engagement System' and get your $35,000 worth. Much more than a projector of high-speed lead, this device hurls small grenades that automatically detonate in mid-flight with 1-meter accuracy over nearly 800m. The vital field feature is the ability to explode 1m behind the wall you just lazed — the one with the enemy hiding behind it."

Being Too Clean Can Make People Sick

Posted by Soulskill on Monday November 29, @03:56PM
from the but-not-vice-versa dept.

medicine

science

An anonymous reader writes"Young people who are overexposed to antibacterial soaps containing triclosan may suffer more allergies, and exposure to higher levels of Bisphenol A among adults may negatively influence the immune system, a new University of Michigan School of Public Health study suggests (abstract, full paper [PDF]). Triclosan is a chemical compound widely used in products such as antibacterial soaps, toothpaste, pens, diaper bags and medical devices. Bisphenol A is found in many plastics and, for example, as a protective lining in food cans. Both of these chemicals are in a class of environmental toxicants called endocrine-disrupting compounds, which are believed to negatively impact human health by mimicking or affecting hormones."

Causing Terror On the Cheap

Posted by Soulskill on Monday November 29, @01:51PM
from the quiet-shoes-and-a-creepy-mask dept.

security

money

news

jhigh writes"Bruce Schneier posts on his blog today about the value of terror with respect to cost-benefit for the terrorists. If you look at terror attacks in terms of what they cost the terrorists to implement, compared with what they cost the economy of the nation that was hit, the reward for terrorists is astronomical. Add in the insane costs of the security measures implemented afterward, particularly in America, and it's easy to see why the terrorists do what they do. Even when they're unsuccessful, they cost us billions in security countermeasures."

Methane-Powered Laptops? Materials Scientists Unveil Tiny, Low-Temperature Methane Fuel Cells

ScienceDaily (Nov. 23, 2010) — Making fuel cells practical and affordable will not happen overnight. It may, however, not take much longer.

Read More

Aging Reversed In Mice

Posted by samzenpus on Monday November 29, @04:56AM
from the pressing-the-reset-button dept.

medicine

science

Hugh Pickens writes"The Guardian reports that scientists claim to be a step closer to reversing the aging process after experimental treatment developed by researchers at Harvard Medical Schoolturned weak and feeble old mice into healthy animals by regenerating their aged bodies. 'What we saw in these animals was not a slowing down or stabilization of the aging process. We saw a dramatic reversal – and that was unexpected,' says Ronald DePinho, who led the study. The Harvard group focused on a process called telomere shortening where each time a cell divides, the telomeres are snipped shorter, until eventually they stop working and the cell dies or goes into a suspended state called 'senescence.' Researchers bred genetically manipulated mice that lacked an enzyme called telomerase that stops telomeres getting shorter causing the mice to age prematurely and suffer ailments, including a poor sense of smell, smaller brain size, infertility and damaged intestines and spleens. When the mice were given injections to reactivate the enzyme, it repaired the damaged tissues and reversed the signs of aging raising hope among scientists that it may be possible to achieve a similar feat in humans – or at least to slow down the aging process."

Cambridge Computer IDs World's Most Boring Day

Posted by samzenpus on Monday November 29, @01:52AM 

from the because-they-can dept.

smitty777 writes"Scientists hard at work at Cambridge used a computer algorithm and nearly 300 million historical facts to identify the most boring day in history. The winner? On April 11, 1954, absolutely nothing happened. That is, unless you count the most boring day in the world happening."