This week’s “Weekly” is about an alternative train concept called “Draisy”. This is a battery-powered rail bus with 30 seats and 50 standing places. 22 tons and 13 meters in length are other dimensions of the vehicle. However, the low axle load and the two steerable axles finally make it clear where the potential of the development lies: to be able to travel on disused train routes again. Draisy is a development of a consortium led by the French railway company SNCF. The manufacturer is the Lohr company from Alsace. In 2026, Draisy is to be used in Alsace. There are many disused railway lines. In the podcast, TR editor Gregor Honsel explains what is behind the idea and whether the rail vehicle would also be worthwhile for routes in Germany that are no longer used.
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Also in “Weekly”:
Atomic bomb research and the film “Oppenheimer”: Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer hits theaters this week. It revolves around the physicist Julius Robert Oppenheimer and focuses on the Manhattan Project. TR editor Wolfgang Stieler takes this as an opportunity to report on the state of research in Germany during the Second World War on the development of an atomic bomb. He refers to the article “The puzzle of the uranium cubes”, which appeared in the MIT Technology Review in issue 11/2019.Tip of the week: The latest episode of “Natural Excuses,” guest-starring mathematician Rafael Prieto-Curiel, is Christopher Brauck’s podcast. He made more detailed calculations for the mega construction project “The Line” in Saudi Arabia and checked, for example, distances and average commuting times of the residents.
More on this in the whole episode – as an audio stream (RSS feed):
“Weekly” appears on the MIT Technology Review podcast feed and is the science and technology magazine’s third podcast format. In “Deep Dive” the editors deepen a topic from the magazine once a month. The monthly interview format “Unscripted” focuses on exciting personalities from science, technology and society. The “Weekly” news format completes the offer. You can find an overview of the podcasts here.
Here you will find an overview of our three podcast formats: the weekly news podcast “Weekly” and the monthly podcasts “Unscripted” and “Deep Dive”.
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