Swim 33 mph with new dolphin fin

[progressoid]

Dolphin-Inspired Man-Made Fin Works Swimmingly

By Julian Smith

Lunocet swimmers have already hit about eight miles per hour, almost twice the speed of Michael Phelps at his fastest

The human body does many things well, but swimming isn't one of them. We're embarrassingly inefficient in the water, able to convert just 3 or 4 percent of our energy into forward motion. (Even with swim fins, we're only 10 to 15 percent more efficient.) But a new, dolphin-inspired fin promises to fuel the biggest change in human-powered swimming in decades, putting beyond-Olympian speeds within reach of just about anyone.

Culminating decades of research, engineer and inventor Ted Ciamillo, an inventor and engineer in Athens, Ga., who made his name (and fortune) building high-performance bicycle brakes, created what he has dubbed the Lunocet, a 2.5-pound (1.1-kilogram) monofin made of carbon fiber and fiberglass that attaches to an aluminum foot plate at a precise 30-degree angle. With almost three times the surface area of conventional swim fins, the semiflexible Lunocet provides plenty of propulsion. The key to the 42-inch- (one-meter-) wide fin's speed: its shape and angle, both of which are modeled with scientific precision on a dolphin's tail.

These sprinters of the sea can swim up to 33 miles (53 kilometers) per hour and turn up to 80 percent of their energy into thrust.



More: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=dolphin-inspired-man-made-fin&sc=WR_20090303

[Duer 157099]

1. I want one!

Does that cool blue wet suit come with it??

[Warpy]

2. I saw a guy using one of these as a boat propulsion system

at the bottom of a pipe years ago. I also know the Navy has been testing a similar arrangement that attaches via a frame to knees and ankles with great success.

[MineralMan]

3. Just for accuracy's sake:

Dolphins can hit 33 mph. The fastest human with this thing can hit 8 mph, and I'll bet can't keep that up very long.

The title's misleading.

[Orrex]

6. Well, to get to 33 mph, you need the optional blow-hole attachment

[Bucky]

4. The outfit reminds me of Aquaman's blue outfit.

I realize of course that I have not substantively contributed to this conversation.

[Sancho]

5. Won't this make you look like dinner?

Some great white may think you're a particularly slow favorite food...hmmm, tastes like fiberglass.

[sofa king]

7. That was my thought, too.

Wearing a tailfin and asking a giant toothy robot to decide whether or not you're worth tasting is a bad idea.

On the other hand, there aren't that many big sharks left to bite you.

[Sancho]

8. I'm not sure how to post a picture...

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://photokayaker.fit2paddle.com/C380391053/E20070503053152/&usg=__axX0TMjHG8hkI-nAd2xmRg3p4pI=&h=335&w=500&sz=35&hl=en&start=3&um=1&tbnid=umHU2NZQV9XuPM:&tbnh=87&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dkayak%2Bgreat%2Bwhite%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den-us%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

[sofa king]

9. Wow!

That's a super-cool picture.

[BlooInBloo]

10. Um, your pic refutes your conjecture.