Car tire of the future is ball-shaped

Q: Recently I caught the end of a news report about a new tire whose tread supposedly can change while you’re driving to meet changing road conditions. Have you heard about this? If so, can you tell me more about it?

A: If Goodyear can bring its dream to reality, “when the rubber hits the road” will take on a radical new look and meaning in the future. To further enhance the coming generations of cars that drive themselves, the company is developing a tire that can blow your mind just thinking about it.

They’re calling it the Eagle-360, and they unveiled it at the recent International Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland. Bear in mind that it’s just a concept right now, but if they can develop even half the features planned for it, it’s going to make today’s tires look as dated as the hand crank that started a Ford Model T.

For starters, those doughnut-shaped pieces of rubber you now use will become quaint exhibits in a museum. The Eagle-360 is spherical like a basketball.

I can anticipate your next question: How do you put a spherical tire on an axle? The answer: You don’t. In Goodyear’s brave new car world, these tires will be held in place in the wheel well by a magnetic levitation system, offering a smoother and quieter ride because the car is not physically connected to the tire.

By combining the ball shape with the levitation, you get a car that is far more maneuverable. Just as you can get balls to go in any direction as they roll, cars will be able to constantly fine-tune their heading without constantly whipping a steering wheel back and forth. (Remember, these cars will need no driver.) As a further benefit, you’ll be able to hop out and the car will park itself, but because of its unique ability to move, it can fit into tighter spaces. The result: More cars will be able to cram into any parking lot without dings and dents.

But we’ve only cracked the surface of this tire’s advantages. The Eagle-360 will have spongy material within the grooves of its tread. When this material gets wet in rain, it will soften, which will deepen the grooves and improve traction on wet roads. When the sun returns, the sponge will dry out and stiffen, allowing more responsive handling on dry roads. In addition, Goodyear plans to add a layer of foam under the tread, providing even tighter contact with the pavement to prevent hydroplaning.

The tires, of course, will be as smart as the cars they’re helping propel. They will be loaded with sensors that not only will monitor road conditions and adjust speed accordingly, but also will communicate with other cars around them. They also will monitor their own safety, repositioning themselves to optimize wear and extend mileage. When they sense they are no longer safe, they’ll tell you it’s time for new ones. And, thanks to the wonders of 3-D printing, the tires can be individualized for your location and driving habits.

If you think I’ve ingested some funny Kool-Aid with all this, I invite you to watch the company’s fascinating three-minute video on YouTube. Just search for “Goodyear Eagle-360.”

Q: Where can I find a refill for my Fisher Space Pen?

A: Ask Paul Fisher how he came up with the idea for his revolutionary space pen, and he honestly can tell you that he simply slept on it.

You may remember that when the first astronauts were launched into space, they tried to make do with pencils. At that time, ballpoint pens were no match for the rigors of of space travel, either leaking or drying out. But space crews discovered that pencils posed their own set of perils. If the lead point broke, it could go floating off into a nose or eye or, worse, it could pose a hazard if it became lodged in one of the many electrical connections.

So in the early 1960s, NASA came to Fisher, who had been in the ballpoint pen business since 1948, and asked him to develop a pen that could solve these problems. At first, Fisher didn’t think it could be done and told the space agency so. But soon afterward, Fisher said he had a dream that led him to start designing a workable space-age pen. Spending more than $1 million of his own money over several years, Fisher finally developed a pen with a pressurized cartridge that kept could keep ink flowing no matter the temperature or the pen’s orientation. The result was the Fisher Space Age Pen that can write upside-down on almost any surface and in temperature extremes from minus 30 to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.

After 18 months of testing, NASA bought the first AG-7 (Anti-Gravity) Space Pen for $2.95 in December 1967 and began including them on space missions with Apollo 7 the following October, according to www.fisherspacepen.com. The Russians soon followed suit, and now the pen that “Goes Anywhere, Writes Everywhere” is still a must-have for many in the military, outdoorsmen, and others who face extreme conditions in their jobs or hobbies.

As a result, obtaining refills should be easy. Although the OfficeMax store I called did not have them in stock, they said they would be happy to help you order them if you come in. They’re as low as $4.99 there. You also might try Walmart. The store’s website lists several varieties that run from $4-$12 depending on the particular refill you need. The simplest solution, of course, probably would be to have someone order you one or more on the Internet, where they’re easily found everywhere from Walmart to Amazon.

One final out-of-this-world story: According to the pen’s website, a Fisher pen helped Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, the first men on the moon, get back to Earth.

While the astronauts were climbing back into the lunar module, one of them reportedly broke a critical plastic switch when his bulky backpack brushed against it. The switch was to have activated the engines that would allow the Eagle to rendezvous with its mother ship being piloted by Michael Collins. After studying the problem, NASA scientists told the two men to retract the point and use the hollow end of their Fisher pen to activate the inside switch. Aldrin followed the advice, and the rest is history.

Today’s trivia

At what speed do the cable cars in San Francisco travel?

Answer to Wednesday’s trivia: In the Oct. 14, 1974, issue of New York magazine, TV Guide bought a full-page ad on page 83 to boast that it was about to become the first magazine in publishing history to sell more than 1 billion copies in a single year. Begun in 1948 as The TeleVision Guide for New York City listings, TV Guide published its first national issue on April 3, 1953. The cover featured a photo of Lucille Ball’s newborn son, Desi Arnaz Jr., with a smaller photo of the comedian in the top corner under the headline “Lucy’s $50,000,000 Baby.”

This story was originally published March 24, 2016 at 4:05 AM with the headline "Car tire of the future is ball-shaped."