World Records

If you were planning to drive in Antarctica, you probably wouldn't plan on doing so in a vintage sports coupe. But you're not Renee Brinkerhoff, the racer looking to finish a 7-continent voyage by power-sledding across Antarctica in a Porsche 356A.

Startup SunDrive is developing alternative silicon solar cells that use more sustainable copper instead of silver, and it has now shown how the abundant metal can push the technology into new terrain by claiming a world record for efficiency.

Most of us can give Pi to four or five digits, but Swiss scientists have broken the world record. It took three and a half months and a data center’s worth of computer equipment, but the researchers calculated Pi to a staggering 62.8 trillion digits.

Back in May, Vision Marine opened reservations for its E-Motion 180E, the world's most powerful electric outboard. The motor could soon become the world's fastest, too, as Vision teams up to go after the world's fastest electric boat title.

Scientists at South Korea's Center for Relativistic Laser Science have achieved a major milestone in physics – and one pursued by researchers in the field for decades – by generating a record-breaking ultra-high intensity laser.

California-based drone manufacturer Skyfront is claiming a new endurance world record for its Perimeter 8 gas-electric hybrid multirotor, which stayed airborne for 13 hours, 3 minutes and 57 seconds, covering 205 miles in the process.

A Ferrari 330 P2 Junior by French coach-builder De La Chapelle sold for the astonishing world-record price of €110,000 (US$133,325) at an RM-Sotheby's auction in Paris on February 13.

Shelby Supercars has cemented its claim that the SSC Tuatara is the world's fastest car – but in a weirdly underwhelming fashion. Its new record of 282.9 mph (455.3 km/h) is nowhere near the previous claim, which was sensationally debunked last year.

No props, no jets, no rockets – Spencer Lisenby just broke the world speed record for remote controlled aircraft, going transonic using nothing but the wind, and an incredible degree of skill in a highly dangerous technique called dynamic soaring.

Comprehensive climate data has shown that globally, 2020 was the warmest year on record, tied with 2016. Worryingly, 2020’s record came in spite of a La Niña event, which has a cooling effect, while 2016’s record came off the back of a warming El Niño.

Silicon has long been the gold standard for solar cells, but it’s approaching its limit. Perovskite is emerging as a promising partner, and now engineers have achieved a new efficiency record for this kind of tandem solar cell – almost 30 percent.

Earlier this year we saw Mercedes-AMG roll out its most powerful V8 ever, the GT Black Series, and the automaker has wasted little time in showing what it can do, having it round the Nürburgring Nordschleife faster than any production car before it.