Credit: Polaris/Wired
Pneumatic tyres make motor vehicles, as we know them, possible. At the same time, they remain (almost literally) their Archilles heel. There have been many efforts to find an alternative, so far with no commercial success.
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2013/11/polaris-airless-tires/
http://youtu.be/6NnFIqHeV54
http://youtu.be/XptlYoqbIvQ
Credit: NASA/Science Kids
To date, the most spectacular success of airless tyres was on the Lunar Rovers used on the Moon by astronauts during the Apollo 15, 16 & 17 Moon landings. Pneumatic tyres were not an option in that case, because at lunar temperatures, rubber becomes brittle.
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