EXPENSIVE EDUCATION
Does the "Clever Country" need to be a rich country? The cost of higher education is becoming more synonymous to simply how much future debt will I have.  Higher education is not the be all and end all but simply one of the best ways to understand some of the deeper meanings of life. However higher education is becoming out of the reach of many people due to the costs involved.

Typically an undergraduate degree in Australia is $42k, in the USA $ 39k and in the UK $33k. Australia is one of the most expensive places to obtain a degree. 

I'm currently doing a post graduate Master of Engineering Science which will cost approximately $45k , with some government support that will reduce to $25k (although it's really the tax payers who foot the government support). Will that degree pay for itself in the long run? Probably not! If I want to continue to a Doctorate that's about $80k. 

Many say a better World is an educated world? I believe in that. 

So should we really be making education so expensive at the determinant of our planet? 

Mobile hydraulic drive designers make use of changing the state of motor circuits from series to parallel when "on the run" so vehicles can have a wide power range of speed and torque i.e increased gearing options.

Doing the same with hydraulic cylinders operating in series and parallel is just as easy. The issues to look out for are:
1. Intensification
2. How to easily re-position the cylinders from either parallel to series configuration i.e 180 degrees out of phase or in-phase.
3. Cavitation 

Here is a simple solution and modification HADES made to a CLARK 18T Container forklift. The CLARK forklift carrier needed the fork tynes to have a side shift option as well as the normal extend and retract.