December 3, 2006, 8:47 PM CT

2006 Hummer 02 Concept

Environment sustainability is a challenge for all auto makers and with pollution levels increasing and governments getting tougher in their stance to have less polluting vehicles, a vehicle that satisfies all is a major headache now.

The 2006 Design Challenge's theme is "Environmental Sustainability" and the guidelines mandatory that vehicles entering the contest should have 100 per cent recyclable components and should have maximum life span of 60 months.

The GM's designer team set out to make a "Hummer O2 Concept". The concept featured a phototropic body shell which will use Algae in body panels to transform CO2 to oxygen.

The vehicle will be powered by Hydrogen fuel cells located in a central position and will be propelled by hydraulic motors attached to each wheel.

Just taking it a notch higher in terms of recyclable materials they have put in 100 -per cent post-consumer materials in the final design.

Via Digiads ........

Posted by: Jim      Permalink         Source

November 30, 2006, 5:08 AM CT

Mystery About Stradivarius Violins Solved

Answering a question that has lingered for centuries, a team of scientists has proved that chemicals used to treat the wood used in Stradivarius and Guarneri violins are the reasons for the distinct sound produced by the world-famous instruments.

The conclusions, published in the current issue of Nature magazine, have confirmed 30 years of work into the subject by Joseph Nagyvary, professor emeritus of biochemistry at Texas A&M University, who was the first to theorize that chemicals not necessarily the wood created the unique sound of the two violins. Nagyvary teamed with collaborators Joseph DiVerdi of Colorado State University and Noel Owen of Brigham Young University on the project.

This research proves unquestionably that the wood of the great masters was subjected to an aggressive chemical treatment and the chemicals most likely some sort of oxidizing agents had a crucial role in creating the great sound of the Stradivarius and the Guarneri, Nagyvary says.

Like many discoveries, this one could have been accidental. Perhaps the violin makers were not even aware of the acoustical effects of the chemicals. Both Stradivari and Guarneri wanted to treat their violins to prevent worms from eating away the wood. They used some chemical agents to protect the wood from worm infestations of the time, and the unintended consequence from these chemicals was a sound like none other, he adds.........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

November 29, 2006, 9:24 PM CT

Electric Chevrolet Silverado

The Los Angeles Auto Show is truly the biggest thing happening in the Automotive Arena but there are a few more venues which we need to focus on owing to their importance to the automotive industry. Green revolution is the need of the hour thus trucks like the one introduced by UQM technologies at the Electric drive transport association Conference deserve thorough recognition.

The truck I am talking about was a Chevrolet Silverado, which ran on Electricity unlike its conventional versions. This truck was outfitted with a 160 hp UQM motor producing 480 lb-ft of torque. It was powered by a Lithium-ion battery pack. Valence Technology supplied this battery pack, which has a peak efficiency of 96 percent.

The US Airforce funded this project unveiled by the UQM technologies at the ETDA. This conference is running from the 28th to 30th of November and the panel gathered out there is discussing on incorporating such eco-friendly technology into Heavy and Medium Duty Markets , Mass transit and Off-Road vehicles.

Until date, the focus of equipping such technologies has been limited to cars thus this conference adds a much needed dimension/impetus to the Automotive World. It is equally important to equip other forms of transport with such futuristic equipment owing to the collective harm all prevalent forms of transport are causing to the environment.........

Posted by: Jim      Permalink         Source

November 29, 2006, 4:53 AM CT

Why Do Black And Latino Boys Lag Behind In Math?

Recent studies and public discussions have focused on female achievement in math, and an important new study in the recent issue of the American Journal of Education expands the literature to encompass racial disparity. Using new national data from the 1990s, Catherine Riegle-Crumb (University of Texas, Austin) explores how Black and Latino males fare in high school math classes in comparison to their female counterparts, finding that a tendency to ignore institutional cues can lead to both positive and negative outcomes. While Black males are not encouraged by high grades in freshman math classes, Black females are able to overcome potentially demoralizing scores.

Compared with white males, African American and Latino males receive lower returns from taking Algebra I during their freshman year, reaching lower levels of the math course sequence when they begin in the same position, Riegle-Crumb writes. This pattern is not explained by academic performance, and, furthermore, African-American males receive less benefit from high math grades.

Riegle-Crumb tracked the progression of more than 8,000 students who enrolled in Algebra 1 as freshmen in high school. Black and Latino groups have lower enrollment rates in math courses than Whites and Asian Americans, but attrition was unexpectedly high even among those who began in comparable positions. Black males seem to have little response to positive feedback or good grades, Riegle-Crumb finds, while Black females seem undeterred by low grades, despite their original disadvantage.........

Posted by: Tom      Permalink         Source

November 28, 2006, 8:54 PM CT

Venturi Eclectic Car

This interesting article is worth discussion:

I was once called the "Gay Inspector Gadget" (don't ask). You see I have this belief that the perfect car for me will be laden with gadgets, keep me connected to the world and have a neutral impact on the environment. Aside from the gadgets thing, I don't see anything else I have in common with Inspector Gadget. I mean I don't have a little blond girl shadowing me with a brainy dog, so the reference has always eluded me.

Until a friend of mine emailed me a link to a the Venturi Eclectic with the subject heading "Here's your car Inspector!". You're real funny Rui, real funny. I still don't see the reference but the vehicle intrigues me.

The Eclectic is billed as the world's first mass produced energy autonomous vehicle. It's designed for daily driving in urban areas and is powered by electricity via 3 sources; plug-in, solar and wait for it. wind. The roof is equipped with the advance photovoltaic cells to quickly harness the power of the sun keeping you juiced and ready to go. To support that system is a wind turbine that extends up and out capturing the power of wind should there be a gust and both are augmented with an advance plug-in system for those overnight recharges.........

Posted by: Jim      Permalink         Source

November 28, 2006, 8:42 PM CT

True HD in Your Pocket

The name Canon has always meant photographic and broadcast television cameras with optical excellence, advanced image processing, superb performance, and the latest in technological advancements. Canon's new High Definition video camcorder is no exception.

The stylish Canon HV10 gives you the ultimate in HD video and digital photo quality - in the world's smallest HDV camcorder*. Its 10x optical zoom lens and 2.96 Megapixel CMOS image sensor ensure meticulous detail and superior color reproduction. And, with its HD and Standard Definition recording modes, you can make the move to HD without making your SD equipment obsolete.

The HV10 is easy to use and delivers the high level of performance you've come to expect from Canon. It's the premium quality camcorder that sophisticated and discerning videographers have been waiting for.

If you've already got an HDTV at home but don't yet have camcorder to match, check out the Canon HV10 HD Camcorder ($1020). This puppy is diminutive in size, but big on features - features like true 16:9 recording in everything from 480 to 1080p, with a 10x zoom, 2.96 megapixel sensor for still images, a Super-Range Optical Image Stabilizer to reduce "shakey-cam" footage, and a 2.7 widescreen LCD. You'll never have another Standard Definition holiday.........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

November 28, 2006, 5:06 AM CT

Smarter inventory control of spare parts

Smarter storage of spare parts is now possible thanks to a new inventory model, based on extensive cooperation between different warehouses. This method ensures the integration of inventory control for all parts in stock at several warehouses. This way both the number of parts in stock and the waiting time for spare parts can be reduced, with theoretical savings of up to 50%. This is possible thanks to fundamental mathematical models developed by PhD candidate Bram Kranenburg MSc. With his research Kranenburg hopes to obtain a doctorate from the Technical University Eindhoven (TU/e) on Thursday 23 November.

Big Business

The storage of spare parts is big business in the Netherlands, involving billions of euros every year. Every branch of industry or service that works with complex machinery needs spare parts. Just think of electronics, hospitals, industrial machinery, and the car industry. One small, defective part can put a complete machine out of operation for quite some time. That is why there have always been strict requirements for stocking and distributing spare parts.

Pooling storage facilities

A great deal of research has already been done to optimize the entire logistic process. Still, inventory control is commonly done separately for each warehouse. ASML approached the TU/e to find out if there was not a smarter way to do this and this question became a central theme in Kranenburgs PhD research. Kranenburg: "The crux of my model is the pooling of different warehouses. If a local warehouse does not have a certain part in stock, it can contact another local warehouse instead of the central warehouse. If you want to do this on a structural basis, there is much to be won by planning your inventory control around this. But if you want to do this right, it becomes very complex mathematically to work this all out. That is the problem I worked on in my PhD research and ASML has been able to implement my model and algorithms right away.........

Posted by: Jim      Permalink         Source

November 28, 2006, 4:32 AM CT

Brains Respond Better To Name Brands

Your brain may be determining what car you buy before you've even taken a test drive. A new study gauging the brain's response to product branding has found that strong brands elicit strong activity in our brains. The findings were presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

"This is the first functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) test examining the power of brands," said Christine Born, M.D., radiologist at University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, Germany. "We found that strong brands activate certain areas of the brain independent of product categories".

"Brain branding" is a novel, interdisciplinary approach to improve the understanding of how the mind perceives and processes brands. Using modern imaging methods, researchers are now able to go beyond marketing surveys and gather information on how the brain responds to a particular brand at the most basic level.

"Brain imaging technologies may complement methods normally used in the developing area of neuroeconomics," Dr. Born said.

Dr. Born and colleagues used fMRI to study 20 adult men and women. The volunteers were all right-handed, had a mean age of 28 years and possessed a high level of education.

While in the fMRI scanners, the volunteers were presented with a series of three-second visual stimuli containing the logos of strong (well-known) and weak (lesser-known) brands of car manufacturers and insurance companies. A brief question was included with each stimulus to evaluate perception of the brand. The volunteers pressed a button to respond using a four-point scale ranging from "disagree" to "agree strongly." During the sequence, the fMRI acquired images of the brain, depicting areas that activated in response to the different stimuli. In addition to the questions asked during the scanning, the volunteers were given questionnaires prior and subsequent to fMRI.........

Posted by: Jim      Permalink         Source

November 26, 2006, 7:42 AM CT

Controlling Poaching Of Buffalo, Elephants, Rhinos

A technique used since the 1930s to estimate the abundance of fish has shown for the first time that enforcement patrols are effective at reducing poaching of elephants, African buffaloes and black rhinos in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.

"Wildlife within protected areas is under increasing threat from the bushmeat and illegal trophy trades, and many argue that enforcement within protected areas is not sufficient to protect wildlife. Some say the $2 million spent annually in the Serengeti on patrols would be better spent on other preventive activities," says Ray Hilborn, University of Washington professor of aquatic and fishery sciences and lead author of a paper in the Nov. 24 issue of Science.

The 5,700-square-mile Serengeti is one of Africa's most pristine preserves.

"The animals are 'telling' us poaching is down now that there are 10 to 20 patrols a day compared to the mid-1980s when there might be 60 or fewer patrols a year," Hilborn says. They tell us, he says, by increasing in abundance, something that can measured using aerial surveys.

It's been impossible to actually count the number of animals that are poached because poaching is illegal and most animals apart from elephants and rhinos which are traditionally not eaten are caught in snares set by local villagers for their own use or sale. A recent article in National Geographic, for example, said estimates of the poaching toll range as high as 200,000 in the Serengeti. Hilborn says that poaching cannot be nearly that great or the populations still would be declining.........

Posted by: Ashley      Permalink         Source

November 26, 2006, 7:22 AM CT

Insights Into Heat Flow Deep In Earth

Earth's interior is not a non-malignant world that only stores the geologic history of our planet. Geologists now see the normally assumed placid inner Earth as a dynamic environment filled with exotic materials and substances roiling under intense heat and pressures. It is an environment that continues to evolve in interesting ways and one that has an impact on what happens at its surface.

The latest evidence of this dynamic inner Earth is revealed in a recent series of measurements that peered deep within Earth, halfway to its center. The new experiments have yielded important results that help determine temperature halfway to the center of Earth. It also has implications for the age of Earth's solid inner core and how its magnetic field may be generated.

"We have found unexpected rock layering in Earth's deepest mantle," said Edward Garnero of ASU's School of Earth and Space Exploration and one of the scientists on the team. "The implications of the layering are far reaching, with intimate connections to the rock chemistry, temperature and convective flow, all of which have been previously inaccessible".

"Understanding of Earth's core-mantle boundary environment puts us in the position of answering a host of important questions, such as how much heat from the molten outer core cooks the overlying mantle," Garnero explained. "While this might seem distant and esoteric, it actually relates to the vigor of convective mantle flow that ultimately jostles Earth's surface with volcanic and earthquake processes".........

Posted by: Tyler      Permalink         Source