Safety Driving, Driving Rules, Driving simulators, Driving techniques and technologies

Boxster Spyder Car - Product of Porsche - Road car and Racing heritage

2010-07-23T04:25:00.000-07:00

Porsche builds some of the world's most coveted cars, and it has a rich tradition in motor racing.

Porsche builds sports cars to be used as daily commuters, but they can also be taken to a racetrack and flogged all day long. The Boxster Spyder is a perfect example of Porsche's combined road-car appeal and racing heritage. The Boxster S, in my opinion, is the best all-around Porsche, providing stunning performance and handling along with two trunks and a convertible top -- all standard. Porsche has taken the Boxster S and developed a lightweight version called the Spyder. With 79.8 kilograms shed and 10 horsepower added, this is a car built for driving purists.

The skin:

You can tell the Spyder is something special just by looking at it. The fully manual roof is the most dramatic change from the original Boxster S, requiring the driver to get out and dismantle it in sections and store it under the Carrera GT-inspired rear cover. The sexy-looking rear trunk has no struts to hold it up, just a conventional brace. Dismantling and storing the roof looks rather complex, but after a couple of times it is really rather easy, taking only a few minutes.

The cockpit:

The Spyder sits 20 millimetres lower than the Boxster S; this along with the large wheels and cropped roof make a car that stands out. The Spyder has been stripped of anything that takes away from the pure driving pleasure of an open-air roadster. There is no radio, just the sound of the beautiful engine. Yes, the buyer can have the radio as a no-cost option, and I would include it if I were buying one of these cars.

The ride:

So what is the advantage to having a lightweight Boxster? Driving enthusiasts know that the power-to-weight ratio is one of the most important factors in any car. If you have a huge motor in a heavy car, the horsepower advantage is lost. But if you can get a powerful engine in a light car, then you have magic! Since the Spyder is 79.8 kilograms lighter than the Boxster S and the car sits lower to the ground, the extra 10 horsepower is magnified.

The good and bad:

Good: This unique car is pure bliss to drive.

Bad: I don't think I could live with this car all year long.

For more information, please visit:
http://www.vancouversun.com/cars/When+comes+sunny+performance+Spyder/3312944/story.html

I-94 drunken-driving effort nets arrests

2010-07-05T02:36:00.000-07:00

Police in seven states made several arrests Friday and Saturday as part of a crackdown on drunken driving along 1,500 miles of Interstate 94, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported.

Preliminary data shows seven arrests for having open bottles in vehicles, five arrests for drug violations, and three arrests on warrants.

There were four crashes involving injuries, NHTSA reported.

In addition, 23 citations were issued for not using seat belts or not having children in safety seats, and 164 tickets for aggressive driving, NHTSA reported.

Agencies from Minnesota, North Dakota, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Montana took part in the effort, which started 8 p.m. Friday and ended 4 a.m. Saturday.

Source:

http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/283962/group/News/

Volkswagen to ramp up its car production in India

2010-06-21T08:06:00.000-07:00

World's biggest auto giant, Volkswagen is reaping success, thanks to its new Polo, which has lots of fan followers in India. Volkswagen has invested Rs.3800 crore in its Chakan Plant near Pune, and recently rolled out its 10,000th car during the first week of June 2010. As per the German company's plans, the production house will manufacture cars at full swing leading to 1.1 lakh cars in a short span of 18 months.

According to Joerg Mueller, the Volkswagen Group Chief Representative India & President & Managing Director Volkswagen India Private Limited, the company will start its second shift operations commencing in three months to acheive the production target. Apart from the production target, the newly launched VW Polo customers have to wait a bitter 3 to 4 months to drive their car home from the dealers. The German auto maker focuses on well built quality cars for Indian roads so as to leave not a single customer unhappy in India.

India is the most promising automobile market around the world. As per the expert predictions, by 2015, 3 million vehicles will be needed by Indians as against 1.6 million vehicles sold last year. Mr. Muller stated that India's automobile growth is tremendous and Volkswagen will happily participate in this growing momentum and thereby meets its internal growth and return targets.

Volkswagen Group of cars made the Indian entry with the first car Skoda Octavia. After, 2007 both Audi and Skoda cars were available, and now Volkswagen has got 17 different models including its own Passat, Jetta, Phaeton, Touareg and Polo. In 2010, Volkswagen launched Polo, a hatchback car which has got laurels throught the world.

The yet to be launched Vento, a Polo based sedan will strengthen the Volkswagen's line up of cars in the country. As more than 70% of the Indian passenger car market is dominated by small cars, Volkswagen is studying the Indian market in order to launch a small car below the Polo segment.

Source:

http://autonews.gasgoo.com/auto-news/1015673/VW-to-ramp-up-its-car-production-in-India.html

One alcoholic drink can triple the chances of car accident

2010-06-18T04:16:00.000-07:00

A study has found that even a single alcoholic drink can triple the chances of a driver dying in a car accident, as it can increase a driver's blood-alcohol level by more than half the legal limit.

The British study, commissioned by the Government, has advised that legal limits for drinking and driving should be reduced from 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood to 50mg, the New Zealand Herald reported.

The New Zealand Government had last year proposed lowering the blood-alcohol limit from 80mg to 50mg, which is backed by health experts and is included in May's Law Commission report.

The study revealed that the drink-drive limit of 80mg increases the chances of a fatal crash by at least six times, and for those just over the limit, with 100mg blood alcohol level, the risk is 11 times higher.

The British medical regulator, Nice, said road accidents happen mostly with young people, as they are less experienced drivers, immature and have a lower tolerance to alcohol than older people.

Countries, which have lowered the blood-alcohol limit to 50mg, include France, Germany, Italy and Spain, with Estonia, Romania, Slovakia and the Czech Republic having a zero limit.

When the 50mg limit was introduced in 15 countries in Europe it resulted in an 11.5 per cent drop in fatal drink-driving accidents involving 18 to 25-year-olds, the group at highest risk.

Source:

http://news.oneindia.in/2010/06/18/onealcoholic-drink-can-triple-chances-of-caraccident.html

Parents target ATV rules

2010-06-09T00:51:00.000-07:00

Off-road warriors as young as 6 are taxing local emergency rooms in an "epidemic" of battered brains and busted bones as lawmakers debate today whether to hike the state’s minimum age for operating an ATV from 10 to 14.

And even that’s not tough enough, believes Katie Kearney of Plymouth, whose 8-year-old son - the namesake of "Sean’s Bill" - was crushed to death in 2006 beneath a 500-pound all-terrain vehicle that the adult hosts of a playdate allowed Sean to drive, unbeknown-st to his parents.

Kearney asserts the legal cutoff should be no less than 16 years old for ATV operators.

"In Massachusetts you can’t ride an electric scooter until you’re 16. You can’t ride a jet ski until you’re 16. You can’t drive a car until you’re 16. Why should you be able to drive an ATV?" she asked.

Last month alone in Massachusetts, a dozen children under the age of 16 required emergency medical care after being thrown from ATVs, crashing into trees, flipping over and, in the case of a 12-year-old Plymouth girl, nearly drowning in a cranberry bog, according to Dr. Peter Masiakos, a pediatric trauma surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital.

"It is epidemic. I can’t imagine burying a child that had a preventable death," said Masiakos, the physician upon whose shoulders four years ago fell the sad duty of telling Katie and Mark Kearney their boy was dead.

Referencing state public health statistics, Masiakos said that since 1982, 19 kids under age 16 have been killed riding ATVs. Between 2004 and 2005, he said 900 children under age 16 suffered ATV-related injuries and 35 more had moderate to severe brain trauma requiring intensive care and rehabilitation.

The state Senate already has approved raising the minimum ATV age to 14. The House will vote this afternoon, considering proposals such as requiring children 16 and under to pass an ATV safety course.

For more information please visit:

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20100609parents_target_atv_rules_push_pols_to_pass_age_limit_in_sons_name/

Health Tip: Encourage Teens to Drive Safely

2010-05-25T06:34:00.000-07:00

Before teens begin driving, parents should discuss a few ground rules to help prevent accidents.

The U.S. National Safety Council suggests how parents can prepare their teens for safe driving:

Take your teen out for lots of practice sessions, exposing him or her to various driving situations.
Don't allow your teen to drive with any distractions. That means no cell phones or other teens in the car.
Establish strict rules about seat belt use and drunk driving, and enforce your punishments.
Talk to your teen often and openly.
Be informed about where your teen is going, what he or she is doing and who may be riding along.

Source:

http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/639323.html

Safety Driving: Parents should know where, how their kids are driving

2010-05-10T04:38:00.000-07:00

Many parents fear handing their car keys over to their teenagers, but what if a parent could track the teen's every move while the youth was on the road?

Plug-N-Track, made by Tucson-based Gateway Communications Inc., is a small box that plugs into a car's diagnostic port. It allows you to track your vehicle's movement, speed, acceleration and deceleration patterns online and through text message, said Jon Rowley, president of Gateway Communications.

While GPS driving-habit trackers are the current trend in safe-driving promotion, with at least 10 different products available online, Rowley said he used his 25 years of experience designing fleet-tracking systems to help Plug-N-Track stand out in the market.

"What makes us unique is being able to quickly, with no professional installers, plug it in to the vehicle," Rowley said. "Simplicity is what makes it really, really nice."

Plug-N-Track retails for $299.99 and requires a monthly service fee of $19.99. Other simular products can run anywhere from $195 for the unit with a $40 monthly tracking fee to $470, also with a $40 monthly fee.

Once users plug the device into their cars, they can then track their vehicles through an online program, similar to Google Maps, or they can text-message the system and receive real-time updates listing the cars' cross streets, their direction and their speed.

Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said that while driver-tracker systems have been shown to decrease dangerous driving tendencies, there is some doubt about whether they will really catch on in the market.

A 2009 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study, meant to test the influence of these devices on driver tendencies, actually had a hard time recruiting participants because, Rader said, parents did not want to offend their teenagers by showing they did not trust them behind the wheel.

For more information please visit:

http://azstarnet.com/business/local/article_7c73eb9a-1c14-53ed-8f05-cb6837abb34c.html

Heather Locklear Arrested Over Car Crash

2010-04-22T06:09:00.000-07:00

Actress Heather Locklear has been arrested after allegedly hitting a traffic sign.

The 48-year-old Melrose Place star was taken into custody after reports of a crash in California where a No Parking sign had been knocked down.

Police were called to the scene by a local resident in North Ranch Country Club in Westlake, California, when they heard a crash.

According to reports in the US, police examined debris at the scene and found the car involved was Locklear's black BMW.

Locklear's lawyer, Blair Berk, said in a statement: "Ms Locklear was cited with a misdemeanour traffic ticket as she is the registered owner of the vehicle.

"She was never taken into custody. The matter is still being looked into as it is not yet clear who was driving the vehicle."

Locklear, who also starred in TJ Hooker and Dynasty, is due to appear in court on May 17.

In January last year she pleaded no contest to a charge of reckless driving after a journalist phoned police to tell them the actress was behaving erratically shortly before driving away from a supermarket.

A blood test showed no alcohol or illegal drugs in her system. Authorities said her prescription medicine could have affected her ability to drive.

Source: http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Showbiz-News/Actress-Heather-Locklear-Is-Arrested-In-Connection-With-Car-Crash/Article/201004415612937?lpos=Showbiz_News_Second_World_News_Article_Teaser_Region_0&lid=ARTICLE_15612937_Actress_Heather_Locklear_Is_Arrested_In_Connection_With_Car_Crash

A spring tune-up on cycling safety

2010-03-24T02:49:00.000-07:00

Whether you are behind the wheel of a motor vehicle or gripping the handlebars of a bike, this can be a challenging time of year on the streets of cities and towns across the country.

The snow and the slush are largely gone, that's true, and roads are for the most part dry. But the arrival of those bike-friendly conditions means drivers and cyclists may need to relearn how to peaceably coexist. Seasonal cyclists and the four-season warriors will have to get used to each other again too.

The early part of the cycling season can see everyone a bit rusty on the ground rules for safe cycling and for sharing the road.

For more information please visit: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/a-spring-tune-up-on-cycling-safety/article1509027/

“I think what we consistently find is that when there are more cyclists on the road, it's much safer for all cyclists,” says Zlatko Krstulich, president of the Ottawa-based advocacy group Citizens for Safe Biking.

“The big reason is that drivers see one or two and they start to get in their minds ‘Hey, look out for cyclists.' ”

Nancy Kendrew, a co-owner of Toronto's Urbane Cyclist, says the onus to be mindful of cyclists doesn't just rest with drivers.

Ms. Kendrew is a dedicated four-season cyclist, as are others who work at her store, a worker-owned cycle shop. She and her colleagues notice that at this time of year, the seasonal or recreational cyclists can be as much of a threat to their fellow cyclists as cars.

“There's a two-edged thing. We think the No. 1 danger is from motorists – I mean, it's true if you get hit by a car it's much bigger. But if you do something [and] you're clipped by a fast-moving cyclist, it can lead to a serious injury as well,” she says.

“There are cyclists who go all season long. And they're very wary and they're very safety-oriented because they've gone through icy conditions and whatnot.

“And it's sort of like the newbies that come along in the springtime and they're not predictable, they don't stop at lights, they're not obeying the rules, some of them.”

Predictable. That word comes up a lot when you're talking to people knowledgeable about cycling safety. Being predictable is the key weapon cyclists have to protect themselves and others, Ms. Kendrew and Mr. Krstulich suggest. That means:

Bike where you are supposed to bike. Don't weave in and out of traffic.

Signal your turns. Signalling allows drivers and other cyclists to anticipate the directional changes you are about to make.

Obey the rules of the road.

For more information please visit: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/a-spring-tune-up-on-cycling-safety/article1509027/

Mandatory Bicycle Training for Children

2010-03-17T05:09:00.000-07:00

Seoul's elementary schools will conduct mandatory courses on bicycle riding, with an emphasis on safety, officials said Wednesday. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education has instructed the schools to introduce four hours of lessons on bicycle riding and safety tips a year.

"Many students ride bicycles to school or for physical exercise, but schools have been negligent in providing safety lessons," an official with the education office said. "This is one of the reasons for the rise in bicycle accidents."

According to police, there were a total of 10,915 bicycle-related traffic accidents in 2008. In particular, accidents involving children have been on the rise. In 2005, 257 elementary school students reported injuries from bicycle accidents. The figure rose to 388 in 2007.

With collaboration with the Seoul city administration, the education office has also distributed safety guidelines to schools. They are aimed at helping children dress properly for bicycle riding, abide by traffic signals and in how to deal with accidents.

According to a recent survey by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Management (KCDC), only three percent of children aged from three to 18 wear helmets while cycling.

The survey said 2.4 percent of children from 3 to 11 years old wore protective helmets in 2007 and 3.2 percent did so in 2008. In 2008, bicycle accidents accounted for 14 percent of traffic accident victims with 46 percent of them being under 20 years old.

In the United States, the helmet-wearing rate was 3.8 percent in 1991, but education and guidance campaigns raised the rate to 14.9 percent in 2007.

For more information please visit: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/03/117_62546.html

Society needs to help seniors who should stop driving

2010-03-16T02:54:00.000-07:00

Society needs to do a better job helping seniors drive for as long as is safe and helping them adapt when the time comes to stop, says a new editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The journal suggested the already pressing problem is going to become even more difficult in the coming decade or two as the massive baby boom generation hits this stage in life. By 2025, one in every four Canadians will be 65 or older, noted the editorial, published in Tuesday's issue of the journal.

In addition to finding ways to get seniors who can no longer drive safely off the roads, communities and governments need to put in place programs that help seniors who give up their licences to continue to live independently if they are able.

"Solutions to the dilemma of who will drive our seniors - and eventually us - must be found. The status quo leaves too many seniors isolated and puts too many people at risk," Dr. Paul Hebert, editor-in-chief, and Dr. Noni MacDonald, public health section editor, wrote in the editorial.

They suggested society should plan for driving retirement the way it plans for job retirement.

The aim, they and others said, is not to get all older drivers off the road, but to find a way to identify those who need to stop driving and put in place systems to help them cope once they do.

That goal is harder to meet than one might expect, said Jonathan King, program director for driving research at the U.S. National Institute of Aging.

For more information please visit: http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5hFGpCAVmribMdSCvAK0FV9_2chrg

Ban on using cell phones while driving vehicles

2010-02-24T05:22:00.000-08:00

Driving and using a cell phone concurrently results in driving performance similar to that of drunk driving, according to a driving simulator study.

A study released by the IU Public Policy Institute found that simply prohibiting cell phone usage is not valuable in increasing traffic safety. The study says better law enforcement combined with media campaigns will effectively cut down on distracted driving.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that nearly 11 percent of all drivers are using a cell phone at any given time during the day. Another study conducted by The National Occupant Protection Use Survey found that this phone use was highest among drivers 16 to 24 years old.

The Indiana legislature passed a law in July 2009 effectively prohibiting cell phone usage while driving for individuals under 18. The law aims to help cut down on distracted driving, thereby helping to better traffic safety. The problem with the law is that it is difficult to put into effect. The law, which targets younger drivers, is only effective against individuals under the age of 18 that received their licenses before July 1, 2009.

For more information: http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.aspx?id=74001

Firefighters battle traffic

2010-02-20T06:56:00.000-08:00

FORT MYERS, Fla. - When you call 911, you want emergency responders to get to you as soon as possible. But some drivers can make getting there a real challenge.

It's a daily frustration from Law Enforcement to emergency responders. While most drivers know what to do when they hear sirens wailing, others test fate.

"I try to pull over as soon as I can and just try to get out of the way," Courtney Tincher.

"A lot of people just try to beat the sirens," said Johnny Ordonez.

For Iona-McGregor firefighters, every call is an emergency. But often, getting there is a challenge in itself. "People stop suddenly, or they'll move suddenly as we are about to pass them and that can be very dangerous for them and for us," said Lt. Martin Palijan.

Fore more information: http://www.winknews.com/news/local/84827667.html

Best and Worst Cities for Travelers

2010-02-18T23:46:00.000-08:00

In these areas, urban sprawl and solo drivers are the difference between a hassle-free and a harrowing trek to work.

Last week a wave of bad weather buried Washington, D.C., and several Northeastern U.S. cities in snow, shutting down scores of schools, businesses and city agencies. Those unlucky enough to be summoned to work had to excavate their cars from several feet of powder or contend with stalled buses and slow trains.

While the weather was extreme, many Americans have miserable commutes year-round. In some cities, though, workers have it easy.

If you live in Salt Lake City, Utah, Buffalo, N.Y., or Rochester, N.Y., your ride to work is probably the smoothest of any big city in the country. Residents of Tampa, Fla., Detroit, Mich. and Atlanta, Ga., on the other hand, endure the most grueling slog to work.

For more information: http://www.forbes.com/2010/02/12/best-worst-commutes-lifestyle-mass-transit.html?boxes=lifestylechannellighttop

Solar Car Images

2010-02-18T06:37:00.000-08:00

In 1997, UniSA, Seaton High School, Fremont-Elizabeth City High and Annesley College formed the South Australian Solar Car Consortium. The aim of the Consortium was to help students design, build and race solar cars in the World Solar Challenge.

It started out as a Taiwanese entry in the Australian World Solar Challenge and was scaled up.

This solar car came from an idea for a Mechanical Engineering senior project, to build a small remote-control solar-powered car. This mushroomed into the largest undergraduate engineering project ever undertaken at Auburn University.

CBS World News Roundup

2009-07-23T16:53:00.000-07:00

The CBS World News Roundup is a radio newscast that airs weekday mornings and evenings on the CBS Radio Network.

It first went on-air on March 13, 1938 at 8 p.m. Eastern time as a one-time special in response to growing tensions in Europe -- specifically the Anschluss, during which Adolf Hitler annexed Austria.

The early years

When the show first went on the air it was hosted by veteran radio personality Robert Trout. The first show gave the world the voices of Edward R. Murrow and William L. Shirer. In fact, it was the first time Murrow had ever delivered a news report. During the early years of the war, Murrow's reports from London and Shirer's reports from Berlin were essential listening to anyone trying to keep informed on events unfolding in Europe.

The program was a 35-minute special report from multiple locations around the world as the pre-war crisis mounts. It was the first time that on-the-scene European field correspondents were linked with a central anchor in New York for a national broadcast.

Most broadcast references credit either CBS President William S. Paley or News Director Paul White as coming up with the idea for the show, as a way to trump Max Jordan's NBC coverage of the Anschluss. The previous day, Shirer had fled from Vienna to London at the request of Murrow (the CBS European chief) to give the first uncensored eyewitness account of Germany's takeover of Austria.

Innovative solar car radiant in Glasurit white

2009-07-09T08:52:00.000-07:00

The first good thing was HansGo! back in 2003, followed by SolarWorld No. 1 four years later. Now, the Bochum University of Applied Sciences is presenting a new solar car, the BOcruiser. It's no surprise that BASF Coatings, supplier of the paint for the ultra modern vehicle, is pleased to be on board again with its Glasurit brand. After all, the model's predecessor SolarWorld No. 1 captured the design title of "World's most beautiful solar car" - and was also clad in a finish of Glasurit paint from Münster.

After the luminescent yellow used for SolarWorld No. 1, the BOcruiser is dazzling in white, a color that symbolizes sustainability and is increasingly present on the roads. Rainer Lennartz, who lives in the German town of Lünen-Brambauer and is a member of the Lennartz spraypainting team, was responsible for painting both Solarworld No. 1 and the BOcruiser. A team of around 30 engineering students are presenting a brand new concept with the BOcruiser. The most striking change is the fact that this latest solar car drives on four wheels rather than three, as was the case for Solar World No. 1.

For Lennartz, the requirements for the finish were even tougher than last time. For instance, in order to reduce weight, only the bare minimum of paint was to be applied, a demand not unlike those posed for Formula 1 racers, for which every gram counts. For this project, Lennartz chose Glasurit 22 Line HS 2K Topcoat. "No more than one and one-half layers of paint, but nevertheless fulfill the basic functions of the paint finish, like protection, durability and design," Lennartz said. In comparison, a new car is generally finished with four coats of paint (e-coat, primer, basecoat, clearcoat). Lennartz applied the primer to only some parts of the vehicle's exterior before topcoating it with 22 Line, which has a high degree of hiding power, allowing him to dispense with a clearcoat. The sponsors' logos were painted on with a stencil and sealed with clearcoat, and the surface was subsequently sanded and polished. "Bochum University and I agreed on this version of applying the logos, which prevents the edges of the decals from causing air swirl," Lennartz explained. The driving force for the Lennartz team involves fulfilling a dream. "If the BOcruiser wins the title of 'World's most beautiful solar car' the way its predecessor, SolarWorld No. 1, did, it will be a dream come true."

Every aspect of the BOcruiser is a technical masterpiece. The body is streamlined, with energy efficiency the car designers' top development goal. In addition to the car's proven prize-winning technology, such as its battery management system, innovative components were used as well. For instance, the workshops and labs at the Bochum University of Applied Sciences engineered an in-wheel motor that will power both the BOcruiser and other vehicles in the pipeline. This involved solving a whole range of problems, because the new vehicle is propelled by two motors. For weight and efficiency-related reasons, it was not possible to use a mechanical differential transmission. Instead, electronics and software are to determine the variability of the wheels' peripheral speed in curves. As with SolarWorld No. 1, six square meters of solar cells provide electric power. In this area too, the technology used is becoming more viable for everyday use. Silicon has replaced the costly gallium arsenide in the solar generator.

The BOcruiser will have its first real-life test in October at the World Solar Challenge, cruising 3,000 kilometers through the Australian outback. Project manager Prof. Friedbert Pautzke commented, "Our motivation for building this car was not to be first to cross the finish line at the race. The BOcruiser is part of our series of solar vehicles that is consistently taking the next innovative step toward everyday use. It will be proving its ability to take to the roads for the first time in the race Down Under."

For the team of electromobility pioneers from Bochum University, this journey will not be over once the race in Australia has been completed. Its next project is the Sustainable Individual Mobility Car, or SIMCar for short, an electric car for everyday use. Plans for the three-seater version have already been completed. The car is scheduled to be built in 2010.

Legal car cruise event is held

2009-06-30T12:58:00.000-07:00

World leading sports car maker Lotus Cars teamed up with Norfolk Police for one of the UK's first legal off the road cruise events on Sunday.

More than 3,000 people have turned up to the event at Great Yarmouth.

Norfolk Police hope to make it an annual event to stop huge numbers of cruisers causing problems on the roads.

Lotus has sponsored the event by providing a Lotus Elise, a sports car that has won over 50 awards around the world and has a top speed of 125 mph.

The meeting at the Caister Road sports stadium in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, aimed to finish at 2000 BST on Sunday.

Government rules out public inquiry into Potters Bar and Grayrigg rail disasters

2009-06-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

The Government today ruled out a public inquiry into two separate train disasters which claimed the lives of eight people.

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis instead said the public interest was 'best served' by holding two independent inquests into the 2002 Potters Bar and 2007 Grayrigg disasters.The decision will anger relatives of the victims and rail unions who have called for a joint public inquiry into the crashes, which were caused by faulty sets of points.

Lord Adonis said today: 'I have decided that the public interest is best served by the continuation of the two inquests that have begun into the deaths resulting from the rail accidents at Potters Bar and at Grayrigg.'I have therefore decided not to convene a public inquiry into the accidents, either individually or jointly.'

He said he regreted the length of time taken to reach this decision as well as the anxiety it may have caused to relatives.'However, the chronology of events and the issues are complex and I considered it important to ensure that my decision regarding the next steps is the right one, he said.

'Having considered the material before me, I am satisfied that separate inquests will allow for appropriate further independent investigations of the accidents, with the bereaved and injured able to participate and express their views and concerns in a transparent forum open to public scrutiny.'Although the conduct of the inquests is a matter for the coroners, the inquests will be capable of examining the relevant issues raised by the accidents, including those that are common to both.'

But Keith Norman, leader of the train drivers union Aslef said it was astonishing that the Government is not prepared to give the maximum transparency to what happened.The May 2002 Potters Bar accident happened when a West Anglia Great Northern high-speed train travelling from London to King's Lynn in Norfolk was derailed as it went over faulty points just outside Potters Bar station in Hertfordshire.

Six passengers died and an elderly woman pedestrian was killed when debris fell on to the road beneath the track. In addition, 76 people were injured.

That section of track was being maintained by private company Jarvis while overall responsibility for safety of the railways lay with Railtrack, the private rail infrastructure company later replaced by Network Rail (NR).

An accident report by the Health and Safety Executive in May 2003 blamed poor maintenance for the points failure, with earlier inspections not spotting defects in the points.In April 2004, NR and Jarvis formally accepted liability on behalf of the rail industry for all legally justified claims brought by the bereaved and injured in respect of the crash.

In October 2005, the Crown Prosecution Service said it had advised British Transport Police that there was no realistic prospect of conviction for an offence of gross negligence manslaughter against any individual or corporation in respect of the Potters Bar accident.

The February 2007 Grayrigg accident in Cumbria happened on the West Coast Main Line when a Virgin Rail Pendolino high-speed 'tilting' train travelling from London to Glasgow passed over a faulty set of points at 95mph.

Although only one person died, nearly 90 were injured when a number of coaches were derailed.NR immediately accepted blame for the accident and in a report last October, the RAIB listed a catalogue of safety errors.These included the non-carrying out of a planned inspection that 'should have detected' the faulty points.

Lord Adonis said today that as far as Grayrigg was concerned there would be 'a further independent examination of the accident during an inquest, which I am satisfied is capable of addressing any relevant questions that remain unanswered'.

He added that he would 'make funds available to the Coroner for South and East Cumbria, to assist him in carrying out a full investigation, if these are requested'.

The Potters Bar inquest was adjourned after the Grayrigg accident.Lord Adonis said reopening of the Potters Bar inquest would 'provide an opportunity for a further independent examination of the accident.

Writer Nina Bawden, 84, whose husband Austen Kark was killed in the Potters Bar crash, said families have worked hard for a public inquiry and are disappointed one won't be taking place.

'The Government could have had the decency of informing us first about today's news,' she said.Ms Bawden, who was badly injured in the May 2002 accident, added: 'The reopening of the Potters Bar inquest is at least something. I hope everything will come out.

'I want them to come to a sensible conclusion and make the railways as safe as possible.'But Gerry Doherty, leader of the TSSA rail union dismissed the claim and said it was yet another example of the Government doing the complete opposite of what it claims to be doing.

'Just like alleged transparency over MPs' expenses, these inquests are part of the ongoing cover-up over the Potters Bar tragedy in particular,' he said.'They wait seven years and then announce an inquest which will not report before the next election - just like their alleged inquiry into the Iraq War.'

'If they were really interested in letting the public know what happened at Potters Bar - and the role that private contractors Jarvis played in that accident - they would have ordered a full public inquiry into the tragedy years ago.'

Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT rail union, said the inquest announcement was welcome but not an alternative to a full public inquiry.There is a real danger of another Hatfield (the 2000 rail crash in which four people were killed), Potters Bar or Grayrigg and the Government should intervene to reinstate the full renewals programme before we have another disaster on our hands,' he said.

High Speed Train an International Transport Revolution

2009-05-25T11:23:00.000-07:00

In Our highways are clogged with traffic. Our airports are choked with increased loads. We are at the mercy of fluctuating oil prices. We pump too many greenhouse gases into the air. What we need is a smart transportation system equal to the needs of the 21st century. A system that reduces travel times and increases mobility. A system that reduces destructive emissions and creates jobs. What we're talking about is a vision for high-speed rail.

Japan

At the entrance to Tokyo Central Station is a plaque which declares the Shinkansen “Product of the wisdom and effort of the Japanese people.” “As an indication of the unity of purpose and of the pride which the Japanese people feel for this achievement, this inscription …. Can hardly be bettered”, writes Rod Smith of Imperial College in his excellent history of the Shinkansen.

Japan’s first railways had been built, to a narrower gauge than ours, by a British engineer in the 1870s. The line from Tokyo to Nagoya and Osaka is the country’s principal 350 mile rail artery, accounting in the 1950s for a quarter of the country’s rail traffic although only three per cent of the rail system by length. It was electrified in 1956, enhancing capacity and reducing the journey time to six and a half hours.

This is where Japanese railway modernization might well have stopped for a generation – as it did, at electrification of principal inter-city lines, in most of Europe at the time. What happens generally seems pre-ordained after the event, and so it is both with Japan’s decision to develop the bullet train and our decision not to. Yet this is quite unhistorical, as Rod Smith explains. On the contrary, the phrase “railway downfall theory” was in vogue in 1950s Japan: the view that rail was an outdated technology which was set to follow horse carriages, canals and sailing ships, to be replaced by faster planes for the longest distances and by the far more flexible and individualistic car and truck for shorter distances.

This view was indeed widely held within Japanese National Railways itself. It was only the vision and leadership of a small group of talented managers and engineers, led by its president and chief engineer, which ordained otherwise. They essentially sidestepped projections about long-term rail decline, concentrating rather on the immediate capacity requirements of the densely populated and economically critical Tokyo to Osaka corridor, convincing the government that a patch-and-mend upgrade to the existing line was too cautious for this key route. This capacity argument, plus the availability of a low interest World Bank loan – jobs and regeneration being a good part of the case for high-speed rail, as for motorways, from the outset – led to the decision to construct a new passenger-only line for this route alone, to the standard international gauge, free from level crossings, with shallow curves and in-cab signalling allowing a consistently high line speed.

Cruising (Driving skills)

2009-05-12T15:27:00.001-07:00

Cruising is a social activity that primarily consists of driving a car. Cruising can be an expression of the perceived freedom of possessing a driver's license. Cruising is distinguished from regular driving by the social and recreational nature of the activity, which characterized by an impulsively random, often aimless course. A popular route (or "strip") is often the focus of cruising. "Cruise nights" are evenings during which cars drive slowly, bumper-to-bumper, through small towns.

Driving is the controlled operation of a land vehicle, such as a car, truck or bus. Although direct operation of a bicycle, a mounted animal (not including chariot operation) or a motorcycle (at least in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Australia) is commonly called riding, such operators are usually legally considered to be drivers and are required to obey the rules of the road which apply to all drivers.Driving in traffic is more than just knowing how to operate the mechanisms which control the vehicle; it requires knowing how to apply the rules of the road (which govern safe and efficient sharing with other users). An effective driver also has an intuitive understanding of the basics of vehicle handling.

Driving as a physical skill :

In terms of the basic physical tasks required, a driver must be able to control direction, acceleration, and deceleration. For motor vehicles, the detailed tasks include . Starting the vehicle's engine with the starting system ,Setting the transmission to the correct gear ,Depressing the pedals with one's feet to accelerate, slow, and stop the vehicle, and if the vehicle is equipped with a manual transmission, to modulate the clutch ,Steering the vehicle's direction with the steering wheel ,Operating other important ancillary devices such as the indicators, headlights, and windshield wipers

Electric charge-electromagnetic fields

2009-05-04T00:15:00.000-07:00

Electric charge is a fundamental conserved property of some subatomic particles, which determines their electromagnetic interaction. Electrically charged matter is influenced by, and produces, electromagnetic fields. The interaction between a moving charge and an electromagnetic field is the source of the electromagnetic force, which is one of the four fundamental forces.

Electric charge is a characteristic of some subatomic particles. It is quantized: when expressed in units of the so-called elementary charge e, it takes integer or fractional values. Electrons by convention have a charge of −1, while protons have the opposite charge of +1. Quarks have a fractional charge of −1⁄3 or +2⁄3. The antiparticle equivalents of these (positrons, antiprotons, and antiquarks, respectively) have the opposite charge. There are other charged particles. The discrete nature of electric charge was proposed by Michael Faraday in his electrolysis experiments, and then directly demonstrated by Robert Millikan in his oil-drop experiment.

In general, same-sign charged particles repel one another, while different-sign charged particles attract. This is expressed quantitatively in Coulomb's law, which states that the magnitude of the electrostatic repelling force between two particles is proportional to the product of their charges and the inverse square of the distance between them.

The electric charge of a macroscopic object is the sum of the electric charges of its constituent particles. Often, the net electric charge is zero, because it is favorable for the number of electrons in every atom to equal the number of protons (or, more generally, for the number of anions, or negatively charged atoms, in every molecule to equal the number of cations, or positively charged atoms). When the net electric charge is non-zero and motionless, one has the phenomenon known as static electricity. Even when the net charge is zero, it can be distributed non-uniformly (e.g., due to an external electric field, or due to molecular motion), in which case the material is said to be polarized. The charge due to the polarization is known as bound charge, while the excess charge brought from outside is called free charge. The motion of charged particles (e.g., of electrons in metals) in a particular direction is known as electric current.

Breaking Power/Stopping Distances

2009-04-16T09:44:00.000-07:00

Average Dry Stopping Distance (Assuming two-thirds of a second reaction time)

Speed	Thinking Distance	Braking Distance	Total Stopping Distance
20 mph	20 feet	20 feet	40 feet
30 mph	30 feet	45 feet	75 feet
40 mph	40 feet	80 feet	120 feet
50 mph	50 feet	125 feet	175 feet
60 mph	60 feet	180 feet	240 feet
70 mph	70 feet	245 feet	315 feet
80 mph	80 feet	320 feet	400 feet

Average Wet Stopping Distance (Assuming two-thirds of a second reaction time)

Speed	Thinking Distance	Braking Distance	Total Stopping Distance
20 mph	20 feet	40 feet	60 feet
30 mph	30 feet	90 feet	120 feet
40 mph	40 feet	160 feet	200 feet
50 mph	50 feet	250 feet	300 feet
60 mph	60 feet	360 feet	420 feet
70 mph	70 feet	490 feet	560 feet
80 mph	80 feet	640 feet	720 feet

Traffic Signals-Universal Color Code

2009-04-07T09:53:00.000-07:00

A traffic light, traffic signal or a stop light is a signaling device positioned at a road intersection to indicate when it is safe to wade through. The traffic signal passes on its information using a universal color code .

Traffic signs or road signs are signs erected at the side of roads to provide information to road users. With increasing speed of transport, the tendency is for countries to adopt pictorial signs or otherwise simplify and standardize signs, to facilitate international travel where language differences can create barriers and in general to reduce the risks in driving. Such pictorial signs use symbols in place of words and are usually a result of international standards.

Road Rules-set of clues and a mission

2009-03-31T09:02:00.000-07:00

Road Rules, MTV's second reality show, debuted on July 19, 1995. The series followed six strangers between the ages of 18 and 24 (five strangers in the first four seasons) after stripping them of their money and putting them on an RV traveling from location to location only guided by a set of clues and a mission to complete at each location. It was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2001.

There was also a 1998 mini-series, Road Rules: The Real World All-Stars, in which five former stars from The Real World go on a short Road Rules course managed by infamous former Real World housemate Puck, who, until the very end of the series, was disguising h

is identity with the alias "Mr. Big". However, this is generally considered the first season of Real World/Road Rules Challenge.

Vehicle Safety

2009-03-30T08:16:00.000-07:00

Road safety - public health and injury prevention

2009-03-24T08:08:00.000-07:00

Road safety aims to reduce the harm (deaths, injuries, and property damage) resulting from crashes of road vehicles. Harm from road traffic crashes is greater than that from all other transportation modes (air, sea, space, off-terrain, etc.) combined.

Road safety deals exclusively with road traffic crashes – how to reduce their number and their consequences. A road traffic crash is an event involving a road vehicle that results in harm. For reasons of clear data collection, only harm involving a road vehicle is included. A person tripping with fatal consequences on a public road is not included as a road-traffic fatality. To be counted a pedestrian fatality, the victim must be struck by a road vehicle.

Road traffic crashes are one of the world’s largest public health and injury prevention problems. The problem is all the more acute because the victims are overwhelmingly healthy prior to their crashes. According to the World Health Organization more than a million people are killed on the world’s roads each year.

Driving skills

2009-03-17T16:10:00.000-07:00

Driving in traffic is more than just knowing how to operate the mechanisms which control the vehicle; it requires knowing how to apply the rules of the road (which govern safe and efficient sharing with other users). An effective driver also has an intuitive understanding of the basics of vehicle handling.

In terms of the basic physical tasks required, a driver must be able to control direction, acceleration, and deceleration. For motor vehicles, the detailed tasks include:

* Starting the vehicle's engine with the starting system
* Setting the transmission to the correct gear
* Depressing the pedals with one's feet to accelerate, slow, and stop the vehicle, and if the vehicle is equipped with a manual transmission, to modulate the clutch
* Steering the vehicle's direction with the steering wheel
* Operating other important ancillary devices such as the indicators, headlights, and windshield wipers

Cruising (driving)

2009-03-10T12:36:00.000-07:00

Cruising is a social activity that primarily consists of driving a car. Cruising can be an expression of the perceived freedom of possessing a driver's license. Cruising is distinguished from regular driving by the social and recreational nature of the activity, which characterized by an impulsively random, often aimless course. A popular route (or "strip") is often the focus of cruising. "Cruise nights" are evenings during which cars drive slowly, bumper-to-bumper, through small towns.

Perhaps the most famous cruising strip (or main drag) is McHenry Avenue in Modesto, California. The cruising culture of the early 1960s was depicted in the film American Graffiti. The film was set (but not actually filmed) in director George Lucas' home town of Modesto, which also hosts an annual "Graffiti Night" celebration in the film's honor.

Cruising in Detroit took place from the 1950s to the 1970s in the city's northern suburbs along Woodward Avenue, from Ferndale north to Pontiac. Cruising along Woodward reached its peak in the mid 1960s, with muscle car competitions that were covered by journalists from Car and Driver, Motor Trend, and CBS World News Roundup. The cruising culture on Woodward Avenue faded in the 1970s when new car safety standards and higher gas prices altered American automotive design.

The Woodward Dream Cruise occurs on the third Saturday in August along the original cruising strip in Detroit's northern suburbs. The event is a tribute to the classic Woodward cruisers and attracts approximately 1 million people and 40,000 muscle cars, street rods, and custom, collector, and special interest vehicles.

Roundabout - type of road junction

2009-03-03T14:46:00.000-08:00

A roundabout is a type of road junction at which traffic enters a one-way stream around a central island. In the United States it is commonly known as a "rotary" or a "traffic circle", but sometimes is technically called a modern roundabout, in order to emphasize the distinction from the older, very much larger type of traffic circle which usually had poor or no visibility across the central island.

In countries where people drive on the right, the traffic flow around the central island of a roundabout is counterclockwise. In countries where people drive on the left, the traffic flow is clockwise.

Overall, roundabouts are statistically safer than both traffic circles and traditional intersections, with the exception that cyclists have a significantly increased crash rate at large roundabout. Roundabouts do not cope as well with the traffic on motorways, highways, or similar fast roads.

Roundabouts are sometimes referred to as "traffic circles" or "rotaries", but a technical distinction was made in some jurisdictions between roundabouts, traffic circles, and rotaries in the mid-1960s. Starting in that decade, research in the United Kingdom found that circular intersections with certain geometric characteristics and traffic control schemes tended to be safer than those without them.

Driving Needs

2009-02-24T11:42:00.000-08:00

The number of vehicles that are available to satisfy your driving needs has never been greater. During the last decade, auto manufactures have really jumped on the vehicle bandwagon by offering numerous automobiles, sport-utilities, multipurpose vehicles, minivans, and trucks.

In addition to having multiple divisions within a single manufacturer, the choice of vehicles from which to choose is enough to make the consumer really spin his or her wheels trying to figure out just what vehicle to purchase.

The bottom line is that you deserve the most smiles per mile when you sit behind the wheel.

Although emotions are a part of life, concerning transportation, it is useful to put excessive emotions aside and focus on your day-in and day-out transportation needs.

Driving Van Trailer

2009-02-17T11:36:00.000-08:00

A Driving Van Trailer (DVT), sometimes referred to as Driving Luggage Van (DLV), is a purpose-built railway vehicle that allows the driver to operate a locomotive at the opposite end of a train. Trains operating with a DVT therefore do not require the locomotive to run round to the other end of the train at terminal stations. Unlike many other control cars, DVTs resemble locomotives (specifically, classes 90 and 91) and thus when the train is operating in "push" mode it does not appear to be traveling backwards.

The vehicles have no passenger accommodation due to rules in place at the time of building that prohibited passengers in the leading vehicles of trains that travel at more than 100 mph (161 km/h).On the Inter City 225 (IC225) sets operating on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) the Mark 4 DVTs and locomotives operate in push-pull formation utilizing a Time-Division Multiplexer to send control signals along specially screened cables which run the length of the train.

Driving Conditions

2009-02-10T09:01:00.001-08:00

India is the world's largest democratic republic. With the advancement of Transport Systems, countries are identified on the basis of their "Roads". India has difficult road and traffic conditions. In this part of the world, "Roads" are not meant to commute from here to there, but the road themselves run from here to there.
Driving Conditions in India

Conditions of roads across India are not hidden. In the last 50 years, India's automobile population has grown 170 times while the road infrastructure has expanded only nine times. The country's vehicle population is over 5.5 crore and growing at a phenomenal rate of 25 lakh every year. Roads make up 4% of Kolkatta city as compared to 25% in Delhi and 30% in some other cities. Outside the metros, the main roads and other roads are poorly maintained and congested.

Driving under the influence

2009-02-03T09:29:00.001-08:00

Driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs (driving while intoxicated, drunk driving, drinking and driving, drink-driving) or other drugs, is the act of operating a motor vehicle (and even a bicycle, boat, airplane or horse in selected jurisdictions) after having consumed alcohol, to the degree that mental and motor skills are impaired. It is a criminal offense in most countries around the world.

In most international jurisdictions, anyone who is convicted of injuring or killing someone while under the influence of alcohol or drugs can be heavily fined, as in France, in addition to being given a lengthy prison sentence. The specific criminal offense may be called, depending on the jurisdiction, driving while intoxicated (DWI), operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated (OMVI), driving under the influence [of alcohol or other drugs] (DUI), driving under the combined influence of alcohol and/or other drugs, driving under the influence per se or drunk in charge [of a vehicle].

Highway Code

2009-01-27T11:55:00.000-08:00

The Highway Code is the official road safety manual for Great Britain.[1] In Northern Ireland the Highway Code for Northern Ireland applies.[2] It contains 307 numbered rules and 9 annexes covering pedestrians, animals, cyclists, motorcyclists and drivers. As well as the rules and annexes, there is information on road signs, road markings and vehicle markings. The annexes contain information on vehicle maintenance, license requirements, documentation, penalties and vehicle security.

Certain rules in the Highway Code represent various road traffic laws and must be obeyed. Others are not compulsory, but advisable. The Road Traffic Act 1988 says. The latest edition of the Highway Code was released in September 2007 and contained new advice such as the risk of smoking while driving and information for novice drivers.

Road Traffic Safety

2009-01-20T09:36:00.000-08:00

Road traffic safety aims to reduce the harm (deaths, injuries, and property damage) resulting from crashes of road vehicles. Harm from road traffic crashes is greater than that from all other transportation modes (air, sea, space, off-terrain, etc.) combined.

Road traffic safety deals exclusively with road traffic crashes – how to reduce their number and their consequences. A road traffic crash is an event involving a road vehicle that results in harm. For reasons of clear data collection, only harm involving a road vehicle is included. A person tripping with fatal consequences on a public road is not included as a road-traffic fatality. To be counted a pedestrian fatality, the victim must be struck by a road vehicle.

Sleep Deprived Driving

2009-01-13T22:53:00.000-08:00

Sleep deprived driving is the operation of a motor vehicle while being cognitively impaired by a lack of sleep. Sleep deprivation is a major cause of motor vehicle accidents, and it can impair the human brain as much as alcohol can. According to a 1998 survey, 23% of adults have fallen asleep while driving. According to the United States Department of Transportation, male drivers admit to have fallen asleep while driving twice as much as female drivers.

Numerous studies have found that sleep deprivation can affect driving as much, and sometimes more, than alcohol. British researchers have found that driving after 17 to 18 hours of being awake is as harmful as driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.05%, the legal limit in many European countries. Men under 30 are more likely to be in an accident caused by sleep deprivation.

Graduated driver

2009-01-06T09:14:00.000-08:00

Graduated driver licensing systems are designed to provide new drivers of motor vehicles with driving experience and skills gradually over time in low-risk environments. There are typically three steps or stages through which new drivers pass. They begin by acquiring a learner’s permit, progress to a restricted or probationary license, followed by receipt of a full license.

Acquiring a learner’s permit typically requires a minimum age, passing vision and knowledge tests, and parental or guardian permission if below a specified age. Those who hold a learner’s permit must generally drive under the supervision of a licensed driver, have a limited number of passengers in the vehicle, and be free of moving violations and at-fault accidents or crashes for a minimum period of time before moving to the next stage.

Those who receive an intermediate or probationary license may drive without supervision, although driving at certain times, (typically after midnight until around sunrise), may require supervision. Drivers typically are restricted in the number of passengers they may carry and must remain free of moving violations and at-fault accidents for a specified period of time. In some places, drivers with these licenses must have no alcohol in their blood while they are driving.

Receipt of a full license typically requires a specific minimum age, a minimum time period of driving experience, and the passing of a final road test of driving skills.

Driving pleasure

2008-12-30T09:03:00.000-08:00

Driving pleasure is a feeling of enjoyment derived from operating a motor vehicle. Factors known to contribute to driving pleasure include responsiveness of the vehicle to driver manipulation of the controls, which means that the vehicle obeys and executes driver's commands faithfully.

In the vehicle development process, driving pleasure is "the driver's feel for vehicle manipulation under various road conditions.” When designing a car, features that increase driving pleasure and safety may work in opposition, forcing engineers to make choices between the two or find a new solution that accomplishes both.

Forces are due to acceleration, linear and angular. Longitudinal forces are due to acceleration and deceleration, and lateral forces occur while turning act on the driver. These forces can not be easily simulated anywhere other than a vehicle. Lateral force is available only in a four wheeled vehicle, and can be up to 5g in F1 racing. In motorcycles lateral force on the driver is zero even when cornering, due to leaning the bike into a corner to nullify lateral force.

Back Seat Driver

2008-12-23T08:48:00.000-08:00

A back seat driver is a passenger in a vehicle who is not in control of the vehicle and appears to be uncomfortable with the skills of the current driver and/or feels the need to tutor said driver.

Some backseat drivers exhibit this type of behavior simply because they feel unsafe or out of control since they are not driving the vehicle and therefore are nervous and jumpy and overly anxious to give suggestions and criticisms regarding the current driver's actions. The Maine Department of Transportation has a web poster "Are you a Good Back Seat Driver?" asking "True or False: Being a Backseat Driver means it is okay to be noisy or distracting to the driver as long as you are giving them safety tips." The Inland Register produced by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane makes use of it in a sermon: "Even our phrase “back-seat driver” reflects this new-found freedom. Which of us who has graduated to the status of driver enjoys a passenger, especially one out of reach in the back seat, which seems to know how to drive better than we do?

A famous example of a back seat driver is Hyacinth Bucket on the British sitcom keeping up Appearances. The term is also used in Backseat Drivers from Beyond the Stars, an episode of Invader Zim A poem "The Backseat Driver" by Parick G Hughes appears in the Northern Ireland BBC Writer's Showcase.

It is even used as a deliberate game. In All things Considered on NPR for July 19, 2006, there is an account of a "Back Seat Driver competition in Forest City, Iowa. ... The event -- in which a driver races backward while blindfolded and instructed by the voice of a companion over an intercom -- is in its eighth year." It has even been noticed by People's Daily.

Aggressive Driving

2008-12-16T08:43:00.000-08:00

Aggressive driving is a form of automobile operation in which an operator will deliberately behave with contempt towards other drivers and drive in such a manner as to increase the risk of an automobile accident.

Unlike drunk driving, aggressive driving is not usually the result of a drug or chemical, but rather the personality of the person operating the automobile. An aggressive driver may adopt a "King of the Road" attitude and become offended when other drivers engage in such activities as passing or "cutting off" the driver. The aggressive driver will then take the actions of the other driver personally, and seek to retaliate. This normally leads to unsafe driving acts such as reckless speeding or attempting to run someone off a highway.

Aggressive driving can also lead to much more serious crimes, such as manslaughter or murder. An aggressive driver may drive so recklessly as to injure or kill another driver or, in extreme cases, will "hunt another driver down" and then deliberately attempt to harm the person. This is often known as "road rage".

Aggressive driving may, in rare cases, be caused by mental illness. Persons with mental diseases, who are driving, may become confused about where they are and who the drivers around them are. This could lead to fear, panic or other emotions causing the person to start driving aggressively.

Automotive vehicle design

2008-12-09T14:52:00.000-08:00

Automotive design is the profession involved in the development of the appearance, and to some extent the ergonomics, of motor vehicles or more specifically road vehicles. This most commonly refers to automobiles but also refers to motorcycles, trucks, buses, coaches, and vans. The functional design and development of a modern motor vehicle is typically done by a large team from many different disciplines included in automotive engineers.

Automotive design in this context is primarily concerned with developing the visual appearance or aesthetics of the vehicle, though it is also involved in the creation of the product concept. Automotive design is practiced by designers who usually have an art background and a degree in industrial design or transportation design.

Delivery of power to the wheels and brakes

2008-11-25T14:36:00.000-08:00

The coefficient of friction of rubber on the road limits the magnitude of the vector sum of the transverse and longitudinal force. So the driven wheels or those supplying the most braking tend to slip sideways. This phenomenon is often explained by use of the circle of forces model.

One reason that sports cars are usually rear wheel drive is that power induced oversteer is useful, to a skilled driver, for tight curves. The weight transfer under acceleration has the opposite effect and either may dominate, depending on the conditions. Inducing understeer by applying power in a front wheel drive car is useful via proper use of "Left-foot braking." In any case, this is not an important safety issue, because power is not normally used in emergency situations. Using low gears down steep hills may cause some oversteer.

The effect of braking on handling is complicated by load transfer, which is proportional to the (negative) acceleration times the ratio of the center of gravity height to the wheelbase. The difficulty is that the acceleration at the limit of adhesion depends on the road surface, so with the same ratio of front to back braking force, a car will understeer under braking on slick surfaces and oversteer under hard braking on solid surfaces. Most modern cars combat this by varying the distribution of braking in some way. This is important with a high center of gravity, but it is also done on low center of gravity cars, from which a higher level of performance is expected.

Development of the pallet

2008-11-18T12:41:00.000-08:00

The pallet was developed in stages. Spacers were used between loads to allow fork entry, progressing to the placement of boards atop stringers to make skids. Eventually boards were fastened to the bottom to create the pallet. The addition of bottom boards on the skid, which appeared by 1925, resulted in the modern form of the pallet. With the bottom deck, several problems common to the single faced skid were addressed. For example, the bottom boards provided better weight distribution and reduced product damage; they also provided better stacking strength and rigidity. Lift truck manufacturers promoted the idea of using more vertical area of a plant for stock storage.

In size, skids started narrow in order to pass through ordinary doors. As facilities were rebuilt, many organizations optimized their buildings for larger pallets in order to reduce labor costs.

The earliest referenced U.S. patent on a skid is Hallowell's 1924 "Lift Truck Platform."[1] In 1939, Carl Clark patented a recognizably modern pallet, although with steel stringers.In World War II, palleted material handling was rapidly perfected in order to transfer Allied war materials. The patent activity picked up again after the war, as inventors claimed items they improvised for the war effort. The first four direction pallet was claimed in 1945 by Robert Braun.

Driving laws

2008-11-11T15:10:00.000-08:00

Vehicle inspection:
Vehicle inspection is a procedure mandated by national or subnational governments in many countries, in which a vehicle is inspected to ensure that it conforms to regulations governing safety, emissions, or both. Inspection can be required at various times, e.g., periodically or on transfer of title to a vehicle. If required periodically, it is often termed periodic motor vehicle inspection; typical intervals are every two years and every year.

In some jurisdictions, proof of inspection is required before a vehicle licence or license plate can be issued or renewed. In others, once a vehicle passes inspection, a decal is attached to the windshield, and police can enforce the inspection law by seeing whether the vehicle displays an up-to-date decal. In the case of a vehicle lacking a windshield (e.g., a trailer or motorcycle), the decal is typically attached to the vehicle body.

Driving as a mental skill

2008-10-14T05:09:00.000-07:00

Driver error is an important factor in driving accident, a primary factor in the deaths of over a million populace every year. Avoiding such error involves more than just next the rules of the road factually; defensive driving also involves the farming of good habits, maintaining notice and a thoughtful, cooperative approach.

Avoiding or successfully handling a crisis driving situation can involve the next skills:

* Making good decisions based on factors such as road and traffic circumstances

* Evasive choreography

* Proper hand placement and seating place

* Skid manage

* Steering and braking technique

* Understanding motor vehicle dynamics

Distractions can cooperation a driver's mental skills. One study on the topic of mobile phones and driving safety finished that, after controlling for driving complexity and time on task, drivers talking on a phone exhibit greater impairment than drivers who were pain from alcohol intoxication.

Driving as a physical skill

2008-10-07T01:45:00.000-07:00

In terms of the basic physical tasks necessary, a driver must be able to control course, acceleration, and deceleration. For motor vehicles, the full tasks include:

* Starting the vehicle's engine with the initial system

* Setting the transmission to the accurate gear

* Depressing the pedals with one's feet to go faster, slow, and stop the vehicle, and if the vehicle is equipped with a manual transmission, to adapt the clutch

* Steering the vehicle's track with the steering wheel

* Operating other significant auxiliary devices such as the indicators, headlights, and windshield wipers

Driveability

2008-09-22T22:57:00.000-07:00

Driveability of a vehicle means the smooth release of power, as demand by the driver. Typical causes of driveability poverty are rough idling, misfiring, surging, indecision, or insufficient power .

Driving skills

Driving in traffic is more than just meaningful how to operate the mechanism which control the vehicle; it requires meaningful how to apply the rules of the road. An effectual driver also has an intuitive understanding of the essentials of vehicle handling.

Driving

2008-09-09T06:47:00.000-07:00

Driving is the controlled process of a land vehicle, usually a motor vehicle such as a truck or a car. Although direct procedure of a bicycle, a mount animal or a motorcycle is normally called riding, such operator are usually legally measured to be drivers and are mandatory to obey those rules of the road which relate to all drivers.

Daily Steps to Health

2008-08-25T22:00:00.000-07:00

Don't Smoke: If you do smoke, talk to your doctor about quit. Your doctor or nurse can aid you. And, you can also help manually. For instructions on how to quit, go to: You Can Quit Smoking Now. http://www.smokefree.gov. To talk to someone regarding how to quit, call the National Quitline: 1-800-QUITNOW. For more quit-smoking possessions, go to: http://www.healthfinder.gov/, and search for "smoking."

Be Physically Active: Walking smartly, mowing the lawn, dancing, swimming, and bicycling are just a few examples of moderate physical activity. If you are not previously physically active, start small and work up to 30 minutes or more of moderate physical action most days of the week.

Eat a Healthy Diet: Emphasize fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk goods; include lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts; and eat foods low in flooded fats, Trans fats, cholesterol, salt, and added sugars.

Stay at a Healthy Weight: Balance calories from foods and beverages with calories you burn off by your activities. To prevent gradual weight gain over time, make small decreases in food and beverage calories and increase physical activity.

Drink Alcohol Only in Moderation: If you drink alcohol, have no additional than two drinks a day.

Men, Women, and Heart Disease

2008-08-18T23:13:00.000-07:00

Heart disease is the important cause of death in the United States for both men and women, according to the American Heart union. "But the normal heart is different in men and women," say Marianne J. Legato, M.D., a cardiologist and creator and director of Columbia University's Partnership for Gender-Specific Medicine. "Women's hearts beat faster, even all through sleep," she says. And women have dissimilar proteins in the heart cell.

"Some data suggest that the whole physiology of the coronary artery and what keeps them open and what cause them to go into spasm might be considerably different in men and women," says Legato, addition that some women have had heart attacks not including any of the fatty buildup of plaque seen in the coronary arteries in most public with heart attacks.

And the symptom of a heart attack may be dissimilar. "Twenty percent of women will not have the ‘typical symptoms' of chest pain burning down the left arm," says Legato, "but will instead explain nausea, profound sweating, and smallness of breath and pain in the higher abdomen."

Men's Health

2008-08-11T22:12:00.000-07:00

While the life-expectancy gap stuck between men and women has decrease, it's no secret that men still need to pay more concentration to their bodies. Several stuff work against men. They tend to smoke and drink extra than women. They don't look for medical help as frequently as women. Some men identify themselves by their work, which can add to stress.

There are also health situation that only affect men, such as prostate cancer plus low testosterone. Many of the major healthiness risks that men face like colon cancer or heart disease - can be banned and treated with early analysis. Screening tests can locate diseases early, when they are easier to treat. It's vital to have usual checkups and screenings.

Animals

2008-08-04T21:27:00.000-07:00

Animals are a main set of organisms, classified as the empire Metazoa. In general they are multicellular, receptive to their surroundings, and provide for by consuming other organisms or parts of them. Their body plan becomes fixed when they develop, generally early on in their growth as embryos, though some feel a process of metamorphosis later on.

The word "animal" comes from the Latin word animal, of which Metazoa is the plural, and is resulting from anima, sense vital breath or soul. In each day colloquial usage, the word regularly refers to non-human animals. The biological meaning of the word refers to all members of the empire Animalia. Therefore, as the word "animal" is used in a biological circumstance, humans are included.

Finance

2008-07-28T22:25:00.000-07:00

The field of finance refers to the concept of time, money and risk and how they are interconnected. The term "finance" may thus include any of the following:

The study of money and other property

The administration and control of that property

Profile and supervision project risks

The science of running money

The trade that deliver financial services

As a verb, "to finance" is to give funds for business or for an individual's large purchase for car, home, etc.

Finance is use by persons (personal finance), by government (public finance), by business (corporate finance), as well as by a wide range of organization including schools and non-profit organization. In common, the goals of each of the above actions are achieve through the use of appropriate financial instrument, with reflection to their institutional situation.

Finance is one of the most vital aspects of business administration. Without proper financial preparation a new enterprise cannot be successful. Managing money is necessary to guarantee a secure future, both for the person and an association.

EUROPEAN SCULPTURE OF THE 14TH-19TH CENTURIES

2008-05-27T03:19:00.000-07:00

The National Gallery of Art holds approximately 2,100 works of Western sculpture. This selection includes many of the finest examples from the period 1300-1900. It covers a wide range of materials and techniques and gives some idea of the variety of purposes that sculpture has traditionally served.

The earliest works here—the Pisan Annunciation pair and the English Saint George—were devotional sculptures, made to stand on an altar or elsewhere in a church or chapel, to teach religious lessons, inspire faith, and invite divine favor for their donors. Another major task for sculptors throughout history was the portrait bust, especially in demand during the Renaissance. The Gallery holds many fine examples of these busts as well as of Renaissance portrait medals, which were made as gifts for friends or political allies, often to commemorate important events. Such medals might be worn or kept as desk or pocket objects. Statues of mythological subjects embellished the palaces and gardens of the powerful and now are displayed at the National Gallery. Great civic monuments were produced by sculptors in the nineteenth century; a small bronze version of Rodin's Jean d'Aire is part of the Gallery's collection. The most revolutionary sculpture in the present group is the last, The Tub in wax by Degas, a highly personal and experimental study combining freely modeled naturalistic forms with geometric composition and incorporating everyday objects.

Bridges

2008-05-13T04:02:00.000-07:00

A bridge is a device that allows you to segment a large network into two smaller, more efficient networks. If you are adding to an older wiring scheme and want the new network to be up-to-date, a bridge can connect the two.

A bridge monitors the information traffic on both sides of the network so that it can pass packets of information to the correct location. Most bridges can "listen" to the network and automatically figure out the address of each computer on both sides of the bridge. The bridge can inspect each message and, if necessary, broadcast it on the other side of the network.

The bridge manages the traffic to maintain optimum performance on both sides of the network. You might say that the bridge is like a traffic cop at a busy intersection during rush hour. It keeps information flowing on both sides of the network, but it does not allow unnecessary traffic through. Bridges can be used to connect different types of cabling, or physical topologies. They must, however, be used between networks with the same protocol.

Use by drivers

2008-05-05T19:05:00.001-07:00

Using Mobile phone while driving is a common but controversial. Using a mobile phone while driving is an obstruction to vehicle operation that can increase the risk of road traffic accidents, but different studies have found different relative risks (RR).

Meta-analysis by The Canadian Automobile Association and The University of Illinois found that response time while using both hands-free and hand-held phones was approximately 0.5 standard deviations higher than normal driving.

Other research has found that using a mobile phone while driving may reduce and also divert the driver's concentration and reaction time. People in or near their 20s who use a mobile phone while driving have the same reaction time as 72-year-olds.There is a law which restricts drivers under the age of 18 from using a mobile phone at all. According to this law $20 fine for the first offense and $50 fines for each subsequent conviction…

Social Networking Sites: Safety Tips for Tweens and Teens

2008-04-29T03:13:00.000-07:00

While social networking sites can increase your circle of friends, they also can increase your exposure to people with less-than-friendly intentions. Here are some things you can do to socialize safely online:

* Think about how different sites work before deciding to join a site. Some sites allow only a defined community of users to access posted content; others allow anyone and everyone to view postings.
* Keep some control over the information you post by restricting access to your page.
* Keep your full name, Social Security number, address, phone number, and bank or credit card account numbers to yourself.
* Make sure your screen name doesn't say too much about you. Even if you think it makes you anonymous, it doesn't take a genius to combine clues to figure out who you are and where you can be found.
* Post only information that you are comfortable with others seeing and knowing.
* Consider not posting your photo. It can be altered or broadcast in ways you may not be happy about.
* Flirting with strangers online could have serious consequences. Some people lie about who they really are.
* Be wary if a new friend wants to meet you in person. If you decide to meet them, meet in a public place, during the day, with friends you trust. And tell a responsible adult where you're going.
* Trust your gut if you have suspicions. If you feel threatened by someone or uncomfortable because of something online, tell an adult you trust, and then report it to the police.

Pop Art

2008-04-22T16:32:00.000-07:00

It is a moot point as to whether the most extraordinary innovation of 20th-century art was Cubism or Pop Art. Both arose from a rebellion against an accepted style: the Cubists thought Post-Impressionist artists were too tame and limited, while Pop Artists thought the Abstract Expressionists pretentious and over-intense. Pop Art brought art back to the material realities of everyday life, to popular culture (hence "pop''), in which ordinary people derived most of their visual pleasure from television, magazines, or comics.

Pop Art emerged in the mid 1950s in England, but realized its fullest potential in New York in the '60s where it shared, with Minimalism, the attentions of the art world. In Pop Art, the epic was replaced with the everyday and the mass-produced awarded the same significance as the unique; the gulf between "high art'' and "low art'' was eroding away. The media and advertising were favorite subjects for Pop Art's often witty celebrations of consumer society. Perhaps the greatest Pop artist, whose innovations have affected so much subsequent art, was the American artist, Andy Warhol (1928-87).

The term "Pop Art'' was first used by the English critic Lawrence Alloway in a 1958 issue of Architectural Digest to describe those paintings that celebrate post-war consumerism, defy the psychology of Abstract Expressionism, and worship the god of materialism. The most famous of the Pop artists, the cult figure Andy Warhol,recreated quasi-photographic paintings of people or everyday objects.

2008-04-07T23:36:00.000-07:00

blogs123

Nokia N78 - packed with only the best techs
Nokia N78 is designed to take all advantage of the new suite of Nokia services, including the Nokia Music Store, Nokia Maps, and Share on Ovi etc.....

The Nokia N78 packs a powerful range of technologies, including integrated A-GPS, with free Nokia Maps, WLAN and high-speed HSPDA 3G connectivity, a 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, and support for microSD memory card, currently available at up to 8 GB. The novelties of the N78 are geotagging of photos and an integrated FM transmitter that allows music to be played on any FM radio, in a car or at home.

The N78 is expected to start shipping during the second quarter of 2008, with an estimated retail price of approximately 350 euros,before taxes....

WAP / GPRS / UMTS / HSDPA multiplayer game

2008-03-24T19:37:00.000-07:00

A GPRS connection which is regular among GSM mobile phones can be used to share the data globally. Developers can connect a mass number of mobile games with a single server and distribute data among the players. Some developers have achieved cross platform games, allowing a mobile player to play against a PC. WAP and GPRS best supports twist based games and small RPG games. Most of the counties have a weak GPRS velocity in their carriers. In these types of games, the game communicates with a global server which takes action like a router between the mobile phones. Faster connections like UMTS and HSDPA allow real time multiplayer gaming though speeds will still supply some level of lag. Currently, there are a lot of multiplayer mobile games entering the market.

Features of Mobile phone

2008-03-17T18:55:00.000-07:00

There are significant questions as to who first invented the camera phone, as numerous other people acknowledged patents filed in the early 1990s for the device, including David M. Britz of AT&T Research in March of 1994 and Philippe Kahn, who claims to have first invented it in 1997. The camera phone now holds 85% of the mobile phone marketplace. Mobile phones often have features beyond transfer text messages and making voice calls, including Internet browsing, music (MP3) playback, memo recording, personal organizer functions, e-mail, instant messaging, built-in cameras and camcorders, ringtones, games, radio, Push-to-Talk (PTT), infrared and Bluetooth connectivity, call registers, ability to watch streaming video or download video for later viewing, video calling and serve as a wireless modem for a PC, and soon will also provide as a console of sorts to online games and other high quality games (e.g. Final Fantasy Agito).

Uses & Design of Supercomputer

2008-03-10T19:22:00.000-07:00

Uses

Supercomputers are used for extremely calculation-intensive tasks such as weather forecasting, climate research (including research into global warming), molecular modeling (computing the structures and properties of chemical compounds, biological macromolecules, polymers, and crystals), physical simulations (such as simulation of airplanes in wind tunnels, simulation of the detonation of nuclear weapons, and research into nuclear fusion), cryptanalysis, and the like. Military and scientific agencies are important users.

Design

Supercomputers traditionally gained their speed over conventional computers through the use of inventive designs that allow them to perform many tasks in parallel, as well as complex detail engineering. They tend to be specialized for certain types of computation, generally numerical calculations, and perform poorly at more general computing tasks. Their memory hierarchy is very carefully designed to make certain the processor is kept fed with data and instructions at all times—in fact, much of the performance difference between slower computers and supercomputers is due to the memory hierarchy design and componentry. Their I/O systems have a propensity to be designed to support high bandwidth, with latency less of an issue, because supercomputers are not used for transaction processing.

As with all highly parallel systems, Amdahl's law applies, and supercomputer designs devote huge effort to eliminating software serialization, and using hardware to accelerate the remaining bottlenecks.

Earth science in Natural Science

2008-03-04T19:10:00.001-08:00

Earth science (also known as geoscience, the geosciences or the Earth Sciences), is an all-embracing word for the sciences related to the planet Earth, including geology, geophysics, hydrology, meteorology, physical geography, oceanography, and soil science.

Although mining and precious stones have been human interests right through the history of civilization, their development into the sciences of economic geology and mineralogy did not occur until the 18th century. The learning of the earth, particularly palaeontology, blossomed in the 19th century and the growth of other disciplines like geophysics in the 20th century led to the development of the theory of plate tectonics in the 1960s, which has had a similar impact on the Earth sciences as the theory of evolution had on biology. Earth sciences nowadays are closely linked to climate research and the petroleum and mineral exploration industries.

2008-02-25T18:07:00.000-08:00

Paper Density

The paper density of a type of paper or cardboard is the collection of the product per unit of area. Two ways of expressing paper density are usually used:

* Expressed in grams per square metre (g/m²), paper density is also called as grammage. This is the evaluate used in most parts of the world.

* Expressed in conditions of the mass (in pounds) of a ream of 500 (or in some cases 1000) sheets of a specified (raw, still uncut) basis size, paper density is called as basis weight. The base size and area used here based on the product type. This convention is used in the United States, and (to a lesser degree) in a very little number of other countries that use United States paper sizes. Japanese paper is articulated as the weight in kg of 1000 sheets.

2008-02-19T17:59:00.000-08:00

Barcode Printer

A barcode printer (or bar code printer) is a computer peripheral for printing barcode labels or tags that can be fond of to physical objects. Barcode printers are normally used to label cartons before shipment, or to label retail items with UPCs or EANs.

The most regular barcode printers employ one of two different printing technologies. Direct thermal printers use a printhead to produce heat that causes a chemical reaction in specially designed paper that turns the paper black. Thermal transfer printers also use heat, but instead of reacting the paper, the heat melts a waxy or resin material on a ribbon that runs over the label or tag material. The heat transfers ink starting the ribbon to the paper. Direct thermal printers are normally less expensive, but they produce labels that can become illegible if exposed to heat, direct sunlight, or chemical vapors.

Barcode printers are designed for various markets. Industrial barcode printers are used in big warehouses and manufacturing facilities. They have big paper capacities, operate faster and have a longer service life. For retail and office environments, desktop barcode printers are most regular.

2008-02-11T17:35:00.000-08:00

Obsolete And Special-Purpose Printing Technologies

The following technologies are either obsolete, or limited to particular applications though most were, at one time, in widespread use.

Thermal printers work by selectively heating regions of particular heat-sensitive paper. These printers are limited to special-purpose applications such as money registers and the printers in ATMs and gasoline dispensers. They are also used in some older reasonably priced fax machines.

Impact printers rely on a forcible impact to transfer ink to the media, like to the action of a typewriter. All but the dot matrix printer rely on the use of shaped characters, letterforms that represent each of the characters that the printer was capable of printing. In addition, most of these printers were restricted to monochrome printing in a single typeface at one time, although bolding and underlining of text could be done by overstriking, that is, printing two or more impressions in the same character position. Impact printers varieties contain, Typewriter-derived printers, Teletypewriter-derived printers, Daisy wheel printers, Dot matrix printers and Line printers. Dot matrix printers remain in general use in businesses where multi-part forms are printed, such as car rental service counters.

Pen-based plotters were an alternate printing technology once general in engineering and architectural firms. Pen-based plotters rely on contact with the paper (but not impact, per se), and particular purpose pens that are mechanically run over the paper to create text and images.

2008-02-06T18:19:00.000-08:00

The real facts about Earth

The Earth's surface is exceptionally young. In the relatively short (by astronomical standards) time of 500,000,000 years or so erosion and tectonic processes destroy and restructure most of the Earth's surface and thus eliminate almost all traces of earlier geologic surface history (such as impact craters). Thus the very before time on history of the Earth has mostly been erased. The Earth is 4.5 to 4.6 billion years old, but the oldest recognized rocks are about 4 billion years aged and rocks older than 3 billion years are rare. The oldest fossils of presented organisms are less than 3.9 billion years old. There is no evidence of the critical period when life was first getting in progress.

The Earth's environment is 77% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, with draws of argon, carbon dioxide and water. There was perhaps a very much bigger amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere when the Earth was first created, but it has since been nearly all incorporated into carbonate rocks and to a smaller extent dissolved into the oceans and consumed by living plants. Plate tectonics and biological processes now keep a frequent flow of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to these various "sinks" and back over again. The little amount of carbon dioxide occupant in the atmosphere at any time is very important to the maintenance of the Earth's surface temperature through the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse consequence raises the average surface temperature regarding 35 degrees C above what it would if not be (from a frigid -21 C to a comfortable +14 C); without it the oceans would freeze and life as we know it would be impossible.

2008-01-28T17:55:00.001-08:00

Earth

Earth is the third planet on or after the Sun and the fifth largest of the planet. Earth is the only planet whose English forename does not originate from Greek/Roman mythology. The name derives from Old English and Germanic.

Earth, for sure, can be studied exclusive of the aid of spacecraft. However it was not until the twentieth century that we had maps of the complete planet. Pictures of the planet taken from space are of significant importance; for example, they are a huge help in weather prediction and especially in tracking and predicting hurricanes, they are amazingly beautiful. The Earth's magnetic field and its relationships with the solar wind also generate the Van Allen emission belts, a pair of doughnut shaped rings of ionized gas (or plasma) trapped in orbit just about the Earth. The on the outside belt stretches from 19,000 km in altitude to 41,000 km; the inner belt lies involving 13,000 km and 7,600 km in altitude.

2008-01-20T18:15:00.001-08:00

Venus and Earth

Venus is by the side of times regarded as Earth's sister planet. In some ways they are particularly similar:

* Venus is only a bit of smaller than Earth (95% of Earth's diameter, 80% of Earth's mass).

* Both have a small number of craters representing relatively young surfaces.

* Their densities and chemical compositions are in a similar way.

Because of these similarities, it was measured that below its dense clouds Venus might be very earthlike and power even have life. However, unfortunately, more detailed study of Venus reveals that in plenty of important ways it is radically different from Earth. It may be the smallest amount hospitable place for life in the solar system.

The strength of Venus' atmosphere at the surface is 90 atmospheres (about the same as the pressure at a deepness of 1 km in Earth's oceans). It is collected generally of carbon dioxide. There are numerous layers of clouds many kilometers bulky composed of sulfuric acid. These clouds entirely incomprehensible our view of the surface. This thick atmosphere creates a run-away greenhouse effect that raises Venus' face temperature by about 400 degrees to over 740 K (hot enough to melt lead). Venus' surface is truly hotter than Mercury's in spite of creature nearly twice as far from the Sun. The oldest terrains on Venus appear to be regarding 800 million years old. Extensive volcanism at that time wiped out the in move ahead surface counting any large craters from early in Venus' history.

2008-01-07T18:46:00.001-08:00

The facts about Venus

Venus (Greek: Aphrodite; Babylonian: Ishtar) is the goddess of feel affection and beauty. The planet is so named the majority likely because it is the brightest of the planets recognized to the ancients. Venus has been identified since prehistoric times. It is the brightest thing in the sky not including for the Sun and the Moon. Like Mercury, it was generally thought to be two part bodies: Eosphorus as the morning star and Hesperus as the sunset star, but the Greek astronomers knew better.

Venus' rotary motion is rather unusual in that it is both very slow (243 Earth days per Venus day, somewhat longer than Venus' year) and retrograde. Moreover, the periods of Venus' rotary movement and of its orbit are synchronized such that it for all time presents the same face in the direction of Earth when the two planets are at their neighboring approach.

2008-01-01T02:20:00.000-08:00

Mercury's dense iron core

Mercury is to a great extent denser than the Moon (5.43 gm/cm3 vs. 3.34). Mercury is the second densest mainly important body in the solar system, after Earth. Actually Earth's density is outstanding in part to gravitational density; if not for this, Mercury would be denser than Earth. This signifies that Mercury's dense iron core is reasonably larger than Earth, probably comprises the greater part of the planet. Mercury therefore has only a comparatively thin silicate mantle and crust.

Mercury's inner is under enemy control by a big iron core whose radius is 1800 to 1900 km. The silicate on the outside shell (analogous to Earth's mantle and crust) is just 500 to 600 km thick. At least several of the core is perhaps molten. Mercury truly has an enormously thin atmosphere consisting of atoms blasted off its surface by the solar wind. Because Mercury is so hot, these atoms speedily flee into space.

2007-12-25T18:24:00.001-08:00

The facts about Mercury

Mercury is the in close proximity planet to the Sun and the eighth biggest. Mercury is somewhat slighter in diameter than the moons Ganymede and Titan but more than twice as enormous.

Mercury's orbit is exceptionally eccentric; at perihelion it is just 46 million km from the Sun but at aphelion it is 70 million. The position of the perihelion processes regarding the Sun at a very slow rate. 19th century astronomers made extremely careful explanation of Mercury's orbital parameters but could not sufficiently explain those using Newtonian mechanics. The tiny differences between the experimental and predicted values were a slight but nagging problem for many decades. It was thought that one more planet (sometimes called Vulcan) slightly nearer to the Sun than Mercury power account for the discrepancy. But in spite of much effort, no such planet was found. The real reply turned out to be much more dramatic: Einstein's General Theory of Relativity! Its right forecast of the motions of Mercury was a main factor in the early acceptance of the theory.

2007-12-17T18:41:00.000-08:00

Vehicle

The Trikke is a Human mechanical Vehicle (HPV) This article is about the means of transport. For additional uses see Vehicle (disambiguation).

Vehicles are lifeless means of transportation. They are nearly everyone often man-made (e.g. bicycles, cars, motorcycles, trains, ships, and aircraft), although some other means of transportation which are not made by man can also be called vehicles; examples include icebergs and floating tree trunks.

Vehicles possibly will be propelled by animals, e.g. a chariot or an ox-cart. However, animals on their own, although used as a means of transportation, are not called vehicles. This includes humans carrying another human, for example a child or a disabled person.

Vehicles that do not voyage on land are often called crafts, such as watercraft, sailcraft, aircraft, hovercraft and spacecraft.

Most land vehicles contain wheels. Please observe the wheel article for examples of vehicles with and without wheels.

Movement without the rally round of a vehicle or an animal is called locomotion. The word vehicle itself comes starting the Latin vehiculum.

2007-12-12T18:15:00.000-08:00

Abstract art

Abstract art is now typically understood to mean art that does not depict objects in the natural world, but instead uses color and form in a non-representational way. In the very near the beginning 20th century, the term was more often used to describe art, such as Cubist and Futurist art, that depicts real forms in a simplified or rather reduced way—keeping only an allusion of the original natural subject. Such paintings were often claimed to capture astonishing of the depicted objects' immutable intrinsic qualities rather than its external appearance. The additional precise terms, "non-figurative art," "non-objective art," and "non-representational art" keep away from any possible ambiguity.

2007-12-04T19:27:00.000-08:00

Bay of Bengal

The Bay of Bengal is a cove that forms the northeastern ingredient of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in form, and is enclosed on the east by Malay Peninsula, and on the west by India. On the northern pour of the "bay" lies the Bengal region, comprising the Indian state of West Bengal and the country of Bangladesh, thus the name. The southern boundaries arrive at the island country of Sri Lanka, and the Indian Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The Bay of Bengal occupies a region of 2,172,000 km². It is bordered by India and Sri Lanka to the West, Bangladesh to the North, and Myanmar and the southern division of Thailand to the East. Its southern border extends as an imaginary line from Dondra Head at the southern end of Sri Lanka to the northern angle of Sumatra. A number of huge rivers – Ganges, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Godavari, Mahanadi, Krishna and Cauvery – run into the Bay of Bengal. Among the vital ports are Yangon, Kolkata/Calcutta, Chittagong, Cuddalore, Kakinada, Machlipatnam, Madras, Paradip and Vishakapatnam.

2007-11-26T17:45:00.000-08:00

Salad

Salad is a light meal — or, as part of a bigger meal, much more of an taster — consisting of varied vegetables (usually including at least one leaf vegetable) or fruit, frequently with a dressing or sauce, occasionally nuts and sometimes with the addition of meat, fish or cheese. It is usually seen as a healthy dish, even though not always low in calories, salt, sugar, or fat because of the dressing that is often added. The word "salad" comes from the French salade of the identical meaning, which in twist is from the Latin salata, "salty", from sal, "salt".

2007-11-19T17:47:00.001-08:00

Traffic light

A traffic light or traffic signal is a signalling device positioned at a road junction or pedestrian crossing to indicate when it is safe to drive, ride or walk, using a universal color code.Traffic lights for usual vehicles or pedestrians always have two main lights, a red one that means stop and a green one that means go. Generally, the red light contains some orange in its hue, and the green light contains some blue, to provide some support for people with red-green color blindness. In most countries there is also a yellow (or amber) light, which when on and not flashing means stop if able to do so securely. In some systems, a flashing amber means that a motorist may go in advance with care if the road is clear, giving way to pedestrians and to other road vehicles that may have precedence. A flashing red effectively means the same as a regular stop sign. There may be additional lights (usually a green arrow or "filter") to allow turns (called a lead light in the U.S., because it is usually leading the main green light).

2007-11-12T17:52:00.000-08:00

Players of Cricket

A team contains an eleven players. Depending on his or her most important skills, a player may be classified as a specialist batsman or bowler. A balanced team generally has five or six expert batsmen and four or five expert bowlers. Teams nearly for all time include a specialist wicket-keeper because of the importance of this fielding position. Each team is headed by a captain, who is in charge for making strategic decisions such as determining the batting order, the placement of fielders and the rotation of bowlers.

A player who excels in both batting and bowling is called as an all-rounder. One who excels as a batsman and wicket-keeper is known as a "wicket-keeper/batsman", sometimes regarded as a kind of all-rounder. True all-rounders are rare; most players focal point on either batting or bowling skills.

2007-11-05T18:29:00.000-08:00

One-day Match & Draw Match

If the team batting last is all out, and in cooperation sides have scored the same number of runs, then the match is a tie; this result is reasonably rare in matches of two innings a side. In the traditional form of the game, if the time allotted for the match expires before either side can win, then the game is declared a draw.

If the match has only a single innings for each side, then a maximum number of deliveries for every innings is often imposed. Such a match is called a "limited overs" or "one-day" match, and the side scoring more runs wins in spite of of the number of wickets lost, so that a draw cannot occur. If this kind of match is for the moment interrupted by bad weather, then a complex mathematical formula, known as the Duckworth-Lewis method after its developers, is often used to recalculate a new aim score. A one-day match can also be declared a "no-result" if less than a previously agreed number of overs have been bowled by either team, in circumstances that make normal recommencement of play impossible; for example, wet weather.

2007-10-29T21:17:00.000-07:00

Results of cricket

If the team that bats last is all out previous to it has reached the total required to win, it is said to have "lost by n runs" (where n is the difference between the number of runs scored by the teams). If the team that bats very last scores enough runs to win, it is said to have "won by n wickets", where n is the number of wickets left to fall. For occurrence a team that passes its opponents' score having only lost six wickets would have won "by four wickets".

In a two-innings-a-side match, one team's combined first and second innings total may be less than the another side's first innings total. The team with the greater score is then said to have won by an innings and n runs, and does not require to bat again: n is the difference between the two teams' aggregate scores.

2007-10-22T19:35:00.001-07:00

Overview of Cricket

The aim of the batting team is to score as several runs as possible. A run is scored when both batsmen effectively move to their respective opposite ends of the pitch. (The batsmen will usually only attempt to score runs after the striker has hit the ball, but this is not required by the rules—the batsmen can attempt runs at any time after the ball has been bowled.) Runs are also scored if the batsman hits the ball to the boundary of the before a live audience area (this scores six runs if the ball crosses the boundary without having touched the ground, or four runs otherwise), or if the bowler commits some technical contravention like bowling the ball out of reach of the batsman.[citation needed]

The aim of the bowler's side is to get each batsman out (this is called a "taking a wicket", or a "dismissal"). Dismissals are achieved in a different ways. The most straight way is for the bowler to bowl the ball so that the batsman misses it and it hits the stumps, dislodging a bail. While the batsmen are attempting a run, the fielders may dismiss either batsman by using the ball to beat the bails off the set of stumps to which the batsman is closest before he has grounded himself or his bat in the crease. Other ways for the fielding side to dismiss a batsman contain catching the ball off the bat before it touches the ground, or having the batsman adjudged "leg before wicket" (abbreviated "L.B.W." or "lbw") if the ball strikes the batsman's body and would have gone on to hit the wicket. Once the batsmen are not attempting to achieve any more runs, the ball is "dead", and is bowled again (each attempt at bowling the ball is a "ball" or a "delivery").

2007-10-15T22:36:00.000-07:00

History of cricket

Cricket has been a standard team sport for hundreds of years. It originated in its modern form in England and is most well-liked in the present and earlier members of the Commonwealth. Cricket is the second the majority popular sport in the world. More than a hundred cricket-playing nations are familiar by the International Cricket Council. In the countries of South Asia, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, cricket is the most well-liked sport. It is also a main sport in England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe and the English-speaking countries of the Caribbean, which are together known in cricketing parlance as the West Indies. There are also well-established part-time club competitions in countries as diverse as the Netherlands, Kenya, Nepal and Argentina, among others.

2007-10-08T21:11:00.001-07:00

Cricket

Cricket is a bat-and-ball sport contest by two teams, regularly of eleven players each.A cricket match is played on a grass ground, roughly oval in shape, in the centre of which is a flat strip of ground 22 yards (20.12 m) long, called a cricket pitch. A wicket, regularly made of wood, is placed at each end of the pitch.

The bowler, a player from the fielding team, hurls a hard, fist-sized cricket ball from the surrounding area of one wicket towards the other. The ball usually bounces once before attainment the batsman, a player from the opposing team. In boldness of the wicket, the batsman plays the ball with a wooden cricket bat. Meanwhile, the other members of the bowler's team stand in different positions around the field as fielders, players who retrieve the ball in an effort to stop the batsman scoring, and if possible to get him or her out. The batsman—if he or she does not get out—may run between the wickets, exchanging ends with a second batsman (the "non-striker"), who has been coming up near the bowler's wicket. Each completed exchange of ends scores one run. Runs are also scored if the batsman hits the ball to the boundary of the in performance area. The match is won by the team that team must took more runs.

2007-09-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

Krill fishery

Krill fishery is the profitable fishery of krill, small shrimp-like marine animals that live in the oceans world-wide. Estimates for how much krill there is vary wildly, depending on the methodology used. They range from 125–725 million tones of biomass globally. The total global harvest of krill from all fisheries amounts to 150 – 200,000 tones annually, mainly Antarctic krill (Euphausia superb) and North Pacific krill (E. Pacifica).

Krill are rich in protein (40% or more of dry weight) and lipids (about 20% in E. superb). Their exoskeleton amounts to some 2% of dry weight of chitin. They also contain traces of a wide array of hydrolytic enzymes such as proteases, carbohydrates, nucleases and phospholipids, which are intense in the digestive gland in the cephalothoraxes of the krill.

2007-09-17T22:23:00.000-07:00

Pollen

Pollen is a fine to coarse powder consisting of micro gametophytes (pollen grains), which create the male gametes (sperm cells) of seed plants. The pollen grains with its hard coat protect the sperm cells throughout the process of their movement between the stamens of the flower to the pistil of the next flower.

2007-09-10T21:34:00.001-07:00

Earth's atmosphere

Earth's atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth and retain by the Earth's gravity. It contains roughly (by molar content/volume) 78% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.038% carbon dioxide; trace amounts of other gases, and a changeable amount (average around 1%) of water vapor. This mixture of gases is usually known as air. The atmosphere protects life on Earth by captivating ultraviolet solar radiation and reducing temperature extremes between day and night.

There is no exact border between the atmosphere and outer space, it slowly becomes thinner and fades into liberty. Three quarters of the atmosphere's mass is within 11 km of the terrestrial surface. In the United States, people who travel above a height of 80.5 km (50 statute miles) are selected astronauts. An altitude of 120 km (400,000 ft) marks the boundary where atmospheric property becomes obvious during re-entry. The Kármán line, at 100 km (328,000 ft), is also often regarded as the boundary between atmosphere and outer space.

2007-09-04T23:00:00.001-07:00

Dance

Dance means in Old French dancier, perhaps from Frankish generally refers to human movement also used as a form of expression or presented in a social, spiritual or performance setting.

Dance also is used to explain methods of non-verbal communication (see body language) between humans or animals (bee dance, mating dance), motion in inanimate objects (the leaves danced in the wind), and certain musical forms or genres.

Choreography is the art of making dances, and the human being who does this is called a choreographer.

Definitions of what constitutes dance are dependent on social, cultural, visual, artistic and moral constraints and variety from functional movement (such as folk dance) to codified, virtuoso techniques such as ballet. Dance disciplines live in sports such as gymnastics, figure skating, and synchronized swimming and martial arts kata are often compare to dance.

2007-08-27T22:30:00.000-07:00

Leaf vegetable

Leaf vegetables, also called potherbs, greens, or leafy greens, are plant leaves eat as a vegetable; sometimes attend by tender petioles and shoots. Although they come from a very broad diversity of plants, most share a great deal with other leaf vegetables in nutrition and cooking methods.

Nearly one thousand types of plants with edible leaves are known Leaf vegetables most often come from short-lived herbaceous plants such as lettuce and spinach. Woody plants whose leaves can be eaten as leaf vegetables include Adenosine, Aralia, and Moringa, Morus, and Toona species.

The leaves of many fodder crops are also edible by humans, but frequently only eaten under famine conditions. Examples include alfalfa, clover, and most grasses, as well as wheat and barley. These plants are often much more prolific than more traditional leaf vegetables, but utilization of their rich nutrition is difficult, primarily because of their high fiber content. This obstacle can be overcome by further giving out such as drying and grinding into powder or pulping and pressing for juice.

During the first half of the 20th century many grocery stores with vegetable sections sold small bunch of herbs tied with a thread to small green and red peppers known as "potherbs."

2007-08-21T21:52:00.001-07:00

Chemistry

Chemistry is the science of matter at the atomic to molecular scale, production mainly with collections of atoms, such as gases, molecules, crystals, and metals. Chemistry deals with the composition and statistical properties of such structures, as well as their transformations and interactions to become materials encountered in daily life. Chemistry also deals with sympathetic the properties and interactions of individual atoms with the purpose of applying that knowledge at the macroscopic level. According to contemporary chemistry, the physical properties of materials are usually determined by their structure at the atomic scale, which is itself defined by interatomic forces.

2007-08-13T21:13:00.000-07:00

Chef's uniform

The conventional chef's uniform, including toque (traditional hat), white double breasted jacket, and checked pants are immediately recognized by most members of the Western world, especially in this day of television's celebrity chefs. The double breasted jacket can be inverted to conceal stains. Its thick cotton cloth protects from the heat of stove and oven and protects from splattering of steaming liquids. An apron is an obviously useful piece of utensils used to guard the rest of the wearer's garments from food splatters and stains.

The toque (chef's hat) dates back to the 16th century when hats were regular in many businesses. Different heights of hats point out rank within a kitchen. Some modern chefs have put their own diverse whirl on the traditional uniform. But the traditional, practical, clothing of the chef still remainders a standard in the food industry.

2007-08-07T21:26:00.000-07:00

Public transport

Public transport, public transportation, public travel or mass transit comprises all transport systems in which the passengers do not tour in their own vehicles. While it is generally taken to include rail and bus services, wider definitions would comprise scheduled airline services, ship, taxicab services etc. – any system that transports members of the universal public. A further restriction that is sometimes practical is that it must take place in shared vehicles that would bar taxis that are not shared-ride taxis.

2007-07-30T22:58:00.000-07:00

Software

Software basically is the distinct image or representation of physical or material position that constitute configuration to or functional identity of a machine, usually a computer. As a substance of memory, software in principle can be changed without the alteration to the static paradigm of the hardware thus without the remanufacturing thereof. Generally software is of an algorithmic form which translates into being to a progression of machine instructions. Some software, however, is relational forms which translate into being the map of a recognition network.

Software is a program that enables a computer to achieve a specific task, as contrasting to the physical components of the system. This include application software such as a word processor, which enables a user to achieve a task, and system software such as an operating system, which enables other software to run suitably, by interfacing with hardware and with other software.

2007-07-24T22:22:00.001-07:00

Hummingbird

Hummingbirds are small birds in the family Trochilidae, inhabitant only to the Americas. They are known for their aptitude to hover in mid-air by quickly flapping their wings, 15–80 times per second (depending on the species). The Giant Hummingbird's wings beat 8–10 beats per second, the wings of medium sized hummingbirds beat about 20–25 beats for each second and the smallest beat 70 beats per second. Capable of continued hovering, the hummingbird has the ability to fly intentionally backwards (this is the only group of birds able to do so or vertically, and to maintain position while drinking from flower blossoms. They are named for the feature hum made by their wings.

Hummingbirds are involved to many flowering plants—shrimp plants, Bee Balm, Helicon, Butterfly Bush, Hibiscus, bromeliads, cannas, verbenas, honeysuckles, salvias, pentas, fuchsias, many penstemons. It is frequently stated that they are especially attracted to red and yellow flowers.

2007-07-16T22:58:00.001-07:00

Robotics

It is the science and technology of robots, their plan, manufacture, and application.Robotics requires functioning information of electronics, mechanics, and software. A person functioning in the field is a roboticist. The word robotics was first used in issue by Isaac Asimov, in his science fiction short story "Runaround" (1941).

Although the outside and capabilities of robots vary extremely, all robots share the features of a mechanical, movable structure under some form of control. The chain is misshapen of links, actuators and joints which can allow one or more degrees of freedom. Most modern robots use open sequential chains in which each link connects the one before to the one after it. These robots are called serial robots and often look like the human arm. A few robots, such as the Stewart platform, use closed parallel kinematic chains. Other structures, such as those that imitate the mechanical structure of humans, diverse animals and insects, are relatively rare. However, the development and use of such structures in robots is a dynamic area of research. Robots used as manipulators have a finish effector mount on the last link. This end effector can be something from a welding mechanism to a mechanical provide used to manipulate the environment.

2007-07-11T22:38:00.001-07:00

Hardware and software design

Supercomputers using custom CPUs traditionally gained their speed over conventional computers through the use of innovative designs that allow them to carry out many tasks in parallel, as well as complex feature engineering. They tend to be expert for certain types of computation, usually numerical calculations, and perform poorly at more general computing tasks. Their memory hierarchy is very cautiously designed to ensure the processor is kept fed with data and commands at all times—in fact, much of the performance difference between slower computers and supercomputers is due to the memory hierarchy. Their I/O systems tend to be planned to support high bandwidth, with latency less of an issue, because supercomputers are not used for transaction processing.

As with all highly parallel systems, Amdahl's law applies, and supercomputer designs devote great effort to eliminate software serialization, and using hardware to speed up the remaining bottlenecks.

2007-06-28T00:41:00.000-07:00

Waka

In the Maori language, waka are Maori watercraft, generally canoes. Similar craft are encountered in Polynesia, with related names such as vaka.

Waka range is from small, lightweight canoes, such as waka tiwai used for fishing individuals, during very large waka taua, manned by up to eighty paddlers and up to fourty mtrs in length, large double-hulled canoes for oceanic voyaging.

Many waka are single-hulled vessels set from hollowed tree trunks. Small waka consist of an only piece while large waka usually consist of some pieces jointed and lashed together. Some waka, mainly in the Chatham Islands, were not accustomed canoes but were constructed from raupo stalks.

Ocean waka, Paddled could be in any size, but were generally propelled by sail. Waka taua are paddled to express their mana.

Small utilitarian waka are generally plain and unornamented. Superior canoes waka taua in particular, are highly carved. Waka taua are no longer used in warfare but mostly for ceremonial purposes.

2007-06-12T22:08:00.000-07:00

Punt

A punt is a flat-bottomed boat with a square-cut bow, planned for use in small rivers or other shallow water. Punting refers to boating in a punt; the punter normally propels the punt by pushing beside the river bed with a pole.
Punts were initially built as cargo boats or platforms for fowling and angling but in modern times their use is almost wholly confined to pleasure trips on the rivers in the university towns of Oxford and Cambridge in England and races at a few summer regattas on the Thames.
A customary river punt differs from many other types of wooden boat in that it has no keel, stem or sternpost. In its place it is built rather like a ladder with the main structure being two side panels connected by a series of 4 in (10 cm) cross planks, known as "treads", spaced about 1 foot (30 cm) apart.
The first punts are traditionally linked with the River Thames in England and were built as small cargo boats or platforms for fishermen. Pleasure punts — particularly built for recreation — became popular on the Thames between 1840 and 1860. Some other boats have a similar shape to a traditional punt — for example the Optimist training dinghy or the air boats used in the Everglades — but they are normally built with a box construction instead of the open ladder-like design of a traditional Thames pleasure punt.

2007-06-06T19:41:00.000-07:00

Pirogue

A pirogue is a small, flat-botomed boat of a design associated mainly with West African fishermen and the Cajuns of the Louisiana marsh. These boats are not typically intended for over-night travel but are light and small sufficient to be easily taken onto land. The design also allows the pirogue to move through very shallow water and be simply turned over to drain any water that may get into the boat. The pirogue's motion comes from paddles that contain one blade (as opposed to a kayak paddle, which has two). It can also be punted with a pole in low water.
There is not one pirogue plan, are several. Besides small pirogues as seen on the picture, there are also pirogues that can hold up to ten men with paddles and also characteristic a main sail. These are not planned (and should not be used) for open waters. They are only (and best) used close to shore.

2007-05-28T00:17:00.000-07:00

Lifeboat

A lifeboat is a rigid or inflatable boat planned to save the lives of people in trouble at sea. The term has somewhat special meanings in British and American usage. The British usage emphasizes particular vessels kept in harbor or near a harbor, often manned by volunteers, considered to quickly reach a ship in trouble. The term "lifeboat" in American usage normally refers to rigid or inflatable vessels accepted by larger ships to allow passengers and crew to escape in an emergency.
The first boat expert as a lifeboat was tested on the River Tyne on January 29, 1790. William would have and Lionel Lufkin both claim to be the inventor of the first lifeboat. One example of an early lifeboat was the Land guard Fort Lifeboat of 1821, considered by Richard Hall Gower.
In U.S. waters, rescue-at-sea is part of the duty of the United States Coast Guard, which employs its multipurpose ships and aircraft in this role. The Coast Guard is also responsible for making sure that the proper type and number of lifeboats (American usage) is available and kept in good repair on any large ship. "Lifeboat drills" are a division of a cruise experience.