Straight Flying Balls and WELCOME BACK VW!

Straight Flying Balls

http://www.houstongolfnut.com/golf-balls-that-fly-straight/

So we have golf balls that fly straight as an arrow and at low altitudes for a cleaner longer shot.  Looking at the science, the dimples in this ball are arranged to move the air around in a way to produce less fluctuation in flight.  It is quite the amazing feat, however, I doubt this ball is anything but legal in tournaments.  Not to mention the use of it kind of takes away from you developing your own skill, doesn't it?  A short read but something I found interesting none the less.  If you're a golfer and want to place bets on your shots, go for this ball! 

WELCOME BACK VW!

http://www.insideline.com/volkswagen/polo/vw-polo-r-wrc-to-contest-world-rally-championship-in-2013.html

Ok, so what if the VW company was produced by Adolf Hitler?  The brand is pretty darn good.  And with college financing options, the company actually tries to help people out rather than just shark a sale.  So when the brand practically disappeared from the WRC it was a bit upsetting for rally enthusiast, like myself, who always liked the styling of the Golf series. 

But it's back as Volkswagen enters the 2013 WRC rally with its new Polo R WRC model.  With a sweet turbocharged 1.6L TSI four banger, it will produce a regulation approved 300 horsepower.  With slick new styling and a rekindled enthusiasm from the Dakar winnings over the last three years, they really seem to be coming out strong.  Can't wait to watch the stages.

That's it for today.  Follow, comment, and enjoy!

Hurry! Before they disappear! and Long Life, Do You Want One?

Hurry! Before they disappear!

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/05/10/natural.wonders.to.see/index.html

Here's one for the wealthy vacationers, or those who like to dream.  Due to "global warming" and environmental damage from the (insert random number here) of environmentalist research surveys, there are many places around the world that could be disappearing soon.

But either way you look at it, people need to take time off from time to time.  And what better place to visit then one remote and environmentally fragile?  I'm just kidding.  It is actually noted that process of tourism is adding to the destruction of some of these locations, but the financial income from tourism is also benefiting the eco protection services.  Kind of a catch 22 if you ask me, but either way the places are very nice to visit. 

Checking out the sites like the Dead Sea, Madagascar, and even the Poles is not only a nice relaxation experience, but good for the dose of foreign education.  It is easy to read about something in a book, but experiencing it is a very much different thing. 

Google is your friend if you don't know all these locations and don't forget to think about the impact your visit could have.  I especially like the subliminal hint towards China on the last one of the article.  It made me LOL. 

Long Life, Do You Want One?

http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2011_05_06/caredit.a1100040

This article talks about the study of "Centenarians," which is a scientific name for those who live past 100 years of age.  It's an "ok" article briefly talking about genetics.  It doesn't go into as much detail as I would have liked.  After the brief notes you then read more about a woman by the name of Elizabeth Cirulli, and her adviser David Goldstein, and how they are doing research with Centenarians. 

The article then goes on about her past life and possible futures and studies.  And in all honesty, it was a boring read.  However, it did bring up an interesting discussion topic to conclude today's post.  Would you rather live a long life with the last couple decades of it stuck inside a house, possibly even on some sort of life support system.  Or would you rather die young doing something active and "living" your life?  Why or why not and what things could you do in your lifetime that you would feel "completed" by?

Hope you enjoyed today's topics.  Don't forget to take a break every now and then, and don't forget to discuss your thoughts.  Follow, Comment, Enjoy!

Garbage to Fuel Garbage Trucks and NYC Taxi Upgrade... Eventually

Garbage to Fuel Garbage Trucks
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Living-Green/2010/0107/California-garbage-trucks-fueled-by-garbage

Going to do another "green" post today.  And to start it off, we have California, again, finding alternate ways to reduce green house gasses; Garbage Trucks fueled by garbage... sorta. 

California has harnessed the many landfills around San Francisco (and a couple other smaller areas) to farm methane gas from them.  Bacteria deep inside the landfill produces this gas when breaking down organic matter.  The gas is then sucked up and processed to form a liquid fuel, which goes into garbage trucks to produce an alternate fuel source. 

This method isn't as "green" as finding an alternative energy source that doesn't require combustion power, however, this does greatly reduce pollution produced with conventional fuel burning.  Methane is considered a natural gas.  This gas burns much cleaner than fossil fuels which means less CO2 build up in our atmosphere.  Even though the trucks aren't powered by 100% pollution less energy sources, this does kill two birds with one stone by reducing the methane released into the atmosphere via landfills, AND by switching to a cleaner burning fuel for trucks already in use. 

There is a bit more info about politics and money regarding this method but I am never fond of the "I don't want to diminish my yearly returns for an upgrade" excuse.  Read the whole article for all the details.

NYC Taxi Upgrade...  Eventually
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110503/ap_on_re_us/us_nyc_s_new_taxi

Now this article seemed really interesting to me for a number of reasons.  New York City is planning on replacing more than 13,000 taxi cabs (eventually) with electric vehicles.  That is a very positive step towards a better cleaner tomorrow.  Something very few states are really even bothering with. 

The new taxi is going to be a Nissan NV200, still powered by fuel, and will be phased into use at the beginning of 2013 replacing the current Crown Victorias.  The platform is eventually going to be replaced with an electric engine as part of a plan to convert over to electric powered transportation.  Although this isn't going to happen for a while, it is good to know this new version is getting twice the amount of city fuel mileage as the Crown Vics.  This reduces pollution, fuel costs, and probably even the cost per trip to those using the public transportation system.  Great news for those paying $1500 for a studio apartment.

A number of other benefits for this replacement includes sliding doors for easy in and out of tight spaces, increased passenger accessibility, and glass roofs to allow tourists to get a new look of New York.  This is also the first vehicle used for public transportation that will come standard with passenger airbag safety equipment. 

There is more to the article talking about the other vehicles that were almost chosen for use.  Read the full article for all the info. 

Hope you enjoyed today's articles.  Follow, comment, and enjoy!