The world’s first hydrogen-powered double decker bus has been revealed in Aberdeen, a move that demonstrates the city’s commitment to tackling air pollution and implementation of its Net Zero Vision. The Engineer reports: Hydrogen double deckers will now be driven around the city for several weeks during a period of final testing along with training for drivers. The UK’s first hydrogen…
Tag: Buses
With Ultralight Lithium-Sulfur Batteries, Electric Airplanes Could Finally Take Off
An anonymous reader shares a report from IEEE Spectrum, written by Mark Crittenden, head of battery development and integration at Oxis Energy: Electric aircraft are all the rage, with prototypes in development in every size from delivery drones to passenger aircraft. But the technology has yet to take off, and for one reason: lack of a suitable battery. For a large…
200 Scientists Say WHO Ignores the Risk That Coronavirus ‘Aerosols’ Float in the Air
“Six months into a pandemic that has killed over half a million people, more than 200 scientists from around the world are challenging the official view of how the coronavirus spreads,” reports the Los Angeles Times: The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention maintain that you have to worry about only two types of transmission:…
John Mooney, an Inventor of the Catalytic Converter, Dies at 90
John J. Mooney, an inventor of the catalytic converter, the small and ubiquitous device that makes the engines that power everything from cars to lawn mowers less polluting and more fuel efficient, died on June 16 at his home in Wyckoff, N.J. He was 90. From a report: The cause was complications of a stroke, his daughter Elizabeth Mooney Convery said….
America’s Switch To Remote Learning For 50 Million Students Called ‘A Failure’
“This spring, America took an involuntary crash course in remote learning,” writes the Wall Street Journal, noting it affected 50 million students from kindergarten through 12th grade. “With the school year now winding down, the grades from students, teachers, parents and administrators is already in: It was a failure…”
The problems began piling up almost immediately… Soon many districts weren’t requiring students…
Will Schools Turn to Surveillance Tech to Prevent Covid-19 Spread?
An anonymous reader quotes Wired:
When students return to school in New Albany, Ohio, in August, they’ll be carefully watched as they wander through red-brick buildings and across well-kept lawns — and not only by teachers. The school district, with five schools and 4,800 students, plans to test a system that would require each student to wear an electronic beacon to track…
How Iceland ‘Virtually Eliminated’ Its Coronavirus Cases
Iceland is the most sparsely-populated country in Europe, with a population of 364,134 spread across 40,000 square miles (103,000 square kilometers). But the New Yorker notes Iceland has “virtually eliminated” Covid-19 cases — and tries to explore how they did it. By February 28th, Iceland had already implemented a contact-tracing team. “And then, two hours later, we got the call,” remembers…
Carbon Emissions Dropped 17 Percent Globally Amid Coronavirus
An anonymous reader quotes a report from NBC News: The coronavirus pandemic has forced countries around the world to enact strict lockdowns, seal borders and scale back economic activities. Now, an analysis published Tuesday finds that these measures contributed to an estimated 17 percent decline in daily global carbon dioxide emissions compared to daily global averages from 2019. It’s a worldwide…
Paris Tries AI That Counts How Many People are Wearing Face Masks
“France is integrating new AI tools into security cameras in the Paris metro system to check whether passengers are wearing face masks,” reports the Verge:
The software, which has already been deployed elsewhere in the country, began a three-month trial in the central Chatelet-Les Halles station of Paris this week, reports Bloomberg. [Alternate source] French startup DatakaLab, which created the program, says…
White House Blocks CDC Guidance Over Economic and Religious Concerns
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: As President Trump rushes to reopen the economy, a battle has erupted between the White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over the agency’s detailed guidelines to help schools, restaurants, churches and other establishments safely reopen. A copy of the C.D.C. guidance obtained by The New York…