VW investigating 700 km electric vehicle battery

Actually, a bit more than investigate — they’ve bought a 5 percent holding in QuantumScape, the company developing the battery, with an option to buy a bigger share, after it makes a decision on the battery — “by July”.

And the battery? Its solid state, & in addition to higher capacity than other EV batteries, it’s variously described as, "fire proof", or, "fire resistant".

http://www.electric-vehiclenews.com/2015/03/vw-to-decide-on-new-battery-technology.html

http://cleantechnica.com/2015/01/01/vw-challenges-tesla-with-disruptive-new-ev-battery/ / Volkswagen new battery technology under development develop U.S. startup QuantumScape Corp electric cars technology’s boost the range battery powered vehicles tests are progressing VW Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn press conference Stuttgart Germany progress has been made VW acquired 5 percent holding QuantumScape German carmaker energy-storage technology fireproof vehicles luxury Porsche Audi divisions 700 km range
new power storage technology electric vehicle driving distance charge recharge recharges 700 kilometers 430 miles battery-powered version VW Golf closely held QuantumScape founded 2010 former Stanford University researchers solid-state batteries liquid electrolytes lithium-ion technology solid electrolytes burn resistant store more energy more power extend the range of electric vehicles Perovskite disruptive technology lithium ion LiIon research Stanford Friedrich Prinz CEO is Jagdeep Singh solid track record cutting edge tech graphene naturally occurring mineral all-electron battery AEB effect inclusions embedded dielectric two electrodes capacitor electrons tunnel through dielectric electrodes inclusions increasing the charge storage density conventional capacitor all electron battery TheEEStory QuantumScape patents forming processing antiperovskite doped aluminium crystal structure similar naturally occurring perovskite synthetic antiperovskites thin film antiperovskite deposited substrate electrode lithium-based electrochemical storage device thin film solid state electrolytes lithium ion batteries metallic lithium anode increases capacity energy density lithium-based electrochemical storage device Li3OBr Li3OCl demonstrated superionic conductivity LiRAPs investigated use solid state batteries cell cells /

Mobile document scanning apps

Credit: LifeHacker

Want to reduce the amount of paper in your life? Your smartphone camera, with suitable software, can not only scan, but correct, enhance, & store locally, or in the cloud. And you may already have the software: as you can see from the image above, Google Drive provides a scanning function in Android. Evernote does something similar in iOS.

http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2015/03/five-best-mobile-document-scanning-apps/?utm_source=Lifehacker+Australia&utm_campaign=cf24e551e1-lifehacker_2015_03_19&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9fc709844c-cf24e551e1-278953185 / scanning receipts travel notes on a whiteboard sketches envelope easy right tools best apps take a snapshot text recognition save scan cloud future reference other devices best smartphone apps image Evernote Google Drive Android iOS best tool scan keep track of receipts notes napkins sketches whiteboards productivity Google’s Drive apps Android scan documents OCR optical character recognition text documents scanning open Drive tap Add New select Scan photographs photos documents convert PDF Google Drive platforms scans saved on your device in your Google Drive account safe keeping retrieval later CamScanner Android iOS Windows Phone CamScanner freemium product easy to use scans document PDF directly performs OCR scanned documents important details prices dates titles multi-page batch scanning colour greyscale grayscale black-and-white scans files organised later retrieval auto-crop enhance scanned images sketches drawings annotate notes highlighting save your documents cloud access on other devices premium account additional features more cloud storage space editable OCR auto syncing other cloud services Box Dropbox Google Drive password protection shared PDF documents watermark your documents Mobile Document Scanning Apps titles multi-page batch scanning Genius Scan Grizzly Labs cross-platform document scanner automatically lines up isolates enhances final scan final image converting document PDF library email share basic editing tools auto cropping archiving fixes image perspective PDF generated upgrade premium version in-app purchase strips out the ads unlocks import PDFs automatic upload scan save to cloud storage services Dropbox Evernote Google Drive Scannable by Evernote user file organise account cropped remove backgrounds enhanced text readable business card contact contact card share other apps upload email camera roll unlocks premium version FineScanner document scanning tool languages translate export file image document types Office documents PDFs text image quality /

Solar Impulse approaching Varanasi, India

Support crew for the solar-powered round-the-world plane, Solar Impulse 2, is awaiting its arrival in Varanasi, India.

The sun is going down on #Varanasi as the #solarTEAM finally arrives to welcome @andreborschberg after #RTW #Flight3! pic.twitter.com/9Ra9p1ESSe

— SOLAR IMPULSE (@solarimpulse) March 18, 2015

/ Swiss pilot pilots first ever attempt fly around the world propelled the Sun André Borschberg compatriot Bertrand Piccard take turns piloting single seater seat Solar Impulse 2 21,747 miles 35,000 km kilometre 12 legs including gruelling five- to six-day stints across the Atlantic Pacific oceans entire journey will take five months Borschberg took the controls takeoff take off take-off Al-Bateen executive airport Abu Dhabi early on Monday first destination Muscat in Oman pilots roughly 250 hours each inside narrow cockpit no oxygen temperature control temperatures outside range between -40 degrees C to 40°C falling asleep flight need constant attention Piccard Borschberg survive 20-minute naps every two to four hours pilots will practise yoga stave off the physical discomfort remaining confined seat for days at a time Borschberg biggest challenge maintaining concentration Piccard psychiatrist team 1999 first circumnavigated globe non-stop balloon taught techniques of self-hypnosis meditation maintain concentration time duration in the present moment the only way is to be present almost a spiritual experience entire journey circumnavigating Earth in a family car aircraft weighs the same as a Volvo sedan comparable speeds SI2 top speed 87m/h 140km/h pilots conserve battery power limiting plane half cockpit only slightly larger average car contain life support systems food oxygen supplies reclining pilot’s seat triples bed chair toilet fly both day and night no fuel powered by 17,000 solar panels set on its wings wider Boeing 747’s fuselage 633kg bank of lithium batteries quarter weight store energy run motors overnight journey early days intercontinental flight enormous speed range jet engines Qantas fly Kangaroo Route Sydney to London hopping Darwin Singapore Kolkata Karachi Cairo Tripoli en route Borschberg success Solar Impulse project first solar-powered plane fly through the night first to fly between two continents primitive step toward zero-carbon jumbo combustion fossil fuels dominated powered flight 19th century dirigible aviation burns the most carbon per passenger per kilometre of any mode of mass-transport and, despite efforts to limit emissions, remains the fastest growing anthropogenic source of greenhouse gases sector climate change toughest major emissions source to decarbonise solar flight seeks remains decades away Wright Brothers Charles Lindbergh deputy editor Aerospace magazine Bill Read solar flight commercial flights solar cells generate power fly Solar Impulse fly using solar power constructed very light weight light-weight lightweight huge wingspan solar cell technology power source aircraft advances project real-world uses today fly Sun day and night build an aircraft extremely energy efficient technologies energy efficiency used in your home your car appliances four motors power aircraft generate heat energy efficiency single cheapest way reduce carbon emissions across the world technologies challenge energy environment pollution natural resources /

Liquid cooling for phone CPUs

Credit: Fujitsu/Android Police

Phone running too hot? Fujitsu may have a solution. A prototype liquid cooling system only 1 mm thick has been demonstrated.

No pump in the Fujitsu design, so no impact on battery life.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/03/16/fujitsu-shows-off-a-liquid-cooling-device-for-mobile-electronics-thats-just-1mm-thin/

http://www.ubergizmo.com/2015/03/fujitsu-unveils-liquid-cooling-tech-for-smartphones/

http://www.fujitsu.com/global/about/resources/news/press-releases/2015/0312-01.html / phone feel hot really hot mobile processor tech Fujitsu manufacturer OEM supplier thin cooling device for compact electronics liquid cooling solution designed high performance mobile chipset only one millimeter thin liquid cooling for electronics end gaming workstation PCs custom liquid cooling setups machines size power requirements Fujitsu's solution combination heatsink heat sink radiator moves evaporated coolant liquid heat generating component mobile CPU cooler area vapor condenses liquid hotter area again without additional electrical power pump passive liquid cooled system shed excess heat without extra battery drain Fujitsu move five times as much heat away from thermal hot spots previous passive solutions apparatus ranges 0.6mm thin evaporator 1mm thin condenser footprint spatial requirements high end tablets big smartphones device ready practical implementation 2017 year demonstrating Semiconductor Thermal Measurement Modeling Management Symposium San Jose evaporator vapor vapour line liquid condensor thermal diffusion plate temperature control diffuse disperse evaporate latent heat vaporisation condensation /

What Apple's website looked like in 1998

Credit: CBSNEWS

If it looks less sophisticated than you would expect from a multi-billion-dollar company, keep in mind that Apple was much smaller at that time, HTML itself was a lot less capable, most of the supporting technologies didn’t exist, & few users had the bandwidth to view anything more complex.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/this-is-what-apples-website-looked-like-in-1998/ / java javascript ADSL baud rate modem iMac MacBook Pro Apple Watch Netscape GIF /

Screwpop pocket utility knife

Credit: Screwpop

Uses a standard two or four notch utility blade, available at any hardware store.

http://the-gadgeteer.com/2015/03/13/screwpop-utility-knife-is-a-box-cutter-you-can-carry-on-your-keychain/

http://www.screwpoptool.com/utility-knife.html / Screwpop Utility Knife slimmest most compact design packing Utility Knife fits standard utility blade 2 or 4 notched notch four controlled depths of cuts ingenious lever system blade stop tension locks mechanical friction-fit engineering blade adjustment moving move lever thumb-nail thumb nail thumbnail users Utility Knife various cutting needs attaches keyrings carabiner clips fits small pocket TSA blade any hardware store /

We have seen the future & it is delightfully dull

Palo Alto to Las Vegas in a self driving Audi A7.



http://www.wired.com/2015/01/rode-500-miles-self-driving-car-saw-future-boring/

http://jalopnik.com/autonomous-audi-a7-drives-from-sf-to-vegas-probably-no-1677737814

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1029470_autonomous-audi-a7-concept-steers-itself-from-san-francisco-to-las-vegas-for-ces / Los Angeles driving down I-5 at the wheel sleek Audi A7 SUV waved with both hands safety hazard I hadn’t touched the steering wheel in more than an hour stickers on the car I was piloting Audi’s latest autonomous vehicle prototype designed handle the monotony of highway driving driving preparation day of training in Arizona ream of paperwork bureaucratic wrangling state of California issuing me a license to operate an autonomous vehicle riding along car of tomorrow autonomous road trip from Palo Alto California to Las Vegas Nevada Audi is showing off autonomous tech showrooms end of the decade Audi piloted driving German sedan cruising six radars three cameras two light detection and ranging LIDAR units computers analyze the road choose the optimal path maintaining a safe following distance smooth lane changes pass slower vehicles controlled by carbon-based life forms sophisticated grab the wheel tap the brake to immediately resume control Audi’s robo-car robot driver designed specifically for highway driving developing autonomous tech works only on the highway autonomous vehicles prototype doesn’t even have a steering wheel Google glorified version of adaptive cruise control lane departure warning autonomous A7 prototype technology production cars every major automaker experimenting with autonomous driving tech technology regulatory issues insurance questions consumer acceptance cars that drive themselves in all places at all times progressive slower timeline gives everyone time to accept the technology 2009 autonomous TTS 130 mph Bonneville salt flats winding course to the summit of Pikes Peak car controlled TTS lapped Thunderhill Raceway Park in 2012 autonomous RS7 150 mph Hockenheimring F1 track October controlled environment CES park itself drive itself through stop-and-go traffic Parking Pilot Traffic Jam Pilot Highway Pilot robot /