High power to weight ratio cars

Which is better for Earth : an electric or gas-powered vehicle? The answer to this question might seem blindingly obvious: Of course electric cars must be better for the environment, because they don’t have exhausts and so don’t emit greenhouse gasses as they drive. However, electric vehicles (EVs) aren't perfect, and they come with their own set of polluting problems. Notably, their batteries contain components, such as lithium , that require a significant amount of energy to source and extract. But battery production is just one part of an electric car's life span. A 2014 study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences looked at the entire life cycle of an EV's emissions, from mining the metals required for the batteries to producing the electricity needed to power them, and then compared this with the average emissions of a gas-powered vehicle. The team found that when electric vehicles are charged with coal-powered electricity, they’re … [Read more...] about Is an electric car better for the planet?

In "Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future" (Crown), New Yorker magazine writer Elizabeth Kolbert examines the seemingly futile efforts we human beings must engage in to address our species' depredation of the planet. That man should have dominion "over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth," is a prophecy that has hardened into fact. Choose just about any metric you want and it tells the same story. People have, by now, directly transformed more than half the ice-free land on earth – some twenty-seven million square miles – and indirectly half of what remains. We have dammed or diverted most of the world's major rivers. Our fertilizer plants and legume crops fix more nitrogen than all terrestrial ecosystems combined, and our planes, cars, and power stations emit about a hundred times more carbon dioxide than volcanoes do. We now routinely cause earthquakes. (A particularly damaging human-induced quake that shook Pawnee, Oklahoma, on the … [Read more...] about Book excerpt: “Under a White Sky” by Elizabeth Kolbert

The highly anticipated Mobile World Congress 2020 may have been cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns, but even without the three-day tech event that was supposed to have been held this month in Barcelona, Huawei pushed through with its own virtual launch on Tue (Feb 24, Monday evening in Singapore). At the event, which was livestreamed straight from the Spanish city, the Chinese tech giant unveiled three of its newest products: The Mate Xs foldable phone, MateBook Pro X laptop and MatePad Pro tablet. Here’s a quick rundown. THE HUAWEI MATE XS FOLDABLE PHONE After launching its Mate X foldable smartphone last year, Huawei has unveiled the second generation version, the Mate Xs. The new flagship, which is 5G-enabled, will have dual screens when folded: A 6.6-inch main screen and a 6.38-inch secondary screen. When unfolded outwards, the device transforms into an 8-inch tablet. Design-wise, it uses what Huawei calls a “Falcon Wing”, which has more than 100 … [Read more...] about First look at Huawei’s new foldable Mate Xs and MatePad Pro tablet

REUTERS: U.S. stocks ended sharply higher on Monday as signs of progress in developing a COVID-19 vaccine and a spurt of multibillion-dollar deals lifted investor optimism. Gains were broad-based, with all of the S&P 500 sectors ending in positive territory and real estate and technology leading gains. Drugmaker AstraZeneca resumed its British clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine, one of the most advanced in development. Also, Pfizer Inc rose 2.6per cent after the drugmaker and German biotech firm BioNTech SE proposed to expand their Phase 3 pivotal COVID-19 vaccine trial to about 44,000 participants. "The market loves anything with a vaccine because that is the ultimate solution here. And we'll see more and more headlines," on that going forward, said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment strategist at Inverness Counsel in New York. Merger-related news also lifted the market, and tech shares performed well but value-related sectors did as well, he said. That suggests … [Read more...] about Wall Street closes broadly higher on deal news, vaccine hopes

After being unveiled earlier this week, the Lexus LC 500h is back to reveal all of its technical specifications along with fresh imagery and footage. After being unveiled earlier this week, the Lexus LC 500h is back to reveal all of its technical specifications along with fresh imagery and footage. The rumors were true as the hybrid version of the LC 500 does indeed come with a 3.5-liter V6 gasoline engine working together with an electric motor. Also part of the package is a lithium-ion battery pack and a four-speed automatic transmission which has a manual mode. The combustion engine develops 295 horsepower (220 kilowatts) at 6,600 rpm and 257 pound-feet (348 newton meters) at 4,900 rpm, while the e-motor has 60 hp (44.6 kilowatts). This gives the hybridized coupe a combined output of 354 hp (264 kilowatts) which will be enough for a sprint to 62 miles (100 kilometers) per hour in less than five seconds. This is all possible thanks to Lexus’ “Multi Stage Hybrid System” … [Read more...] about Lexus LC 500h detailed, packs 354 hp [video]