Mpg should be monitored

This article is trying to get the government to raise the average fuel economy standards to 40 miles to the gallon. They believe that this would save consumers money at the pump because they would not have to fill up the tank as often. Also as a result, it would lower the demand of oil and decrease the prices. Therefore, the consumers would be saving exponentially. There are many cars out today that produce over 40 miles per gallon. For example, the Toyota Prius gets 55mpg and the ford SUV Escape gets 35-40. Thus the technology to get an engine as efficient as 40 miles to the gallon and still keep the same performance and acceleration is here. We only need to apply it. I agree that the need for environmentally friendly cars is huge. It can also be a great economy booster. However, restricting car companies to average 40mpg for all their cars is outrageous. That would end the super cars who have mpg of around 15 or even 12. The whole idea of driving in America is about the open road and the freedom that it gives you when driving. By taking away the ability to feel the power of a 6L V8 or the sound of an Aston Martin V12 would be killing the entire culture of driving. This restriction of fuel economy would be, in my opinion, imposing on the rights of the citizens to express their selves and pursue happiness. The Declaration of Independence states that one of our unalienable rights is the right for the citizen to pursue happiness. No government law can restrict someone from pursuing happiness. If this law were passed requiring all car companies to average their fuel economy to 40 mpg then it would destroy many peoples ability to pursue happiness. It is quite simple that the reason people buy super cars and sports cars is not because they care about fuel economy or the environment. It is because they want to be entertained and enjoy their driving experience and be free. If this outrageous law is passed then citizens would not be able to buy a sports car and take it out for a joy ride on the highway when they please, and thus impairing their ability to pursue the happiness they get when they are driving. However, I do agree that increasing the miles per gallon of every car would decrease the demand of oil. As a result this would lower prices of gas and decrease our dependency on foreign oil. These are two key reasons why the government should, instead of restrict companies from producing cars with low miles per gallon, encourage companies to produce more efficient cars with money for research.




Gretchen DuBeau. "Fuel Efficiency Standards Should Be Raised." Opposing Viewpoints: Cars in America. Ed. Andrea C. Nakaya. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 8 Feb. 2010 .

Corvette Engine

The Corvette is the icon of American sports cars. Now there is a new even more powerful and faster 'vette that is called the ZR1. The ZR1 has an all new engine that is called the LS9. The LS9 is GM's most powerful engine ever built. It has 8 cylinders that take up a displacement of 6.2 liters. However, the cherry on top of the ice cream is the supercharger. Similar to a turbocharger a supercharger's job is to boost oxygen into the engine cylinders in order to get more power at the high rpm's. However, what I learned, is that it widens the torque curve and therefore develops nearly 320 lb-ft of torque at only 1,000 rpm. This low end torque means that the Corvette can literally jump off the line and get the car rolling faster. This supercharger really amazed me how so many factors come into play when developing an engines performance. No one wants an engine with all of its power at 6,000 rpm so that if you are in 3-5,000 rpm's you get no power. When you press your foot down you want acceleration not a delay for the engine to rev up to 6,000 rpm then acceleration. The weight of the components of the engine also play a big roll in the rpm red line. I knew that if you get more rpm's the more power you get out of the engine. Thus if you can get a V8 to 9,000 rpm's it will produce a boat load of power. I learned that in order to do that you must make the moving components very light weight. This not only helps the total weight of the car but it makes the effort of spinning the crankshaft less stressful. For example, if you had a string and attached a baseball to the end you can spin it quite quickly, but if you attach a pool ball then there is much more stress on that rope and thus cant rotate as fast. This article I read was very informative but a lot of the language went over my head. Therefore I am excited to research the basics of internal-combustion engines.

http://www.corvettefever.com/techarticles/corp_0712w_gm_ls9_zr1_corvette_small_block_engine/index.html

Fastest Car In the World

The world's fastest car, one might think Bugatti or the famous McClarin F1 or the wild Konneggsegg CCX, but as of 2008 there is a new record holder who is surprisingly American. The SSC Ultimate Aero TT is the fastest production car in the world, and it is made right here in the states. This supercar is can reach the amazing speed of 257 miles an hour because of two distinct features, weight and power. The car weighs just under 2,900 pounds which is 110 pounds lighter than a corvette and a Carrera GT and has twice the horsepower. This is because of the formula F/M=A where F is force, M is mass, and a is acceleration. Thus if you keep the power high and the weight low the acceleration of the car will be extremely high, and that is what SSC did. The power plant is a 6.3L twin turbo charged aluminum block engine with 8 cylinders. Jerod Shelby chose to make the engine out of aluminum and "only" have 8 cylinders to keep the weight down. In contrast, the Bugatti Veyron has a 16W engine which is basically two V8's strapped together yet only has 1001 hp. Where the V8 squeezes out 1183 hp and 1194 pound feet of torque. This achievement is credited to the two turbo chargers which produce 14 lbs of boost pressure. A turbo charger is basically two connected fans. One fan is spun by the exhaust which in turn spins the second fan that pulls air and precious oxygen into the engine. This oxygen is necessary for the extra boost because of the combustion in the cylinders. SSC chose to make the car entirely out of space age materials such as carbon fiber and EBX-1208. These two materials make up the chassis and the body panels of the car. It is because of these two materials that the car can stay under 3,000 pounds. Thus the car has an extremely high power to weight ratio that is more than double the Corvette's and Carrera GT's giving it extreme acceleration. The Aero can go from 0-60 in 2.78 seconds and can do a 1/4 mile in under 9.9 seconds. However, there are many American made cars that have souped up engines with massive amounts of horse power that are just as fast but when it is put around a track it cannot go around a corner. This is just the typical American car syndrome, fast in a straight line but terrible in the bends. So you might ask is the Aero any good on a track. The answer is yes. The Aero has an incredibly sturdy chassis that sometimes driving up a steep driveway, a wheel might come off the ground 3 inches. Also there are no driver aids. There are no abs and no traction control. This means it is a true drivers car and "you can not only throttle with your right foot, but steer with your right foot." The owner of the company, Jerod Shelby, is saying that because there is no traction control the Aero can go into a corner flick the tail out and get out of the slide with power from your right foot. There is no technology holding you back from doing an amazing drift around a corner with the gas peddle. The lack of technology is crucial in making the driving experience amazing. When Jay Leno took it out for a drive he said, "the more I drove this car, the more comfortable it gets, the more you settle into it. It really is a drivers car. There's no aids at all. When I drove the Bugatti Veyron, although it was incredibly fast, it felt big and cumbersome. This car seems to shrink around you." Instead of being detached from the actual driving experience by a lot of technology in the Veyron, the Aero gives the driver all the control. This allows the driver to feel everything working through the steering, the clutch, gearbox, the sound of the turbos, and spin of the wheels. Allowing the driver to feel in control gives them a feeling that the car is an extension of their body and shrinks around them for optimal maneuverability. As a result, this car is an amazing piece of engineering, and it should be at $621,000. However, that is around half of the price of the Veyron. In my opinion, this car is ten times better than a Veyron because of the simplicity. It has a powerful engine and a light weight body; that's it. It gives you that x factor that you look for when buying a supercar. Something that doesn't show up in the statistics of the car, or the description. It is something indescribable, something that gives you a smile and that amazing adrenaline rush every time you see, touch, or drive the car. The Aero has the x factor for me.

http://www.shelbysupercars.com/video-jay-leno.php

Top Gear Video

Top Gear is the world’s leading car show. The hosts review many supercars and talk about modern issues of the supercar. For example, they talk about speed cameras, high gas prices, taxes on cars, and even the terrible construction on the roads. However, during a review of a brand new Aston Martin V12 Vantage, the host, Jeremy Clarkson, gives very little figures about the car. Instead of informing the viewers about how unbelievable the Vantage is and how powerful and beautiful it is, he says that this amazing car makes him feel sad. He believes that the car will end the era of great supercars. "Thanks to all sorts of things, the environment, economy, problems in the Middle East, the relentless war on speed, cars like this will soon be consigned to the history books." Jeremy Clarkson believes that because of the high taxes and the terrible economic situation, the government will inevitable dwindle the amount of supercars on the roads and dissuade car companies from ever making them again. The huge 6 liter engines require massive amounts of fuel to rev up to 8,000 rpm, and thus they have terrible CO2 emissions and miles per gallon. Jeremy Clarkson is worried that the government will not listen to the people and keep encouraging car makers to produce the cars that they love. Jeremy believes, "what I am driving here is an ending." The massive 12 cylinder engine that the Aston has under its hood does not please the government. The odds of another car company coming out with an engine as big as that and amazing as that is very slim. Many supercar makers are ending a few lines of supercars. Lamborghini is even ending the Murcielago series of cars, one of their most powerful lines to start a less explosive 2 wheel drive line of cars. I however believe that people will still buy supercars because of the euphoria and adrenaline that comes from just looking at them, but we cannot hide from the fact that the Jeremy Clarkson is right. The supercar era is over.


http://www.topgear.com/uk/videos/aston-vantage-v12

Blogging Experience

Science and technology is my favorite topic; there is just so much that I enjoy about it. It was extremely easy to pick topics for me to narrow down and research on. I had a list of at least ten. However, picking one was so hard. I was interested in war and especially the arms race, but I did not care about all the politics that came between the US and the USSR during the arms race. I experienced the same story with the space race. However, the power of the weapons still mystified me. I was excited learning about how the atomic bomb was made between the two world wars, how the two smartest men in science were put on a job to create the most destructive weapon ever used. The idea of power was also found in cars. The invention of the internal-combustion engine made automobiles much more powerful and efficient in the turn of the 19th century. I found that the car meant more to the people than just a way to get from point a to b. It was a status of wealth and royalty to start off. Then it became dependable and common with the model T. However, the true automotive appreciation came when cars were made to please the costumer. They were not made to just get them from point a to b, but to get them there, comfortably, quick, fun, in style, or even just take them away from life. The poem I read about the Oldsmobile is a perfect example; the two teenagers wanted to be alone together and go on an adventure to experience something new. It was the car that allowed them to actually do this. The car brought them together and gave them freedom. However, the type of automobiles that interest me the most are the ones that put a smile on your face. Whether it is because of the unbridled power the engine puts out or the sharp precise handling or maybe even the beauty of the car itself. However, it is really hard to write and research about a cars handling and the feeling you get when you hit an apex pulling .9 g's. Therefore I decided to concentrate on power and speed, more specifically engines. There is so much that can be researched about engines. Today I know a little about engines, but I feel like it would be fun to learn about every detail in the common engine and how the new Bugatti W-16 engine is so amazing. I feel like I will go into aeronautical or mechanical engineering and will be working with engines in the future; therefore this topic will be very beneficial for starting off my knowledge of power.

Cars Seperating People from Society

The automobile has given the young generation the freedom to express their emotions and live life. In this poem a young couple share their love for the freedom that the Oldsmobile gives them. It says, "You can go as far as you like with me, In my merry Oldsmobile." The phrase "as far as you like" refers to marriage in the fact that latter in the document it talks about them going to a church to get married. However, that phrase also can show how they can go on an exciting adventure some place foreign. The male character is using the car as a way for the couple to escape their ordinary lives and start a new adventure together. The bonding between the couple is shown through the car and its metaphors. For example, the line, "They love to spark in the dark old park as they go flying along" could have multiple meanings. The sparks could be interpreted as the spark plugs of the engine igniting the fuel producing power for them to fly up and down the dark park. However, this could also be a metaphor for how the spark plugs ignite the fuel of the engine and the car ignites the fuel for their love. These sparks are the beginning of love between car, and man and woman. Then the car could also make them feel like their flying like they get a high from being with each other in the car. Overall, the car had brought these two lovers together and gave them a way to be alone and appreciate each other.

Vincent Bryan " “In My Merry Oldsmobile”," Annals of American History.
<http://america.eb.com/america/article?articleId=386695&query=engine>
[Accessed February 1, 2010].

Automotive Transportation

Horseless transportation was a very popular dream shared by many Americans at the turn of the 19th century. The steam engine was the only available power to work with at the time, and it meant for heavy, rough, and dangerous riding. Boiler explosions threatened drivers and a top speed of around 30mph in the late 1800's was fairly inefficient. The next drive system was surprisingly not internal combustion but electricity. In 1888 William Morisson invented the first practical electric people transporter. It was able to transfer 12 people at 20 miles per hour for over 13 hours. However, the father of all engines was being experimented with during this time, the internal-combustion engine. Early models could only move about six kilometers in three hours in 1826, but J. Frank and Charles E. Duryea began commercial production of the more reliable and efficient engine that burned air, gas, and oil. Frank and Duryea sold these automobiles to the upper class at a high cost of $5,000because of the low supply of handmade cars. A Boston millionaire Charles J. Glidden sponsored an annual tour that featured different brands of cars. These tours tested the reliability and safety of the cars and also sparked the American crave for speed. By 1906, a racer set the land speed record at 127 mph. However, many civilians can not handle that speed without the highways, so the car companies turned back to durability and practicality. This lead to the famous Model T. Ford was able to make a car that was so durable it could be mended with rope and wire by the owners. It was such a remarkable car that it actually created a problem. In 1927 when the new Model A came out the model T still dominated the roads at 70%. Therefore, the car companies started making cars more appealing by using more comfortable suspension and flashy colors. After World War II the automobile took off and the entire nation became obsessed with automotive transportation. America now had three big companies comprised of GM, Ford, and Chrysler. The Big Three started to produce different cars for different income levels and the idea succeeded.
America became obsessed with cars in the 70's and considered themselves, "king of the roads." This is a fitting name for the Americans as they adopted the internal-combustion engine from Europe and made it durable and reliable. As durability became expected from all the Big Three, the aspect that separated and put a company ahead was flavor. Designers loaded cars with large tail fins and as much chrome as they could to get their car noticed by the public. In the 50's to 80's citizens were able to buy cars that were flashy and matched their radical love for the car and road itself. In my opinion this became a lost cause as gas prices exploded and safety officials cracked down on the speed limits. As time shows, the hole point about getting a car is to be free and become an individual. It is expressed through the art of ones car and through the places one takes the car. People in love with speed and power buy the muscle cars and race them from one red light to another. It is obvious that there is much more to the car than just transportation in America. It is a technological symbol of freedom, fun, and individuality. That is why the car is still praised today after conflicts with the oil crisis and safety officials cracking down on their flaws.

"automobiles." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 31 Jan. 2010. .

Science Overview

Scientific research was minimal in the United States as America was building up a solid foundation. Almost all of the scientific discoveries consisted of inventions that would improve practicality of certain tasks like traveling, picking crops, doing chores, and communicating. This research was based on "applied science." Applied science was any kind of scientific discovery, typically inventions, that can be applied to everyday life, for example a cotton gin. It was not until after World War I that scientist started to do work in "pure science." There were many scientists who immigrated to America and were a result of this scientific activity. The pure science consisted of unrelevant studies or indirect studies. For example, Albert Einstein and Robert Oppenheimer researched the atom and learned that it stores a mass amount of energy and if it were released it would set off a chain reaction. The two scientist then used this knowledge to come up with the infamous Atom bomb. The government then showed a high interest in the sciences as a result of the Atom bomb. They launched many technological races with foreign countries especially the Soviet Union. The US and Soviet Union went at it in a race to concur the skies, space, and earth. They had the space race and the arms race. Each country trying to show their dominance. However, the government has now slowed down on funding to science after the peak years from after the World War to the new century. The loss of funding is a result of the controversial topics that are being researched today. The controversies include cloning, stem cell research, and genetic testing.
I have found this article extremely helpful for mapping out a general scientific timeline for America. I can see that most of the experiments are funded by the government. Therefore, their interest will be what the scientist will be studying, and the government has a high interest in National Security. That is why most of the technological achievements in the 1940-70s were of military disent. However, once again I still have yet to find information on transportation and the development of highways. What also caught my eye was the Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative mainly because I have never heard about it. The article says that it connected studies from the arms race and the space race which are the two largest achievements in science. Going to the moon and creating the hydrogen bomb/discovering plutonium. Therefore, Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative will be one of my future topics of interest.

"science in America." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 31 Jan. 2010. .

A Changing Nation

From the 1850's to 1900 there have been many milestones in America's improvement in culture. In 1851 the Flying Cloud navigated from New York to San Fransisco in 89 days breaking the record. The first sewing machine for household use was made and patented in Boston, Massachusetts also. The first railroad bridge over the Mississippi was opened on April 21, 1856. In 1860 Oliver F. Winchester started work on the first repeating rifle which would be heavily used in the American West and Civil War. In 1861 the first telegram was sent by wire from California to the nations capital on the other side of the country. This made the pony express insignificant. Congress passed the Pacific Railway Act starting the transcontinental railroad in 1862. In 1866 there were 75,000 miles of telegraph wire laid by the Western Union Company. In 1868 the first ice box was patented by William Davis to transport fish. 1869 the transcontinental railroad was finished. In 1876 Mark Twain received his patent for the first telephone. The first steel structured skyscraper was built in 1884 in Chicago. In Boston the first subway was built in 1897. All of these events have one aspect in common; they all are accomplished with intent to improve and simplify the everyday lives of people. I have found that there are a few key subgroups of technological achievements that almost all the events can fit under. There is transportation, which includes railroads, cars, subways, boats, and planes. Then there is communication. This group would include the telegraph, pony express, the radio, television, and the telephone. Then there is the accomplishments in science which protect the citizens. For example this would include the atomic bomb, first repeating gun, and first bulletproof vest. Lastly, the remaining technological achievements can be summarized as household/everyday life improvements. The sewing machine, washing machine, ice box, refrigerator, television, and light bulbs are just a few examples of this group. Almost all of the technological achievements and inventions can be assigned a group. This is extremely helpful in further research to help narrow down what type of research I should do next. Since I just did a lot of everyday improvements, and I research the atomic bomb which goes under the protection of citizens group, therefore I should probably research transportation via cars and planes.

http://www.americanhistory.abc-clio.com/Search/Display.aspx?categoryid=39&entryid=270422&searchtext=flying+cloud&type=advanced&option=

"A Growing Nation, 1850-1900." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 29 Jan. 2010. .

Atomic Bomb/Impact

America has been in World War II for 4 years and needed to defeat one more opponent, Japan. Research on a new weapon was being made in the United States known as the Manhattan project. Luckily this project was near finished when America was ready to invade the mainland of Japan. The President and Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson got a panel of scientist together in order to discuss the possible use of this Atomic Bomb. The scientists including Albert Einstein, Erico Firmi, and J Robert Oppenheimer, agreed that "there was no alternative to direct military use." They believed that this technology that they created would defeat the Japaneese and save American lives. Therefore the scientists strongly encourged the president to use it instead of using troups to invade Japan's mainland. Truman ended up listening to them and dropped the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima. In effect the bomb crippled the Japaneese port, but they did not surrender, and Truman was forced to drop a second Atomic Bomb on Nagasaki. This devistated Japan and caused their surrender, but I feel like this was a terrible decision in tactics. These two bombs killed over 150,000 people which were 100,000 civilians. I believe that this is terrible; the idea of war is to fight for a cause that you believe in, and do anything one can for that cause. However, why would the United States Government think that it was a good idea to kill thousands of civilians in order to take out the countries ports and factories. It is devistating to imagine the effect of a nuclear weapon detonating on our soil and killing 100,000 civilians. If you could believe that would be 100 times more civilians killed than on September 11. I feel like America made a bad decision on those days to bomb Nagasaki and Hiroshima because of the calateral damage. The countries kept making thier weapons stronger and more potent with technology, but this key incident illustrated to the world the importance of low callateral damage. Thankfully, technology has been altered to start using smart bombs which can be laser or gps guided. This dramastically decreases collateral damage and citizen deaths. I believe that this is what technology should have originally sought out to do instead of kill masses of people, but at least America can learn from our mistakes.



ABC-CLIO. "Background Essay." Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 28 Jan. 2010. http://www.issues.abc-clio.com/.

Science and Technology

This is the most interesting topic to me because I know a lot about cars and plains. These two modes of transportation changed the society and are the most important parts of technology. I am excited to go deeper into these two categories to see what specific people, machines, and other things helped improve society. Technology is also being used in our country to improve and save our lives. For example, thousands of scientists have been hard at work looking for a new way to defeat the enemy with greater efficiency. One of the nations greatest scientists, Albert Einstein, invented a device that ended up stopping the war within weeks of using it. His research led him to the discovery of the atomic bomb.