MIT Mystery Hunt 2007
By Mike | January 15, 2007
Here are some of my pictures from that weekend-long sleep-deprivation event known as the MIT Mystery Hunt.
Arriving early at ESP
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The Lotus Elise
By Mike | January 8, 2007
Okay, the Lotus Elise isn’t exactly a new car; in fact, it was announced back in 2000. And it’s not particularly efficient either, with an EPA fuel economy of 24/29 (city/highway). Plus, it was built to be a race car. So what is it doing here?
First, let’s take a closer look at the Elise. At its heart lies a four-cylinder Toyota 2ZZ-GE engine producing 190 hp @ 7600 rpm and 130 lb-ft of torque at 6800 rpm. It is the same engine used in several Toyota Corollas, Matrix (Matricies?), and Celicas, and propels the Elise from 0-60 mph in about 4 seconds. The mid-mounted engine is mated to a 6-speed manual transmission driving the rear wheels. But the Elise’s trump card is its anemic weight of 1930 lbs, resulting in a power to weight ratio rivaling Ferraris and Lamborghinis. With less mass to scoot around corners, the Elise’s handling is superb (lateral acceleration of 0.97 g).
The idea behind the Lotus Elise is very simple: the lower the weight, the less power you need to propel it. With cars gaining weight as fast as Americans are gaining weight, this principle can and should be applied to making fuel-efficient cars. What if, for example, someone replaced the Toyota engine with a less-powerful but more efficient engine? It’d probably run with Toyota Camry-performance, but use much less fuel. What if that someone forwent gasoline and put in an electric motor? Well, it’d look awfully similar to the Tesla Roadster.
Granted, the only incentive to pay more for a car with a spartan interior (minimal upholstering & carpeting, passenger seats are unadjustable, minimal sound dampening material) is for its incredible performance and handling characteristics. An Elise with 70 hp will probably appeal to an extremely small number of people. The Lotus Elise, though, is undeniably a weight-saving engineering masterpiece.
Read how the Elise works at HowStuffWorks
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Tesla Motors
By Mike | January 5, 2007
Lightweight, all-electric, 0-60mph in about 4 seconds, and a 250 mile range. It was designed by the British car company Lotus, and the styling cues are evident when you look at a Lotus Elise. The great thing about electric motors is that they produce maximum torque (thus, maximum acceleration) at 0 rpm, meaning there is nearly no lag for the engine to spin up to its power band. This is my kind of car.
*Side Note: Apparently YouTube embeds break my blog. I’ll look into the problem, but meanwhile, you can see the original post here.
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Freecycle - “Changing the world, one gift at a time”
By Mike | January 1, 2007
From the Freecycle website (in case you haven’t noticed, a combination of “free” and “recycle”):
The Freecycle Network was started in May 2003 to promote waste reduction in Tucson’s downtown and help save desert landscape from being taken over by landfills. The Network provides individuals and non-profits an electronic forum to “recycle” unwanted items. One person’s trash can truly be another’s treasure!
Running through Yahoo! Groups, Freecycle allows people in a local area to give items no longer of use to them to other people who might be able to put it to use. It is, in essence, recycling. All transactions are gifts and must be free.
Freecycle simply provides a place for people to post up wanted ads or to offer items. The rest of the logistics are up to the two parties; they agree upon a pickup time and location (usually the offerer’s home). Because it’s a gift, the offerer can give it to anyone who inquires (I usually just give it to the first person, since that’s the quickest way to move my crap). It’s a great way to clean your room and get rid of things you’ll never use again.
What are you waiting for? Find the nearest Freecycle community, or start your own!
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Here We Come 2007
By Mike | January 1, 2007
Happy New Years everyone!
I finally submitted the bulk of my applications yesterday, so I can now relax. For a day.
I’m still formulating my new year’s resolutions, but they will probably involve college, updating this blog more regularly, keeping my grades up (senioritis is quite contagious), and working on my science projects. It’s kind of scary to think about it, but this next time year, I will probably be in college - yikes!
What do you have for new years resolutions?
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Happy Holidays!
By Mike | December 24, 2006
Happy Holidays everyone!
Okay, so I’m about an hour early, but I really ought to get more sleep. I hope to get some more posts up in the coming vacation days.
Enjoy yourselves
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Solar Cells Break 40% Efficiency Barrier
By Mike | December 22, 2006
Article at the Department of Energy
Yes, this was posted on Slashdot a few weeks ago, but it is nonetheless exciting news. Traditional solar panels just capture white light straight up. The idea behind these new panels are the many layers sandwiched in the panel, each capturing a color in the spectrum. This technology, however, is not new. It has been around for decades, but scientists are constantly looking for ways to improve them.
One of the factors holding back solar panels is that they don’t produce enough electricity (and therefore save you enough money) to justify the costs of installing the solar panels and the equipment to regulate the electricity generated. As solar panel efficiency improves, however, they will become a more competitive source of electricity. No pollution, little maintenance, basically free electricity - what more could you ask for?
Admittedly, there are some troubles with solar power. Obviously, electricity can only be generated when there is sunlight. Also, power companies may like the fact that they could set up fields of these panels to soak up sunlight, but may not be too thrilled when private individuals start installing them on their roofs to produce their own electricity.
Any thoughts?
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Mission Statement
By Mike | December 22, 2006
After a full 12 hours of contemplation, I’ve decided to turn this blog into a source of Alternative Energy news, tips on energy conservation and efficiency, and occasionally neat things I encounter while roaming the Internet (or the real world).
But first, I must say I really like the Blogger.com interface; it’s really easy set up a spiffy-looking page and start spilling my guts to the entire world.
Stay tuned for posts that actually have real content.
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This is Exciting!
By Mike | December 21, 2006
This is exciting! My very own blog. I will now commence wasting time on the Internet when I should be doing real work.
I suppose I should come up with a topic for this blog. I’ll formulate a plan within the next few days…probably something along the lines of alternative energies, random tech bits, and some insight into my utterly dry and boring life. Stay tuned.
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