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We have often wondered what is the real difference between road racers and the riders who compete in the FIM Road Racing World Championship. While most of us would agree that the first ones tackle more dangerous situations in a single kilometer than the latter during an entire season of running on circuits, MotoGP veteran Loris Capirossi put a seal to it, while present at the Adelaide Racer Awards in Belfast.

The former 250cc champion in the FIM world championship and veteran racer in the que… (read more)

PSFK has an article on a green building renovation in Portland – Portland High-Rise To Feature Living Architecture.

The Edith Green/Wendaell Wyatt Federal Building in Portland, Oregon is scheduled to undergo major remodeling as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, with plans to cover the entire west side of the building in vertical greenery. Architectural plans specify a series of metal fins protruding outward, allowing for a 250-foot tall garden that allows light in the winter and shade in the summer.

The first compressed natural gas-powered ambulance and medic unit to go into service in the US will be presented on January 22 at Palm Desert Fire Station in the City of Palm Desert. The unveiling will be attended by Mayor Cindy Finerty and other members of the Palm Desert City Council, as well as representatives from the Palm Desert Fire Department, Riverside County Fire Department/CAL FIRE.

The new ambulance will come into service after in February 2009, faced with an aging diesel ambulance… (read more)

Thanks to the LA Times and this visual guide to making soba noodles, we know what we’ll be doing this weekend! All we’ll need is some buckwheat flour, water, a rolling pin, a plastic bag, and a chef’s knife. (A plastic bag?!)

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Google is known for its openness but not when it comes to how the search engine works. Once in a while though, it likes to show off the more advanced methods it uses to improve the search experience. In a post on the Google blog, Steve Baker, an engineer in the search quality group at Google, details how the search engine handles synonyms, … (read more)

This is one way to save your dull, desperately-in-need-of-a-paint-job walls from obscurity. Dress them up with decals that fold out of the wall, almost like origami.

While the gramophone and scent diffuser decals don’t do much, the lamp actually functions as a light. Marvelous! [Pega Design via DesignBoom]

Spain’s Prime Minister Zapatero unveiled the priorities for their Presidency of the Counci lbefore the European Parliament on Wednesday, 20 January. The Spanish leader, whose country currently holds the EU’s six-month rotating presidency, said the 27-member union should take measures to promote electric car production in Europe.

“The other day I met together with a group of companies, some of the most important in Europe, and it was felt it was fundamental that there should be co-operation and integration of efforts in developing the electric vehicle,” he told MEPs.

“If our markets don’t have a regulatory framework to provide financial support, and if we don’t have common standards on the technologies, then it will be difficult for Europe to take a leading role,” he added. However, he didn’t precise if the plan will cover only battery cars or if it will also applies to hybrid, fuel cells and biofuel.
EU industry ministers are set to launch the plan at a meeting on the 8 February in the Spanish seaside town of San Sebastian.
Greater energy self-sufficiency will also be key to sustainable European growth, said the Spanish leader whose country was one of the worst hit by the recent recession.

“In the last ten years … our energy consumption has gone up by nine percent,” he told euro deputies. “We need to reduce our dependence. If we don’t reduce it we won’t be able to have any economic growth.”  Together with the Spanish Hydrogen Association, AEH2,

Europe’s greatest carmaker, Volkswagen and its Chinese partner FAW Group are planning to develop their business in the Chinese market by building a new facility in the country.

According to the 21th Century Business Herand newspaper via Reuters, the plant, Volkswagen’s fifth in China, will manufacture cars for the Seat brand. It will be located in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.

The automaker’s other 4 plants are located in Shanghai, Nanjing, Changchun and Chengdu, producing the Je… (read more)

Will Wagenaar is one of those artists, who can turn scrap into artistic sculptures. This time he has created, what he calls BRENDA – the born to be bad little girl robot. BRENDA is 15” tall and 9.5” wide and Wagenaar has given her vintage clockworks and an antique key on her back. He has not just assembled recycled metal parts and hardware here, but explains the cause of transformation of a cute little girl robot into evil character. On the full moon on Halloween, this little girl rolled out of assembly line and then a bolt of lightning put her into trouble.

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So far he’s shown a good grasp of Twitter etiquette in his five tweets, replying to ‘slebs Ashton Kutcher and Ryan Seacrest; retweeting successfully twice, and even has a spiffy background wallpaper and profile pic.

But hey Bill, might I suggest you download a Twitter client for your WinMo phone though, and follow some of these decidedly good-looking avatars? [Bill Gates on Twitter]

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Campos Grand Prix might not have secured their Formula One future in 2010 – at least from a financial standpoint – but the team recently confirmed that their challenger for the upcoming season has passed the final FIA crash test.

The news was revealed by Autosport, for whom team boss Adrian Campos revealed that his Dallara-built car for the 2010 season of Formula One has received the final homologation from the ruling body.

The car is now homologated and we are still working very, very har… (read more)

Divers find success in L.A.

At last weekend’s Bruin Diving Invitational in Westwood, Calif., the Stanford diving team brought home the hardware with four second-place finishes and two first-place finishes. The event pitted the Card against divers from San Diego, UCSD, UCLA, Southern California and Connecticut.

As expected, the Cardinal upperclassmen were dominant. On the men’s side, senior Dwight Dumais began his quest for an individual NCAA championship with a strong second-place finish in the 1-meter springboard. However, Dumais disappointed in the 3-meter springboard — he finished in eighth place in the preliminaries and failed to qualify for the finals.

Junior Brent Eichenseer was met with more success. He achieved third in the 1-meter behind Dumais and USC’s Harrison Jones, and won second on platform diving behind Jones. Eichenseer ended the meet on Sunday with a forceful performance in the 3-meter finals, winning the competition by 64.70 points over UConn’s Adam Genuario.

The women’s team also had a very strong meet. Senior Carmen Stellar placed second in all three events, and junior Meg Hostage garnered a first-place finish in the 1-meter and third place in the 3-meter.

Sophomore Mary Beth Corbett, who recorded seventh-place finishes in the 1-meter and 3-meter, commented on the overall success of the meet.

“I did better than I expected,” she said. “The competition was good, because USC has two people who’ve been to the Olympics, so getting as close as [Stellar and Hostage] did to them was a great win.”

Stellar actually placed higher than one of those Olympians, Ariel Rittenhouse, on the platform.

“We know there’s a lot of progress to be made before Pac-10s, and we know that we can do that,” Corbett added.

Even more impressive is the fact that Stanford placed so well despite not going into the meet with a highly competitive mindset.

“This was one of our earlier meets, so it didn’t mean a lot in terms of places or points,” Corbett said. “This was the meet where our coach was looking to see where we are in the season [and] how we’re progressing. It was a really good indicator for our team of how we’re doing.”

The Cardinal freshmen also performed well, giving head coach Dr. Rick Schavone an early indication of their level relative to the competition. For the women, freshman Jennifer Wylie dove well on the 1-meter and 3-meter, but did not reach any finals, placing 17th and 21st respectively on the two boards. Freshman Tommy Fraychineaud did somewhat better — he made the finals in both springboards, placing ninth in the 1-meter and third in the 3-meter.

While the long-term focus is on the Pac-10 and NCAA tournaments, the divers are preparing for next weekend’s meets against Arizona and Arizona State. Both swimmers and divers will compete in these dual meets, which involve both the men’s and women’s teams.

“Everyone has one or two things they know they need to work on,” Corbett said. “We really want to work on technique, so the meets will end up being natural and we won’t have to work as hard for it.”

The Stanford women’s tennis team has made winning seem easy in the beginning of the spring season. The Cardinal returned with the singles and doubles crown at both the NCTC Classic and the Freeman Memorial Championships and kick-started a spring season that looks to be filled with promise.

“It was a huge win for the team,” said head coach LeLe Forood. “It brings up the level of expectation on this team, how everyone feels about each other and the confidence level as a result.”

The team split up this past weekend, sending half the team to compete at the NCTC Classic while the other half played at the Freeman Memorial Championships. Junior Hilary Barte defeated USC’s Maria Sanchez 7-5, 6-2 to claim the singles championship of the NCTC Classic in a match between two highly ranked individuals. She then paired up with senior Lindsay Burdette to defeat UCLA’s Andrea Remynse and Yasmin Schnack 8-6 for the doubles championship, both teams placing in the top 10 nationally. Junior Jennifer Yen and sophomore Logan Hansen also participated, both losing in the round of 16.

The freshmen led the way at the Freeman Memorial Championships, with Stacey Tan and Natalie Dillon winning their respective divisions. Tan also teamed up with fellow freshman Mallory Burdette to win the doubles crown over North Carolina’s Sophie Grabinski and Sanaz Marand 8-6 and improving their record to 8-2 overall. This was an exciting doubles win, as the two were unranked as a team and overcame the No. 6-ranked UNC duo. In singles, Tan won five matches before coming away with the trophy, the last three of those coming against UNC players. In the final, she beat Katrina Tsang of UNC 7-6, 6-2.

“It was a good experience,” Tan said. “It was different being in Vegas, playing a tournament there. There were a lot of good players there.”

Tan’s transition to team tennis has been smooth, especially considering that her doubles experience has been limited. She played singles in high school and attempted a few WTA tour matches, but doubles was largely left out of the picture. She attributes her recent success at doubles to her partner, Mallory Burdette.

“We fit really well together,” said Tan. “I didn’t usually play doubles that much before I came here, so when I started, it was really different. I didn’t know what to do, where to move. [Mallory] had more experience at it, so she could help me out a lot. It’s so much more fun than I thought it would be.”

Dillon, who previously hadn’t gotten to the final of a tournament during her time at Stanford, managed to string together a series of very impressive and hard fought wins to win the flight two championship at the Freeman Memorial Championship. Fighting her way through two three-setters in the semifinals and the final, she came away with a final victory over UNLV’s Rumyana Terzieva 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 and her first tournament win at Stanford.

“Winning her draw was huge,” Forood said. “It’s huge for her to know that she can compete at the Division-I level and be successful because she comes in with less experience. It’s all about exposure and becoming comfortable with the level and I think that win went a long way toward getting her there.”

Looking forward, team play begins next. Stanford’s first opponent is Hawai’i, followed by UC-Davis at home. Unfortunately, most of the team’s Pac-10 matches will take place away from the Farm this year. USC, UCLA and Cal will be the only teams hosted at home, but those come toward the end of the season in April.

“This is going to be our road year,” said Forood. “We’ve got big home matches in April, largely. When you look at our home schedule winter quarter, it is essentially nonconference. I see our big matches being on the road this quarter. Texas, the LAs, at Cal, so we’re gearing up for some big road games.”

The players are excited for team play to begin as well. When asked about the upcoming Pac-10 matches, Tan expressed her excitement by saying, “you’re not just playing for yourself. You’re playing for the entire team and for the school, for Stanford.

The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International recently released a list which include three officers and five directors who will be serving in the SAE Board of Directors, starting from this month. As we said in a previous report, Mircea Gradu, Head of Virtual Tools Analysis and Transmission/Driveline Engineering at Chrysler Group is included on the list.

The Romanian will succeed Jacqui A. Dedo, Automotive Vice President at Dana Holding Corporation, and will "take responsibility… (read more)

Technology Review has an article on Dow’s easy to install solar roof shingles – Solar Shingles See the Light of Day.

Dow Chemical is moving full speed ahead to develop roof shingles embedded with photovoltaic cells. To facilitate the move, the U.S. Department of Energy has backed Dow’s efforts with a $17.8 million tax credit that will help the company launch an initial market test of the product later this year.

In October 2009, the chemical giant unveiled its product, which can be nailed to a roof like ordinary shingles by roofers without the help of specially trained solar installers or electricians. The solar shingles will cost 30 to 40 percent less than other solar-embedded building materials and 10 percent less than the combined costs of conventional roofing materials and rack-mounted solar panels, according to company officials.

Dow isn’t the first company to incorporate solar cells into building materials. In recent years, a number of leading solar manufacturers have launched small lines of solar shingles, tiles, and window glazes. But as Dow looks to bring its shingles mainstream, other solar manufacturers are backing away from the products. Suntech Power, the Chinese solar maker, and the largest crystalline silicon photovoltaic manufacturer in the world, has several integrated solar systems on the market, but with the recent downturn in new housing construction, the company has focused instead on ramping up conventional photovoltaic panel output, says Jeffrey Shubert, Suntech Power marketing director for North and South America.

Speculations concerning the Saab selling saga continue with a new story regarding Genii Capital’s offer for the Swedish unit. It appears that Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone wants to purchase Saab for as much as $1!

The explanation is quite simple: winding down Saab could cost General Motors between $72.5 million and $145 million, according to foxnews, which, in the context of the economic recession, is pretty unacceptable. However, Bernie Ecclestone wants to pay GM 1 dollar (one hundred pen… (read more)

The word drama itself is Greek, based on the word for “to do,” and the earliest known performances were in ancient Greece, going back to at least the 5th century BC. Most peoples have some tradition of public performance, but the theatre is a Greek invention. Some historians think it developed as a way of dramatising ancient religious rituals.

If you click here you can find a brief overview of the early history of drama and the way it developed.