Lifeboat Foundation

The Prius is an intentionally odd-looking car that gets odder with every generation; I’m pretty sure even ardent defenders of Toyota’s flagship hybrid could agree with me on that. So why not throw an equally odd paint color on top?

What you’re looking at here is the new Prius in “Thermo-Tect Lime Green,” which is more than your average upsettingly loud paint color. Toyota says that by removing the carbon black particles found in most paint and replacing them with titanium oxide, it has significantly increased the vehicle’s solar reflectivity — in other words, the car heats up less, which lessens the need for air conditioning, which in turn improves fuel economy. And fuel economy, of course, is what the Prius is all about.

White paint also does a good job of keeping the sun’s heat at bay, but Toyota actually says that its Thermo-Tect paint outperformed white in a two-hour summer test outdoors. Basically, this technology means that you might be able to get the color of your choice on your next car and still reduce your AC use. Granted, lime green may not be your first choice, but there doesn’t seem to be anything stopping Toyota from rolling it out to other colors as well.

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We’re making a tremendous progress in medical science and technology.

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When governments value people they find creative ways of making people even more valuable in their local economies and communities. In turn, people return the compliment by contributing to the building of stronger local economies.

When governments do not value people they inadvertently create systems that stifle inventiveness and trap people in cycles of state dependency and long-term unemployment.

The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, known informally as the G.I. Bill, is widely (across all political spectrums; around the world) considered one of the most successful pieces of legislation ever passed. It made provisions that effectively created ‘bonds’ to enable low-cost mortgages, low-interest business start-up loans, cash payments for educational return at all entry points, as well as one year of unemployment benefit for returning servicemen. Canada saw similar results for its programs of support for Second World War veterans. Few would argue that this investment in the human capital of service men and women in turn contributed enormously to the overall wealth of both nations to this day.

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Graphene is going to change the world — or so we’ve been told.

Since its discovery a decade ago, scientists and tech gurus have hailed graphene as the wonder material that could replace silicon in electronics, increase the efficiency of batteries, the durability and conductivity of touch screens and pave the way for cheap thermal electric energy, among many other things.

Continue reading “Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences” »

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Robots could be considered legal drivers in the United States. This means human occupants inside the vehicle wouldn’t require a valid license in order to ride inside—the software would be the vehicle’s legal “driver.”

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Paramount has announced the dates of the next Transformers trilogy, with movies number 5, 6, and 7 set to hit theaters in 2017, 2018, and 2019 respectively. That’s right, after this year, 2020 will be the next time you won’t be able to see a new Transformers movie at the cinema. Unless, of course, that’s when number eight is coming out. According to The Wrap, Transformers 5 will be released on June 23rd, 2017; Transformers 6 on June 8th, 2018; and Transformers 7 on June 28th, 2019.

The last move in the franchise — Transformers: Age of Extinction — was derided by critics when it was released in 2014, but that didn’t stop it racking up more than $1 billion at the global box office. That makes it the 15th highest-grossing film of all time, and the second-highest grossing title in the Transformers franchise. For movie studios, an average rating of 18 percent on Rotten Tomatoes just isn’t as important.

The next Transformers trilogy will have a lot to prove though. Although Michael Bay is directing again, and actor Mark Wahlberg is also contracted for at least a few more films in the franchise, Transformers 5 will be the product of a writers’ room, rather than an individual or a pair of script-writers. It’s hoped that this new approach (nabbed from the TV industry), will keep the franchise fresh and exciting. We’ll find out whether it succeeds or not in 2017. And 2018. And 2019.

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The next-generation satellites from ViaSat could have more bandwidth than the 400 communication satellites already in orbit.

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Pine A64

Meet the $15 super computer that’s the size of an iPhone.

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