The Future of Motorsports

I will forever be captivated and awed by motor-racing... Formula 1 particularly. It's the level of sophistication involved that captivates; the technology, the strategy, the commitment... Just finished watching the Singapore race in the living room.. good race.. it's been quite a while since the last time, kicking back, having the TV all to yourself, and enjoying a Grand Prix from the comfort of the living room.. :) One less reason for me to miss Torontoronoh.. :D Hmmmm... I wonder how my second sem. finals results would be like.. :D Eagerly waiting.. :)

Anyways, I can't help but imagine what Formula 1 would be like, 10, 15 years from now.. As consumer industry moves towards a greener and cleaner future, so must motorsports, and the technological aspect of motorsports holds an exciting and promising future for me.. :)

Porsche is an excellent example. Their hybrid technology is already seeing action in racing, and they are highly committed to perfecting their hybrid tech.. The good thing is what they learn from the development of their latest racing technology is directly applied to the road cars; the Cayenne Hybrid and Panamera Hybrid are now available at a Porsche showroom near you, and a 911 Hybrid or even electric (watch out, Tesla) isn't too far away..

Because technology is expanding rapidly everywhere, and catching-up equally rapidly is advantageous;

We Are Living in Exciting Times..

Speedy Particles Put Einstein to the Test

By GAUTAM NAIK

An experiment purporting to show that subatomic particles can travel faster than light has scientists' heads spinning. If confirmed, it would undermine key pillars of modern physics.

At a presentation in Switzerland, scientists said Friday they had recorded ghostlike particles, known as neutrinos, traveling a tiny bit faster than light—an apparent breach of the cosmic speed limit set down by Albert Einstein more than a century ago.

The result could turn out to be an embarrassing miscalculation by scientists—or portend a leap into a science fiction territory where particles theoretically travel backward in time. While a confirmation of the finding wouldn't mean anything has changed about the universe, scientists' understanding of how it works would be thrown into disarray.

"It would be the biggest physics discovery in a century because we'd have to completely revise everything from subatomic physics to what we know about how the universe evolved," said Neil Turok, director of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Ontario, Canada.

Like many physicists mulling the development, Dr. Turok was skeptical. He said neutrinos reaching the Earth from a supernova explosion have been observed to be traveling at the speed of light, which doesn't agree with the latest finding. Other scientists questioned the setup of the experiment and whether statistical errors might have affected the conclusion.

There also were questions about whether the researchers properly accounted for small glitches that could have had an unwanted effect—such as the rotation of the Earth, or the location of the moon and its role in altering the shape of the Earth's crust when the experiment was being conducted.

Even the scientists who conducted the neutrino experiment were wary about questioning one of Einstein's most powerful legacies. They spent six months verifying and reverifying the data, and called on physicists the world over to confirm—or refute—their finding through independent experiments.

"It's an anomaly, a discrepancy," said Dario Autiero, who was involved in the experiment, at a meeting held Friday at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN. But, if true, "it could have a potentially great impact" on science.

Neutrinos are particles with almost no mass and no charge, and they can pass through ordinary matter unaffected. At any given moment, billions harmlessly stream through a person's body.

In the experiment known as the Oscillation Project with Emulsion-Tracking Apparatus, neutrinos were measured as traveling slightly faster than light on a 450-mile trip from CERN near Geneva to the Gran Sasso underground lab in central Italy. The particles moved at a velocity just above the speed of light. That result was based on more than 15,000 neutrino events measured at the Italian lab, CERN said.

"This result comes as a complete surprise," said Antonio Ereditato of the University of Bern, a spokesman for the experiment. "After many months of studies and cross checks we have not found any instrumental effect that could explain the result of the measurement."

However, he added, "the potential impact on science is too large to draw immediate conclusions or attempt physics interpretations."

Einstein's theory of relativity incorporates his crucial idea that the speed of light—about 186,000 miles a second—is a barrier that can't realistically be breached. In the famous equation E=mc² that equates mass with the energy contained within it, for example, the "c" represents the speed of light. If particles go faster than light, things become troublesome.

Under such a scenario, an observer in a rocket ship traveling near the speed of light who was watching the Gran Sasso experiment taking place, "would detect the neutrino before it was emitted—they'd see it going backwards in time," said Dr. Turok.

The light-speed notion is also partly the basis for Einstein's theory of gravity. That, in turn, is the starting point for existing theories about how the universe evolved.

More practically, the speed of light calculation has been incorporated into billions of measurements done at particle accelerators in the quest to understand how the basic constituents of matter behave. If some particles can indeed outrun light, most of those calculations would need to be redone.

A few years ago, a similar neutrino experiment done at Fermilab in Illinois also showed that the particles could travel faster than light. Unlike the latest finding, that data were "below the threshold of precision needed for making a scientific claim," said Robert Plunkett, a particle physicist at Fermilab.

Dr. Plunkett and his colleagues now plan to go back to their data, refine it, and see if they come to any different conclusions about the speed of neutrino travel. They also plan to do a more ambitious experiment—essentially to check the Swiss-Italian result—though those findings won't be available for two or three years.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903703604576588422968704078.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Because observation trumps theory, and knowledge is boundless;

Love Bug

Always had a soft spot for Beetles.. Kinda hard to spot a good example on the road nowadays.. Maybe the new Beetle will be easier to spot once it starts selling..

Because it's the original people's car;

It's All About You. Always Has Been.

This one's for the Volvo loyalists. I'm not saying that I'm against you, but then I'm not with you either. No offence, but I'd prefer cars with a German accent.

So if you are a Volvo loyalist, then congratulations!! This post is dedicated to you. Enjoy the future of very odd-looking vehicular objects. Hope you like the new company square face. Not bad. Well, not as handsome as the S60 face, but it's not bad. A nod to the bricks of yesterday. You know what, actually I prefer this new square face to the flowing lines of the current design language.

The iPad dash is a nice touch. This is one modern brick. Every car should have iPad dashboards in the near future.. :) That would be ultra-sweet.. :)

Oh, and the colour is nice, too. A lighter shade of shadow blue..

Because "Cars are driven by people. The guiding principle behind everything we make at Volvo, therefore, is and must remain, safety", Assar Gabrielsson and Gustav Larson, founders, Volvo, 1927;

The New Face of Ford

Evos, Baby

It's a fresh new look. It spurred early in January this year, appearing first on the Focus Electric. Then early this month, the eye-opening Evos concept flanked the same look. It didn't take long for the Fiesta to follow, with the releasing of the Fiesta ST concept. Both the Evos and the Fiesta ST were showcased at the Frankfurt Motor Show as Ford's latest in development and vision. The Focus Electric also made an appearance. What these three cars have in common, is that they all speak the same language; design language, that is.

Orange is blazing, but white is the best.

All the three cars are sporting the same-shaped grille, which looks very, very good. Ford is redesigning their company face.

Sweet.

The new grille is wide, dynamic, and refreshing. It's bold and striking, yet of utmost simplicity. It fact, it also seems recognisable. It wouldn't be a taunt to say that the grille design provokes Aston Martin silhouettes. It's not a bad thing at all. Desirable, even. Dare I say it. Aston Martin grilles look damn good on Fords. And I applaud Ford for recognizing this fact. It's a very promising design direction, where Ford is heading. Let's see what else they will have to offer in the near future. 

The Focus e

Fiesta ST

Like big brother, no?

Because Ford once owned Aston Martin;

Design Analysis

Actually, not much to analyse. The design's been the same for the past 40 years. And there's no problem with that. Hoping to see the new edition live on the turn-stand sometime November... :)

Because it's an automotive, engineering, icon;

Yet Another Bunch of Stings of Thoughts (and maybe the last bunch)

"Appreciate the simple things in life, but never lose sight of your towering aspirations"

"Optimism; you have nothing to lose"

"Treat everybody as you would like to be treated"

"Arrogance is a liability"

"Be the first to forgive. Forgiveness is an act of faith, and if you have forgiven, that is the best for you and for the forgiven"

Because being free means acquiring self-assurance, clarity of mind, and a first-class mindset;

Taking it to the Front

Don't be a seasonal hypocrite. Keep yourself constantly informed.

Palestinian quest goes to UN

GLOBAL TRENDS By MARTIN KHOR

High drama is expected at the United Nations this week as the Palestinians take their quest for statehood to the UN Security Council and the General Assembly. It also signifies their loss of hope in the route of negotiations with Israel.

THIS week the Palestinians will take a big step in their struggle to having the world recognise that they have their own state.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will speak at the United Nations in New York and request recognition from UN members that Palestine is a state. He has at least two options on how to make this request.

The first option is to ask the Security Council to grant Palestine full membership of the United Nations. The drawback is that the United States is almost certain to veto this request, in defence of Israel’s interests.

The second option is for the General Assembly to adopt a decision to upgrade the position of Palestine to the status of a non-member observer state. Indirectly, this would mean Palestine is acknowledged as a state. It would be entitled to participate in many of the UN’s agencies and Conventions.

Last Friday, Abbas announced that he had decided on the first option, thereby openly challenging the US to take a stand. If the US exercises its veto, it would be exposed as an opponent, and its popularity in the Arab region will deteriorate further.

Abbas could then still take the second option and request for a vote in the General Assembly to obtain the enhanced observer status, one which would also recognise Palestine as a state. A large majority is expected to vote for the Palestinians.

The Palestinian move at the UN is going ahead despite pleas from the US and threats from Israel. The two countries warned that doing so would set back Israel-Palestinian negotiations for many years.

But it is precisely because the many past years of negotiations have gone nowhere and left Palestinians with nothing but frustration after frustration, that they have decided to move the process to the UN.

It is a sign of the Palestinians’ total loss of confidence in Israel as a negotiating partner and in the US leadership, that it can stand up to Israel and be an honest broker for a just solution.

The Palestinian Authority leaders have bent over backwards in seeking a deal with Israel, but in return saw no progress in ending the occupation but instead a continued increase in Israeli settlements in the occupied territories.

US President Barrack Obama had first said he would be tougher on Israel, giving hope to the Palestinians. He demanded the end of new settlement construction, and a deal based on the borders prior to the 1967 Arab-Israel war.

However, facing hostile reaction from both Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu and the pro-Israeli lobbies in the US including in Congress, Obama has stopped his active involvement in the peace efforts.

Instead, Netanyahu appears to have gained the upper hand over Obama, getting ovations during his speech at the US Congress some months ago.

With negotiations coming to an end, and the disappearance of all hope for any future progress following that route, the Palestinian Authority decided to seek broad support of the world through the UN route.

The moment seems ripe, as the international mood has swung significantly and perhaps decisively in favour of the Palestinians.

Israel has lost the great support of its two traditional allies in the region. The Arab Spring swept Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak from power, and the interim government is more in tune with popular sentiments.

Those sentiments were evident last week when an Egyptian crowd stormed the Israeli embassy in Cairo, forcing the Ambassador and staff to flee from the country.

Turkey, the other ally, has dramatically turned around following the 2008 Israeli blitz on Gaza and the 2010 Israeli attack on a Turkish ship, which was trying to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza, killing nine Turkish citizens.

Turkey downgraded relations with Israel and expelled the Israeli Ambassador.

Turkish premier Recap Tayyip Erdogan gave a rousing speech to Arab Foreign Ministers in Cairo last week, declaring that supporting the Palestinian request for statehood was an obligation and that the Palestinian flag must fly high at the UN.

Many prominent citizens within Europe and even the US have also spoken up. Former Finnish President and Nobel laurette Martti Ahtisaari and the European Commission’s former foreign policy chief Javier Solana published an article on ten reasons why European countries should vote in favour of the Palestinians in the UN.

And former US President Jimmy Carter has also written on how Obama’s call for settlement freeze and a peace deal based on pre-1967 borders were rejected by Israel, and why the subsequent withdrawal of the US from the peace process and US policy were interpreted by Palestinians and other Arabs as “acquiescing on the occupation and biased against them”.

According to Carter, the UN vote in favour of Palestinian statehood should be followed by a new attempt by Europe, the US and the UN to mediate in renewed talks between Israel and Palestinians.

The alternative to this new effort will be “an expansion of hopelessness, animosity and probable violence”.

An IPS article by the veteran observer of the UN scene, Thalif Dean, gives a broad analysis of the Palestinian move.

It quotes Mouin Rabbani of the Institute for Palestine Studies as saying that two decades of negotiations had achieved nothing except further consolidation of Israeli control over the occupied territories, in large part because of consistent US support for Israeli impunity.

“The era in which the US and other Western powers profess support for the principle of Palestinian statehood while thoroughly undermining it in practice must come to an end,” Rabbani said.

“Supporting a Palestinian state, provided none is established, simply won’t do anymore.

“It is therefore high time for an alternative and more effective approach to resolve this conflict. Given the failure of bilateral diplomacy, returning the question of Palestine to the multilateral forum of the UN is an essential first step in an alternative and more effective.”

Next week, as the Palestinian issue moves to centrestage at the UN, Palestinians plan to hold peaceful marches and rallies in the occupied territories to show support.

It remains to be seen how the drama unfolds at the UN, and what happens after.

***

*Published in The Star, 19th September 2011*

Written by a Chinese. Justice unites humanity. Ulterior motives shatter righteous intentions and spurs deceit. Racism is pointless and immature.

Because justice will prevail;

Another Bunch of Strings of Thoughts

"It's crowded at the bottom, and lonely at the top"

"Truly, you are powerless against people lying to you, and people talking wrongly about you behind your back. Your only defense is transparency, morality, and Allah's promise of undisputed justice"

"Trust yourself and nobody else. Only when you can trust yourself will you be able to have a certain level of trust for others"

"Everybody deserves a chance. Everybody deserves a second chance"

"Less stress really does mean longer living"

Because one thought leads to another, and you can't lie to yourself;

How to Spend Your Long Break Properly

So many things to do. So much time at hand.



Because I grew up with Disney Channel;

A bunch of Strings of Thoughts (a necklace of thoughts if you will)

"Life; instruction manual not included"

"Does life imitate art, or does art imitate life?"

"An experienced monkey will do better than an inexperienced one"

"You are what you think"

"Success is what you make of it"

"All is fair in love and war"

"Ignorance is bliss"

"Wisdom does not come with age. It comes with experience and clarity of mind"

"Your environment shapes you. Everything you see, hear, and feel has an effect on your well-being"

"Love doesn't make the world go round. Hard work does."

"Overlooking the fine print is a sign of inefficiency, lack of experience, and poor leadership"

"What are we, if not a reflection of our upbringing and virtues?"

"Your achievements go together very well with your honesty, integrity, and humility"

Because self-reflection is being honest to your own self, and different people connect the dots in different ways;

Strings of Thought

The older you get, and the more you've been through, the more you realise how imperfect the world is. And yet you learn to live with it, and even fall in love...


Because the past cannot be changed, the future is what you make of it, and the present is how you live your life...

It Hurts...

After that roller-blade incident this afternoon, I can proudly say that I literally know what butthurt means... and feels like...

Thanks, Faris. The pain was worth all the trouble. You the man.

Because once you fall down, you start to appreciate standing-up better...