Driverless Bus starting in London!

Over the next three weeks, Oxbotica’s new driverless shuttle, dubbed “Harry,” will be put to the test during a trial in Greenwich, London.

The BBC reports that around 100 people are expected to travel using the prototype, which can accommodate four people and move at a speed up to 16.1 kmh (10 mph). It comes equipped with five cameras and three lasers to help navigate a two-mile route close to London’s O2 Arena, which is frequented by pedestrians and cyclists.

“Very few people have experienced an autonomous vehicle, so this is about letting people see one in person,” chief executive Graeme Smith told the BBC. “We hope to gain acceptance from members of the public for vehicles sharing this kind of space with them. We are also looking at how people in the vehicle respond when being transported from A to B.”

According to Industry Minister Nick Hurd, “The UK has a history of innovation in the auto sector, and this type of technology has the potential to save lives as well as offer freedom to the elderly or those with mobility impairments.”
To that end, the shuttle has been designed to ensure safety in a pedestrian-frequented environment. It can see up to 100 meters (328 feet) ahead and will immediately stop should anything appear in its way, applying emergency brakes if required. While Harry has no steering wheel or brake pedal, a trained person will be on board to stop it manually during trial if needed.

Ensuring that autonomous systems function as designed during trials such as this one is the next step on the path to a future in which our roads are safer and smoother than we ever thought possible.

Volvo Plans to Take on Tesla

Volvo plans to launch its first all-electric vehicle by 2019. The Swedish automaker, which is now owned by Chinese company Geely, wants to compete with Tesla's Model 3 in terms of price.

When electric vehicles were first introduced, people weren’t quick to buy into the idea due to fears of limited mileage on a single charge. EVs were also generally more expensive compared to gas-powered cars. But all that is changing.

EVs can now compete with other cars in terms of price, and a single charge can support a much greater range. Traditional car manufacturers are quick to adapt these new technologies to develop their own EVs, and among them is Volvo. The Swedish company, now owned by Chinese manufacturer Geely, has just revealed their first all-electric car.

It’s not clear yet whether Volvo’s new concept will be a sedan or an SUV, but reports do indicate that it will be able to cover roughly 402 kilometers (250 miles) on one full charge. The vehicle is expected to be priced between $35,000 and $40,000, putting it in the same range as Tesla’s Model 3. No word yet if this concept EV will also be equipped with Volvo’s autonomous driving system.

In any case, the vehicle will be made at the company’s factory in Luqiao, China, and is set to go into production in 2019. The Swedish car manufacturer is also planning to build a larger EV for 2019, making that a big year for Volvo EVs.

Volvo has said they expect to sell one million EVs by 2025, and this new all-electric vehicle will likely put a big dent in that goal. As more EVs like it hit the roads, we should be able to put a dent in the carbon emissions currently wreaking havoc on our planet as well.

A New Hyperloop System is Slated to Connect European Cities by 2021

It looks like the Netherlands would soon join Slovakia, and the Czech Republic as the next European country to have a Hyperloop. A Dutch team from the Technical University of Delft (TU Delft) won this year’s edition of SpaceX’s competition to develop this next generation, super-fast transport technology, and they’re already setting up a full-scale testing center.

The Dutch team’s idea will be realised by tech startup Hardt Global Mobility, in partnership with TU Delft, the Dutch national railway NS, and construction company BAM. Building the 30 meter (98 foot) tube is the first step.

“In this facility we will test all systems that don’t require high speeds,” Hardt CEO Tim Houter told Reuters. “So think about the levitation system, but also the propulsion system, but really important, all the safety systems will be tested in this low-speed but full-scale testing facility.” The initial round of testing has already received $675,000 in funding. More would be needed for a high-speed test line by 2019 to accomplish their goal of setting up a Hyperloop system between Amsterdam and Paris by 2021.

First proposed in 2013 by SpaceX’s founder and CEO Elon Musk, the Hyperloop is transportation system for people and cargo that features pods traveling through tubes — or possibly tunnels — at roughly 1,126 k/h (700 mph). Apart from the European sites mentioned, other Hyperloop projects are already at work in Canada, Los Angeles, and Dubai.
References: Ap, Reuters

Why do flights take longer to fly West than East?

The flights take 5 hours to go West-East on this journey, but is taking about 7 East-West. The reason for the difference is an atmospheric phenomena known as the jet stream. The jet stream is a very high altitude wind which always blows from the West to the East across the Atlantic. The planes moving at a constant air speed thus go faster in the West-East direction when they are moving with the wind than in the opposite direction.

Every planet/moon has global wind that are mostly determined by the way the planet/moon rotates and how evenly the Sun illuminates it. On the Earth the equator gets much more Sun than the poles. resulting in warmer air at the equator than the poles and creating circulation cells (or "Hadley Cells") which consist of warm air rising over the equator and then moving North and South from it and back round.

The Earth is also rotating. When any solid body rotates, bits of it that are nearer its axis move slower than those which are further away. As you move north (or south) from the equator, you are moving closer to the axis of the Earth and so the air which started at the equator and moved north (or south) will be moving faster than the ground it is over (it has the rotation speed of the ground at the equator, not the ground which is is now over). This results in winds which always move from the west to the east in the mid latitudes.