One night in 1984, British scientist Frances Ashcroft was studying electricity in the body and discovered the protein that causes neonatal diabetes. She says she felt so "over the moon" that she couldn't sleep.
By the next morning, she says, she thought it was a mistake.
But luckily, that feeling was wrong, and Ashcroft's revelation led to a medical breakthrough decades later, which now enables people born with diabetes to take pills instead of injecting insulin.4
"I don't think people realize the excitement of being a true discoverer," Ashcroft tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. "There are no new places to discover on this Earth, but there are many, many new ideas to discover — new things to find out about the way the world works."
Ashcroft says she grew up wanting to be a farmer's wife but later became fascinated with studying electrical impulses in the body. Her new book The Spark of Life details how electricity drives everything we think, feel or do through ion channels that are found in the membranes of each of our cells.
"Your ability to hear me now is because there are cells in your ears that are converting sound waves into an electrical signal, which is what the brain can interpret as sound," Ashcroft says.
Ashcroft is a professor at Oxford University and the winner of the L'oreal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science. She is now working on trying to see a particular protein at atomic resolution and on understanding why people become overweight.
On the difference between electricity in wires and electricity in bodies
"Bioelectricity is similar but not identical to the stuff that's in sockets. Both are electrical currents, and, in both cases, the electrical current is nothing more than a flow of charged particles. But the stuff in our houses is carried by electrons whereas the stuff in our bodies is carried by ions — salt such as sodium chloride, common salt, in other words, the stuff you put on your meat. The second thing is that the speed is very different. So electricity in wires is carried at the speed of light, which is around 186,000 miles a second, whereas that in our bodies is very, very much slower."
On how electricity drives the way our bodies and bats sense heat
"Whenever you feel something that's burning hot — this is detected by this particular ion channel. It's sensitive to heat. And it fires off a signal that goes up your nerve cells. And it's exactly the same ion channels that are stimulated by chili peppers. So the reason that chili peppers taste so hot is that they stimulate the same ion channel, and the brain interprets them both as the same thing. And interestingly, they have been modified in vampire bats to detect the body heat of their prey. So that's how they can pick up the fact that your big toe is sticking out of a mosquito net, so they can come and suck your blood."
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L'oreal - because you are worth it...
Friday, 5 October 2012
Thursday, 4 October 2012
Mercedes announces electric SLS
And it’s faster than the 6.2-litre V8 version…
"The world's most powerful series production electric car." That's how Mercedes-Benz is describing its fancy new SLS Electric Drive. Blimey. So how on earth has it managed that? Cleverness. And being a bit German...
Underneath the familial bodywork, the ‘leccy SLS has a special driveline of four synchronous electric motors driving each individual wheel, giving it permanent four-wheel drive. The four motors, which weigh 45kg apiece, whisk up a total of 740bhp and 738lb ft of torque. That's 177bhp and 259lb ft (TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY NINE!) more than the 6.2-litre fossil burner.
To put the power down MB's given the ED two separate gearboxes that power each axle directly. Alongside it, there's a fancy AMG Torque Dynamics system that selects which wheels need the most drive depending on traction. Along with the monstrous motors, this means it'll squirm from 0-62mph in 3.9 seconds (0.1 seconds slower than the V8).
Funding the motors is a liquid-cooled 60kWh lithium-ion battery pack (MB's British arm, High Performance Engines helped develop it with AMG, as it goes). It weighs 548kg and it's stuffed in the transmission tunnel down the centre of the cabin, and behind the seats where you'd ordinarily find the fuel tank
You'll have to wait 20 hours per charge, mind. That said, there is an optional wall box, which provides a 22kW quick charge function, filling the stores in three hours. The battery also gets a top-up when you're braking and coasting, and in the SLS you can choose how much is recuperated.
"The world's most powerful series production electric car." That's how Mercedes-Benz is describing its fancy new SLS Electric Drive. Blimey. So how on earth has it managed that? Cleverness. And being a bit German...
Underneath the familial bodywork, the ‘leccy SLS has a special driveline of four synchronous electric motors driving each individual wheel, giving it permanent four-wheel drive. The four motors, which weigh 45kg apiece, whisk up a total of 740bhp and 738lb ft of torque. That's 177bhp and 259lb ft (TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY NINE!) more than the 6.2-litre fossil burner.
To put the power down MB's given the ED two separate gearboxes that power each axle directly. Alongside it, there's a fancy AMG Torque Dynamics system that selects which wheels need the most drive depending on traction. Along with the monstrous motors, this means it'll squirm from 0-62mph in 3.9 seconds (0.1 seconds slower than the V8).
Funding the motors is a liquid-cooled 60kWh lithium-ion battery pack (MB's British arm, High Performance Engines helped develop it with AMG, as it goes). It weighs 548kg and it's stuffed in the transmission tunnel down the centre of the cabin, and behind the seats where you'd ordinarily find the fuel tank
You'll have to wait 20 hours per charge, mind. That said, there is an optional wall box, which provides a 22kW quick charge function, filling the stores in three hours. The battery also gets a top-up when you're braking and coasting, and in the SLS you can choose how much is recuperated.
Wednesday, 3 October 2012
Tuesday, 2 October 2012
Debut Electric Cars at Paris Show
At the Paris Auto show, auto giant Renault extended its already strong commitment to electric vehicles yesterday by launching sales of a small electric car with a price and range that could offer mass appeal. Major German automakers Volkswagen, BMW, and Daimler joined Renault's commitment to electric cars at the show by launching or announcing some of their first battery-only EVs. The show opens to the public today and runs for two weeks.
The Renault Zoe costs less than most electric vehicles at 20,700 euros ($26,650), or 13,700 Euros in France, thanks to government incentives. And it travels 210 kilometers (130 miles), according to the standard European mileage test. Simon Luque, Zoe project director for Renault, promises that this will translate into 150 kilometers of real-world driving. "That is the best in the market today," boasts Luque.
Toyota, in contrast, recently reiterated its long-held skepticism on the viability of EVs, given the cost and limits of battery technology (see "Will Electric Vehicles Finally Succeed?"). The Japanese automaker, the world leader in hybrid vehicles, launched the eQ, a much-anticipated battery version of its iQ minicar yesterday, but said it would produce just 100 of these 85-kilometer range vehicles.
Luque says Renault decided that the capacity of the Zoe's battery would be 22 kilowatt-hours based on how much space it could make for it in a small car. He adds that three advances in efficiency enabled his team to extend real-world range by 20 to 30 kilometers.
First, Zoe carries the first automotive heat-pump heat and air-conditioning system, capturing heat outside and pumping it into the car rather than simply heating a resistor, as other electric vehicles do. This means that the Zoe can deliver three kilowatts of heat while drawing just one kilowatt from the battery.
The Renault Zoe costs less than most electric vehicles at 20,700 euros ($26,650), or 13,700 Euros in France, thanks to government incentives. And it travels 210 kilometers (130 miles), according to the standard European mileage test. Simon Luque, Zoe project director for Renault, promises that this will translate into 150 kilometers of real-world driving. "That is the best in the market today," boasts Luque.
Toyota, in contrast, recently reiterated its long-held skepticism on the viability of EVs, given the cost and limits of battery technology (see "Will Electric Vehicles Finally Succeed?"). The Japanese automaker, the world leader in hybrid vehicles, launched the eQ, a much-anticipated battery version of its iQ minicar yesterday, but said it would produce just 100 of these 85-kilometer range vehicles.
Luque says Renault decided that the capacity of the Zoe's battery would be 22 kilowatt-hours based on how much space it could make for it in a small car. He adds that three advances in efficiency enabled his team to extend real-world range by 20 to 30 kilometers.
First, Zoe carries the first automotive heat-pump heat and air-conditioning system, capturing heat outside and pumping it into the car rather than simply heating a resistor, as other electric vehicles do. This means that the Zoe can deliver three kilowatts of heat while drawing just one kilowatt from the battery.
Soaring gas and electricity bills this winter
Millions of families face soaring gas and electricity bills this winter as energy giants prepare to boost profits
Households across the UK could see their gas and electricity bills soar this winter as energy companies prepare to boost profits from households, it has been reported.
Firms are set to increase profits from households from £45 to £65 - a jump of almost 50 per cent, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Britain's second largest energy company SSE has already confirmed that the price of a typical dual fuel bill will rise by nine per cent from mid-October, up from £1,172 to £1,274 a year.
The increase will affect as many as five million households.
British Gas - one of the 'big six' energy companies - has told 10 million households that their bills could go up by as much as £100 next year.
Earlier this month Scottish Power and First Utility also pulled their cheapest fixed rate deals.
The removal of these tariffs has left consumers with a dwindling range of options that offer both the peace of mind of a fixed price coupled with no exit penalties.
Experts have warned the average annual energy bill could rise by £118 to a record £1,428 next year, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Mark Todd, a director at Energyhelpline.com told the paper: 'From what we are hearing in the industry, price rises are already being worked out.
Households across the UK could see their gas and electricity bills soar this winter as energy companies prepare to boost profits from households, it has been reported.
Firms are set to increase profits from households from £45 to £65 - a jump of almost 50 per cent, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Britain's second largest energy company SSE has already confirmed that the price of a typical dual fuel bill will rise by nine per cent from mid-October, up from £1,172 to £1,274 a year.
The increase will affect as many as five million households.
British Gas - one of the 'big six' energy companies - has told 10 million households that their bills could go up by as much as £100 next year.
Earlier this month Scottish Power and First Utility also pulled their cheapest fixed rate deals.
The removal of these tariffs has left consumers with a dwindling range of options that offer both the peace of mind of a fixed price coupled with no exit penalties.
Experts have warned the average annual energy bill could rise by £118 to a record £1,428 next year, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Mark Todd, a director at Energyhelpline.com told the paper: 'From what we are hearing in the industry, price rises are already being worked out.
Monday, 1 October 2012
UK electric car land speed record broken at Elvington Airfield
A battery-powered sports car bought as a second-hand Lotus on eBay has broken the UK electric car land speed record by topping 150mph.
The Nemesis, a heavily modified Lotus Exige, reached a landmark 151mph over two runs of the one-mile course at Elvington Airfield near York yesterday.
Driver Nick Ponting also managed to help the Nemesis to hit its new top speed, a whopping 153.022mph, over a quarter-mile stretch just before noon.
The previous electric car land speed record was 137mph, set by Don Wales, the grandson of legendary racer Sir Michael Campbell, in the Bluebird Electric.
This record was smashed by the Nemesis, which was bought by Dale Vince, the founder of Gloucestershire-based green electricity firm Ecotricity, for £10,000 on the online auction site two-and-a-half years ago.
Mr Vince, 51, a self-confessed “hippie”, spent £750,000 on modifications to the motor, including stretching the chassis, moving the centre of gravity forward and installing a carbon fibre battery box, not to mention new bodywork.
It was designed and built by a team of British motorsport engineers who, between them, have worked with companies such as McLaren, Williams and Lotus, and who have built Formula One and Le Mans racing cars.
Less than 18 months after work started, the car – which can be charged in under 30 minutes for normal use and just an hour for this type of racing – eclipsed the old record.
Mr Vince said: “I’m so pleased. It’s been a lot of hard work by our team in Norfolk. I call them the A Team.
“What we call the ‘donor car’ was a Lotus we bought on eBay. We’ve invested about £750,000 on modifications, but it was all worth it.
‘‘That’s actually quite cheap for a motor car.
“It’s the first electric supercar built in Britain. I’m very proud.
“The reason for doing this is to kick-start the electric car revolution which we think Britain badly needs.
‘‘People think that electric cars are slow and boring – we wanted to smash that stereotype.
“The idea for the car started about four or five years ago.
“We wanted to challenge stereotypes and show that we could build an electric supercar that could smash world records.
The Nemesis, a heavily modified Lotus Exige, reached a landmark 151mph over two runs of the one-mile course at Elvington Airfield near York yesterday.
Driver Nick Ponting also managed to help the Nemesis to hit its new top speed, a whopping 153.022mph, over a quarter-mile stretch just before noon.
The previous electric car land speed record was 137mph, set by Don Wales, the grandson of legendary racer Sir Michael Campbell, in the Bluebird Electric.
This record was smashed by the Nemesis, which was bought by Dale Vince, the founder of Gloucestershire-based green electricity firm Ecotricity, for £10,000 on the online auction site two-and-a-half years ago.
Mr Vince, 51, a self-confessed “hippie”, spent £750,000 on modifications to the motor, including stretching the chassis, moving the centre of gravity forward and installing a carbon fibre battery box, not to mention new bodywork.
It was designed and built by a team of British motorsport engineers who, between them, have worked with companies such as McLaren, Williams and Lotus, and who have built Formula One and Le Mans racing cars.
Less than 18 months after work started, the car – which can be charged in under 30 minutes for normal use and just an hour for this type of racing – eclipsed the old record.
Mr Vince said: “I’m so pleased. It’s been a lot of hard work by our team in Norfolk. I call them the A Team.
“What we call the ‘donor car’ was a Lotus we bought on eBay. We’ve invested about £750,000 on modifications, but it was all worth it.
‘‘That’s actually quite cheap for a motor car.
“It’s the first electric supercar built in Britain. I’m very proud.
“The reason for doing this is to kick-start the electric car revolution which we think Britain badly needs.
‘‘People think that electric cars are slow and boring – we wanted to smash that stereotype.
“The idea for the car started about four or five years ago.
“We wanted to challenge stereotypes and show that we could build an electric supercar that could smash world records.
Time for a change?
Although women represent at least 50% of the UK workforce, they are severely under-represented in most trade professions – many of which are facing huge skills gap shortages.
D A Woolgar are trying to buck this trend and this years apprentices are both girls
In 2007/2008 women made up just one per cent of Electrotechnical apprentice starts while recent figures indicate that less than one in every thousand electrical contractors is female.
NICEIC and its campaign partners aim to highlight the exciting opportunities available to females within the electrical industry and dispel the myth that trade professions are a viable career path for men only. NICEIC wants an industry built on skills and qualifications while ensuring there is a level playing field for all who wish to operate within it.
As part of its campaign, NICEIC and apprentice provider JTL produced a practical guide to help understand equality issues and give guidance to employers. It is also hoping to recruit more young females to its recently launched Apprentice Academy.
D A Woolgar are trying to buck this trend and this years apprentices are both girls
In 2007/2008 women made up just one per cent of Electrotechnical apprentice starts while recent figures indicate that less than one in every thousand electrical contractors is female.
NICEIC and its campaign partners aim to highlight the exciting opportunities available to females within the electrical industry and dispel the myth that trade professions are a viable career path for men only. NICEIC wants an industry built on skills and qualifications while ensuring there is a level playing field for all who wish to operate within it.
As part of its campaign, NICEIC and apprentice provider JTL produced a practical guide to help understand equality issues and give guidance to employers. It is also hoping to recruit more young females to its recently launched Apprentice Academy.
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