August 31, 2013

Novel Self-Powered Nanoparticles Developed to Deliver Healing Drugs Directly to Bone Cracks



A novel method for finding and delivering healing drugs to newly formed microcracks in bones has been invented by a team of chemists and bioengineers at Penn State University and Boston University. The method involves the targeted delivery of the drugs, directly to the cracks, on the backs of tiny self-powered nanoparticles. The energy that revs the motors of the nanoparticles and sends them rushing toward the crack comes from a surprising source -- the crack itself.


Transparent artificial muscle plays music



Gel-based audio speaker demonstrates capabilities of ionic conductors, long thought limited in application

In a materials science laboratory at Harvard, a transparent disk connected to a laptop fills the room with music — it’s the “Morning” prelude from “Peer Gynt” played on an ionic speaker.

No ordinary speaker, it consists of a thin sheet of rubber sandwiched between two layers of a saltwater gel, and it’s as clear as glass. A high-voltage signal that runs across the surfaces and through the layers forces the rubber to rapidly contract and vibrate, producing sounds that span the entire audible spectrum, 20 hertz to 20 kilohertz.


Porsche 908 Fibreglass shell



What good is 500 horsepower if it doesn't translate into speed? Yet when it comes to determining how fast a car is, there's another important factor in the equation: aerodynamics.

When comparing two cars of equal engine power and equal weight, the body of each car can make all the difference: the lower its air resistance or drag, the faster the car will be. As Porsche has proved time and again in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and many other races, aerodynamic refinements such as a streamlined underbody and wings help a race car reach high speeds while still allowing the driver to maintain control of the vehicle.


Married or single, Japan is a desolate country



“The past century is a history of sexual distortion,” social psychologist Hiroyoshi Ishikawa told Time Magazine in 1983.

“A small portion of young people in Japan are sexually very, very active,” he added, “while the vast majority are sexually repressed.”

What would he say if he surveyed the scene today? Probably that not much has changed in 30 years — except that the “small portion” grows steadily smaller.

Japan is a lonely, lonely country, if two reports, one in Spa magazine and the other in the weekly Aera, reflect the true state of things. The former focuses on single life, the latter on marriage. Both come across as sad, abject, mournful failures. You wouldn’t choose either, if you had a choice — and what else is there?




2013 China(Hangzhou) industrial design expo kicks off



Photo taken on Aug. 30, 2013 shows the 3D printed products during the 2013 China(Hangzhou) industrial design expo in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province. The three-day exhibition kicked off here Friday. (Xinhua/Han Chuanhao)




Red Bull Illume Image Quest 2013

 © Lorenz Holder. Overall Winner, 2013 Red Bull Illume

Red Bull Illume is the world’s premier international photography competition dedicated to the world of action and adventure sports. Its purpose is to showcase the most exciting and creative action sports photography on the planet as art and bring the public into the world of action sports.

The Image Quest 2013 is the 3rd edition of the competition after 2007 and 2010. From tens of thousands of entries, 50 images in ten categories were selected by international judges and photo editors from renowned publications.

The overall winner, Lorenz Holder, received the new Leica S camera and a broncolor Move Outdoor kit as well as Sun-Sniper gear worth over €2,000, while category winners each received a Leica X2, a broncolor Para 88 P Kit and an assortment of Sun-Sniper gear.


Chimpanzee Art Contest Winners Announced



The votes are in, so let the pant hooting begin!

After tallying more than 27,000 public votes, The Humane Society of the United States is pleased to announce the winners of our Chimpanzee Art Contest.

Receiving the most public votes was artwork by Brent from Chimp Haven! Second place goes to artwork by Cheetah from Save the Chimps! In third place is artwork by Ripley from Center for Great Apes! For the judged prize, Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace, selected Cheetah’s artwork! Prizes are in the form of grants to the sanctuaries.


Statins prevent cataracts and reduce CV events in CAD patients with very low LDL-C



 Statins prevent cataracts

Statins lower the rate of cataract by 20% and the risk of cataract was reduced by 50% when treatment was initiated in younger individuals (in their 40s) and the duration of therapy was longer (e.g. up to 14 years).

Statins lower the rate of cataract by 20%, according to research presented at the ESC Congress today by Professor John B. Kostis from New Jersey, USA. The risk of cataract was reduced by 50% when treatment was initiated in younger individuals (in their 40s) and the duration of therapy was longer (e.g. up to 14 years).

Cataracts are the leading cause of visual impairment worldwide affecting more than 20 million people. Statins are among the most commonly prescribed medications. In the USA they are prescribed to 1 in 3 people over 45 years of age at a cost of $35 billion annually.




Statins reduce CV events in CAD patients with very low LDL-C

Aggressive treatment with statins reduces the risk of subsequent cardiovascular events in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) even if they have very low LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) levels.

Aggressive treatment with statins reduces the risk of subsequent cardiovascular events in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) even if they have very low LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) levels, reveals research presented at ESC Congress 2013 today by Dr Emi Nakano from Japan.



High dose statins prevent dementia



High doses of statins prevent dementia in older people, according to research presented at the ESC Congress today by Dr Tin-Tse Lin from Taiwan. The study of nearly 58,000 patients found that high potency statins had the strongest protective effects against dementia.

Dr Lin said: “Statins are widely used in the older population to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. But recent reports of statin-associated cognitive impairment have led the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to list statin-induced cognitive changes, especially for the older population, in its safety communications.”


He added: “Previous studies had considered statin therapy to exert a beneficial effect on dementia. But few large-scale studies have focused on the impact of statins on new-onset, non-vascular dementia in the geriatric population.”



HTC's exiting designers interrogated for expense fraud and stealing trade secrets



Earlier today, several top designers at HTC were arrested in Taipei under suspicion of fraudulent expense claims, as well as stealing trade secrets ahead of leaving the company to run a new mobile design firm in both Taiwan and mainland China. Five people were interrogated, with the most notable ones being Vice President of Product Design Thomas Chien (pictured above), R&D director Wu Chien Hung and design team senior manager Justin Huang (who also personally sketched out the One's design). Chien and Wu have been taken into custody, whereas the others were released on bail. Their offices were also raided yesterday for the investigation.


Maiden STK600 pole for Gamarino



Christian Gamarino (Team Go Eleven Kawasaki) secured his first ever pole position start today after Qualifying 2 for the Superstock 600 class at the Nurburgring. The youngster from Genova broke into the 2'02s barrier to set a new best lap of the circuit in 2'01.723, few minutes before the end of the session. Lower temperatures did not prevent top riders to improve their times, with yesterday's leader Alessandro Nocco and Franco Morbidelli (San Carlo Team Italia Kawasaki) to secure a front row start for this afternoon's 10-lap race.


16th Chengdu Motor Show kicks off




see also

Chengdu Motor Show 2013 

Wise Old Birds Help Whooping Cranes Stay on Course



Scientists have studied bird migration for centuries, but it remains one of nature's great mysteries. How do birds find their way over long distances between breeding and wintering sites? Is their migration route encoded in their genes, or is it learned?

Working with records from a long-term effort to reintroduce critically endangered whooping cranes in the Eastern U.S., a University of Maryland-led research team found evidence that these long-lived birds learn their migration route from older cranes, and get better at it with age. 


Meet the street cats of Istanbul: How the city's four-legged locals were a Turkish highlight for a pair of snap-happy travellers



A pair of travellers' unusual holiday photos have shed light on one of Istanbul's less well-known sights - its omnipresent street cats.

Jürgen, from Germany, and Mike, from the U.S., spent 91 days in the Turkish city as part of a grand ambition to travel the world slowly, staying three months in each destination.

Describing the animals as a highlight of their stay, the pair describe on their blog how tourists were often distracted from the city's landmarks by mewling kittens.


Goldfish, the classical music aficionados: The famously forgetful fish can distinguish between Bach and Stravinsky, study shows



* Fish able to distinguish composers around three quarters of the time
* They even developed personal tastes, claims study by Japanese team

Goldfish may be forgetful, but when it comes to classical music, it seems they know what they like.
They can distinguish between a piece by 18th century German composer Johann Sebastian Bach and one by 20th century Russian Igor Stravinsky, a study found.
Japanese researchers played goldfish Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. They trained four of them to bite a red bead on hearing one piece, but not the other.


It happened today – 31 August



The 31st August 1947 was the day Luca di Montezemolo was born in Bologna, the same year that the first Ferrari branded car saw the light of day. This is not the place to explain who Montezemolo is, nor what he represents in the history of the company. However, we would like to celebrate his birthday, remembering other numbers from his life in red, starting with 19 Formula 1 world titles (five when he was Sporting Director and fourteen as President,) split between 8 Drivers’ crowns and 11 Constructors.’ Staying with the Formula 1 theme, there are the 118 wins from 370 Grand Prix starts, along with 321 podium finishes, 494 in the points, 97 pole positions, 109 fastest race laps and 3,687 points.


Opel Meriva Makes China Debut at Chengdu Motor Show 2013



Joins rest of Opel’s domestic lineup at premier auto show in western China

Opel today introduced the Meriva MPV, the newest member of its China lineup, at the Chengdu Motor Show 2013 – this year’s premier auto show in western China. The innovative, flexible and stylish multi-purpose vehicle will go on sale in Q4 2013.

“Opel has brought several important members from its global product portfolio to China this year,” said Luo Yong, Director of GM China Opel Operations. “This represents our commitment to meet the strong demand for high-quality German-engineered vehicles in a key market for Opel.”


see also:

Chengdu Motor Show 2013 
Chengdu Motor Show 2013
Chengdu Motor Show 2013


Panasonic churns out 100 millionth washing machine



Panasonic Corp. has built its 100 millionth washing machine since starting production in 1951 under the leadership of founder Konosuke Matsushita.

Its output of washing machines has accelerated since Panasonic started production in China in 1992, with the last 50 million being manufactured since 1998.

Panasonic said Thursday that its washing machines are popular in numerous areas because they are designed specifically for each region, taking into consideration size and washing method.
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Toshiba smart appliances

Toshiba Corp. said it will launch new home appliances with functions compatible with smartphones.

A new Vegeta series refrigerator, to be released in late September, will be equipped with a camera that can take pictures of items inside and send them to a smartphone, Toshiba said Thursday. This could be used to check what foods are running low, or to monitor how an elderly relative is eating, for instance.


Tablets and smartphones battle TV for the role of primary screen



Do you watch television with a tablet on your lap or a smartphone in your hand? If so, you're not alone - and it's drastically changing the balance of power in the world of entertainment.

The past decade saw the breakthrough of affordable big-screen televisions, so it's ironic that, for many of us, live television is becoming a background noise to the real business of online shopping, YouTube or Weibo, on a smartphone or tablet.

Broadcasters call this phenomenon the "second screen", and are starting to see it as an opportunity rather than a threat. The trend is at its height in the US and Europe, where many broadcasters provide apps that allow "TV everywhere", instant replay of live TV, and even play-along apps for quiz shows, and voting on reality TV.


Mexico ships 1st load of best tequila to China



Mexico has shipped its first load of blue agave tequila to China in hopes of turning the Asian nation into the biggest market for the alcoholic beverage after the U.S.

The shipment of more than 70,000 bottles contains nearly 14,000 gallons of 100 percent blue agave tequila, considered the best quality.


Student Car Share to launch first car-sharing service of its kind in Canada



Rolling onto campus in time for the start of the 2013/14 school year, Student Car Share - the first car sharing service in Canada geared towards the transportation needs of students 18+ - will be launching at 16 university and college campuses across Ontario and one in Quebec in September.

Poised to become a hub of student life, Student Car Share (SCS) is the convenient, affordable and eco-friendly way to get around – without the expense and commitment of car ownership. Membership perks include free gas, free insurance, free maintenance, and free 24/7 roadside assistance included with each reservation. While other car sharing programs require a minimum age of 21 to reserve a car, SCS has an 18+ reservation policy meaning that SCS is introducing a new generation to the personal, financial and environmental benefits of a car sharing lifestyle.



NTU and SUTD launch joint lab to drive research in 3D design and printing



Such new techniques will increase the range of products which can be made using 3D printing which usually produces an item by adding materials layer by layer.

To achieve this, the two universities today announced the launch of a joint lab in the field of Visualisation and Prototyping (VP). Named the VP Lab, the new multi-disciplinary research lab will have dual facilities located at NTU Yunnan campus and SUTD’s Dover campus.


Ultracold Big Bang experiment successfully simulates evolution of early universe



Physicists have reproduced a pattern resembling the cosmic microwave background radiation in a laboratory simulation of the Big Bang, using ultracold cesium atoms in a vacuum chamber at the University of Chicago.

“This is the first time an experiment like this has simulated the evolution of structure in the early universe,” said Cheng Chin, professor in physics. Chin and his associates reported their feat in the Aug. 1 edition of Science Express, and it will appear soon in the print edition of Science.


New ocean forecast could help predict fish habitat six months in advance



People are now used to long-term weather forecasts that predict what the coming winter may bring. But University of Washington researchers and federal scientists have developed the first long-term forecast of conditions that matter for Pacific Northwest fisheries.

“Being able to predict future phytoplankton blooms, ocean temperatures and low-oxygen events could help fisheries managers,” said Samantha Siedlecki, a research scientist at the UW-based Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean.


Mosquitoes smell you better at night, study find



In work published this week in Nature: Scientific Reports, a team of researchers from the University of Notre Dame’s Eck Institute for Global Health, led by Associate Professor Giles Duffield and Assistant Professor Zain Syed of the Department of Biological Sciences, revealed that the major malaria vector in Africa, the Anopheles gambiae mosquito, is able to smell major human host odorants better at night.


August 30, 2013

The redesigned 2014 Toyota Tundra has what it takes to conquer “Highway Thru Hell”



Toyota sponsoring upcoming season of popular Discovery Canada reality series

When big rigs suffer big spills on some of Canada’s most terrifying and isolated highways in inclement weather, the ultra-challenging work to get the road open again makes for some fascinating television.

It’s why Discovery Canada’s “Highway Thru Hell” – filmed along the highways of the Coquihalla and Fraser Canyon in British Columbia – is the television network’s number-one series debut.


Red Bull Youth America’s Cup on Sept. 1-4 to be Carried Exclusively on ESPN3



Starting Sept. 1, ESPN3 –  ESPN’s live multi-screen sports network –  will exclusively carry the inaugural Red Bull Youth America’s Cup, where some of best young sailors in the world will compete at the heart of the 34th America’s Cup racing season in San Francisco, Calif.

The Red Bull Youth America’s Cup, sailed in AC 45 Catamarans, will feature ten national teams of sailors, all between the ages of 19 and 24, from eight countries, including Australia, France, Germany, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland as well as two teams representing the USA.
The series, scheduled from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET, will consist of two Fleet Races each day. The schedule:




New superheavy elements can be uniquely identified



International research collaboration at GSI including researchers of Mainz University uses element 115 to highlight a way for taking new superheavy elements' fingerprints

An international team of researchers presents fresh evidence that confirms the existence of the superheavy chemical element 115. The experiment was conducted at the GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research, an accelerator laboratory located in Darmstadt. Under the lead of physicists from Lund University in Sweden, the group, which included researchers from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the Helmholtz Institute Mainz (HIM), was able to present a way to directly identify new superheavy elements. Elements beyond atomic number 104 are referred to as superheavy elements. They are produced at accelerator laboratories and generally decay after a short time. Initial reports about the discovery of an element with atomic number 115 were released from a research center in Russia in 2004. The then presented indirect evidence for the new element, however, was insufficient for an official discovery.


BMW Earns Six 2013 “Best Of” Awards From Motorcycle.com



BMW motorcycles swept six categories in Motorcycle.com’s annual “Best Of” awards – with the all-new liquid-cooled BMW R 1200 GS earning both “Motorcycle of the Year” and “Best-Off-Road/Adventure Motorcycle for 2013.”   The website, which is visited each month by more than two million motorcycle enthusiasts around the world, also named BMW’s HP 4 “Best Sportbike,” the K 1600 GT/GTL “Best Touring Bike,” the BMW C 600/650 “Best Scooter,” and BMW Motorrad’s Dynamic Damping Control (DDC) “Best New Motorcycle Technology of 2013.”


Solar energy: A richer harvest on the horizon



Theoretical simulations reveal that layered semiconductors with magnetic interfaces are potent catalysts for solar energy capture and conversion

Semiconductor nanostructures are poised to play a big role in future solar-powered hydrogen generation systems, according to a new study by researchers at the A*STAR Institute of High Performance Computing1. Hui Pan and Yong-Wei Zhang report that model interfaces made from gallium nitride (GaN) and zinc oxide (ZnO) semiconductors have tunable magnetic and light-harvesting capabilities — factors that can greatly improve the photocatalytic transformation of water into hydrogen fuel.


Welcome to KTH, Obama!



U.S. President Barack Obama is coming to KTH Royal Institute of Technology on Sept. 4. He will be joined by Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, to get a taste of KTH's research in renewable energy.

When Barack Obama arrives in Sweden on Wednesday for the first time, it will also mark the first bilateral visit for a U.S. president in Sweden.


First with new enviromental engineering



Luleå University of Technology is the first in Sweden with a new technology that scales up production of nano-cellulose from wood residues. It may eventually give the forest industry profitable new products, such as nano-filter that can clean both gas and processwater, but also drinking water. Better health and a cleaner marine environment, both nationally and internationally, are some possible effects.


Learning from Relatives: New web tool simplifies prediction of regulatory networks in bacteria



From the lab to the computer: Scientists from the University of Freiburg have developed a computer program to predict the functions of bacterial gene regulators. This online software which is called CopraRNA could save researchers a lot of wet lab work as it precisely predicts which bacterial genes are controlled by certain regulators.


A completely new atomic crystal dynamic of the white pigment titanium dioxide discovered



An international team of researchers at Vienna University of Technology in Austria and at Princeton University in the USA has confirmed theoretically-predicted interactions between single oxygen molecules and crystalline titanium dioxide. The results, which could be of importance for a variety of applications, have been published in the current issue of Science Magazine.

Titanium dioxide is an inexpensive, yet versatile material. It is used as a pigment in wall paint, as a biocompatible coating in medical implants, as a catalyst in the chemical industry and as UV protection in sunscreen.  When applied as a thin coating, it can keep all sorts of surfaces sparkling clean. The use of titanium oxide in the electronics industry is currently being investigated.  Fundamental to all these properties could be the atomic properties discovered by Ulrike Diebold from the Institute of Applied Physics at TU Vienna and Annabella Selloni from the Frick Laboratory at Princeton and their teams.


GM Holden Announces New Design Director



Richard Ferlazzo has been appointed GM Australia Design Director, effective 1 September, 2013. In this role, Mr Ferlazzo is responsible for Advanced, Production and Global Contract programs.

Mr Ferlazzo qualified as an Industrial Designer with RMIT in Melbourne in 1982 and has been designing cars for Holden and GM for 25 years, starting as a Creative Designer with Holden in 1988. Mr Ferlazzo has held positions leading interior, exterior and advanced design, as well as concept car creation and international design programs.


Acupuncture can be considered as one of the physical therapies for relieving osteoarthritis knee pain



A new systematic review by academics at the University of York suggests that acupuncture is at least as effective as other physical therapies for short-term relief from the pain of osteoarthritis of the knee.

Researchers in the Department of Health Sciences and the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination at York carried out the systematic review with network meta-analysis, to allow comparison of range of physical treatments. This novel method created a matrix that provided comparison of all physical treatments even where there was no direct evidence of their respective merits.




New BR TITANIUM LED SERIES 3.0



GREEN CREATIVE LLC, the Commercial grade LED lighting manufacturer announces the launch of its brand new BR TITANIUM LED SERIES 3.0.

Improving upon its highly successful GENERATION 2 BR line, GREEN CREATIVE has designed a new range of BR lamps featuring the latest in LED technology.  The lineup includes the following models: R20 7.5W (50W equivalent), BR30 10W (65W equivalent), BR40 10W (65W equivalent), and BR40 17W (120W equivalent).


Tesla Motors Brings Revolutionary Supercharger to Europe With Launch Across Norway



Tesla offers Model S customers free, fast charging for convenient long distances drives

Tesla Motors today unveiled its highly anticipated European Supercharger network, energizing stations across Norway that enable Model S owners to conveniently travel for free between cities along well-traveled highways throughout the country.

With locations in Lyngdal, Aurland, Dombås, Gol, Cinderella and Lillehammer, Norway’s most vital and commonly used roads and highways are covered by Tesla Superchargers. Model S customers can drive routes such as the E6 from Trondheim to Oslo, the E18 from Oslo to Kristiansand, the E39 from Kristiansand to Stavanger, and Highway7 from Oslo to Gol for free and with minimal stops. Approximately 90 percent of the Norwegian population lives within 320 km of a Supercharger station, and about 60 percent of the country’s total land mass is within the same distance of a station.




Panasonic Begins Full-scale Production at 300 MW HIT®*1 Solar Module Factory in Malaysia



Panasonic Corporation today announced the start of full-scale production at its solar module manufacturing factory in Malaysia. The factory produces the company's HIT solar modules which offer the industry's top-class power output*2, with an annual production capacity of 300 MW. With the factory now operating in full swing, Panasonic will accelerate its efforts to meet the robust solar demand, especially in Japan, while further enhancing cost competitiveness.

The global solar market is expected to grow further with increasing environmental awareness and the introduction of stimulus measures such as feed-in tariffs and subsidies in various countries, including Japan. Anticipating the growing demand, Panasonic established the factory in Malaysia in December 2011 in Kulim Hi-Tech Park in the northwestern state of Kedah and started production in December 2012.


The more the merrier – Promiscuity in mice is a matter of free choice



In many species, females frequently mate with more than one male. Researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna (Vetmeduni Vienna) aimed to find out why. In experiments on wild house mice, they discovered that females mate with multiple males when they have the opportunity to choose their mates freely. Sexual coercion by males could be ruled out as a factor. The results were published in the Journal of Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.


A molecular delivery service



Tiny hair-like structures (cilia) are found on the surface of most cells. Cilia are responsible for the locomotion of cells (e.g. sperm cells), they process external signals and coordinate the correct arrangement of the inner organs during the development of an organism. For proper assembly and function of cilia, they need to be supplied with the appropriate building blocks. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry (MPIB) in Martinsried near Munich, Germany, now identified the mechanism of how Tubulin, the main building block of cilia, is transported within the cilium. “Defects in cilia cause numerous diseases that affect millions of people worldwide,” says Sagar Bhogaraju, scientist at the MPI of Biochemistry. The results now published in the journal Science could help to understand and potentially prevent these diseases.


Daimler's Mercedes-Benz sees double-digit growth in China market



Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz expects to see growth of up to 15 percent in China's luxury car segment this year, a senior executive said, and is trying to grab a bigger share of that market by expanding into the inland-west and smaller cities.

The company plans to open 75 new dealer outlets this year, nearly half in third- and fourth-tier cities, said China sales head Nicholas Speeks, as part of a broader turnaround plan to reverse its recent struggles in the world's biggest auto market.

"We are a little bit lagging behind our principal competitors in terms of outlets opening," Speeks told reporters at a news briefing to outline the German brand's strategy at the Chengdu auto show on Friday.


Mercedes-Benz at the Caravan Salon 2013 - Reaching for the stars: Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles with a broad portfolio at the Caravan Salon 2013



Now even safer, cleaner, more comfortable and more striking: Mercedes-Benz will be showcasing the new Sprinter at the Caravan Salon in Düsseldorf from 31 August to 8 September. The number one base vehicle for luxury camper vans is continuing to build on its lead – and is now to be found as a camper van platform from North America to China. The Mercedes-Benz Viano Marco Polo and the Viano Fun are also showing their colours at Europe's leading trade show for recreational vehicles. Mercedes-Benz camper vans of all sizes are on display at the camper van manufacturers' stands, ranging from the compact Viano recreational vehicle to the imposing alcove vehicle based on the Mercedes-Benz Actros heavy-duty truck.


Toyota fast-tracking safety upgrades to improve crash performance: report



Toyota is working to improve the strength of its vehicles in front-end impacts following a number of poor results in a new crash test.

The Toyota Camry, Prius V and RAV4 were all rated ‘poor’ – the lowest possible rating – in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) recently introduced small overlap frontal impact crash test, leaving the trio trailing behind most of their competitors.

Speaking with industry journal Automotive News, Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America CEO Osamu Nagata confirmed engineers at the Toyota Technical Centre have been revising vehicle designs since last year in the pursuit of improved crash performance.


Uniqlo’s largest flagship opens Sept. 30 in Shanghai



Fast Retailing Co., the operator of casual clothing chain Uniqlo, said Wednesday it will open the world’s largest Uniqlo flagship store in Shanghai on Sept. 30.

The store will also offer some Uniqlo family brands. It will be housed in a building at the site of a former department store, occupying the first five floors and a basement level, it said.




Chengdu Motor Show 2013 to be unveiled on 30 August



As one of the top four auto shows in China, Chengdu Motor Show 2013(CDMS) is about to be grandly open at Century City New International Convention & Exhibition Centre from 30 August to 8 September. With the new theme, driven by a colorful auto show, CDMS will present the avant-garde and diversified culture of auto and the industry trend in an all-round way. Realizing a continuous expansion in scale, CDMS 2013, for the first time, is to occupy all the 9 halls of Century City New International Convention & Exhibition Centre for passenger vehicles. On top of, with an outside display area for the second-hand car of high-end brands and the road show, the exhibition area is up to 140,000 sqm, refreshing the records. During the 10-day exhibition, the show is expected to receive 650,000 visits.

Yutong appears at CITTE with full range of products



The 2013 ChinaShenzhenInternational Transportation Technology Expo (CITTE) themed “Green, Intelligence, Intimity” was held at Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center, Shenzhen, Southern China’s Guangdong province on August 15, which attracted a number of bus builders to attend. Yutong, as the leading bus brand of China’s bus industry, brought a full range of products consisting of city bus, tourism coach and school bus to the show, getting a lot of attention among the people in the industry.


LG EXPANDS IPS 21:9 ULTRAWIDE PORTFOLIO WITH ALL-IN-ONE PC AT IFA 2013



Designed for Both Work and Play, LG’s 21:9 UltraWide Lineup Stretches the Boundaries of Productivity and Entertainment

LG Electronics (LG) today unveiled the IPS 21:9 UltraWide All-In-One PC (Model V960) at IFA 2013 in Berlin, Germany. The new addition further expands the cinematically proportioned display range, claiming new territory in the PC market. At IFA, LG will also showcase its new 29EA73, 29EB73 and 29MA73 monitors. The comprehensive IPS 21:9 UltraWide lineup offers consumers an array of choices that increase multitasking and enhance entertainment experiences.

“Since LG’s launch of the world’s first 21:9 aspect ratio monitor nearly a year ago, consumer interest in this new class of displays has seen a huge increase,” said Hyoung-sei Park, head of the IT business division at LG Electronics. “The IPS 21:9 UltraWide All-In-One PC will further solidify LG’s reputation as a leader in this relatively new but growing UltraWide segment.”


Whales get a tan too



Whales have been shown to increase the pigment in their skin in response to sunshine, just as we get a tan.

Research published today in Nature journal, Scientific Reports, reveals that not only do some species of whales get darker with sun exposure, incurring DNA damage in their skin just like us, they also accumulate damage to the cells in the skin as they get older.