The Electric Concept Chevy Volt – GM Technology Goes Green

by Sarah Harper

In early September, General Motors (GM) launched one of its latest gems: the Concept Chevy Volt, a hybrid electric car complete with an E-Flex Propulsion System (a 3 cylinder internal combustion engine that compliments the vehicle’s 53 kilowatt lithium battery). The car’s fuel economy (and its white-hot sporty look) is expected to draw consumers seeking alternatives to the environmental and financial issues of using gasoline, as it allows drivers to reduce, in the long run, emissions and gasoline consumption. If you choose to purchase a hybrid vehicle, you can look forward to these and numerous other benefits....

Hybrid Vehicles – Helping Consumers Address the Petrol Crisis

According to the GM website and reports on CNET’s Green Tech blog, anticipated benefits of the Concept Chevy Volt will include:

Incredible Gas Mileage

Short trips (40 miles* or under per day) – this distance falls within the battery’s range, so no gasoline is used. Charge the battery once a day and travel gas-free.

Medium trips (40 – 60 miles*) – battery and engine work together, providing power for longer trips.

Long trips (over 60 miles*) – the gasoline motor works more than in would in a medium-length trip, which brings gas mileage down to an estimated 50 miles per gallon.

Inexpensive Operational Costs

Operating a hybrid vehicle costs approximately 2 to 6 cents per mile, versus 15 cents per mile for solely gasoline-powered vehicles.

Reduction of Emissions and Air Pollution

Hybrid vehicles cause fewer emissions than solely gasoline powered vehicles, although not to the extent of solely electricity-powered vehicles.

Reduction of Petroleum Consumption

Hybrid vehicles reduce petrol usage by as much as 3 to 4 million barrels a day in 2050, according to some estimates.

So is going hybrid the solution to our economic, environmental, and socio-political woes? Although only time will tell, it seems hybrid vehicles may provide a range of short- and long-term benefits to individual drivers as well as the global economy. Should you consider purchasing a hybrid vehicle such as the Concept Chevy Volt? The choice is yours...

*Mileages are approximate.

Wikipedia – Convenient Research Tool or Slander Device?

by Sarah Harper

Since its creation in 2001, Wikipedia has been the stand-by of people seeking easy-to-find research online. With just a few keyboard strokes, one can find almost unlimited information on a range of subjects (in more than 250 languages) in one database. Users can also add articles and edit existing ones, making Wikipedia one of the largest collaborative websites in the world.

However, Wikipedia has gained a lot of negative attention in recent months after an anonymous Wikipedia user added inaccurate information to Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin’s bio on Wikipedia just hours before her candidacy was revealed to the public.

Politics aside, the incident drew attention to a significant issue: to what degree can we trust Wikipedia as a research tool?

Understanding Wikipedia – Benefits and Limitations

According to Wikipedia’s “about wikipedia” page, the website is not intended to be an exhaustive database or a source of definitive information. Rather, it is a forum for presenting various contributors’ research on a given topic. If there is conflicting research on a topic, the article is tagged as “disputed”, and the contributors (“Wikipedians”) can discuss their points of view and attempt to reach a consensus on the article’s “talk page”.

Safeguards against Inaccuracy

Wikipedia safeguards against false information by requiring that all statements be verifiable (by legitimate sources) and that all sources be cited. It also maintains a policy of adding only existing research (no new ideas) and removing sub-par information. Since the goal of Wikipedia is to present a collection of information from various sources, articles with numerous contributors are considered to be of the highest quality and are granted “featured” status.

Drawbacks of Wikipedia

One of the drawbacks of Wikipedia is that users who do not understand the nature of the database may place too much trust in the site’s accuracy. Another is that, since the website is interactive and is edited on an ongoing basis, inaccurate statements cannot be caught immediately (as may have been the case with Sarah Palin’s bio). Finally, since one does not have to have any credentials whatsoever to contribute to Wikipedia, there is no way to verify his or her motives for editing the Wiki.