The rodent was discovered running around Flight 676 from Sea-Tac to Denver just before takeoff.
Shown above is a Toyota Venza crossover.An intensive 10 month investigation into possible causes of unintended acceleration in Toyota cars found no fault with the automaker's electronic throttle control systems, the Department of Transportation announced Tuesday.
So far there are three known causes of unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles: improperly installed floor mats, sticky pedals, and driver error.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said, "We enlisted the best and brightest engineers to study Toyota's electronics systems, and the verdict is in. There is no electronic-based cause for unintended high-speed acceleration in Toyotas."
If the feds had found electronic problems in their massive federal study Toyota would have been forced to recall nearly every vehicle produced in the last several years nearly bankrupting the company.
"We believe this rigorous scientific analysis by some of America's foremost engineers should further reinforce confidence in the safety of Toyota and Lexus vehicles," Toyota's chief quality officer Steve St. Angelo said in a company statement.
Indonesian flight attendants swim to safety during an aircraft emergency evacuation training in Jakarta.
Barack Obama's goal of putting 1 million electric cars on U.S. roads by 2015 could run into a huge roadblock -- the American consumer.
Photo shows a Nissan Leaf getting a battery charge.
According to a report released by researchers at Indiana University, automakers are unlikely to manufacture enough cars to reach the president's goal because of a potential lack of buyer demand.
Nissan and General Motors, makers of the Leaf and Volt, respectively, already have the capacity to produce enough cars to meet the goal. Serious questions remain, however, about the level of desire among potential buyers worried about cost, ease of use and likely resale value.
If electrics are so good why not make state and local police drive them as a test to see how reliable they are and how their performance stacks up.
If they want the country to go green, start with all police vehicles switching to electrics to prove to everyone if they are reliable and robust enough.
Link
All batteries deliver their power via a chemical reaction inside the battery that releases electrons.
When the temperature drops the chemical reactions happen more slowly and the battery cannot produce the same current that it can at room temperature. A change of ten degrees can sap 50% of a battery's output.
In some situations the chemical reactions will happen so slowly and give so little power that the battery will appear to be dead when in fact if it is warmed up it will go right back to normal output.Photo shows a Chevy Volt charging.
Now, if the cars were cheaper than gas-powered cars of equal performance, these cold-weather risks might be acceptable. But electrics are substantially more expensive than cars of greater capability - and will be for years to come.
Why is it that 'greenies' continue to push one of the least green technologies available. The materials that make up the battery are toxic, the methods used to mine them are toxic, crashes will release spills that create environmental issues, and recycling the material will create vast new waste streams that can kill water sources.
My personal experience with electric vehicles? Several years ago I drove one nearly every weekend during the summer months and it got me from the 1st tee to the 18th green nearly every time without recharging.
There is a report at the second link below detailing a trip in an electric Mini Cooper from London to Edinburgh that took longer than a stagecoach did in the 1830's!
Link here and here.
Cars stuck in the snow litter the George Washington Parkway in McLean, Virginia, after a heavy snow storm blanketed the northeast.
An official portrait shows the STS-51L crewmembers. Back row (L to R): Mission Specialist, Ellison S. Onizuka, Teacher in Space Participant Sharon Christa McAuliffe, Payload Specialist, Greg Jarvis and Mission Specialist, Judy Resnik. Front row (L to R): Pilot Mike Smith, Commander, Dick Scobee and Mission Specialist, Ron McNair.
Judicial Watch has uncovered new documents showing that former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (shown on right) logged 43 flights on Air Force planes covering 90,155 miles from January to October 2010. During this time her Republican counterpart John Boehner (shown on left) flew commercial airlines.Judicial Watch also previously uncovered internal Department of Defense (DOD) email correspondence detailing attempts by DOD staff to accommodate Pelosi’s numerous requests for military escorts and military aircraft as well as the speaker’s last minute cancellations and changes.
For example, in response to a series of requests for military aircraft, one DOD official wrote, "Any chance of politely querying [Pelosi's team] if they really intend to do all of these or are they just picking every weekend?...[T]here's no need to block every weekend 'just in case'..."
The email also notes that Pelosi's office had, "a history of canceling many of their past requests."
One source claims the JFK Ambulance sold by Barrett-Jackson is a "near perfect fake" and that the real JFK ambulance was crushed in 1986. But why would anyone destroy a bona fide JFK artifact?
The Barrett-Jackson Auction Company described the ambulance as having met Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base and taken JFK’s casket to Bethesda Naval Hospital for autopsy and later to the Capitol, some experts said the actual ambulance that carried Kennedy was destroyed in the mid-1980s.
A Pakistani laborer transports the front portion of a van on his handcart on a road in Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Once or twice a year I enjoy watching the Barrett-Jackson auto auctions on TV while catching up on some writing on my laptop while kicked back in a recliner.
The state's tiered rate system, in which customers are charged higher rates as they use more electricity, could make plug-in hybrid and battery-powered vehicles more costly to own, according to a Purdue University study.
The study was unveiled as the first of the electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles are reaching consumers. Two vehicles, the all-electric Nissan Leaf (shown recharging above) and the plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt, started being delivered to their first customers last month.
While the tiered electrical rate system was designed as an incentive to use less electricity, it will not help owners of plug in electric cars.
A plug-in hybrid Volt would increase the average household's electrical usage 60%, the study said. Although the study didn't explicitly examine all-electric vehicles such as the Leaf, "the same principle would apply."
More here.
Modern smart keys use radio frequencies to let drivers unlock and start a vehicle without fumbling with a key fob.
Now European researchers have found such systems can be hacked, letting thieves easily steal your car.
The BBC's stunt of taking an electric Mini (pictured) to Edinburgh reveals just how impractical rechargeable cars are.
In its obsessive desire to promote the virtues of electric cars, the BBC proudly showed us last week how its reporter Brian Milligan was able to drive an electric Mini from London to Edinburgh in a mere four days – with nine stops of up to 10 hours to recharge the batteries (with electricity from fossil fuels).
The distance from London to Edinburgh is 484 miles (778 km) a comfortable days drive in a conventional vehicle.
What the BBC omitted to tell us was that in the 1830s, a stagecoach was able to make the same journey in half the time, with two days and nights of continuous driving. This did require 50 stops to change horses, but each of these took only two minutes, giving a total stopping time of just over an hour and a half.
180 years is a big leap backward!
Link
A train makes its way through the snow-covered landscape in the western German city of Essen.
A Star Wars Darth Vader hot air balloon hovers next to another participant during the Hot Air Balloons Festival in Leon, Mexico last November.
A picture of my cave
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