Savannah, the world's first hybrid superyacht

 

The Savannah is the first hybrid superyacht Image Gallery (7 images) If F1 racers can be hybrids, then why not superyachts? That seems to be the thinking of Feadship De Voogt Naval Architects as it launched "the world’s first hybrid superyacht," Savannah, last Saturday. The centerpiece of a James Bond-themed launch ceremony for the new owner and the people involved in the yacht's construction over the last three years, the Savannah not only boasts a novel power plant, but is also the first superyacht to be entirely metallic painted save for the mast domes. The 83.5 m (274 ft) Savannah has a rather a generous crew to guest ratio with room for the owner and companion, 10 guests, and 22 to 26 crew. It's streamlined hull has a superstructure that uses glass, composite panels, polished stainless steel strips, aluminum supports, and teak. In addition, the aft owner area and main deck are a single enclosed space sealed with weathertight sliding doors. The Sea Foam metallic green exterior color scheme required weeks of work using special mixing machines and an electrically-charged spray gun in a climate-controlled tent to lay the metallic flakes properly. But the real first for the Savannah as a superyacht is its"eco-friendly" electro-mechanical propulsion. Unlike more conventional sea craft, Savannah is powered by a Wärtsilä 9L20 4-stroke engine pumping 1,800 kW into three Caterpillar generators charging banks of lithium-ion batteries running the electrically-powered screws. These consist of a single central propeller nacelle and an in-line azimuthing thruster set in the slipstream – an arrangement that Feadship says has never before been installed in a yacht. The company also says that this arrangement produces fuel economies of 30 percent, allows for quiet cruising at low speeds on battery power, and provides extra speed when going flat out with less demand on the engines. "The possibility to choose between diesel, diesel-electric or fully electric is truly exceptional," says Savannah’s captain Ted McCumber. There aren't many details about the interior by Design CG Design released due to privacy issues, but what is known it that belowdecks, there is an "underwater lounge" where the would-be Captain Nemo can look at sealife through specially engineered underwater glass ports or the goings on in the yacht's swimming pool through similar viewports. Feadship says that the Savannah will be available for occasional charter. Source: Feadship

Blade Pico QX RTF Double-Flip Drone

 

The advantage of a small drone is that you fly your machine around the house when the weather is bad. You can do just that with Blade’s Pico QX ultra-micro drone, which also offers stabilization and one-touch flips, and right now has 10% off. At just eight grams, we’re talking about a seriously small flying machine here. Such tiny proportions make newbie crashes irrelevant, but Blade’s SAFE® (Sensor Assisted Flight Envelope) technology should make such incidents rare, anyway. With a little more flying time under your belt, the Pico will let you show off with flips. These are pre-programmed tricks that simply require the tap of a button, or two taps for double flips. The on-board battery lasts for 5–8 minutes between charges, with refueling via USB, and the drone sports some nice lights for flying in the dark. To grab the Pico QX at the discounted price, visit the link. >> Get 10% off the Blade Pico QX™ RTF Drone ($49.99 incl. shipping)

Beating the clock: researchers develop new treatment for rabies

 

Biao He is a professor of infectious diseases in the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine and a Georgia Research Alliance distinguished investigator. He and others at UGA are working on a rabies vaccine and have successfully tested a new treatment on mice that cures the disease even after the virus has spread to the brain. Successfully treating rabies can be a race against the clock. Those who suffer a bite from a rabid animal have a brief window of time to seek medical help before the virus takes root in the central nervous system, at which point the disease is almost invariably fatal. Now, researchers at the University of Georgia have successfully tested a new treatment on mice that cures the disease even after the virus has spread to the brain. They published their findings recently in the Journal of Virology. "Basically, the best way to deal with rabies right now is simple: Don't get rabies," said study co-author Biao He, a professor of infectious diseases in the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine. "We have vaccines that can prevent the disease, and we use the same vaccine as a kind of treatment after a bite, but it only works if the virus hasn't progressed too far. "Our team has developed a new vaccine that rescues mice much longer after infection than what was traditionally thought possible." In their mouse experiments, the animals were exposed to a strain of the rabies virus that generally reaches the brain of infected mice within three days. By day six, mice begin to exhibit the telltale physical symptoms that indicate the infection has become fatal. However, 50 percent of mice treated with the new vaccine were saved, even after the onset of physical symptoms on day six. "This is the most effective treatment we have seen reported in the scientific literature," He said. "If we can improve these results and translate them to humans, we may have found one of the first useful treatments for advanced rabies infection." He and his colleagues developed their vaccine by inserting a protein from the rabies virus into another virus known as parainfluenza virus 5, or PIV5, which is thought to contribute to upper respiratory infections in dogs but is completely harmless to humans. PIV5 acts as a delivery vehicle that carries the rabies protein to the immune system so it may create the antibodies necessary to fight off the virus. "This is only the beginning of our work," He said. "While these preliminary results are very exciting, we are confident that we can combine this new vaccine with other therapies to boost survival rates even higher and rescue animals even when symptoms are severe." Apart from being very effective in saving the infected mice, the researchers emphasized that their vaccine is much safer when compared to the best current treatment in mice, which uses a weakened version of the rabies virus. "It doesn't matter how we weaken the current vaccine, the virus inside it is still rabies," said study co-author Zhen Fu, a professor of pathology in the college. "That is not a concern with our PIV5 vaccine." The researchers will continue to perfect their vaccine's design and hope to move into more advanced animal trials soon. "There is an urgent need in many parts of the world for a better rabies treatment, and we think this technology may serve as an excellent platform," He said. "Ultimately, we just want to try to save more lives." Story Source: The above story is based on materials provided by University of Georgia. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference: Y. Huang, Z. Chen, J. Huang, Z. Fu, B. He. Parainfluenza virus 5 expressing the G protein of rabies virus protected mice after rabies virus infection. Journal of Virology, 2014; DOI: 10.1128/JVI.03656-14

Hydrogen production in extreme bacterium

 

A researcher at Missouri University of Science and Technology has discovered a bacterium that can produce hydrogen, an element that one day could lessen the world's dependence on oil. Dr. Melanie Mormile, professor of biological sciences at Missouri S&T, and her team discovered the bacterium Halanaerobium hydrogeninformans in Soap Lake, Washington. It can "produce hydrogen under saline and alkaline conditions in amounts that rival genetically modified organisms," Mormile says. "Usually, I tend to study the overall microbial ecology of extreme environments, but this particular bacterium has caught my attention," Mormile says. "I intend to study this isolate in greater detail." Mormile, an expert in the microbial ecology of extreme environments, wasn't searching for a bacterium that could produce hydrogen. Instead, she first became interested in bacteria that could help clean up the environment, especially looking at the extremophiles found in Soap Lake. An extremophile is a microorganism that lives in conditions of extreme temperature, acidity, alkalinity or chemical concentration. Living in such a hostile environment, Halanaerobium hydrogeninformans has metabolic capabilities under conditions that occur at some contaminated waste sites. With Halanaerobium hydrogeninformans, she expected to find an iron-reducing bacterium and describe a new species. What she found was a new species of bacterium that can produce hydrogen and 1, 3-propanediol under high pH and salinity conditions that might turn out to be valuable industrially. An organic compound, 1, 3-propenediol can be formulated into industrial products including composites, adhesives, laminates and coatings. It's also a solvent and can be used as antifreeze. The infrastructure isn't in place now for hydrogen to replace gasoline as a fuel for planes, trains and automobiles. But if hydrogen becomes an alternative to gasoline, Halanaerobium hydrogeniformans, mass-produced on an industrial scale, might be one solution -- although it won't be a solution anytime soon. "It would be great if we got liters and liters of production of hydrogen," Mormile says. "However, we have not been able to scale up yet." In her first single-author article, Mormile's findings were featured in the Nov. 19 edition of Frontiers in Microbiology. Mormile holds two patents for her work on the Soap Lake bacterium's biohydrogen formation under very alkaline and saline conditions. Also named on the patents are Dr. Judy Wall, Curators' Professor of Biochemistry and Joint Curators' Professor of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and her former lab members, Matthew Begemann and Dwayne Elias. A pending patent application, submitted along with Elias; Dr. Oliver Sitton, professor of chemical and biochemical engineering at Missouri S&T; and Daniel Roush, then a master's student for Mormile, is for the conversion of glycerol to 1, 3-propanediol, also under hostile alkaline and saline conditions. This patented and patent-pending technology is available for licensing through the Missouri S&T Center for Technology Transfer and Economic Development. Story Source: The above story is based on materials provided by Missouri University of Science and Technology. The original article was written by Joe McCune. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference: Melanie R. Mormile. Going from microbial ecology to genome data and back: studies on a haloalkaliphilic bacterium isolated from Soap Lake, Washington State. Frontiers in Microbiology, 2014; 5 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2014.00628

Latent HIV may lurk in 'quiet' immune cells, research suggests

 

Hide and seq: Lillian Cohn (above) and her colleagues sequenced the sites in the genomes of infected cells where the virus had integrated. This allowed them to determine whether or not an infected cell had previously been copied as part of an immune response. Drugs for HIV have become adept at suppressing infection, but they still can't eliminate it. That's because the medication in these pills doesn't touch the virus' hidden reserves, which lie dormant within infected white blood cells. Unlock the secrets of this pool of latent virus, scientists believe, and it may become possible to cure -- not just control -- HIV. In a study published in Cell, researchers lead by Zanvil A. Cohn and Ralph M. Steinman Professor Michel C. Nussenzweig at Rockefeller University and their collaborators describe new insights on which cells likely do, and do not, harbor this lurking threat. "It has recently been shown that infected white blood cells can proliferate over time, producing many clones, all containing HIV's genetic code. However, we found that these clones do not appear to harbor the latent reservoir of virus," says study author Lillian Cohn a graduate student in Nussenzweig's Laboratory of Molecular Immunology. "Instead our analysis points to cells that have never divided as the source of the latent reservoir." HIV belongs to a family of viruses that insert themselves directly into the host cell's genome where they can hide out quietly after the initial infection. HIV mostly targets CD4 T lymphocytes, a type of T cell involved in initiating an immune response. When HIV integrates itself into the genetic code of a CD4 T cell, it may produce an active infection, hijacking the cell to produce more copies of itself in order infect other cells, and killing it in the process. Antiretroviral drugs that suppress HIV infection work by disrupting this hijacking. But the virus may also fail to produce an active infection, remaining a quiet, tiny fragment of DNA tucked within the host cell's genome. If so, the drugs have nothing to disrupt, and the infection remains latent. Most often, however, what happens is actually something in between. While the virus does manage to get at least some of itself into the T cell's genome, problems with the process leave it incapable of hijacking the cell to replicate itself. But those few successful integrations still do damage, and the resulting depletion in the victim's immune system leaves him or her vulnerable to potentially fatal opportunistic infections years, or even decades, after the initial infection. "If a patient stops taking antiretrovirals, the infection rebounds. It is truly amazing that the virus can give rise to AIDS 20 years after the initial infection," Cohn says. Researchers think the reservoir of latent virus may be hiding out in a type of CD4 T cell: long-lived memory cells that help the immune system remember particular pathogens. When these cells encounter a pathogen they have previously seen, they spur the proliferation of T cells tuned to recognize it, in a process called clonal expansion. Prior research has suggested clonal expansion is crucial to maintaining HIV's latent reservoir. Following up on work initiated by Mila Jankovic, a senior research associate in the lab, Cohn and her colleagues examined cloned and unique CD4 T cells in blood samples from 13 people infected with HIV. An analytical computational technique developed by Israel Tojal da Silva, a research associate in the lab, made it possible to identify integration sites into which HIV had inserted itself within individual cells. "Given the size of the human genome, it is highly unlikely the virus would insert itself in exactly the same place more than once. So, if multiple cells contained virus with identical integration sites, we classified them as clones. Meanwhile if a cell had a unique integration site, one not shared with any other cell, then we assumed that cell was unique" Cohn says. The researchers tested 75 viral sequences taken from the expanded clones of cells to see if they had the potential to produce more of the virus. None could. "While we cannot rule out the possibility that a rare clone of cells may contain an active virus, it appears most likely that latent reservoir -- and the potential target for therapies meant to cure HIV -- resides in the more rare single cells containing unique integrations," Cohn says.

Rocky Mountain National Park Viewed From the International Space Station

 

 

Marking the 100th anniversary of the Rocky Mountain National Park on Jan. 26, 2015, Expedition 42 Flight Engineer Terry Virts posted this photograph, taken from the International Space Station, to Twitter. Virts wrote, "Majestic peaks and trails! Happy 100th anniversary @RockyNPS So much beauty to behold in our @NatlParkService."

Image Credit: NASA/Terry Virts

Choose a Healthy Lifestyle

 

In honor of National Birth Defects Prevention Month, make a PACT to get healthy, physically and mentally, before and during pregnancy to increase your chances of having a healthy baby. One of the best ways for women to prepare for healthy pregnancies and healthy babies is by adopting healthy habits well before becoming pregnant. While not all birth defects can be prevented, women can lower their risk of having a baby born with a birth defect by following some basic health guidelines throughout their reproductive years. This is important because many birth defects happen very early during pregnancy, sometimes before a woman even knows that she is pregnant. For this year's National Birth Defects Prevention Month,we are encouraging all women and their loved ones to make a PACT for prevention. Plan ahead Avoid harmful substances Choose a healthy lifestyle Talk to your healthcare provider This week, we focus on choosing a healthy lifestyle. Aim for at least 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) per week of moderate aerobic activity, such as a brisk walk. Preparing for a Healthy Life and Pregnancy A healthy lifestyle before becoming pregnant is just one step towards preconception health. Preconception health refers to the health of women and men during their reproductive years, which are the years they can have a child. By adopting healthy habits before they become pregnant, women can lower their chances of developing problems during pregnancy, such as gestational diabetes, miscarriage, or preterm labor. They can also help prevent problems for their babies, such as preterm birth, low birth weight, high birth weight, stillbirth, and birth defects. Getting healthier involves taking the following steps: Reaching and maintaining a healthy weight: The key to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is not short-term dietary changes. It is a lifestyle that includes a healthy diet and regular physical activity. Healthy diet: Eat healthy foods that include a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low fat dairy, and lean proteins. Eating healthy before and during pregnancy is important for your baby to get the nutrition he or she needs to grow and develop. Physical activity: Aim for at least 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) per week of moderate aerobic activity, such as a brisk walk. Physical activity can continue during pregnancy to help keep your heart and lungs healthy. Controlling diabetes: If you have diabetes and want to get pregnant, it is important for you to get and keep your blood sugar in control (meaning your Hemoglobin A1c level is within the limits set by your healthcare provider). If you have never been tested, talk to your doctor. For more information, visit Type 1 or Type 2 Diabetes and Pregnancy. Getting mentally healthy: Mental health is how we think, feel, and act as we cope with life. Everyone feels worried, anxious, sad, or stressed sometimes. However, if these feelings do not go away and they interfere with your daily life, get help. If you are worried about the way you have been feeling, it is important to tell a doctor or nurse about your concerns. Your doctor can help figure out whether you have depression or not, and he or she can help find the best treatment for you. For more information, visit Depression and Reproductive Health. If you are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant, now is a good time to set goals and choose a healthy lifestyle. To help you make a plan and take action, use this checklist to get healthy before pregnancy. CDC Activities: Birth Defects CDC works to identify causes of birth defects, find opportunities to prevent them, and improve the health of those living with birth defects. Tracking: Accurately tracking birth defects is important for prevention. CDC funds 14 states to track major birth defects using population-based methods. State systems use the data from population-based tracking to help direct birth defects prevention activities and refer children affected by birth defects to needed services. Research: CDC funds the Centers for Birth Defects Research and Prevention, which collaborate on large studies such as the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (births 1997-2011) and the Birth Defects Study To Evaluate Pregnancy exposures, also called BD-STEPS, (began in 2014). These studies work to identify what might raise or lower the risk of having a baby with a birth defect. Other CDC research focuses on health services use and costs associated with birth defects, which are important considerations in helping children with birth defects reach their full potential. Prevention: CDC and its partners can use what they learn through research to prevent birth defects. Folic acid: We learned long ago that getting folic acid before and during the early weeks of pregnancy greatly reduces the risk of serious birth defects of the brain and spine (e.g., spina bifida and anencephaly). A 1996 policy to add folic acid to many foods helps to prevent many of these birth defects. Preconception care: CDC and its partners also work to educate women about the importance of preconception health through a campaign called Show Your Love [2.8 MB]. Improving the lives of individuals with birth defects: Babies who have birth defects often need special care and treatments to survive and thrive developmentally. Birth defects tracking systems provide one way to identify and refer children for services they need as early as possible. Early intervention (treatment for delays in physical, intellectual, communication, social-emotional, and adaptive development) is vital to improving outcomes for babies born with a birth defect.

Scarlet Fever: A Group A Streptococcal Infection

 

Scarlet fever results from group A strep infection. If your child has a sore throat and rash, their doctor can test for strep. Quick treatment with antibiotics can protect your child from possible long-term health problems.  Scarlet fever – or scarlatina – is a bacterial infection caused by group A Streptococcus or "group A strep." This illness affects a small percentage of people who have strep throat or, less commonly, streptococcal skin infections. Scarlet fever is treatable with antibiotics and usually is a mild illness, but it needs to be treated to prevent rare but serious long-term health problems. Treatment with antibiotics also helps clear up symptoms faster and reduces spread to other people. Although anyone can get scarlet fever, it usually affects children between 5 and 12 years of age. The classic symptom of the disease is a certain type of red rash that feels rough, like sandpaper. Scarlet Fever Podcast A pediatrician explains the cause, treatment and prevention of scarlet fever. Listen or download [5:09 minutes] How Do You Get Scarlet Fever? Group A strep bacteria can live in a person's nose and throat. The bacteria are spread through contact with droplets from an infected person's cough or sneeze. If you touch your mouth, nose, or eyes after touching something that has these droplets on it, you may become ill. If you drink from the same glass or eat from the same plate as the sick person, you could also become ill. It is possible to get scarlet fever from contact with sores from group A strep skin infections. Scarlet Fever: What to Expect Illness usually begins with a fever and sore throat. There also may be chills, vomiting, and abdominal pain. The tongue may have a whitish coating and appear swollen. It may also have a "strawberry"-like (red and bumpy) appearance. The throat and tonsils may be very red and sore, and swallowing may be painful. One or two days after the illness begins, the characteristic red rash appears (although the rash can appear before illness or up to 7 days later). Certain strep bacteria produce a toxin (poison) which causes some people to break out in the rash—the "scarlet" of scarlet fever. The rash may first appear on the neck, underarm, and groin, then spread over the body. Typically, the rash begins as small, flat red blotches which gradually become fine bumps and feel like sandpaper. Although the cheeks might have a flushed appearance, there may be a pale area around the mouth. Underarm, elbow and groin skin creases may become brighter red than the rest of the rash. These are called Pastia's lines. The scarlet fever rash generally fades in about 7 days. As the rash fades, the skin may peel around the finger tips, toes, and groin area. This peeling can last up to several weeks. Scarlet fever is treatable with antibiotics. Since either viruses or other bacteria can also cause sore throats, it's important to ask the doctor about a strep test (a simple swab of the throat) if your child complains of havin g a sore throat. If the test is positive, meaning your child is infected with group A strep bacteria, your child's doctor will prescribe antibiotics to avoid possible, although rare, long-term health problems, reduce symptoms, and prevent further spread of the disease. It is important for anyone with a sore throat to wash his or her hands often. Long-term Health Problems from Scarlet Fever Long-term health problems from scarlet fever may include: Rheumatic fever (an inflammatory disease that can affect the heart, joints, skin, and brain) Kidney disease (inflammation of the kidneys, called poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis) Otitis media (ear infections) Skin infections Abscesses of the throat Pneumonia (lung infection) Arthritis (joint inflammation) Preventing Infection: Wash Those Hands The best way to keep from getting infected is to wash your hands often and avoid sharing eating utensils, linens, towels or other personal items. It is especially important for anyone with a sore throat to wash his or her hands often. There is no vaccine to prevent strep throat or scarlet fever. Children with scarlet fever or strep throat should stay home from school or daycare for at least 24 hours after starting antibiotics. Antibiotics: Bacteria-Busters Group A Streptococcus, or group A strep, is a type of bacteria commonly found in people's throats and on their skin. Group A strep can cause a range of infections, from a sore throat, called "strep throat," to skin infections, like impetigo. It also rarely can cause extremely dangerous, life-threatening infections. The word antibiotic comes from the Greek anti meaning 'against' and bios meaning 'life' (a bacterium is a life form). Antibiotics are also known as antibacterials, and they are used to treat infections caused by bacteria, such as scarlet fever or whooping cough. Antibiotics target only bacteria. They do not attack fungi or viruses, which cause infections like athlete's foot or the common cold. If you or your child has an infection, it's important to know the cause and follow the right treatment. Improper use of antibiotics has resulted in many bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics.

Health Insurance Marketplace and Women

 

Get helpful tips to enroll in a health plan, get the preventive services you need, and navigate the health system to stay healthy. Enroll in a Health Plan The Marketplace is now open for 2015! Get health insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace until February 15, 2015 and learn about no-cost preventive services available to women. If you already have coverage through the Marketplace, learn about Coverage to Care and other resources to help you navigate the health care system. In the Marketplace, you can: compare different plans based on price, benefits, quality, and other features important to you. choose a combination of price and benefits that fit your budget and meet your needs. Most people are eligible for health coverage through the Marketplace, which is available in every state. Get Preventive Screenings and Services Women's Preventive Health Services Health insurance plans now allow women to get care for a host of preventive services for women. Marketplace plans (and many other plans) must offer these services at no cost to you. This means there is no charge for copayments or coinsurance, even if you haven't met your deductible for the year. You must use a provider in your plan's network to get these services for free. Many preventive services for women are provided at no additional cost, including, but not limited to: Breast cancer screening (mammography) every 1 to 2 years for women over 40 Breast cancer genetic test counseling (BRCA) for women at higher risk for breast cancer Cervical cancer screening (Pap test) for sexually active women Gestational diabetes screening for women 24 to 28 weeks pregnant and those at high risk of developing gestational diabetes HIV and STD screening and counseling for sexually active women Osteoporosis screening (bone density) for women over age 60 depending on risk factors Domestic and interpersonal violence screening and counseling for all women Well-woman visits to get recommended services for women under 65 Contraception methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education and counseling To learn more about these preventive services, please visit Health Care Reform: Women or Preventive Health Services for Women. Navigate the System Coverage to Care: Your Roadmap to Health From Coverage to Care: A Roadmap to Better Care and a Healthier You is a resource to help you navigate the health care system. It provides eight simple steps on how to understand and use your coverage. You can also get helpful tips on primary care and preventive services, and learn ways for you and your family to stay healthy. Topics covered and questions answered include: Put your health first. Why are prevention and health coverage important? Understand your health coverage. What words should I know? How much will it cost me to get care? Know where to go for care. Where do I go when I am sick? primary care? Find a provider. How do I find a provider that is right for me? What if I am assigned a provider? Make an appointment. What information do I need and what questions should I ask when making an appointment? Be prepared for the visit. What should I bring to the appointment? What questions should I ask during the visit? Decide if the provider is right for you. Is this a provider I can trust and work with? If not, what do I do? Next steps after your appointment. Now that you have found a provider and had your first visit, where do you go from here? Please visit, From Coverage to Care: A Roadmap to Better Care and Healthier You [1.18 MB] for more information.

The pros and cons of a driverless future

 

Despite obvious advantages, the era of autonomous vehicles may not be all plain sailing (Photo: Shutterstock) It may seem as if the only arguments against self-driving cars come from two kinds of people – those fearful of any scenario where they might have to forgo control behind the wheel and those who distrust all technology out of hand. Lolling about while a computer gets you through traffic has its attractions for many of us and there has been little discussion about the potential downsides of a driverless future, but a new study has pointed out some potential flaws in this looming auto utopia. The upsides seem pretty self-evident. The first advantage of driverless cars is one of multitasking. While being taken from here to there in a driverless car, you can do anything you want. Eat, sleep, work, chat with relatives – commute time is no longer down time. Then there's safety. Although this has yet to be born out, the theory goes that people, on the whole, are not the best drivers out there. We might all think we're Mario Andretti behind the wheel, but sadly and all too obviously, we are not. By leaving the driving to a whole slew of computers, sensors, servos and software, getting from home to office should be rendered accident free. The other potential plus is efficiently. While a driverless car is using its digital prowess to whisk you to the store, it can, and will, be talking to all the other driverless cars out there. And not only chatting with them, but talking back and forth with smart roadways. This will allow all sorts of efficiencies to be realized. One driverless car will know that the other driverless cars in front of them will not suddenly slow down, so the gaps between can be shortened. And the first driverless car in this line, when it realizes that it will have to slow down, or stop, will relay this information to all the other driverless cars in the line, and they can react as a unit. Intelligent roadways will allow the timing of traffic lights to be optimized to the known level of traffic density and speed. Swoosh, off you go! From home to office to store and back home again with nary a red light to be seen along the way! Scott Le Vine, Alireza Zolfagharib, and John Polak have a different take. The researchers from the Department of Geography at SUNY in New Paltz, New York and at the Centre for Transport Studies, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London, have recently published a study that, while not slamming on the brakes for self-driving cars, does point out that it might not all be a smooth road ahead. "Autonomous cars are expected to increase road network capacity and reduce the disutility of travel time," but " ... under certain circumstances these benefits may be in conflict." The study examined how two of the three stated benefits – more comfort and less traffic – can live together by running a computer simulation of how driverless cars would work in practice, and comparing that to trains. Commuter trains are used in many the same ways as driverless cars; you get in, sit down, and read a book or do some work on your commute. Trains work very well for this because trains are smooth. Once they are up and running, they are relatively much more comfortable environment over the stretch of a commute than cars, even driverless ones, could potentially be. It is that potential problem that the study points to. If driverless cars do a lot of stop/start work like normal cars, even at a reduced velocity, they will become a less workable environment. But, if they speed up and slow down more smoothly for the passenger's sake, essentially mimicking the acceleration and deceleration of trains, then self driving cars would forfeit much of their capacity to alleviate congestion in the process. "Acceleration has big impacts on congestion at intersections because it describes how quickly a vehicle begins to move," says lead researcher Scott Le Vine. "Think about being stuck behind an 18-wheeler when the light turns green. It accelerates very slowly, which means that you're delayed much more than if you were behind a car that accelerated quickly." The team replicated traffic at a run of the mill four-way urban intersection where 25 percent of the vehicles were driverless. In some simulations, the driverless cars traveled the way that light rail trains do, gently on the gas then gently on the brakes. In other words more comfortable than a normal car, but still herky-jerky at times. In other scenarios, the driverless rides started and stopped like a high-speed rail train: smoothness in all things. Le Vine and colleagues tinkered with a number of parameters such as longer yellow lights or following distances. They modeled 16 scenarios against a control group with all human-driven cars, running each simulation for an hour and repeating it 100 times. They considered the normal influence each situation had on traffic with regards to delays and road capacity. The bottom line was this: In every single test, self driving cars where calculated to create a comfortable, rail-like ride made congestion worse than it would have been in a baseline scenario with people behind every wheel. When driverless cars accelerated and decelerated in the style of light rail, the congestion deteriorated from 4 percent to 50 percent and the number of cars traveling through the intersection also fell between 4 percent and 21 percent. Going for high speed rail style of smoothness, those numbers got even worse: Delays increased from 36 percent to nearly 2,000 percent and intersection capacity fell between 18 percent and 53 percent. "Our findings suggest a tension in the short run between these two anticipated benefits (more productive use of travel time and increased network capacity), at least in certain circumstances," say the researchers. "It was found that the trade-off between capacity and passenger-comfort is greater if autonomous car occupants program their vehicles to keep within the constraints of HSR (in comparison to LRT)." It is also worth pointing out that these simulations just involved normal cars and driverless cars. There were no trucks, buses or, that even more chaotic element, pedestrians. As a single simulation-based study, the research may not add up to a crippling blow for driverless car advocates, but it shows that there's work to be done in order find a liveable recipe for the coming mix of autonomous and conventional vehicles on our roads. Source: Autonomous cars: The tension between occupant experience and intersection capacity (Science Direct) via The Atlantic.