Forums: Ignition System

As if evidence of the state’s fiscal straits wasn’t stark enough, consider Assembly Bill 91, which would create pilot project in Alameda, Los Angeles, Sacramento and Tulare counties where persons convicted of drunk driving would be required to install an interlock device on their vehicles. New Mexico, Texas, Washington, among other states, use the devices which the bill’s author, Assemblyman Mike Feuer, a Los Angeles Democrat, says can reduce DUI recidivism by as much as 95 percent. The length of time the device would stay on a vehicle varies depending on the number of offenses. A first offense would require...

CALI (AFP) – After a three-year slog Colombian scientists have revved up a car that runs on yucca-derived ethanol, spurring hopes that the Latin American staple could be transformed into an abundant fuel. Boffins at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) have adopted a commercial car to run on hydrated ethanol, based on yucca -- a carbohydrate-rich plant root that is also known as cassava or manioc. The vehicle has clocked up 700 kilometers (435 miles) without major hitches CIAT said. The tuber is more commonly found on plates in low-land and tropical regions of Latin America, where it...

At a cost of $3.5 billion and more than a decade of work, the 192 laser beams are billed as the most powerful in the world.Scientists working at the National Ignition Facility of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, have built the most powerful laser in the world, capable of simulating the energy force of a hydrogen bomb and the sun itself. “The system already has produced 25 times more energy than any other laser system,” said NIF Director Ed Moses. The Energy Department is expected to announce Tuesday that it has officially certified the National Ignition Facility, which...

HOW TO START YOUR CAR WITH A DOG (A breakdown patrol man who came to the rescue of a woman motorist has managed to get her car started using her dog.) How do you start a car with a dog? I guess you can stick its tail in the ignition and see if it starts or maybe attach the car to the dog like a rickshaw and pop it into gear when it gets rolling fast enough. What other solutions could there be? (Juliette Piesley, 39, had changed the battery in her electronic key...