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Durham CEO: Why electric vehicles will drive bright future Triad Business Journal
Saturday was the first day of in-person voting as 130 Voter Assistance Centers opened throughout Riverside County, but the process of voting experienced several delays.
"We did see some significant volume in our voter registration look-up system and that has experienced some intermittent delays," said Riverside County spokesperson, Brooke Federico.
State Senator Melissa Melendez tweeted about the issue that afternoon.
The delays were scattered across the board, only impacting some of the centers, according to the county.
Federico explained that the system being impacted is the registration look-up system, which could confirm a voter's status in the event that they do not bring their mail-in ballot and opt to receive a new paper ballot or use the electronic voting machine.
"Because we’re having some delays with this voter registration system intermittently at different locations, some voters may be offered a provisional ballot if we’re not able to access that system," said Federico.
A volunteer at Northgate Community Church in Cathedral City told News Channel 3 that they experienced issues right after they opened at 9 a.m.
"Brought in the first 2 people, there’s a process that’s done for that. We were in that process when the system started to slow down," said volunteer, Edward Holzhauer.
Holzhauer said at the time, many people were in line as workers tried contacting information technology to get the problem resolved.
"Those that were choosing to vote electronically were having to wait or had decided to come back once we were back up and running," said Holzhauer.
"Maybe a dozen of us waited, waited, waited and then I went shopping, I came back. It’s still very slow," said voter, Enoch Ludlow.
One voter arrived to find that the line was too long.
"Got here early, long line for us here in the valley, and then went out and got coffee and came back and found out [the systems] were down," said voter, Debi Franchio.
By Saturday evening the county released an update, saying they identified the problem:
"The county team has identified the issues causing intermittent delays at our voter assistance centers. These issues are being resolved. Tomorrow, we expect all voter assistance centers to process faster, with fewer delays."
It's unclear what was causing the delays.
The county also reassured voters that there were no issues with the electronic voting machine, and that it was only connected to a printer, but not the internet.
Voter assistance centers will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Monday, Nov. 2. On Election Day, the voter assistance centers will operate from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voters may visit any of the 130 locations. For a list of voter assistance centers and official drop off boxes, visit VoteInfo.net.
Voters can also drop off mail in ballots at Voter Assistance Centers and they will be transported to the Riverside County Registrar in a secure box.
Traffic is only increasing every day in cities and if they are located in a coastal area then using waterways is one of the most efficient ways to cut down on road congestion. Along with managing the flow of vehicles on land, the climate crisis has accelerated the need for smart, climate-friendly mobility solutions worldwide. Zeabuz, a Norwegian company, has stepped up to the need of the hour and will be launching a self-driving ferry next year!
The ferry will carry 12 passengers and will operate like an elevator where all you have to do is press a button to summon it. Zeabuz’s zero-emission ferry was first developed by researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in 2018 and the 2021 launch shows Norway’s commitment to developing climate-conscious transport systems. This ferry will be autonomous, “Autonomy fits like a glove with electric vehicles. This enables better control, optimal operation, safety, and maintenance. Our autonomy solution is world-leading and can enable self-driving ferries that safely manoeuver among other boats, dock to the quay by themselves and handle passengers safely,” says Asgeir J. Sørensen, director of NTNU’s research center on autonomous maritime operations, NTNU AMOS. Apart from wirelessly charging at docks, it is safe to assume that solar panels will be the way to go with a backup battery for winter months when the sunshine is not enough in Norway. Many major cities can replicate this solution to fit their water channels and maybe even boost tourism while reducing the vehicle count on the roads during rush hours.
As we try to build a sustainable future, boats needed a technological upgrade to give the people a greener alternative to road transport. The Zeabuz ferry reduces operation costs which also makes it economical – and on that note, riding this ferry will be free in Trondheim which will encourage more people to adopt emission-free commutes. The electric ferry will operate along the canal that connects the port and the city center of Trondheim and will charge itself when docked. This cuts the travel time from 15 mins to 1 minute as passengers won’t need to walk between the two locations. Keeping the urban audience in mind, the ferry also has the capacity to transport passenger bicycles. Water transport was popular before the invention of cars, and while it largely only benefits coastal communities, they are also the most densely populated which puts them first in line for emission-free transport solutions. Electric self-driving boats like these can truly reduce the traffic in big cities and improve air quality as well as reduce noise pollution levels.
Designers: Zeabuz and NTNU
View larger. | Artist’s concept of a lightning sprite in Jupiter’s atmosphere, based on findings from the Juno spacecraft, which is orbiting Jupiter now. Scientists believe that, on Jupiter, sprites are likely blue in color. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ SwRI.
Lightning sprites are fleeting but powerful electrical discharges high up in Earth’s atmosphere … above thunderstorms. They’re called transient luminous events or TLEs by scientists. They are eerily beautiful, and not easy to capture, and it wasn’t that long ago that scientists were debating their existence in Earth’s atmosphere. Now they’re a confirmed natural phenomenon on Earth – the subject of much study by meteorologists – and nature photographers sometimes capture them. And now NASA has found the first evidence of sprites and/or elves – rapidly expanding disk-shaped regions of luminosity, lasting less than a thousandth of a second – somewhere other than Earth. They’ve found them in the turbulent upper atmosphere of our solar system’s largest planet, Jupiter.
The peer-reviewed findings were announced by scientists with the Juno mission at Jupiter and published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets on October 27, 2020. The results were also presented in a press conference during the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS 2020).
Scientists had theorized that sprites or elves should be present in Jupiter’s atmosphere, but this is the first good evidence that they actually exist. How did they find them?
Along with taking images in regular light, Juno also views Jupiter with its ultraviolet spectrograph instrument (UVS). In the summer of 2019, researchers were studying these images and discovered something interesting: a narrow, bright streak of ultraviolet light, which appeared to be what scientists had hoped to find, a sprite.
Bright flash near Jupiter’s south pole by Juno on April 10, 2020 (circled), thought to be either a sprite or elve. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ SwRI.
Rohini Giles, a Juno scientist at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and lead author of the new study, said in a statement:
UVS was designed to characterize Jupiter’s beautiful northern and southern lights. But we discovered UVS images that not only showed Jovian aurora, but also a bright flash of UV light over in the corner where it wasn’t supposed to be. The more our team looked into it, the more we realized Juno may have detected a TLE on Jupiter.
Giles elaborated further, saying:
In the process of putting together those images, we noticed that very occasionally we saw these surprising, short-lived, bright flashes. We then went and searched through all of the data that we’ve taken over four years of the mission and we found a total of 11 flashes all with very similar properties.
Since this is still an initial detection, scientists don’t yet know how common sprites are on Jupiter. But finding the first one is an exciting discovery. Sprites had been predicted on Jupiter by several previous studies, but this is the first direct evidence of them.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Stephen Hummel, who works at McDonald Observatory in West Texas, captured this fleeting lightning sprite – aka a red sprite – on July 2, 2020. McDonald Observatory is spearheading a Dark Skies Initiative in its region. Stephen commented, “Dark skies help you see faint objects like sprites.” Thank you, Stephen!
Red sprites above a thunderstorm over the U.S., as seen by astronauts on the International Space Station in 2015. Image via NASA/ ScienceAlert.
Different types of electrical phenomena in Earth’s atmosphere, including sprites and elves. Image via Abestrobi.
The sprites detected by Juno were found in a region where lightning is also known to occur. The Juno scientists determined that these new flashes were not regular lightning because they were found 186 miles (300 km) above the altitude where the majority of Jupiter’s lightning occurs, above the water-cloud layer in the atmosphere. The flashes were also dominated by hydrogen emissions, unlike other lightning on the planet.
Sprites on Earth are rather bizarre-looking, sort of like a jellyfish with a central diffuse halo and long tentacles descending downward. They tend to occur up to 60 miles (97 km) above thunderstorms, and only last a few milliseconds, quicker than the blink of an eye, which explains why they had been rarely seen until pilots started reporting them. There weren’t even any good photographs of them until 1989, when experimental physicist John R. Winckler (1916-2001) captured one while testing a low-light television camera. Nowadays, you can find many photographs of them, such as on SpaceWeather.com.
Sprites on Earth are typically reddish, but may be different colors on Jupiter. Giles said:
On Earth, sprites and elves appear reddish in color due to their interaction with nitrogen in the upper atmosphere. But on Jupiter, the upper atmosphere mostly consists of hydrogen, so they would likely appear either blue or pink.
These sprites happen when a lightning strike produces a high-altitude quasi-electrostatic field. In other cases, lightning strikes send electromagnetic pulses upward, producing glowing disks called elves.
Lightning has also been seen on Jupiter by Juno such as this flash (bright dot in lower right corner of inset) on May 24, 2018. The colorful oval is an aurora near the north pole. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ SwRI.
From the ground, sprites may not look all that big, but they can be about 30 miles (50 km) across. Matthew Cappucci of the Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang said last year:
Imagine one electrical discharge spanning the distance from Baltimore to Washington, D.C.
Juno has also previously observed lightning on Jupiter. The discovery of both lightning and sprites highlights how Jupiter’s atmosphere is similar to Earth’s in some ways, at least visually. It is, however, much deeper and more turbulent, with long-lived storms that dwarf any ever seen on our planet, and is composed mostly of hydrogen and helium.
Lightning strikes on Jupiter are also more powerful, although less frequent. Most are seen in the Jovian belts and near the westward jet streams. Some lightning flashes have also been seen at Jupiter’s poles, making it the only other planet besides Earth so far where polar lightning has been observed. As with thunderstorms on Earth, Jupiter’s lightning is closely associated with its massive storms.
Rohini Giles at SwRI, lead author of the new study. Image via Rohini Giles.
These first detections of sprites or elves on Jupiter are exciting, and now scientists will continue to look for more of them, as Giles noted:
We’re continuing to look for more telltale signs of elves and sprites every time Juno does a science pass. Now that we know what we are looking for, it will be easier to find them at Jupiter and on other planets. And comparing sprites and elves from Jupiter with those here on Earth will help us better understand electrical activity in planetary atmospheres.
Bottom line: Sprites and elves, electrical phenomena above thunderstorms on Earth, have now been detected on Jupiter for the first time.
Source: Possible Transient Luminous Events observed in Jupiter’s upper atmosphere
Four hundred workers at a factory in Utah are busy making the new electric trains that Caltrain plans to have rolling down the Peninsula in less than two years.
RELATED: From underwater tunnel to 2nd BART tube, these ideas could revolutionize the way we get around
Over the next two years, the European rail car manufacturer Stadler will make 19 of them for Caltrain.
Christoph Brocker is a senior project manager at Stadler, and likens the train cars to a familiar vehicle on Bay Area streets.
"If you like the sound of the electric sound of a Tesla," Brocker says, "you'll also like the sound of our electric train."
Virtual reality video released by Caltrain provides a detailed look at what lies inside.
RELATED: Caltrain offers touch-free riding experience during COVID-19
One thousand Caltrain riders offered comments to pick color schemes and the seats.
Power outlets and wi-fi are planned, and each train will have two cars set aside for bikes with cameras for security.
Caltrain's chief rail operations officer Michelle Bouchard adds the technical specs of the trains will also be improved with the switchover to electric cars.
"The great benefit of these trains, compared to our diesel right now," Bouchard explains, "is that they'll be able to stop much more quickly and start much more quickly and get up to speed."
Initially, the new cars will be held to the same 79 miles-per-hour maximum speed as their diesel engine trains.
But the electric trains will have a rated top speed of 110 miles-per-hour.
Before the pandemic, Caltrain was carrying 65,000 passengers per day.
RELATED: Bay Bridge traffic in San Francisco returns to 90% of pre-coronavirus pandemic levels
U.S. Representative Jackie Speier says the future of Caltrain looks bigger and bolder.
The conversion to electric trains is the result of $1 billion in federal funding with a similar amount coming from state and local government.
That investment should help to ease some Peninsula freeway congestion, says Caltrain director of government and public affairs Casey Fromson.
"Today Caltrain carries the equivalent of four freeway lanes of 101 traffic, and in the future," Fromson explains, "we'd be carrying an additional five and a half lanes of freeway traffic on our trains."
The first electrified train will be sent to Colorado in January for a year-long track test.
Caltrain will receive its first delivery next summer with phased-in service expected in 2022.
If you'd like to check out more video of the new cars in virtual reality, Caltrain is offering a limited number of cardboard viewers on its website.
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Atlis CEO Mark Hanchett thinks big. When he set his mind on building the Atlis XT electric pickup truck, he wanted to solve the biggest problem first—namely getting 500 miles' worth of electric charge into the truck at about the speed a diesel pump could do the job in a conventional vehicle. We got him on the phone to answer a few questions about how all this will work in advance of a November 11 virtual unveiling event for the Atlis XT truck.
One key to cramming a lot of electrons into a battery quickly is managing thermal loads, and the flow rate of the current is key to that. The higher the voltage, the lower the current at any given power delivery rate. So while the state of the recharging art tight now is 400- or 800-volt DC current, the Atlis pack envisions 1,600-volt charging. Its battery will function at 1,600 volts, but in order to guarantee backward compatibility with SAE CCS chargers, the pack can virtually "subdivide" itself into 800 or 400-volt components. And while today's standard is going from zero to 80 percent charge in around 20 minutes, Hanchett claims his truck will deliver zero to 100 percent (500 miles with the largest of three available battery packs) in 15 minutes. There is some percentage of battery capacity at the bottom and top of the cell that does not get used, but that also isn't factored into the range figures.
The magic is not in the form factor or chemistry per se, according to Hanchette, but rather in the thermal management. The cells are heated at the beginning of the charge and cooled toward the end in order to prevent "dendrites" from growing and shorting the cell, and temperature is maintained extremely uniformly across the cell during the process using silicon-based cooling liquid. The "Z-fold" mechanical design of the cells, anodes, and cathodes also contributes to the fast charging capability of these prismatic "tab-less" batteries.
Atlis expects its users to primarily charge at 1,600 volts, with few customers working from a model of centralized overnight charging at a lower rate. The batteries are expected to survive 2,000 fast-charge cycles. And Atlis plans to roll out its own ultra-high-speed charging infrastructure.
While some reports have suggested available battery-pack sizes of 125 and 250 kWh, "Atlis Motor Vehicles chooses not to disclose the actual capacity of the battery packs in units of Ah or kWh at this time." What we do know is that the batteries will package between the truck's robust frame rails.
Most Atlis XT trucks will feature two axles, for a 20,000-pound gross vehicle weight rating. Tandem rear axles easily scale that to 30,000 pounds and six-wheel drive. The axles are also envisioned to feature fully independent suspension and to be identical front and rear. That means all-wheel steering is easily achieved, and for the moment Hanchett envisions allowing up to 32 degrees of rear-wheel steering to seriously shrink the XT's turning circle. (That number will be less impressive with the dual rear-wheel option. Yes the Atlis is planned as a dually, too.)
Maximizing "up time" is of paramount concern for the types of contractors and industrial customers Atlis is targeting with the XT, so by designing everything to be "plug and play," Hanchett claims that it will be possible to swap out a problematic electric motor and gear-reduction unit in around 20 minutes. Ditto other subassemblies like suspension corners.
Expect a range of wheelbases from 144 to 176 inches and most other general dimensions to mostly mirror that of the conventional 3/4- and 1-ton pickups, with pricing also lining up with them. Hanchett targets $45,000 to start for a short-wheelbase 300-mile XT truck good for 10,000 pounds of towing. The 500-mile 35,000-pound gooseneck/fifth-wheel-prepped model should start around $85,000.
Expect to see new videos of the Atlis XT rolling buck appear during the next few weeks. In the first quarter of 2021 we're promised more specific details on the XT in support of customer deliveries, which are expected at the end of the year. That's because, as Mark Hanchett quipped at the end of our interview, "I don't operate at the speed of industry, I operate at the speed of light." Atlis is not taking preorders per se, but rather encourages investment in the company.
Electronic signatures have soared in popularity as a result of social distancing measures related to COVID-19. While such signatures are generally accepted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Wilson Sonsini urges clients to be wary when using these signatures. Most patents are eventually filed outside the United States, and the use of electronic signatures may create risks for these filings.
Papers Filed at the USPTO
The USPTO does accept DocuSign and equivalent electronic signatures, but only for papers submitted to the USPTO electronically.1 As an alternative to a "wet" handwritten signature, inventors and applicants can also use the USPTO "S-signature" option on any paper filed at the USPTO.2 An S-signature is a signature (name) inserted between forward slash marks, but not a handwritten signature. Please consult with our Wilson Sonsini patent team regarding any questions about the S-Signature format.
Assignments
The European Patent Office (EPO) and UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) typically do not require the filing of assignment documents unless there is doubt in the issue, such as where the applicant of the priority applications differs from that listed in the EP or UK filing. In that case, the EPO and UK IPO may ask for evidence of the assignment, which should have been executed prior to the Convention filing (e.g., the PCT filing). This applies to U.S. provisional applications as well, particularly where inventors are listed on the provisional and the PCT is filed in the true applicant's name. In such a case, an assignment should be executed before filing the PCT.
The EPO will not accept electronic signatures on assignments.3 In the United Kingdom, at least one decision of the UK courts has indicated that an electronic signature may be given the same weight as a handwritten signature, but the law is unsettled and may vary from country to country. Further, if a UK or another national court were to decide the validity in the context of a patent derived from a European patent, there is a significant chance that it would adopt the EPO's stringent rejection of electronic signatures for non-procedural acts, which include assignments.
Numerous other countries and jurisdictions have rejected the use of electronic signatures for assignments. These include—but are not limited to—China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Mexico, Eurasia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia, Dominican Republic, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand.
Guidance
Recognizing the importance of handwritten signatures for filings outside of the United States, Wilson Sonsini urges clients to obtain wet signatures for all assignments, at least where there is any chance of filing an application outside of the United States. In circumstances where this is not feasible, it may be wise to obtain electronic signatures and abstain from recording until wet signatures are attainable.
[1] 37 CFR § 1.4(d)(3).
[2] 37 CFR § 1.4(d)(2).
[3] cf. Rule 2(2) EPC; Article 10 of the Decision of the President of the EPO dated 9 May 2018 concerning electronic filing of documents (OJ EPO 2018, A45); Decision of the President dated 12 July 2007 concerning the electronic signatures, data carriers, and software to be used for the electronic filling of patent applications and electronic documents, Special Edition No. 3, OJ EPO 2007, A.5.
With all the inconsistencies in the mail-in ballot system this election cycle, some are wondering: Wouldn’t this be easier if we could vote electronically?
But for all its faults—late ballots, defective ballots, missing ballots—the mail-in voting system is far more secure than any electronic ballot system could be, says Engin Kirda, professor of computer science at Northeastern and executive director of the Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute.
Photo by Ruby Wallau/Northeastern University
Using pen and paper—whether for in-person or mail-in voting—is the most secure way to cast a ballot, he says. That’s true even if there’s the potential for paper ballots to be destroyed, which happened in Boston last week when a man set fire to a ballot box.
“Any physical attack like this on the voting system, it’s hard to scale up,” Kirda says. “It’s immediately detectable.” There were 120 ballots in the box at the time, and the fire department was notified soon after the fire started.
“With a cyberattack, it’s sometimes impossible to know who is responsible,” Kirda continues. “We can trace an IP address, but attackers are smart enough to know not to use their own IP address.”
Many people, including President Donald Trump, have expressed concern about potential voter fraud in the upcoming election because of an increase in mail-in ballots, which some people fear are easy to fake.
But Kirda says it’s unlikely that individual voters would perpetrate large-scale fraud through the mail-in system.
“It’s like fraudulent checks. I can write a fake check, I can cash it, and I can make some money. But the stakes are so high if I get caught. It’s not worth it,” he says. “We probably won’t see large-scale voter fraud for the same reason we don’t really see large-scale check fraud.”
Another reason Kirda favors pen-and-paper voting is because the information in electronic voting systems could be vulnerable to foreign attacks, much like the database of voter registration information obtained by Russian and Iranian attackers earlier this month.
Democratic voters in Alaska, Florida, and Arizona received threatening emails from the attackers telling them to vote for President Trump. Iran also distributed a video claiming that people could cast fraudulent votes in this election.
While neither of these are examples of outright fraud, sowing doubt among voters about the credibility of the election results could be almost as destructive to the system, Kirda says.
“I’m more concerned about voters targeted with misinformation,” he says. “It’s relatively easy to do since the system is connected to the internet. Anything that’s connected to the internet is vulnerable, and you can launch an attack from anywhere.”
For example, on election day, if the results aren’t overwhelming for one candidate, a misinformation attack could convince the public that one candidate lied or cheated, Kirda explains.
“The country becomes divided,” he says. “These misinformation campaigns create trouble. They could weaken the country at a time of uncertainty.”
For media inquiries, please contact Jessica Hair at j.hair@northeastern.edu or 617-373-5718.
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MLGW announces new electric rate schedules WMC[unable to retrieve full-text content]
’Dump Day’: get rid of electronic waste today! WLBT:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/67713030/DSC_1978.0.jpeg)
Mokumono’s electric bike is unlike any e-bike you’ve ever seen. Instead of a series of tubes, the sporty Delta S is constructed from two mirrored sheets of aluminum that are pressed into shape and welded together by a laser-wielding robot.
It’s a manufacturing process that two 20-something-year-old Dutch twins, Tom and Bob Schiller, borrowed from carmakers. Their aim is to localize the mass production of Mokumono’s bicycle frames at home in the Netherlands instead of outsourcing it to factories in China or Taiwan. Not only does it give the brothers more control over the assembly process, but by sourcing as many parts as it can from Europe, they’re able to reduce the environmental waste created by shipping parts around the globe.
Mokumono’s long-term goal is to use only locally made parts. It’s an ambitious and laudable target. But first, Mokumono has to prove that its very first e-bike is worth the asking price of €2,990 (about $3,499).
The name Mokumono is an amalgamation of “Mokum,” a nickname for the city of Amsterdam where the company is based, and “Mono,” for the unique monocoque bicycle frame used on the Delta S.
Riding the pedal-assisted Delta S is quiet, smooth, and comfortable, thanks to those beefy 650cc WTB Horizon tires, Brooks Cambium C15 saddle, and Ergon GA3 grips, even on the cobbled streets of Amsterdam where I tested the Delta S for the last few weeks. I rode primarily in the maximum of the three pedal-assisted power settings, which best takes advantage of both the bike’s sporty riding position and my aggressive riding style.
Mokumono’s single-speed belt-driven Delta S is specced like a standard European commuter e-bike with its 250W rear-hub motor, max speed of 25 km/h (16 mph), and a claimed range of 60 kilometers (37 miles). But at 14.5kg (32 pounds), it’s very lightweight for a full-sized e-bike fitted with fenders, lights, and kickstand as standard. VanMoof’s comparably equipped S3, for example, also made by two Dutch brothers, weighs 19kg (42 pounds).
Some of the weight savings is due to the relatively tiny 250Wh battery capacity found inside the Delta S, fitted into the triangular space just above the pedals. That’s half the 504Wh-capacity battery of the VanMoof S3. Nevertheless, I managed a little over 54 km (34 miles) during my range test before the juice ran out, which is impressive for such a small battery. The small capacity also allows the battery to be recharged quickly in about two hours. The bike can be ridden with a dead battery, but it’s a heavy slog due to that single-speed transmission.
My review bike was fitted with an optional Brooks cycle bag that quickly snaps onto the integrated pannier mount. With this configuration, I was able to easily bike to a local golf course, shoes in the pannier and clubs slung over my shoulder, for the 15-kilometer (9.3-mile) journey. Despite my appearance, the bike still drew more attention and admiring questions than my equipment.
I have one complaint about the Delta S related to power delivery from a standstill: the torque sensor’s tuning creates a slight power delay when trying to get off the line quickly, transferring the load to your legs instead of the motor. When I first received the bike, the Gates belt was set for a less powerful rider, causing it to slip consistently whenever I stomped on the pedal. After Mokumono adjusted it, it slipped less, but the issue wasn’t eliminated. Instead of adjusting the belt, it’s my opinion that Mokumono should tune the power of the Delta S to match its single-speed transmission and sporty good looks. Both the Cowboy V3 and Gogoro Eeyo 1S are examples of single-speed belt-driven bikes with 250W motors and torque sensors that are tuned to deliver power immediately from a standstill and then assist with pedaling in a very intuitive manner.
Having said that, I’m sure my tested range would have been considerably less if the motor had been powering my torque-heavy starts instead of my legs. There’s always a trade-off.
Mokumono tells me the company is working to allow riders to tune the power in an app, but the feature isn’t ready yet. The Delta S is currently hitched to the app provided by Hydrive, the company that provides the bike’s motor. But Mokumono isn’t happy with it and is currently developing its own app for release next year. I didn’t use any app at all during my testing, which is fine by me: most are terrible and add little value.
A small control panel located on the right-hand side of the frame near the head tube has a power button that also allows you to set the assist level and see the remaining battery. It’s basic, but it gets the job done, even if you have to crane your head to see it.
Some other observations:
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Mokumono got its start in 2014 as a Design Academy graduation project to make a truly Dutch bike. In 2016, the brothers raised some money to build a standard bike via crowdfunding, and here they are in 2020 with an e-bike ready to capitalize on surging demand. Right now, however, the brothers have only sold a few dozen e-bikes, nearly all of them in the Netherlands.
Next year, the company plans to introduce a second Delta C model (“C” for comfort) for riders wanting a more upright position. The company will also be focusing on sales to Germany by partnering with at least one bike shop in every major German city to offer test rides and service. The company hopes to sell between 150 and 300 e-bikes in total in 2021.
Mokumono is very much a startup. And after putting almost 100 km on the Delta S, I can say unequivocally that Bob and Tom make a very fine electric bicycle.
True, €2,990 isn’t cheap, but the company doesn’t ship in the volume required to drive that price down to VanMoof levels of €1,998. But buying a Delta S does get you a fully specced urban commuter with premium components like a Brooks saddle, Gates Carbon belt drive, and Supernova lights. You also get a design that easily stands out from the pack. And unlike Amsterdam-based VanMoof, which just opened a dedicated factory in Taiwan, Mokumono’s founders are committed to bringing bicycle manufacturing back to Europe. And big dreams like that have to be worth something.
Photography by Thomas Ricker / The Verge
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My limited understanding about cars — and the great possibility of electric cars coming in 2035 or so — what happens to all of the petro gas stations? The cars, etc. — will they still be around and working? Will electric cars have spark plugs?
My concern is when PG&E decides to do a blackout for any reason. Are there going to be generators to plug the electric cards into?
To keep them going, how long will the run once the cars are energized? How long will they go until the cars run out of electricity?
Happy holidays, and early-vote!
–Sharon Chambers, Chico
By Shavonne Potts
shavonne.potts@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — A Rockwell man remains behind bars after he removed his electronic ankle monitor while on parole and later apprehended.
The Rowan County Sheriff’s Office charged Alex Wesley Sadler, 24, of Broom Street with misdemeanor tampering or interfering with an electronic monitoring device, misdemeanor failure to appear and misdemeanor parole violation.
According to Maj. John Sifford, this all occurred when a probation officer went to the last known address to look for Sadler and he was not there. Probation officials attempted to track Sadler’s ankle monitor but determined it had been removed. Sadler was later located and jailed under a $22,000 secured bond.
In other Rowan County Sheriff’s Office reports
• A man was assaulted on Tuesday while in the Rowan County Detention Center.
• A man reported on Tuesday his property was burglarized in the 4600 block of Jack Brown Road.
• A man reported on Tuesday someone stole items from his property in the 1400 block of Holshouser Road, Rockwell.
• A man reported on Tuesday he was the victim of fraud while in the 1100 block of Power Street, China Grove.
• Marcus Dante Bush, 34, was charged on Tuesday with misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon while at the Rowan County Courthouse.
• John Dillon Webb, 29, was charged on Tuesday with felony larceny while in the 2000 block of Hobson Road, Cleveland.
• Edwardo Renaldo George, 38, was charged on Tuesday with felony possession with intent to manufacture a controlled substance schedule I while in the 200 block of Henderlite Street.
In Salisbury Police Department reports
• A woman reported on Wednesday someone damaged her yard and stole 11 of the the 12 Republican campaign signs she had in the 300 block of Hawkinstown Road.
• A man reported on Wednesday a handgun was stolen from his vehicle parked in the 400 block of West 15th Street.
• A woman reported on Wednesday someone fired gunshots into the back of her home located in the 300 block of South Link Avenue and struck her bedroom window. She was not home at the time of the shooting.
• A woman reported on Thursday someone stole her vehicle while parked in the 1000 block of Grady Street.
Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory and their collaborators from the University of California, Irvine have created fundamental electronic building blocks out of tiny structures known as quantum dots and used them to assemble functional logic circuits. The innovation promises a cheaper and manufacturing-friendly approach to complex electronic devices that can be fabricated in a chemistry laboratory via simple, solution-based techniques, and offer long-sought components for a host of innovative devices.
"Potential applications of the new approach to electronic devices based on non-toxic quantum dots include printable circuits, flexible displays, lab-on-a-chip diagnostics, wearable devices, medical testing, smart implants, and biometrics," said Victor Klimov, a physicist specializing in semiconductor nanocrystals at Los Alamos and lead author on a paper announcing the new results in the October 19 issue of Nature Communications.
For decades, microelectronics has relied on extra-high purity silicon processed in a specially created clean-room environment. Recently, silicon-based microelectronics has been challenged by several alternative technologies that allow for fabricating complex electronic circuits outside a clean room, via inexpensive, readily accessible chemical techniques. Colloidal semiconductor nanoparticles made with chemistry methods in much less stringent environments are one such emerging technology. Due to their small size and unique properties directly controlled by quantum mechanics, these particles are dubbed quantum dots.
A colloidal quantum dot consists of a semiconductor core covered with organic molecules. As a result of this hybrid nature, they combine the advantages of well-understood traditional semiconductors with the chemical versatility of molecular systems. These properties are attractive for realizing new types of flexible electronic circuits that could be printed onto virtually any surface including plastic, paper, and even human skin. This capability could benefit numerous areas including consumer electronics, security, digital signage and medical diagnostics.
A key element of electronic circuitry is a transistor that acts as a switch of electrical current activated by applied voltage. Usually transistors come in pairs of n- and p-type devices that control flows of negative and positive electrical charges, respectively. Such pairs of complementary transistors are the cornerstone of the modern CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) technology, which enables microprocessors, memory chips, image sensors and other electronic devices.
The first quantum dot transistors were demonstrated almost two decades ago. However, integrating complementary n- and p-type devices within the same quantum dot layer remained a long-standing challenge. In addition, most of the efforts in this area have focused on nanocrystals based on lead and cadmium. These elements are highly toxic heavy metals, which greatly limits practical utility of the demonstrated devices.
The team of Los Alamos researchers and their collaborators from the University of California, Irvine have demonstrated that by using copper indium selenide (CuInSe2) quantum dots devoid of heavy metals they were able to address both the problem of toxicity and simultaneously achieve straightforward integration of n- and p-transistors in the same quantum dot layer. As a proof of practical utility of the developed approach, they created functional circuits that performed logical operations.
The innovation that Klimov and colleagues are presenting in their new paper allows them to define p- and n-type transistors by applying two different types of metal contacts (gold and indium, respectively). They completed the devices by depositing a common quantum dot layer on top of the pre-patterned contacts. "This approach permits straightforward integration of an arbitrary number of complementary p- and n-type transistors into the same quantum dot layer prepared as a continuous, un-patterned film via standard spin-coating," said Klimov.
Story Source:
Materials provided by DOE/Los Alamos National Laboratory. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
The Pentagon on Oct. 29 released a strategy for military use of the electromagnetic spectrum that could ultimately spur the creation of a new combatant command to oversee those operations.
The Defense Department has waged war via the electromagnetic spectrum for decades, using aircraft like the E/A-18G Growler and the EC-130H Compass Call to jam electronic signals and transmit computer code to other wireless devices.
But a growing number of commercial companies, personal electronic devices, and military systems that use wireless wavelength have crowded and complicated the spectrum in the digital age. That’s leading the military to see electromagnetic warfare and spectrum management as intertwined, not independent, concepts that should be coordinated across the department for the first time.
“This is the beginning of a unique opportunity,” a Pentagon official said on a background call with reporters. “The new strategy will have wide-ranging impacts across the DOD that will shape the future of the department, influencing how the DOD makes decisions on how best to design, resource, and implement EMS concepts as a new foundation for multidomain warfighting.”
The strategy pushes for new tactics, training, technology, and partnerships that would let the military hop across and hide in frequencies more easily, sense and attack or defend against other actors on the spectrum, and better withstand cyberattacks on the spectrum. DOD is considering its options for sharing and leasing frequencies with the private sector so it can digitally patrol as much of that space as possible.
“Whether it’s using commercial spectrum, or federal spectrum, or military spectrum, we have priority, we have to be able to access and maneuver in any spectrum to be able to defeat our enemies and deny them access in the same way,” another official said on background.
Like many other technology development efforts in DOD, officials want to connect their electronic warfare and spectrum management tools across services to be more responsive and less reliant on a few specific systems built for the EW mission.
That could lead to an overhaul of the Pentagon’s current electronic warfare inventory as it looks to modernize. The armed forces have explored those possibilities for years, and are in the process of replacing certain systems like the Compass Call. That fleet’s hardware is transferring to the EC-37B, a business jet modified for the electronic attack mission that will gradually become available over the next decade.
In the wake of a yearlong enterprise study of EMS issues in 2018, the Air Force moved electronic warfare personnel, like those in the 55th Electronic Combat Group, under a new information warfare organization. The service is also building out its staff at Air Force headquarters to handle the topic and soliciting ideas for EW tech demonstrations.
While the strategy did not delve into possible investments, its implementation is likely to shift future budgets and priorities among the military services and high-level DOD offices. Those changes will also have ripple effects for IT infrastructure modernization, an issue long neglected by the Pentagon, and other areas where the Pentagon wants to share common tools with other federal agencies and industry.
A roadmap to guide the path forward is due out in March. In partnership with the Pentagon’s chief information officer, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John E. Hyten will oversee that rollout as a senior member of DOD’s Electromagnetic Spectrum Operations Cross-Functional Team. Hyten is responsible for quarterly updates to the Defense Secretary on their progress.
As consensus has built inside the Pentagon that space is a warfighting domain like the land, air, and sea, people are still debating whether the electromagnetic spectrum counts as a domain as well.
One major change that might come from the implementation plan is the creation of a combatant command to handle daily electromagnetic spectrum operations. U.S. Strategic Command is currently in charge of that work, but could hand it off to a specialized organization much like it turned space warfighting over to U.S. Space Command last year.
“There’s a recognition in the department that [STRATCOM does] not have enough manning and structure to accomplish all of the things that they need to do within the electromagnetic spectrum,” the first defense official said on background. “A lot has been said about governance at the strategic level here in the Pentagon, but there’s also governance at the operational level that needs to be looked at. For now, that task resides with U.S. Strategic Command.”
DUBLIN, Oct. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance Global Market Report 2020-30: Covid 19 Impact and Recovery" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
The global electronic and precision equipment repair and maintenance market is expected to grow from $143.8 billion in 2019 to $144.5 billion in 2020 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 0.5%. The low growth is mainly due to economic slowdown across countries owing to the COVID-19 outbreak and the measures to contain it. The market is then expected to recover and grow at a CAGR of 7% from 2021 and reach $176.6 billion in 2023.
Western Europe was the largest region in the global electronic and precision equipment repair and maintenance market, accounting for 36% of the market in 2019. Asia Pacific was the second largest region accounting for 29% of the global electronic and precision equipment repair and maintenance market. Africa was the smallest region in the global electronic and precision equipment repair and maintenance market.
Companies involved in the repair and maintenance of electronic equipment are using artificial intelligence (AI)-predictive analysis for increasing the quality of their services. This analysis with the use of IoT technology sensors enable the service providers to identify the critical part which has the possibility to fail and understand the current status of the components. Companies like Neuron Soundware and KONUX use AI-predictive maintenance to identify anomalies and improve the detection and identification of potential breakdown causes.
This report provides strategists, marketers and senior management with the critical information they need to assess the global electronic and precision equipment repair and maintenance market as it emerges from the Covid 19 shut down.
The report covers market characteristics, size and growth, segmentation, regional and country breakdowns, competitive landscape, market shares, trends and strategies for this market. It traces the market's historic and forecast market growth by geography. It places the market within the context of the wider electronic and precision equipment repair and maintenance market, and compares it with other markets.
Key Topics Covered:
1. Executive Summary
2. Report Structure
3. Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance Market Characteristics
4. Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance Market Product Analysis
5. Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance Market Supply Chain
6. Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance Market Customer Information
7. Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance Market Trends And Strategies
8. Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance Market Size And Growth
9. Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance Market Regional Analysis
10. Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance Market Segmentation
11. Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance Market Metrics
12. Asia-Pacific Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance Market
13. Western Europe Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance Market
14. Eastern Europe Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance Market
15. North America Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance Market
16. South America Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance Market
17. Middle East Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance Market
18. Africa Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance Market
19. Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance Market Competitive Landscape
20. Key Mergers And Acquisitions In The Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance Market
21. Market Background: Repair and Maintenance Market
Companies Mentioned
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/bqut4j
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