I will be offline for a few weeks. A variety of science-related posts are queued during my absence, but solar-race coverage will be on hold until I return (my WSC team list is up to date as at 23 June). See you all later!
A short break
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Monthly Archives: June 2017
June 21 in Solar Cars
June 21 was an eventful day in solar-car racing. The Belgian team revealed their zippy new car:
Nuon Solar Team set a world record, clocking up 882 km in a 12-hour track session.
Eindhoven have also unveiled their new car, and it’s gorgeous! It lacks the “tunnel” of their previous vehicle, and this allows them to seat a family of five:
Joseph Dalton Hooker
The botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker was born 200 years ago, on 30 June 1817. Kew Gardens, of which he was the director, has a special event to commemorate him. Hooker travelled on expeditions to Antarctica, India, Palestine, Morocco, and the Western United States. The pictures below are from his The botany of the Antarctic voyage of H.M. discovery ships Erebus and Terror in the years 1839–1843, under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross. He also published several volumes on the botany of India.
More World Solar Challenge progress
The open road is calling teams for the 2017 World Solar Challenge, and JU Solar Team (battery box ready for shipping), Lodz Solar Team (battery box), Nuon Solar Team (world record attempt), Solar Team BE (unveiling Punch 2), and Singapore (dashboard design) are hearing that call.
In other news, Solar Team GB have pulled out of the race, and Eindhoven are due to unveil their car in a few hours.
World Solar Challenge cars to be revealed
Here are the World Solar Challenge solar car teams that have promised a car reveal in the coming weeks (full team list here):
Punch Powertrain Solar Team 
This team came 3rd in the 2015 Abu Dhabi Solar Challenge, and 5th in the Challenger class at WSC 2015. They are planning to return in 2017. They also raced in the 2016 ESC, coming 2nd. Their new WSC car will be called Punch 2. There have been signs of construction. A car reveal is promised for 21 June.
Solar Team Eindhoven
This team came 1st in the Cruiser class at WSC 2015. They are planning to return in 2017. Their team number (40) is the Eindhoven telephone area code. In December 2016 they had hoped to set a world record by driving 620 miles on a single charge, but this attempt had to be cancelled. However, they did visit the Bay Area in January. There have been signs of construction. A car reveal is promised for 21 June.
Solar Team Twente
This team came 2nd in the Challenger class at WSC 2015. They are planning to return in 2017. They also raced in the 2016 ESC, coming 1st. Their new WSC car will be called Red Shift. Their team number (21) is a pun and a wish for success in the race (“Twente-One”). They held a competition to pick a name for their new car, and have also revealed their new design. There have been signs of construction. A car reveal is promised for 23 June.
Kogakuin University 
This team came 2nd in the Cruiser class at WSC 2015. They are planning to return in 2017. There have been signs of construction. A car reveal is promised for 29 June.
Kaohsiung / Apollo
This team came 6th in the Cruiser class at WSC 2013, and 9th in the 2015 Abu Dhabi Solar Challenge. They are planning to return in 2017. There have been signs of construction. A car reveal is promised for 30 June.
Stanford Solar Car Project
This team came 6th in the Challenger class at WSC 2015. They are planning to return in 2017. Their new WSC car will be called Sundae. There have been signs of construction. A car reveal is promised for 1 July.
Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education
This team competed in the Cruiser class at WSC 2015. They are planning to return in 2017. There have been signs of construction. A car reveal is promised for 2 July.
Principia Solar Car Team
This team came 17th in the Challenger class at WSC 2015, and 5th in the 2016 American Solar Challenge. They are planning to return to WSC in 2017. Their new WSC car will be called Ra X. There have been signs of construction. They also intend to race at FSGP 2017. A car reveal is promised for 3 July.
Bochum University of Applied Sciences
This team came 3rd in the Cruiser class at WSC 2015. They are planning to return in 2017. They also entered three cars in the 2016 ESC, coming 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Their car will look like this. There have been signs of construction. They also participated in the Somabay Egyptian Solar Challenge in March. A car reveal is promised for 5 July.
University of Michigan
This team came 4th in the Challenger class at WSC 2015, and 1st in the 2016 American Solar Challenge. They are planning to return to WSC in 2017. Their new WSC car will be called Novum. Their team number (2) is a long-standing tradition. There have been signs of construction. A car reveal is promised for 7 July.
University of Minnesota
This team came 5th in the Cruiser class at WSC 2015, and 10th in the 2016 American Solar Challenge. They are planning to return to WSC in 2017. Their new WSC car will be called Eos II. Their team number (35) is a long-standing tradition. There have been signs of construction. A car reveal is promised for 11 July.
Nuon Solar Team
This team came 1st in the Challenger class at WSC 2015. They are planning to return in 2017. They also raced in the 2016 Sasol Solar Challenge in South Africa, coming 1st. Their new WSC car will be called Nuna9. Their team number (3) is a long-standing tradition. There have been signs of construction. They also participated in the Somabay Egyptian Solar Challenge in March. A car reveal is promised for 25 July.
Australian National University
This is a new team in the WSC Challenger class for 2017. They have a rather interesting design. A car reveal is promised for 2 August.
Troubles at Evergreen
The Evergreen State College (photo: “kelp”)
I’m sure that everyone is familiar with the protests at The Evergreen State College in Washington State, which were triggered when biology professor Bret Weinstein objected to the 2017 version of a college event called “Day of Absence.” This event was described by organisers with the words “We are having people of color stay on campus and we are encouraging white staff, faculty, and students to go off campus in order to make the space at Evergreen more centered around people of color.” Weinstein, who is Jewish, objected to this in an internal email (using what seems to me very polite language), noting that “On a college campus, one’s right to speak – or to be – must never be based on skin color.” No doubt he saw some disturbing historical precedents.
Protests snowballed, however, taking a rather anti-White, anti-Jewish, anti-Asian, and anti-Science turn. One of the activists suggested that “Hopefully, long-term we can just weed out people like Bret.” It’s not clear to me what “people like Bret” means. I do note, however, that protestors vandalised both the college’s natural history museum and its scientific computing facilities, so I suspect that not only Weinstein, but scientists in general, were a target. That seems an unfortunate situation in an educational institution (even one that accepts 98.9% of applicants). No doubt there’s more here than meets the eye.
Calendar for July
What caused the Grenfell Tower fire?
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Grenfell Tower fire, London (photo: Natalie Oxford)
We do not yet know how horrific the death toll will be, but questions are already being asked about the Grenfell Tower fire. As there should be – a disaster of this scale should never have happened.
There are allegations that the cladding added in a recent renovation was flammable, that the renovation reduced the number of fire escapes at the lower levels (see plans here), that some residents had obstructed access by dumping rubbish, and that bad evacuation advice was given to residents. Hopefully there will be a full investigation, and enough policy changes to stop something like this from happening again.
Disasters in science #6
Agreement from your friends and having your own journal still aren’t quite the same thing as evidence…
… and they didn’t have the awesome @RealPeerReview back then.
Australia is waiting for the World Solar Challenge teams
Australia is waiting for contestants in the 2017 World Solar Challenge, the premier world contest in sustainable vehicle technology. The average maximum October temperature in the town of Katherine, on the Stuart Highway, is 37.7°C. Road trains are a frequent hazard on the highway, and past races have had to deal with fire as well. Sometimes things go wrong with the car. But it’s still an absolutely fantastic experience!
Scientific Gems 