August 31, 2018

Life-size Bugatti Chiron made from a million Lego pieces ... and it actually drives

A bit too late to order a coveted Bugatti Chiron? More of a do-it-yourselfer? Why not make one from Lego Technic parts? That's what Lego has done, building a full-sized, functioning Chiron almost entirely from Legos, right down to the powerplant. It may not be fast, but it's really dang cool.

The Lego Technic team (based out of the company's Kladno factory in the Czech Republic) used about a million pieces to build the life-sized Bugatti Chiron, after having scaled one a few months ago as an apparent test run towards the real thing. The full-sized Lego Chiron is a faithful reproduction of the design lines of the world's fastest production car, and is the first large-scale movable construction developed and powered entirely by Lego motors. The full-sized model is packed with 2,304 Technic motors, 4,032 Technic gear wheels, and enough Lego pieces to total 1.5 tonnes (1.65 US tons or 3,300 lb).

The car's thousands of motors produce a total of 5.3 horsepower (3.95 kW) and about 67.9 pound-feet (92 Nm) of torque. Compare that to the actual Chiron, which weighs in at about 2 tonnes and produces 1,500 horsepower (1,118.6 kW). While the real Bugatti might fly around the track at record speeds, the Lego Chiron won't kill you in a top-speed collision. Especially if you wear the recommended helmet, as did Bugatti test driver Andy Wallace when he got behind the Lego Chiron's wheel and took it for a top-speed spin of 20 km/h (12 mph) along the Ehra Lessien proving ground in Germany.

Joking aside, the Lego Technic version of the Bugatti Chiron is a full-sized achievement. The Lego vehicle is made entirely from bricks and parts, from its fascinating outer skin structure to its interior seating and steering wheel. A working rear spoiler, front and rear lighting, a brake pedal, and more were constructed using 339 types of Lego Technic elements and over 13,000 work hours of development and construction. None of the parts are glued together, and load-bearing parts are almost entirely Lego pieces. The Chiron does include about 58 types of custom-made Lego parts in its construction. That includes its functional speedometer. Tires and wheels were supplied by Bugatti.

More: https://newatlas.com/lego-bugatti-chiron-life-sized/56149/




The test drive of the Lego Chiron took place at the Ehra Lessien proving grounds in Germany (Credit: Lego Technic)




LEGO Technic full-sized Bugatti Chiron in Action

The people at LEGO decided to use a Technic bits to build a functioning Bugatti Chiron. Powered entirely by LEGO parts, including its engine, this LEGO Chiron may not be as fast as the Bugatti vehicle, but it's really, really cool.

August 31, 2018

The Daily Show: So Much Winning

The Daily Show puts Donald Trump’s achievements in perspective, from lying about his net worth to his announcement of a vague Space Force.

August 31, 2018

The Daily Show: DiscrimiNATION

The Daily Show looks at recent stories of race and discrimination in America, including the black men who got arrested in Starbucks and Roseanne Barr’s racist tweet.

August 29, 2018

Air pollution causes 'huge' reduction in intelligence, study reveals

Impact of high levels of toxic air ‘is equivalent to having lost a year of education’

Air pollution causes a “huge” reduction in intelligence, according to new research, indicating that the damage to society of toxic air is far deeper than the well-known impacts on physical health.

The research was conducted in China but is relevant across the world, with 95% of the global population breathing unsafe air. It found that high pollution levels led to significant drops in test scores in language and arithmetic, with the average impact equivalent to having lost a year of the person’s education.

“Polluted air can cause everyone to reduce their level of education by one year, which is huge,” said Xi Chen at Yale School of Public Health in the US, a member of the research team. “But we know the effect is worse for the elderly, especially those over 64, and for men, and for those with low education. If we calculate [the loss] for those, it may be a few years of education.”

Previous research has found that air pollution harms cognitive performance in students, but this is the first to examine people of all ages and the difference between men and women.


Much more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/aug/27/air-pollution-causes-huge-reduction-in-intelligence-study-reveals



Air pollution in China is three times above World Health Organisation limits. Photograph: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

August 29, 2018

The Daily Show: Guest Masha Gessen - Examining Russia's Autocracy in "The Future Is Here"

Masha Gessen describes how Vladimir Putin has consolidated power in Russia, the differences between Trump and Putin, and why Trump’s policies are anti-LGBT.

August 29, 2018

The Daily Show: Separation Anxiety

The Daily Show takes a hard look at the crisis the Trump administration created by separating families at the U.S.-Mexico border and scrutinizes their defense of the policy.

August 28, 2018

Trump's EPA just released its version of the Clean Power Plan -- and it's not very clean

For environmentalists, ACE doesn't make the grade.

In 2015, the Obama administration’s Environmental Protection Agency finalized plans for a program to reduce carbon dioxide emissions—which contribute to climate change and endanger public health—from power plants. But on Tuesday, the Trump administration revealed a new version that’s significantly more coal-friendly.

The proposed Affordable Clean Energy rule, or ACE, would "respect the rule of law," bring down electricity costs, and give state regulators and the energy sector "regulatory certainty," said acting Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler in a press conference Tuesday.

It’s questionable, however, how affordable or clean a plan that props up the declining coal industry can be.

<snip>

The Clean Power Plan, finalized in 2015, would have set the nation's first carbon dioxide emissions standards for power plants—if it hadn’t been stayed by the Supreme Court in 2016. Under the program, states were required to reduce carbon emissions through a combination of tools, including setting cleaner emissions rates for power plants and operating dirtier power plants less frequently in favor of units that used lower-emitting natural gas or zero-emitting renewable sources. Altogether, the plan would have reduced carbon emissions from the U.S. power sector by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030—about 870 million tons, or the equivalent of taking 166 million passenger cars off the road in a single year.

<snip>

In contrast, Trump's EPA estimates its plan would reduce emissions of carbon dioxide equivalent to taking five million cars off the road by 2030—about 3 percent of the reductions projected under the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan. It would make U.S. electricity prices cheaper by half a percent at most compared to the Clean Power Plan, but increase coal production for energy by up to 6 percent.


Read more: https://www.popsci.com/clean-power-plan-trump



"It's like wanting to put lead back into the ammunition." DepositPhotos

August 28, 2018

The Daily Show: Anthony D. Romero - How the ACLU Is Taking on the Trump Administration

ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero discusses the fight against the Trump administration’s Muslim ban and the signs of executive overreach to look out for.

August 28, 2018

The Daily Show: Jake Tapper - How CNN Is Taking on the Trump Administration

Jake Tapper provides a reminder of what “fake news” actually means and explains why truthful reporting and checking facts shouldn’t be controversial.

August 27, 2018

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (Web Exclusive): Retractions - 8/26/18

John Oliver sets the record straight about some dubious claims he’s made in the past.