Tesla Model X 20″ vs 22″ wheel range impact: bigger isn’t better

Choosing between 20 inch versus 22 inch wheels when building your Tesla Model X is often one of the biggest internal debates one can have. After all, there aren’t many choices to be made when it comes to altering the aesthetics on a Model X beyond wheels and the selection of your badge of honor. But depending on your wheel selection, in specific the diameter of the wheel, it could have a significant impact on range to the tune of a 10-15% difference.

One may recall that I went through the process of selecting the best winter tires for my Model S last year. With over 45,000 miles on my original factory all-season tires and winter just around the corner, I’ll be needing to go through the process once again. The process has made me think a lot about tread wear, traction, and costs associated with each brand and type of tire, but admittedly I’ve never paid too much attention to size and efficiency. But recent information being revealed through Tesla on Model X and Model S range impact as a result of wheel selection, this has stimulated me to rethink my points of view.

MODEL S 19″ VS 21″ WHEEL RANGE IMPACT

Tesla provides a range calculator on their Model S page that provides one with the ability to see the impact on mileage depending on a variety of environmental, speed and wheel factors.

Clicking between the 19″ wheels and the 21″ wheels gives you the following results:

Tesla Model S range based on 19″ and 21″ wheels

I don’t know why the impact of the tire size isn’t the same for each car or why the P90D is so much higher but this is what they provided.

The impact on range as a result of wheel diameter on the Model S is between 2%-4%. To put that in perspective, Tesla was charging $3,000 for the upgrade from a 70kWh battery pack to a 75kWh pack at the time of purchase. That’s 7% more battery/range.

Larger wheels and tires are more expensive and they reduce your range, but on the Model S, the difference is small enough that it doesn’t create much concern.

RANGE IMPACT ON TESLA MODEL X: 20″ VS 22″ WHEELS

Tesla doesn’t have the same range calculator for its Model X, but their Design Studio reveals a rather significant loss of range if one were to select the 22″ wheels.

WOW! According to Tesla, choosing the Model X 22″ Onyx Black Wheels or 22″ Silver Turbine Wheels will result in a massive 10-15% loss of range, or approximately 40 miles (64 km).

Model X 22″ wheels will cost you 10-15% in range loss vs 20″ wheels

You would effectively be paying an extra $5,500 for the 22″ wheels and tires to lose approximately $10,000 worth of range (assuming a battery pack upgrade). At first, I thought this was some kind of website error, but Model X owners across forums and Facebook are confirming gains of 10%-12% by simply swapping out their 22″ wheels for 20″ wheels. If you’re looking for range, those 22″ wheels are not the way to go. I guess, as the old saying goes, there’s a price to pay for beauty.

SUMMARY

Tire size on the Model S has little impact on range, but on the Model X, the impact is relatively large. As you’re configuring your next Tesla you should carefully consider the tire size and the relative importance of range versus handling.

Larger tires cost more, wear out faster, and use more energy. Those larger wheels sure look and feel great, but for many of us, range and efficiency are our king and queen.

Building a Raspberry Pi-powered Barkometer, Part 1

I recently had a visit from my local animal control department. A youthful, uniformed guy rang the doorbell and handed me a letter. He told me that there had been a complaint from a neighbor (he, of course, was not at liberty to reveal the identity of the neighbor) about my dog barking.

This was unexpected because my dog, Harvey (he’s an Australian Shepherd), doesn’t bark that much and when he does, it’s usually just a couple of midrange yelps. He mostly barks when he exits the back door (he always assumes that there’s some critter that needs to be dealt with) and occasionally, if the birds dare to land on our trees, he’ll shout a few times but even then, it’s a brief protest rather than a drawn out rager. I’d argue that other neighbors’ dogs are far noisier than my dog.

Anyway, the nice young chap (he had that polite, wet behind the ears affect that makes old dudes like me want to call him “sonny” … I resisted the temptation) started to explain what I could do to control my dog whereupon I thanked him, took the letter (given the time and effort to personally deliver it, that letter must have had a value north of $100; good to see our tax dollars at work), shook his hand, and sent him on his way.

I’m pretty sure I know who made the complaint; it was one of our immediate neighbors who has been feuding with us on and off over the last year or so. I won’t bore you with the history of the conflict but it turns out other people have had problems with them so their complaining to animal control would not be out of character.

According to animal control, if there are more complaints they “will take action,” which raises the question of what, exactly, constitutes evidence of a dog barking “too much”? I figured it was time to go digital on the case …

Here’s my plan: Create a wireless Internet of Things device that records the sounds in my back yard and transfers time-stamped samples to a network attached storage device in my home office for analysis. I shall call this system the “Barkometer”

There are three parts to this plan, the first of which was assembling the hardware. As I’ve been extensively covering the Internet of Things and most particularly Raspberry Pi technology, I had a Raspberry Pi 2 Model B ($35 from Element14) to hand, so that was the obvious choice. Note that because high input data rates are required to handle audio, an RPi 3 Model B might have been a better choice as we will see later.

The RPi 2B has both digital and analog audio outputs but it doesn’t provide any audio input so my next task was a trip to Fry’s (the nerd’s equivalent of trip to Disneyland) for a USB audio adapter. The only USB adapter available a was a Sabrent USB 2.0 External 2.1 Surround Sound Adapter ($12.99) and I purchased a Micro Innovations Mini Microphone ($6.99) to go with it. Here’s the whole system assembled:

Mark Gibbs

 

So far, so good, and in the next part, I’ll discuss recording sound on the Raspberry Pi which, as you will learn, isn’t as easy as you might assume …

Comments? Thoughts? Connect to me or comment below then follow me on Twitterand Facebook.

Mental health first aid fights stigma, saves lives

There’s a deadline looming at your office. Stressed by his workload and afraid of being fired, your colleague starts to panic, breathing rapidly. It might be an anxiety attack.

What do you do?

A close friend has been depressed, absent and withdrawn for weeks. Suddenly you get a chipper phone call. Would you recognize the mood shift as a potential warning sign?

What would you say?

If your co-worker had a heart attack or your friend broke an ankle, the protocol would be pretty clear. Stabilize an injured limb; wrap and elevate a wound. Administer CPR, if properly trained. Call 911. But what about mental health crises like the ones above, described to us by mental health first aid trainers?

Unlike blocked arteries or broken bones, mental illness is shrouded in stigma. Still, odds are much greater that you’ll encounter someone with an anxiety disorder or depression than someone with heart disease. Statistically, mental illness affects much more of the population–one in five Canadians.

You don’t have to be a passive bystander. You can become a mental health first responder.

Mental health first aid (MHFA) teaches Canadians what to do in an emergency, breaking down fears and myths to increase awareness of mental illness. The basic MHFA training course takes two days, and is available across Canada through trainers certified by Mental Health First Aid Canada (fees vary).

First aiders learn an exercise for hyperventilating panic victims: they should focus on your hand as you raise and lower it to help them control their breathing. A panic attack and a heart attack have similar symptoms; always call 911 just in case.

MHFA training breaks down the discomfort involved in talking about mental illnesses like depression. More importantly, participants learn to ask hard but vital questions.

MHFA certified trainer Denise Waligora told of one of her students, a career counsellor whose client confessed he was depressed. Thanks to her training, she knew to come right out and ask: “Are you thinking about suicide?” He was.

The counsellor probed further and learned her client had already made a suicide plan. She recognized a high-risk situation, assessing the likelihood he would follow through with it using targeted questions. It was high. She took him to a hospital, one listed in her training as having proper facilities.

Weeks later, when the man was released, he told the counsellor she’d saved his life.

With a better understanding of mental illness, unburdened by stigma or the myth she should avoid certain subjects, this MHFA grad had the confidence to intervene.

Trainers like Waligora teach students to recognize symptoms of mental illnesses in four areas: mood disorders, anxiety, addiction and substance abuse, and psychotic disorders. Myths–like the belief people suffering psychotic issues are always violent–are demolished.

MHFA Canada is developing first aid courses tailored to differences that face groups like First Nations, Inuit, seniors, and veterans.

First aiders are made aware of the mental health resources available locally, so they can refer those in crisis to the appropriate contacts.

MHFA isn’t a substitute for professional mental health care. Canada still needs to invest much more in facilities and treatment.

First aid is a powerful act of compassion–caring about others’ pain and taking action to heal it. Whether a broken bone or a wounded mind, if someone is hurting, wouldn’t you want to know what to do?

Craig and Marc Kielburger are the co-founders of the WE movement, which includes WE Charity, ME to WE Social Enterprise and WE Day.

Low socio-economic status a factor for heart attack

Low socio-economic status can increase the chances of getting a second heart attack or stroke, according to new research.

The study, published in the journal European Society of Cardiology, found that the risk of a second attack was 36 per cent lower for those in the highest income quintile than those with the lowest.

The chances increase by 14 per cent among divorced patients than among married.

The study investigated the link between socioeconomic status in patients who had survived their first heart attack and have the risk of a second attack or stroke.

The study included 29,953 patients who had been discharged approximately one year previously from cardiac intensive care unit after treatment for a first myocardial infarction.

During an average follow up of four years, 2,405 patients (8 per cent) suffered a heart attack or stroke. After factoring age, gender, smoking preference, and the defined measures of socioeconomic status, the study found that divorce was associated with a 14 per cent greater risk of a second attack than the marriage.

There is an independent and linear relationship between income and the risk of a second event. Those with highest quintile of income had 36 per cent lower risk of suffering from heart attack for the second time than those in the lowest quintile.

A higher level of education was associated with a lower risk of events but the association was not significant after adjustment for income.

Crystal unclear: Why might this uncanny crystal change laser design?

Laser applications may benefit from crystal research by scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and China’s Shandong University. They have discovered a potential way to sidestep longstanding difficulties with making the crystals that are a crucial part of laser technology. But the science behind their discovery has experts scratching their heads. The findings, published today in Science Advances, suggest that the relatively large crystals used to change several properties of light in lasers – changes that are crucial for making lasers into practical tools – might be created by stacking up far smaller, rod-shaped microcrystals that can be grown easily and cheaply.

So far, the team’s microcrystals outperform conventional crystals in some ways, suggesting that harnessing them could signal the end of a long search for a fast, economical way to develop large crystals that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive and time-consuming to create. But the microcrystals also challenge conventional scientific theory as to why they perform as they do.

The color you see in a laser’s light is often different than the one it initially generates. Many lasers create infrared light, which then passes through a crystal converting its energy – and therefore its wavelength – to light of a visible color like green or blue.

Frequently, that crystal is made of potassium diphosphate (KDP), a common material that has properties that make it invaluable: Not only can a KDP crystal alter the light’s color, but it also can act as a switch that changes the light’s polarization (the direction in which its electric field vibrates) or prevent it from passing through the crystal until just the right moment. The data carried by laser light through fiber-optic cables depends on the light’s polarization, and many applications depend on a laser pulse’s timing.

Small KDP crystals are easy to make, and these find use in pocket laser pointers and telecommunications systems alike. But for higher-energy applications, scientists have searched for decades for a way to make large, high-quality crystals that can survive repeated exposure to intense laser pulses, but a solution has remained elusive.

The team has found useful results by growing KDP crystals in solution. These crystals take the form of hexagonal-shaped hollow tubes and long rods just a few micrometers wide. Individually, these KDP microcrystals have an energy-conversion efficiency surpassing even the best KDP crystals under the same conditions, raising the possibility of directly growing crystals for use in telecommunications.

The team also suggests the rods could be stacked up like firewood, building a larger piece out of billions of the tiny filaments. Before they are stacked together they could be coated by a thin layer of conductive material that carries heat away, rendering them capable of handling repeated pulses of high-intensity laser light – potentially broadening their application range if a way can be found to stack them.

The mystery is why the microcrystals perform as they do. Basic physics says they shouldn’t.

Conventional physics models indicate that an optical medium like a crystal must not be symmetric about its center if it is to convert energy efficiently, yet these microcrystals appear to break this rule.

“We’ve spoken to a number of experts in different fields worldwide, and none of them can explain it,” says NIST physicist Lu Deng. “Currently no theory can explain the initial growth mechanism of this exotic crystal. It’s challenging our current understanding in fields from crystallography to condensed matter physics.”

While theory catches up with data, Deng said the team is concentrating on the engineering challenges of growing stackable microcrystal rods.

“We can grow more than 1,000 microstructures every 10 minutes or so on a single glass slide, so growing a large amount is not a problem,” he said. “What we need to figure out is how to grow a large fraction of them with nearly uniform cross-sections since that will be important in the final assembly stage.”

Source: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Omega-3 injection may reduce stroke-like brain damage

A team of researchers from Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) has concluded that omega-3 fatty acids found in oils extracted from cold-water fish may reduce brain damage.

To carry out the study, the researchers treated 10-day-old mice that had incurred hypoxic-ischemic brain injury (caused by a decrease in blood flow and oxygen to the brain, as occurs during a stroke) with a fat emulsion containing either DHA or EPA—omega-3 fatty acids that are found in certain foods and in supplements.

The CUMC researchers and other scientists have shown that these fish-oil fatty acids protect organs and cells in numerous ways after oxygen deprivation, reducing inflammation and cell death.

At 24 hours, mice treated with DHA, but not EPA, had a significant reduction in brain injury. In the following weeks, the DHA group also had significantly better results in multiple brain functions compared to the EPA-treated mice and untreated (control) mice.

The researchers also discovered that these mice had increased concentrations of DHA in their brain mitochondria, energy-producing structures in cells that can be injured by free radicals when blood flow is restored to the brain after a stroke. This process, known as reperfusion injury, is a common cause of brain damage following the oxygen and nutrient deprivation that occurs after a stroke.

“Our findings suggest that injecting the omega-3 fatty acid DHA after a stroke-like event has the ability to protect brain mitochondria against the damaging effects of free radicals,” said senior co-author, Vadim S. Ten, MD, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics at CUMC.

Interruption of blood flow and oxygen supply to the brain during or shortly after birth is a major cause of brain damage in newborns, causing life-long neurological impairments in more than 25 percent of those affected. Many of the pathways involved in this type of brain damage are similar to those in an adult stroke.

Senior co-author Richard J. Deckelbaum, professor of epidemiology, and director of the Institute of Nutrition at CUMC explained that clinical trials are needed to determine if administering lipid emulsions containing DHA shortly after a stroke-like brain injury offers the same neuroprotective effects in babies and adults, as seen in mice.

“If successful, such trials could lead to the development of a novel therapy for stroke in newborns, children, and adults, addressing a major medical need,” he concluded.

The study, titled “DHA but Not EPA Emulsions Preserve Neurological and Mitochondrial Function after Brain Hypoxia-Ischemia in Neonatal Mice,” was recently published in Plos One.

ISRO to test scramjet engine using oxygen from atmosphere

CHENNAI: The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) on Sunday will conduct a five-minute flight to test a scramjet engine – which takes atmospheric oxygen to burn engine fuel – developed at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), Sriharikota. Isro scientists said that the engine will eventually be used to power its reusable launch vehicle (RLV) at hypersonic speed.

During the experiment in SDSC at around 8.30am, the scramjet engine, affixed to a two-stage RH-560 sounding rocket developed in the 1970s, will be ignited at an altitude of 20 km and allowed to burn fuel for five seconds before the rocket falls into the Bay of Bengal.

Unlike conventional rocket engines which carry both fuel and oxidiser, the scramjet engine with its air-breathing propulsion system technology will forcefully compress atmospheric oxygen when the rocket is in supersonic speed. The atmospheric oxygen will act as an oxidiser to burn the fuel (liquid hydrogen) being carried.

Isro scientists said that the scramjet engine would be tested about 55 seconds after take-off from the launchpad at SDSC. After the first stage of the rocket breaks off and falls into the Bay of Bengal, the rocket will continue moving up with available thrust. In the second stage, when the rocket is travelling at six times the speed of sound, the scramjet engine will be ignited at an altitude of 20 km and the fuel will burn for five seconds. The rocket will move further up for 40-70 km, before it coasts horizontally and begins its descent into the sea.

Former Airbnb exec Shaun Stewart joins Google to help the latter launch its self-driving car in the market

With 60 test vehicles on the road and a coverage of over 1.8 million miles, Google’s autonomous vehicles are hitting a new high everyday. The company is doing everything in its power to speed up the development of its self-driving cars. Its latest effort is hiring Airbnb’s Shaun Stewart.

Prior to joining Google, Stewart served as a top executive who set up the company’s vacation rentals business. Before this, he was the chief executive of Jetsetter, a company that was acquired by TripAdvisor. All in all, Stewart is kind of an expert at building and scaling businesses, which Google surely requires for its seven year-old project.

Shaun Stewart will be replacing Chris Urmson, chief technical officer of the project who left the tech giant earlier this month. The latter served as the project’s team leader and chief public spokesman until ex-Hyundai executive John Krafcik was hired by Google last year as the project’s CEO. Many other top executives have joined Google’s latest effort to make the future now. These include Kevin Vosen, the project’s first general counsel and Tim Papandreou, a former San Francisco city official and expert in transportation policy.

The seven year-old project has seen a lot of ups and downs. In fact, there have been more changes and developments in the project in just the last couple of years than before. Just considering the last few months, the company has expanded to four cities, signed a collaboration with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to double its fleet of autonomous vehicles and even opened an engineering tech center in Michigan.

Urmson predicted last year, right before leaving the company, that Google’s self-driving technology would be ready for production by 2020. He added that the company was actively seeking partners among global automakers– evident from the developments we saw before he left.

Spherical tokamaks to create and contain future fusion power

A conventional tokamak sits in the middle of a test fusion cell at the DOE’s National Spherical Torus Experiment-Upgrade site. Photo by DOE/PPPL

WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 (UPI) — Scientists and the Department of Energy officials remain committed to fusion energy, a technology that in theory would mimic the sun, offering an almost endless supply of energy.

There are several hurdles currently preventing the dream of fusion energy from being realized. Scientists are still trying to figure out how to ignite a stellar core-like ball of plasma. In other words, they still unable to actually trigger fusion.

If and when fusion is created, scientists must have a suitable container. The flaming ball of plasma must be safely contained.

A new study, published this week in the journal Nuclear Fusion, offers a detailed look at researchers latest concept container. Physicists at the DOE’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory hope compact spherical tokamaks will create and contain fusion energy in the near future.

Scientists have dubbed the container “a star in a jar.”

The spherical shape of the new tokamaks will allow for a smaller hole in which to hold and shape the plasma, allowing engineers to deploy slightly less powerful magnetic fields.

Scientists hope to fuse tritium with deuterium — two hydrogen isotopes — in order to produce stellar fusion in the next generation of tokamaks.

“The main reason we research spherical tokamaks is to find a way to produce fusion at much less cost than conventional tokamaks require,” Ian Chapman, CEO of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, said in a news release.

Chapman and his colleagues at the Culham Science Centre collaborated with PPPL researchers on the newly published tokamaks study.

The spherical tokamaks are expected to become the centerpieces of two planned DOE testing facilities currently in the works.

“[The facilities] will push the physics frontier, expand our knowledge of high temperature plasmas, and, if successful, lay the scientific foundation for fusion development paths based on more compact designs,” said PPPL Director Stewart Prager.

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“The main reason we research spherical tokamaks is to find a way to produce fusion at much less cost than conventional tokamaks require,” Ian Chapman, CEO of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, said in a news release.

Chapman and his colleagues at the Culham Science Centre collaborated with PPPL researchers on the newly published tokamaks study.

The spherical tokamaks are expected to become the centerpieces of two planned DOE testing facilities currently in the works.

“[The facilities] will push the physics frontier, expand our knowledge of high temperature plasmas, and, if successful, lay the scientific foundation for fusion development paths based on more compact designs,” said PPPL Director Stewart Prager.