In the Media
Italian auto racing champion Emanuele Pirro has just completed five laps around the Michigan International Speedway in the futuristic, silver bullet-like Very Light Car. He slows to a stop. The green flag waves and he’s off again, accelerating back up to a precise average speed of 45 mph.
Pirro, a five-time winner of Le Mans, continues driving in five-lap intervals around the massive 2-mile oval, all while officials from the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize monitor the vehicle’s fuel efficiency.
The quest for 100 miles per gallon has resumed at Michigan International Speedway.
Since the final round of the Progressive Automotive X Prize started on Monday, a pair of teams that created unconventional cars with traditional racing technology have made bold moves to win their individual classes and pocket much of the competition’s tantalizing $10 million in prize money.
One contender is the Edison2 team’s Very Light Car, a 750-pound seedpod on wheels that burns an ethanol-gasoline blend and unofficially achieved 129 miles per gallon during Thursday’s testing at MIS. Edison2—made up primarily of engineers and mechanics from the world of endurance racing at such tracks as Daytona and Le Mans—stands to win half the prize money if such results continue.
Bellingham's most famous unicyclist struck again over the weekend, this time completing the Seattle to Portland bike journey in under 24 hours.
But not far behind Joe Myers' impressive feat was the actions of his wife Lana, who followed her husband in a vehicle the entire 204 miles. Much of that time she used the vehicle's headlights to show Joe the way, since he started the race at 9:15 p.m. Friday, July 16, and rode through the night. He finished just prior to 9:15 p.m. Saturday, July 17.
Fifty million years ago, a 380-pound flightless bird called diatryma stalked the floodplains.
Although diatryma was long thought to have existed in this region, a recent discovery by geologists from Western Washington University of a fossilized footprint of this 7-foot-tall bird proves it did indeed roam the forests of the Pacific Northwest, George Mustoe, a paleontologist at WWU, said. In fact, the track is the world’s only known track of any giant extinct bird.
'HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL' AT WWU
"High School Musical," the popular story from Disney Studios about two high schoolers from rival cliques who learn all about the trials and tribulations (as well as the triumphs) of falling in love, is staged by Western Washington University's department of theater arts Thursday, July 22, through Aug. 8 at WWU's Performing Arts Center Underground Theatre. Deb Currier directs.
Curtain is at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and at 2 p.m. Sundays.
Tickets, $12 general, $10 seniors and $8 students, are available at WWU's box office, 650-6146, and online at tickets.wwu.edu.
Gov. Chris Gregoire got an earful from residents Wednesday on how best to spend their tax dollars.
Gregoire came to Everett Community College where she asked the 400 people who showed up for ways to run state government in less costly and more efficient ways.
Some told her to cut costs by trimming salaries of state employees, selling off the state ferry system and privatizing port districts.
Whatcom Transportation Authority leaders have voted to cut Sunday bus service starting this fall.
On Wednesday morning, July 21, the board voted 5-2 for Option 2, which eliminates all Sunday service and makes various cuts to weekday and Saturday routes. Board members Jim Ackerman, Scott Korthuis, Pete Kremen, Ken Mann and Mel Hansen voted for it. Stan Snapp and Jack Weiss voted against it. Dan Pike and Paul Greenough were absent.
Are your students missing out on real laboratory experiences due to the cost of real laboratory instrumentation? The Integrated Instrumentation Network (ILN) project at Western Washington University has developed a way to share actual (not simulated) lab instrumentation with faculty and students around the world – with live control via the internet.
(WWU students) Colin Weiss, Rachael Chapman, Becca Orlowski and Andy Reinhardt are among the many stars that make High School Musical rock. Director Currier and Becca Orlowski collaborated on the sensational choreography and Costume Designer Allison Dawe deserves a standing O. Musical Director Andy Davison has done an amazing job making these kids sound better than any Disney show deserves.
Western Washington University's Center for Economic Vitality has scheduled two free workshops for businesses on using competitive intelligence strategically to advance business goals.
The events will be 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 4, at the Whatcom Educational Credit Union in Ferndale; and from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 5, at the Mount Baker Theatre in Bellingham.
Read more: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2010/07/20/1534155/two-free-workshops-o…