The Low-Tech Times

Kris De Decker has returned from summer vacation and has written an interesting and provocative article for his Low-tech Magazine:

If we cut the average speed of all vehicles by half, fuel consumption would decrease by a whopping 75 percent.

Breaking speed records was an almost daily occurence throughout the 20th century. Cars, ships, planes and trains became faster and faster, year after year. Because the power needed to push an object through air increases with the cube of velocity, this race to ever higher speeds raises energy consumption exponentially.

Engineers treat velocity as a non-variable, while in fact it is the most powerful factor to save a really huge amount of energy - with just one stroke, at minimal cost, and without the need for new technology. Lower speeds combined with more energy efficient engines, better aerodynamics and lighter materials could make fuel savings even larger.

WTOP News has a nice story posted by Freeman Klopott of a woman in Washington, DC who thwarted a mugger using a low-tech technique. The story shows a hi-tech taser may not be necessary to stop robbery:

A sly Northeast resident was able to get the better of a late afternoon mugger by passing off a fake wallet with only two dollars, District police said. The woman was carrying groceries and dry cleaning on the 1300 block of F Street Northeast when a man came up behind her, put an arm around her neck and pushed her forward, demanding her wallet. As she landed on the ground, the victim pulled out a fake wallet she keeps for just such occasion.

The assailant grabbed the fake wallet and took off down the street.

Geoffrey Lean, environmental editor, writes another interesting piece for The Independent in a series of health risks brought on by mobile phones:

Children and teenagers are five times more likely to get brain cancer if they use mobile phones, startling new research indicates.

The study, experts say, raises fears that today’s young people may suffer an “epidemic” of the disease in later life. At least nine out of 10 British 16-year-olds have their own handset, as do more than 40 per cent of primary schoolchildren.

The article goes on to state that European governments have recommended minimizing cell phone use by the young.  Here at The Low-Tech Times, we recommend that everyone minimize cell phone usage to emergency situations and other rare occurrences.