A Hasidic Jewish community that abuts the Brooklyn hipster enclave of Williamsburg has been up in arms since late-summer about bike lanes installed in its section of the neighborhood. The primary complaint: Bohemian girls showing too much skin as they bike by. (Who wears short shorts?)The corridor where the Hasidim live is the gateway to southern Brooklyn neighborhoods, like Fort Greene and Park Slope, a path well-worn by the borough’s cyclists. In order to accomodate the bike lanes, the city changed parking laws in the area, resulting in a lot of fines to members of the Orthodox Jewish community. Around Thanksgiving, Hasidic officials warned that they would protest the new lanes by parking private buses in them.Yesterday, a Gothamist reader told the blog about a harrowing ride through South Williamsburg earlier in the day. On first pass through the Hasidic corridor, she claims, a man walked directly in front of her and tried to engage her in “a game of chicken,” causing her to have to “swerve around him.” That’s minor compared to what happened on her way back:As I was making a left … a bus drive[n] by a Hasidic man (no other people on it) sped up to make the right … in front of me even though there was no room for him to make the turn. … [H]e made it impossible for me to access the far right side of the street. I had to turn in between two lanes of traffic. There was no space for me to get over until I got closer to the light, which had by that time changed. I tried to pull up into the gas station on that corner, but a huge truck with a crane started backing out. I had to swerve back into traffic where I hit a huge crack and bit it. My head almost got run over by a car. Fortunately, I got away with a scraped knee and the creeps. … [B]y the time I finally made it back to the start of the bike lane again … there was a guy driving his minivan down it … IN REVERSE! Both bikers and representatives of the Hasidim are expected to continue the contentious fight over the bike lanes at a Community Board meeting in early January. But, with fall transitioning into winter and temperatures nosediving into the 30s and below, the primary offense behind the bike lane brouhaha (the immodest attire) should be momentarily moot. Right?
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Australia produces so much solar power that they’re giving three hours of it away each day for free
Three hours of free power.
In a time when energy costs are rising, Australia is taking a different approach. The country has acquired so much solar power that they’re giving it away. In fact, those who sign up for the program will get three free hours of energy each day.
This comes from a government-run offer dubbed Solar Sharer. It offers a free three-hour period for those who sign up. This period runs from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales. The period runs from noon to 3:00 p.m. in South Australia.
Free, but not unlimited, power
While the power is free for those who are eligible and have a smart meter, there is a daily cap of 24 kilowatt-hours (kWh). Any amount above that will be charged. However, the energy cap is based on the Australian Energy Regulator’s assessment of what a five-person household uses each day.
While that free period each day provides a great window to use major appliances or charge electric cars, there are some catches. Solar Sharer isn’t yet available to residents outside those areas, but energy brokers are making similar offers. There is also no guarantee that electricity rates won’t get higher outside of those free periods either.
Who benefits?
The program is designed for those who are a part of a solar power grid. It also benefits people who work from home the most. If the people in the household are at their job or the office, they likely won’t be able to take advantage of the deal.
While Energy Consumers Australia supports this offer, they are concerned about how governments and retailers relay the information to customers. In short, they don’t want people to be surprised if their electricity rates are charged higher during the non-free periods. They’re also concerned that, by their measure, only three in 10 eligible people were aware of this offer.
“We don’t want to have people signing up to these plans assuming it will decrease their bills, when in fact it could do the opposite,” the consumer advocacy group said to The Guardian.
There is a chance that rates won’t get higher if more people are able to take advantage of Solar Sharer. Since most electricity use is during the evening when more people are home from work, changing up the usage towards daytime hours can benefit everyone. It would still be an uphill battle as electric light is mostly used in the evening and nighttime when it’s dark.
Similar programs elsewhere
While there are catches, this isn’t the first program of its type. There are similar successful free energy programs in other nations. Areas such as Germany and the Nordic countries create so much green energy through wind farms that they make similar free power offers. California has also offered government programs for low-income households and farmworkers housing cheap-to-free solar energy.
While kinks definitely need to be sorted out, creating so much generated energy to the point that it can be given freely is a good problem to have.
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Motorcyclist trapped under a 3,300 pound car saved by Australian car salesmen
“Man, I’m dying. This is it.”
Tyler Wiebe was on his way to work on his motorcycle in Brisbane, Australia. Then a car approached in the wrong way in traffic, colliding with another car that then hit Wiebe. The accident threw Wiebe off his bike and under a car. He was trapped under the 3,300-lb. vehicle, doomed until a group of salesmen and onlookers came to his rescue.
“I was being dragged and when it stopped, my head and chest were under the car,” Wiebe said to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The crash and being pinned down under the vehicle gave Wiebe several injuries. He suffered broken ribs, a broken collarbone, and a collapsed lung.
But that would be diagnosed later. At the time, the car’s weight was crushing Wiebe to the point that he couldn’t breathe. His heart was also unable to beat, the pressure causing his eyes, mouth, and nose to bleed.
“Initially it was ‘can I get out?’ and then it was ‘man I am dying, this is it,’” recalled Wiebe. “[My] wife and two kids are not here, and this is it.”
Hope comes in the form of a car salesman
After being stuck for two minutes under the car, help arrived from the nearby Auto Request Kedron, a used car dealership.
“I was in the office at the time, so I heard the bang [and] came running to the doors,” Mick, one of the employees, said to A Current Affair.
“I realized there was someone trapped under the car,” fellow employee Rob added.
They rushed into action, recruiting other coworkers to help.
“[I] saw Rob running and he was just whistling out saying, ‘Hey, boys, hurry up,’ ” Corbin recalled. “I remember seeing him, just like two legs. They weren’t moving at that time.”
The salesmen tried to lift the vehicle up to get Wiebe to safety, but the car wouldn’t budge.
“We tried to lift it off. We couldn’t, and then on the second attempt, we had a couple of other good Samaritans come and help us,” said Brian, another employee of Auto Request Kedron.
Reportedly 15 people were finally able to lift the car and free Wiebe underneath. He was rushed to the hospital where he went under emergency operations. Under hospital care, Wiebe’s condition stabilized and he survived. Had he been under that car any longer, the worst would have happened.
Wiebe was humbled and grateful to the salesmen and others who stepped up to save him.
“I get more time with my daughters, I get more time with my family and a second lease on life, so just thank you, thank you,” Wiebe said in his hospital bed.
Certified legends
When he was discharged from the hospital, Wiebe set up a reunion with the employees of the used car dealership. He was able to introduce his family to his rescuers and thank them face-to-face. Wiebe presented them with matching t-shirts, each one with a logo reading “Certified Legend” on the front and an illustration of a person lifting a car over their head on the back.
“You guys are legends, but now you’re certified legends,” Wiebe said to his heroes.
A father and husband was saved thanks to the alertness and quick action of the nearby community.
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Texas engineers develop a jacket that pulls fresh drinking water out of thin air
Put it on, collect water, drink it up.
For too many, access to clean drinking water is incredibly difficult. According to the World Health Organization, over two billion people live in water-stressed areas due to pollution, climate change, or population growth. However, engineering experts in Texas have developed a possible solution: just put on a jacket.
The engineers and researchers gathered at the University of Texas at Austin developed a prototype jacket that can pull drinking water out of thin air. The jacket could help anyone frequently in areas where drinkable water is scarce. This could be used recreationally by campers, hikers, and runners—but it could also save lives. Emergency responders, soldiers, and agricultural workers could also collect water for themselves and others simply by wearing it.
The technology behind the jacket is similar to the materials used in netting for water harvesting of air and fog. This time, however, the idea is to collect water while also being mobile.
“Water harvesting from air is usually imagined as a stationary device such as a box, a panel or a large sorbent bed,” said Guihua Yu, chair professor of the Cockrell School of Engineering’s Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering and Texas Materials Institute. “Here, we wanted to rethink the form of the technology. If the fabric itself can collect water from air, it opens a new direction for personal and portable water access.”
How does this jacket collect water?
The textile used to create the jacket was derived from a device the same team created. That device was a specially engineered hydrogel fabric made from biomass-derived materials. This hydrogel fabric takes moisture from the air and then releases it as water via condensation when it’s heated by sunlight. The water can easily be collected.
The jacket’s textile collects moisture from the air and funnels it into detachable harvesting units. The units can be placed into a foldable collector piece where they are heated to produce water. The material and system doesn’t just absorb water like other materials. Instead, it actively converts vapor into water while functioning as a piece of protective clothing.
The jacket is able to produce between 400 to 900 milliliters of drinkable water daily. This is a vast improvement upon other similar inventions that yielded less water and were significantly bulkier to wear. The jacket’s material could collect and produce more water over time and testing, depending on the humidity of the terrain.
Aside from creating clothing out of the material, the researchers hope to make backpacks, tents, emergency shelters, and other outdoor gear from it. The hope is that this could create more clean water access for disaster response units and everyday people living in water-stressed areas alike.
How much hydration do you need in the heat?
Until water-collecting jackets are commercially available, it’s important to have drinkable water nearby at all times, especially during the summer. When out in the heat, the Center for Disease Control recommends having a drink of water before working outdoors. Then drink a cup of water every 15 to 20 minutes. This can help keep your body cool and hydrated to prevent heat stroke. That said, stay alert and stay indoors if there is a heat warning in your area.
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Australia produces so much solar power that they’re giving three hours of it away each day for free
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