Currently under construction at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Complex in Tennessee, the Spallation Neutron Source may advance science and engineering with microscopic details about the underlying structure and dynamics of the sample. Using an alternative technique to the high-brightness X-rays of the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Labs, spallation is a process in which neutrons are directed in a tight beam through targeted objects in pulses, resulting in patterns of diffraction The beam is non-destructive, even to complex, delicate, polymeric or biological materials. Neutrons are also useful in probing the positions of atoms in both liquids and solids, and they offer great sensitivity to magnetism. Research based on neutron scattering has already resulted in advances in the development of products such as compact discs, shatterproof windshield glass, bullet-proof vests, and medical isotopes that used in diagnosing cancers. Other materials studied in this fashion have gone into high-temperature superconductors, powerful lightweight magnets, aluminum bridge decks and stronger, lighter plastic products. The beam produced at the facility is expected to be 10 times the intensity of the present top-of-the-line spallation source, located near Oxford, England. Circle 400 - Georgia Institute of Technology, or connect directly to their website at http://www.1rs.com/012df-400

This year witnessed another "round-the-world" record being made -- a team from Volkswagen AG, Germany, drove a production model Lupo 3L TDI 33,333 kilometers (the equivalent of driving around the world) in a Jules Verne-ian 80 days on less than 1,000 litres of fuel. In actual, non-metric terms, the car averaged 97.1 miles per gallon at an average speed of 55 mph. Starting in Berlin on May 16 with a caravan that included several VW Eurovans for support and a second Lupo 3L TDI photo car, the team drove to Paris to begin a five continent zig-zag course that was taken in eight stages. The engine of this Lupo model is a 1.2 liter, three-cylinder turbo diesel with a direct fuel injection system that has an individual pump-injector unit at each cylinder. This is the only diesel car in Europe that presently meets exhaust emission limits of the strict D4 standard. The car's Tiptronic automatic transmission has an Economy mode that switches off the engine when the car is at standstill with the brakes applied. Lightweight materials keep the total mass of the car under 1900 lbs, despite standard items such as airbags for the driver and front passenger, an anti-lock braking system and an electronic brake pressure distributor. The low friction tires on the car have silica mixed in the rubber compound to cut rolling resistance. Circle 401 - Volkswagen Lupo, or connect directly to their website at http://www.1rs.com/012df-401