Horizon highlights – Motown edition
Our regular roundup of sci-tech stories from across the Web includes: A Chinese carmaker makes claims that are almost too good to be true, a preview of Windows 7, and someone asks if Google's carbon footprint is actually the problem. Let’s kick it off:
Skeptical excitement: BYD E6, the 250 miles-per-charge electric car
"BYD Auto debuted their E6 full-electric crossover, reportedly capable of a 250-mile trip on just one full charge, putting it ahead of any electric car for sale or announced. We'll probably never see it." [via Jalopnik]
Looking ahead: Do car cameras spell the end of rearview mirrors?
"On the Chevy Spark, a concept car designed in South Korea, outside rearview mirrors have been replaced by attachments that look like slender flashlights pointing backward." [via NPR]
Shock: GM to build its own batteries
"Just as the company makes engines, it will now make battery packs for electric cars." [via Technology Review]
Future war: Israel-Palestine conflict spills into cyberspace
"The conflict between Palestine and Israel is not limited to the real world. A group of programmers working under the name 'Help Israel Win' has developed a piece of software that lets people devote part of their computer's processing power to attacking pro-Hamas websites." [via The Guardian]
Review: Windows 7 is 'Vista that works'
"The full release of the new operating system isn't planned until 2010. But the software giant seems to be hoping that the preview release will allay the concerns of Windows users who were unwilling to switch from Windows XP to its troubled successor, Vista." [via Technology Review]
Clean fight: Googling is not the (environmental) problem
"A recent report by a Harvard physicist estimates that a Google search generates about seven grams of carbon dioxide based on the electricity required to keep the company's servers running. The headlines about the study quickly proliferated around the globe, with Britain's Inquirer chiding, 'Googling pollutes the planet.' Well, sure, but so does just about every other human activity. And it is in that context that Googling and internet usage must be judged." [via Wired Science]
