Day: May 27, 2020

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Ford disinfects police cruisers by ‘roasting’ them

https://www.engadget.com/ford-police-vehicles-heat-disinfect-coronavirus-164033329.html

To help keep police safe from the coronavirus, Ford is introducing a new way to disinfect police cruisers. The company has developed software that cranks the heat in its Police Interceptor Utility vehicles until the temperature inside reaches 133 degrees Fahrenheit (56 degrees Celsius) for 15 minutes. Ford believes this can reduce the viral concentration by over 99 percent on interior surfaces and materials.

The software warms the engine up to an elevated level and turns the heat and fan settings to high. It monitors the interior temperature to make sure the entire passenger compartment reaches the optimal level and that the temperature is maintained for 15 minutes. Hazard and tail lights flash in a pre-set pattern while the process is taking place and then flash in another pattern when it’s complete. A cool-down process is used to bring the temperature back to a more normal level.

Ford worked with The Ohio State University to determine the temperature range and time needed to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The company points out that heat has the ability to seep into crevices and hard-to-reach areas that humans and chemical disinfectants may not be able to reach. Though, the process is meant to supplement other cleaning and safety measures, not replace them.

While we’ve seen a few other novel ways to disinfect everything from subways to hospital rooms, what makes Ford’s approach that much more impressive is that it’s available now. Because this is a software solution, Ford is able to roll it out to vehicles immediately. It’s available for all 2013-19 Police Interceptor Utility vehicles in the US, Canada and beyond. Ford has already tested the system with law enforcement in New York City, Los Angeles, Michigan, Massachusetts, Ohio and Florida.

“Officers can now use this self-cleaning mode as an extra layer of protection inside the vehicle in areas where manual cleaning is prone to be overlooked,” said Stephen Tyler, Ford police brand marketing manager. “This virus is an invisible enemy and we are proud to provide a solution to help the law enforcement community fight it.”

via Engadget http://www.engadget.com

May 27, 2020 at 11:48AM

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Virgin Orbit’s rocket has failed on its first attempt to get into space

https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/05/26/1002230/virgin-orbits-rocket-has-failed-on-its-first-attempt-to-get-into-space/

The news: Virgin Orbit failed in the first test of its LauncherOne rocket yesterday, after seven years of development and testing. The rocket was transported by a Boeing 747 and released over the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California. It was supposed to fall for a few seconds, ignite, and then propel itself into low Earth orbit. Instead, it ignited and fell into the sea. The flight had been intended to gather data rather than to actually launch a satellite into space. The crew on board the plane, and a second safety plane, safely returned to the Mojave Air & Space Port.  

What happened? On Twitter, the company blamed the crash on “an anomaly” in the first stage flight, promising that “we’ll learn more as our engineers analyze the mountain of data we collected today.” Before the test flight Virgin Orbit’s vice president for special projects, Will Pomerantz, said that there was only a 50-50 chance of success. “History is not terribly kind, necessarily, to maiden flights,” he said. The rocket had previously been dropped from the plane (as in the picture above from July 2019), but this was the first time it was ignited.

What’s next: As Pomerantz said, it is not unusual for maiden flights to fail. It’s not immediately obvious what effect the setback will have on Virgin Orbit. The company has said it is analyzing what went wrong and is “eager” to get onto its next test flight as soon as possible, with rockets in reserve. Pomerantz was upbeat about the company’s chances, saying that the fact the engine had ignited as expected meant it had successfully overcome the “single biggest technical risk.”

via Technology Review Feed – Tech Review Top Stories https://ift.tt/1XdUwhl

May 26, 2020 at 06:28AM