An unconventional car: No engine, no transmission, no differential http://phys.org/news/2013-11-unconventional-car-transmission-differential.ht... "Without {onboard computer motion control}, the car is quite difficult to drive because the wheels are not coordinated," says the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded researcher, who also directs the university's vehicle systems and control laboratory. "You feel like you are driving something uncontrollable. You could flip over, or travel along an undesired path, or cause a crash. But when the 'controller' is active, based on feedback loops, the vehicle motion can be controlled, just as the driver expects." Powerline: The First Battle of America's Energy War by Paul Wellstone // murdered in plane crash http://www.powells.com/biblio/9780816643844 "The inspiring story of a grassroots rebellion. Powerline describes the opposition of rural Minnesotans to the building of a high voltage powerline across 430 miles of farmland from central North Dakota to the Twin Cities suburbs. Convinced that the safety of their families and the health of their land was disregarded in favor of the gluttonous energy consumption of cities, the farmer-led prairie revolt began as questioning and escalated to rampant civil disobedience, peaking in 1978 when nearly half of Minnesota's state highway patrol was engaged in stopping sabotage of the project. After construction was completed, the powerline proved difficult to defend and unprecedented guerrilla warfare brought many towers to the ground (due to "bolt weevils"). Through pulse-quickening personal interviews and big-picture analysis, Powerline lays bare the latent and unexpected power of the people of rural America--and resonates strongly with today's energy debates." {educational fair-use of copyright, 2013} ༜ Я ץ