venn diagrams

Car design is of course one of the creative activities we're most exposed to, as all our streets are clogged with the things, so I do tend to have strong opinions on what I am confronted with, even though I'm not going to buy a car any time soon. One of the designs I really like is the outline of the backside of the original Ford Ka, which is like a Venn diagram with the lights defined by the overlap between two sets (best appreciated from straight behind, as the kink will disappear).

I was reluctant to put this on here, as I didn't want to do advertising for cars, but I noticed recently that the new version of the model has switched to a completely different (more Japanese-looking) design, so assuming that this one isn't being built any more, I can praise it without fear of boosting car sales (happy to support the vintage car trade, though).



and of course it looks even better with the reflection of the OU Museum of Natural History ...

methanol fuel

Methanol is known as the stuff that makes you blind when you drink it (instead of its next door neighbour ethanol, which is less toxic), but it is little known that it is quite useful as a fuel for cars. Some motor racing competitions, such as the Champ Car circuit in the US have used methanol for decades (mainly for safety reasons, as it doesn't produce black fumes when it burns in an accident, and doesn't explode quite as easily as petrol).

Industry makes methanol from CO and H2 on the tonnes scale, but it would be really useful if methane, which sometimes turns up as an unwanted byproduct (of oil production, landfill sites, cow's digestion!) that is just released or flared off, could be converted into methanol. So far, this reaction required a multi-step process with high temperatures and pressures, but researchers in Japan have now proposed a simpler way using fuel cells. Read my story here.

Oh, and way back in the 70s, my dad used to have a methanol-fuelled VW Golf as a company car -- his company used to make 800 tonnes of the stuff per day, he tells me.

ghost bikes

a couple of months ago, a student cycling right in the heart of Oxford, outside the Bodleian Library, was killed in a collision with a garbage truck. A couple of days later a bicycle spraypainted entirely in white turned up by the roadside, chained to a post. While I immediately made the connection with the accident, I didn't quite figure out who put it there and why -- whether it was some kind of religious tradition to paint an object relating to the death and use it as a memorial.

Now I've come across a mention of the group visual resistance which has been putting up such ghost bikes in New York for a couple of years:

"Beginning in June 2005, members of Visual Resistance have been creating small and somber memorials for New York City bicyclists killed by automobiles. Each time a biker is killed, a bicycle painted all white is locked to a street sign and a small stenciled plaque is bolted in place above it.

The installations are meant as reminders of the tragedy that took place on an otherwise anonymous street corner, and as quiet statements in support of bikers’ right to safe travel. It was inspired by Ghost Bike Pittsburgh, which was in turn inspired by a similar effort in St. Louis. In recent months, Ghost Bikes have appeared in cities across the country, as well as in the UK."

The Oxford ghost bike doesn't have a plaque, though. At least I haven't found any.