How does plug in hybrid work

Editor's Note: In this weekly series, LiveScience looks at scientific aspects of the summer season.As August heats up around the country, for many, summer's swelter will mercifully be kept in check by air conditioning. The technology has had a profoundly comforting impact on modern life, and about 87 percent of American homes these days have some form of air conditioning, according to the Energy Information Administration. So how does a typical air conditioning unit work and keep you sane during the heat of summer? The basic concept is that a chemical called a refrigerant loops from inside the home to outside and back again, absorbing and casting out heat in the process. The refrigerant cools and then re-enters the home, starting the cycle anew, explained Glenn Hourahan, senior vice president at the Air Conditioning Contractors of America.Hourahan said that the two refrigerants commonly used in residential air conditioners are R-22 and the newer R-410A, both of which are … [Read more...] about Science of Summer: How Does Air Conditioning Work?

How about a smartphone app that can remotely feed your parking meter? Or free Wi-Fi throughout San Francisco thanks to new hot spots installed in old telephone booths? Or large displays on all Muni shelters showing the locations of buses, cabs, trains and ferries in real time. Those high-tech ideas are depicted in a video that a tech-advocacy organization is releasing Tuesday to show the promise of how tech can make San Francisco a "smarter city." The video also promotes, not coincidentally, passage of San Francisco's Proposition E, which would switch the city's business payroll tax system to a gross receipts tax system billed as more friendly to startups and small businesses. But noted Silicon Valley angel investor Ron Conway, chairman of the San Francisco Citizens Initiative for Technology and Innovation, or SF.Citi, said the video is not a campaign ad even though it comes from Portal A, the same production company that created Mayor Ed Lee's virally successful "Too Legit to Quit" … [Read more...] about SF.Citi video plugs in tech, Prop. E

Advertisement Being able to commute back and forth to work while sleeping, eating, playing Trivia Crack or catching up on your favorite blogs in Feedly is a concept that is equally appealing and seemingly far-off and too futuristic to actually happen.When Google announced their autonomous car project in 2008, visions of Minority Report began to swirl in our heads while we wondered about the possibilities of a car that really had no need for us to do anything other than turn it on. This same car wouldn’t have to worry about accidents, distraction, or driving under the influence while it made thousands – or even millions – of split-second calculations in order to keep your safe.You see, as it turns out, humans are remarkably bad at driving. According to Joshua Schank, of the Eno Center for Transportation:“People are not great at driving — 30,000 people die in car accidents each year (in the United States). Machines can be much better than humans … [Read more...] about How Self-Driving Cars Work: The Nuts and Bolts Behind Google’s Autonomous Car Program

Several Olympic athletes, including swimmer Michael Phelps, have appeared in Rio with odd-looking circular marks on their bodies. These marks are the result of "cupping therapy," a traditional Chinese medicinal practice for muscle healing. But does it really work?Although many athletes say they've experienced benefits from the therapy, there are few rigorous scientific studies on the topic, and it's unclear if the treatments' perceived benefits could be due to the placebo effect, experts said."I don't think the science of whether it works is really solved," said Dr. Brent Bauer, director of the Mayo Clinic Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program. In addition, the treatment should not be thought of as a "magic cure" for people's aliments, he said. But because the treatment is relatively safe and there is some evidence that it could be helpful for some people, the therapy can be used as a part of a comprehensive treatment program involving other exercises, nutritional choices and … [Read more...] about Michael Phelps’ Weird Bruises: Does Cupping Therapy Really Work?

WWDC 2019: Finally, Apple frees the iPad and Watch from iPhone's shadow Can the iPad now become a serious business tool? Are the iPad and Mac platforms headed toward unification? Will developers take the time to get it right? TechRepublic's Karen Roby gets some answers from Jason Perlow and Jason Cipriani. Read more: https://zd.net/2Wlin3A WWDC 2019 Why these announcements matter iPadOS: Improved Safari, multitasking, new homescreen New Mac Pro, monster workstation iOS 13 gets new privacy features WatchOS 6 updates Everything Apple just announced (CNET) What businesses need to know (TechRepublic) At June's Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple unveiled some significant changes to its iPad operating system, even christening the revamped version with a new name all its own: iPadOS. The changes bring Apple's flagship tablet, especially the iPad Pro models, closer to the "hybrid PC" category that Microsoft has staked out with its Surface Pro line. From a hardware … [Read more...] about iPad Pro vs Surface Pro 6: Can a tablet-laptop hybrid really replace your PC?

Advertisement Whether you’re listening to music or making calls, you rely on your iPhone’s speakers a lot. But what can you do if you think your iPhone speakers are not working? How can you fix your iPhone speakers? And how can you make sure they’re clean and not affected by water?Under some circumstances, you’ll need to visit Apple. But before you do that, we have a few tips to fix your iPhone’s speakers.How to Check If Your Speakers Are WorkingHow can you tell whether the problem is your speakers (i.e. more likely to be a hardware issue) or with volume? Before we run through some fundamentals, try to narrow down where the problem is. Plug in your headphones. If you can hear music through them but not when you unplug them, there’s likely something wrong with your speakers.Go to Settings > Sounds and make sure Change with Buttons is on. This means you can use the buttons on the left side of your iPhone Can't Raise iPhone Ringer Volume? … [Read more...] about iPhone Speaker Not Working? Here’s How to Fix It