Honda unveils fuel cell sports car of the future

Honda today revealed the Honda FC Sport design study model, a hydrogen-powered, three-seat sports car concept, at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show.

The FC Sport emphasizes the design flexibility and potential of Honda’s V Flow fuel cell technology - already deployed in the Honda FCX Clarity sedan - and reconfigures it into a lightweight sports car design with an ultra-low center of gravity, powerful electric motor performance and zero-emissions. The design study concept is inspired by supercar levels of performance through low weight and a high-performance, electrically driven fuel cell powertrain.

“The Honda FC Sport explores how to satisfy automotive performance enthusiasts in a world beyond petroleum,” said Dan Bonawitz, vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. “People who love sports cars will still have a reason to love in a hydrogen-powered future.”

The high-output Honda fuel cell powertrain and a sleek, aerodynamic body contribute to the vehicle’s performance potential. A modular approach to fuel cell component packaging and the electric drivetrain contribute to the FC Sport’s low center of gravity with the majority of vehicle mass distributed between the axles, creating the balanced weight distribution sought after in sports cars.

The ideal placement of the Honda V-Flow fuel cell stack and related components demonstrates the benefits of a platform-specific, hydrogen-powered fuel cell powertrain. The FC Sport is configured to accommodate a custom-formed high-power fuel cell stack, located between the rear seats, and a battery pack placed low in the middle of the vehicle. The electric motor resides just forward of the rear axle. Two fuel storage tanks, visible from above, are located above the rear axle.

The optimal placement of fuel cell components for performance also allows for a relatively large passenger cabin by conventional supercar standards with enough space for three seating positions. The interior layout focuses primarily on the driver with a racecar-like center driving position. The enclosed canopy opens upward from the rear to allow for entry and exit. Two rear passenger seats flank the driver’s left and right side.

The sleek, low-profile body is designed to convey a high-technology appearance with sculpting that combines angular shapes in the front of the vehicle that taper into geometric, hex forms in the rear. The rear hex forms house cooling radiators for the fuel cell. Formula 1-style barge boards behind the front wheels enhance high speed aerodynamics and convey the vehicle’s racing pedigree. The hydrogen storage tanks, visible from the rear deck, showcase the FC Sport’s fuel cell technology in much the same way that a “naked bike” motorcycle showcases its engineering technology.

The glacier white body color conveys the FC Sport’s clean environmental aspirations while the dark wheels and deeply tinted glass provide a symbolic contrast befitting of the vehicle’s unique combination of clean power and high performance. Green construction techniques further contribute to a reduced carbon footprint. An organic, bio-structure theme is carried through to the body construction where exterior panels are intended to use plant-derived bio-plastics.

The Advanced Design Studio of Honda R&D Americas, in Pasadena, California, developed the FC Sport design study with the primary objective of using existing fuel cell technology as the basis for an ultimate Honda sports car. Designer Jason Wilbur led the design efforts.

Dean can’t stop running

Let’s say you’ve run 300 miles non-stop, you’ve run 1310 miles in 50 days (make that 50 marathons, in 50 different states), and logged over 5000 race miles in a single year.  What do you do next?  How about becoming the first human to run across all five major deserts in the world in a single calendar year.  Does that sound crazy?  It sounds like Dean Karnazes.

In between desert runs - he just ran across the Sahara Desert and leaves for the last desert run in Antarctica in two weeks - Dean is out and about promoting his new book 50/50: Secrets I learned Running 50 Marathons in 50 Days along with his continued commitment to improving youth health through his Karno Kids organization.

At the end of the day Dean is all about Inspiration.  He is inspired to test the limits of human endurance, inspired to live a life of activity, inspired to help improve the health of kids,  as well as to inspire everyone to achieve goals greater than they thought possible.  “It’s a two-way street.  I also draw inspiration from the many people I meet along the way,” says Karnazes.

Dean described his goal of running 50 marathons in 50 days, in 50 states as his ultimate family vacation.  The original inspiration was a family traveling by camper, seeing the country, and testing his ability to chain together daily endurance runs.  “I remember hearing about a George Thorogood tour where they played 50 concerts in 50 days in 50 states and thought, ‘wouldn’t that be fun to do with running.’”

But when The North Face jumped in to sponsor the effort along with hiring a world class logistics company the idea was hatched to make this a much larger event where people could join Dean for runs.  The formalized logistics team and sponsors worked with race directors in every state to make sure they were covering official marathon courses with official start and stop times.  The marathon tour also took advantage of premier events that are held on weekends such as the marathons in Boston, San Francisco, and New York.

“I really enjoyed running with people every day.  I am normally an introvert and enjoy the solitude of running but I found during the course of the 50 marathon journey that I really looked forward to meeting with a new group of people the next day.” said Karnazes.  “I ran with one woman who was 53 years old and was completing her 50th marathon on the day she ran with me.  By the way, she never ran a marathon before she turned 50 and she had survived a battle with breast cancer.  Talk about inspirational.”

How does one train to get ready to tackle 50 consecutive marathons?  “I worked with Chris Carmichael who trained Lance Armstrong for the Tour de France races and ran eight 100 mile or greater races leading up to the 50:50 effort.   The thinking was that if I could run and recover from races over 100 miles then 26.2 miles wouldn’t feel so bad every day.”

In response to why he did it and why he wrote the book Dean had a pretty simple response.  “One, for the challenge.  But also to get peoples attention that you can do great things.  My hope for the book is really that when the reader turns the last page of the book that they are inspired to go out and do something.”

When asked about his favorite local run - Dean lives in Marin County - he lit up in describing the course.  “I like to tuck the kids in bed on Friday night and then head out north of San Francisco, through Nicasio and Napa Valley to Calistoga.  It is a 75 mile route and when the kids wake up in the morning the family drives up to Calistoga and meets me for breakfast.”

That is a story that might make you feel a little guilty for sleeping in on Saturdays.  Run, Dean.  Run.

2 Million Minutes - compelling education reality

Regardless of nationality, as soon as a student completes the 8th grade, the clock starts ticking.  From that very moment the child has approximately -

…Two Million Minutes until high school graduation…Two Million Minutes to build their intellectual foundation…Two Million Minutes to prepare for college and ultimately career…Two Million Minutes to go from a teenager to an adult.

How a student spends their Two Million Minutes - in class, at home studying, playing sports, working, sleeping, socializing or just goofing off — will affect their economic prospects for the rest of their lives.

A fight for life - the Internet in action

This story/post is new ground for Champoli but I believe it falls in the category of positive media.  If we can help save a life through this website then I would think it falls within our mission statement.  Please tell me otherwise through the feedback link at the bottom of the page.

TechCrunch highlighted a breaking story this afternoon - RocketBoom Founder Fighting For Father’s Life.

RocketBoom founder Andrew Baron’s father, Frederick Baron, is dying of multiple myeloma, a particularly nasty form of cancer. Last week doctors gave him days to live - as of this morning he’s still fighting.

According to a blog post by Andrew, the family was preparing for the worst. And then a possible miracle cure: one of Frederick’s doctors discovered last week that a multiple sclerosis drug called Tysabri, produced by Biogen Idec, may cure the cancer.

The drug was not FDA approved for treating multiple myeloma, but Baron’s father has friends in the right places - Lance Armstrong, President Bill Clinton, Senator John Kerry, Senator Tom Harkin and Senator Ted Kennedy all personally requested that the FDA approve the use. FDA head Andrew von Eschenbach ok’d it, and the drug was moved to Baron’s hospital.

But then things get crazy. The CEO of Biogen Idec, James Mullen, has apparently refused to approve the experimental use of the drug for Baron, despite personal telephone calls from all of the individuals above.

Andrew Baron is aggressively pursing Biogen to get permission and a release of the drug and is clearly fighting the clock.  This is a story of a possible cure and the potential use of media and the Internet for good in rallying support for a dying man.

To find out more read an Open Letter to James C. Mullen, CEO of Biogen from Andrew Baron.

Individuals can help by doing the following:

1. Call Mr. Mullen or anyone at Biogen and ask them to please say yes (or provide a justification for whynot). Speak with anyone in the company in any department that you can find: http://www.biogenidec.com/site/contact.html

2. Contact an elected official and plea with them to call Biogen to seek approval:

http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

I look forward to a succesful outcome to this story.

Out of the Blue — $500,000 — No Strings

Snyder and Bulger to host army hero

Two small paragraphs at the end of a long NFL article today provide an exclamation point on the power of positive media.  On October 12 a returning, two-tour soldier will be hosted by Washington Redskin owner Dan Snyder and St. Louis Rams quarterback Marc Bulger when their teams meet at FedEx field.

Aren’t soldiers returning to hometown parades in many parts of the country?  Why is this story any different?  If you are a Peter King reader then you already know, but if you are not then enjoy this story.

This is a 3 year story in the making.  In what was one of the best and most inspiring articles I read in 2005 Peter King of SI.com detailed a chance encounter he had with Army Sergeant Mike McGuire at a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game.  Please, read this story.

Over the past 3 years King has maintained an ongoing correspondence with McGuire which he shares with his readers as part of his weekly Monday Morning Quarterback article.  During this time period King has shared the fears, successes, tragedies, and gut wrenching decisions that a husband and platoon leader faces during his tours of duty.

Now Mike McGuire is returning home.  He is a huge NFL fan and his favorite team is his hometown St. Louis Rams.  The broader visibility that was provided through the Sports Illustrated website has yielded a heroes welcome that should be more standard than the exception.

Enjoy this excerpt from SI.com, Monday Morning Quaterback and Good Guys of the Week

I doubt many in our military deserve leave more than Army First Sgt. Mike McGuire, who is deep into his second long tour in Iraq, overseeing a platoon of men hunting Improvised Explosive Devices on the most dangerous roads in the country. I am so pleased he’ll be coming home to the States — to Missouri, his home, and then to a ceremony in western Pennsylvania honoring the memory of fallen comrade Allan Bevington, and then to Walter Reed Army Medical Center to visit a wounded man in his platoon, Nick Koulchar.

The Rams, Mike McGuire’s favorite team, aren’t home when McGuire will be in St. Louis, but [Washinton Redskin owner Dan] Snyder and [Rams Quarterback Marc] Bulger stepped up to take care of that. Snyder will host McGuire, wife Pam, and the brother of the wounded Koulchar at the Rams-Redskins game Oct. 12. And Bulger, whose foundation provides care and R&R for American troops, will host McGuire at Rams Park.

You think those things don’t mean a lot? McGuire, like so many of our soldiers, lives for the NFL, plans his week around it, talks endlessly about it out on patrol. And for the owner of the Redskins and the quarterback of his favorite team to take the time and effort to recognize him … it’s something McGuire will remember for the rest of his life.

Another side of Cindy McCain

ESPN recently aired a surprising interview with Cindy McCain where you learned of McCain’s passion for fast cars and how this passion helped her overcome her 2004 stroke.

In the interview you’ll see that over the past several years Cindy McCain has become a passionate drift car racer.

Drifting is a high-skill, high-powered motorsport that calls for drivers to control a 450hp car while it slides sideways through a marked course.  It is similar to rally racing, but is done on a closed course and judged on execution and style rather than who finishes the course in the fastest time.

US News and World Report also noted Cindy’s car passion in a small blog entry under their “Washington Wispers” section.   In this small post a wonderful illustration was supplied by Joe Ciardiello and is shown below.

Sara Palin apparently jogs 7-10 miles per day and Cindy has completed a half marathon.  Todd Palin is a champion snowmobile racer.  The McCain-Palin ticket is a team on the move.

Neighborhood clean-up picture wins Outstanding Photo

When people listen to the radio today it conjures up thoughts of music, shock jocks, and talk radio.  Imagine a radio show that inspires people to clean up their neighborhood.

PCI-Media Impact, a not-for-profit organization that produces social change television and radio programs around the world, was recently awarded Outstanding Photograph by InterAction for James Rodriguez’s snapshot of Guatemalan children participating in a clean-up of their neighborhood in San Pedro, Guatemala.

To address the unhealthy waste management practices in rural Mayan-Quiche speaking Guatemala, PCI-Media Impact partnered with local radio stations and local organization La Asociacion Juventud Kiche to produce the radio serial drama Jach b’al Re Loq’ b’al K’u'x (The Love Recycle). The drama featured two of PCI-Media Impact’s most recognizable character types: Chelly, an 18 year old woman who wants to improve the earning potential of her father’s farm, and Don Tavo, Chelly’s father who become ill after struggling to make the farm a success. The drama unfolds as the Tavo family attempts and fails in attempt after attempt to raise different crops. With no success, the family starts recycling inorganic materials and finally establishes a secure income for the family.

The program mobilized local youth, who listened to the program in school each day, to organize a clean up of their towns. The award-winning photograph captures one of those initiatives.

Source: CSR Wire, PCI-Media

Sportsmanship on full display at the Olympics

As many parents will tell you teaching good sportsmanship to young athletes faces many challenges in this SportsCenter driven culture.  The attention give to selfish, and immature athletes such as Many Ramirez, Barry Bonds, Ron Artest, and Chris Henry fall far short of showcasing role model behavior.

This is in stark contrast to the refreshing scenes coming from the Beijing Olympics where sportsmanship can be readily seen from both the winners and those suffering “the agony of defeat.”

Amid great applause, Dara Torres demonstrated tremendous class when she asked an official to hold up her heat when Therese Alshammar needed to change out suits after a rip happened right before the 50m semifinal event.  Torres was very quick to congratulate Britta Steffen of Germany when Torres fell just short of gold by one hundredth of a second in the 50m Freestyle.

Dana Torres is 41 and should be mature enough to show sportsmanship, you say.  Then look at Shawn Johnson (age 16) and Nastia Liukin (age 18) openly cheering for each other when a strong performance from one would knock the other from gold medal status.

“I am really happy for her,” Liukin said of Johnson.

They are teammates you might argue and should cheer each other on.   Then also take note of Cheng Fei of China, along with the Chinese coaches, warmly congratulating Johnson and Liukin after their strong performances on the balance beam.

In track and field, Lolo Jones was in anguish after seeing her gold medal run evaporate when she clipped the second to last hurdle and finished seventh.  As she was explaining her mishap she stopped the interview to hug and congratulate silver medalist Sally Mclellan of Australia.

“Good job, sweetie,” was Jones’ message to Mclellan.

What other great examples of sportsmanship have you seen at this year’s Olympics?  Please tell us by commenting below or submit a story of your own.

25th Anniversary Run helps California schools

Primo’s Run for Education is a 25-year-old San Ramon Valley tradition bringing together athletes, educators, local business and our community of parents and children for a fun, healthful event.  Primo’s Run features a 5K Race & Fun Run/Walk and a 1/2 Marathon run with over 4,700 participants and 400 volunteers.  This year’s event is Sunday, October 19, 2008. The race course covers Danville and parts of San Ramon, with both races ending at Iron Horse Middle School in San Ramon. After the race, a fun fair is held and prizes awarded.

During its 25 year history, the Primo’s Run has raised over $2.4 million for the San Ramon Valley Unified School District. It is the primary fundraising activity for the San Ramon Valley Education Foundation (SRVEF), which is committed to fostering innovative and creative teaching approaches that will challenge and motivate students to learn. In 2008 alone, the San Ramon Valley Education Foundation distributed over $120,000 in teacher grants in the areas of math, science, arts, literature, and history.

Primo’s Run for Education is a great way for individuals and the business community to support education.  In addition to registering for the race, you can bid on items at the online auction or visit Primo’s Pizza in Danville for Spirit Week.  The business community can participate as a Primo’s Run sponsor or make a donation to the online auction.  Join local businesses such as Shapell Homes, Forward Motion Sports, Primo’s Pizza, Comcast, Danville Weekly and others as a sponsor of Primo’s Run for Education.

All information about the race, auction, Spirit Week, and sponsorship can be obtained by visiting vww.primosrun.com or calling (925) 820-9181.

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