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Gas prices are on the rise again! Here are some tips to help you conserve gas and save money as we approach summer gas prices. 1. Keep your car tuned up. Cars in poor running condition use more gasoline. 2. Plan trips well to avoid unnecessary driving. 3. When you run your air conditioner you get much worse gas mileage. Use your air conditioner sparingly. If you have a lower setting, use it. Turn it on until the car gets cool, then turn it off and let the fan circulate the cool air. Never run your air conditioner with your windows open! 4. Keep your windows closed when traveling at high speeds. Open windows cause additional drag and lower your gas mileage. At high speeds, an open window can use more gas than many air conditioners (especially if they are on a low setting). 5. Check your tire pressure. Over-inflated tires can actually reduce your fuel efficiency, so don’t overfill. 6. If at all possible, change your work start time to avoid gridlock. Stop and go traffic hurts your gas mileage. 7. Take unneeded items out of the car. You don’t need to carry snow chains around with you in the summertime. Just make sure to put them back in when winter comes around. 8. Try not to idle your engine for long periods of time. If you are...

What if I told you that you can gain 5 horsepower this weekend, for less than $100? Or, what if I told you that you could gain 5 horsepower this weekend, for less than $20? I bet you’d be interested eh? Well, the good news is, I’m going to tell you how to gain 5 horsepower this weekend for $0-15 spent. Sound too good to be true? Well, read on! 1) Increase the H2O ratio in your coolant – if it weren’t for corrosion and freezing concerns, automotive makers would use pure water. Water cools much better than coolant any day of the week, and a cooler engine is a better performer. Instead of half and half, try 40/60. DO NOT use pure water, As this may cause premature corrosion and that can be no fun at all to clean up. You may also try water wetter to further enhance this effect. 2) Index your spark plugs – this is an age old trick that is good for about 1 extra pony. The idea here is to “aim” the open end of the spark plug terminal (the gap) towards the intake side of the head. In order to accomplish this, simply mark on the plug a small line to indicate where this gap is, and install the plug as normal. Try to line up the line with the intake...

Research project drives anger to the curb (NC)—Has the driver in front of you ever slammed on the breaks for no apparent reason? Why do slowpokes always land in the fast lane? Is signaling to change lanes a thing of the past? It is easy to predict what can make people angry behind the wheel. The real value is in figuring out what calms people back down. “Understanding the anger cycle is going to benefit those who plan public road safety campaigns and driver education programs,” says Wolfgang Linden, a professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia. His research, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), looks at what makes people angry, how they respond to it and how they recover from it. Provoking anger in the real world in order to study it is dangerous and unethical, so Linden and his research team turn to virtual-reality driving simulators—the same as those used for head-injury patients who prepare to return to open-road driving. The simulated environment is not only safe, but also cost-effective and environmentally friendly. “People react to stressful situations in different ways,” Linden continues. “By provoking people in a controlled environment, we can watch how they react in response. Then we can start to make the links between anger, stress and disease.” You’ll find more information about projects supported by SSRHC on...