The drivers have suited up and climbed into their cars. Engines roar. All eyes are on the checkered flag. The flag drops. The drivers roar off—challenging themselves, their teams, and other drivers to perform to the best of their ability. Math is used by the drivers, by their pit crews, and by race car designers before, during, and after a...

Put a hacker in a room with a Furby for a weekend and you'll hear a conversation that's fairly one-sided in its originality. Toss in an 802.11b network card, a soldering iron, wire cutters, a logic probe, and a few other carefully selected tools and materials and you'll have potential. Add a copy of Hardware Hacking Projects for...

Automatic feedback control systems play crucial roles in many fields, including manufacturing industries, communications, naval and space systems. At its simplest, a control system represents a feedback loop in which the difference between the ideal (input) and actual (output) signals is used to modify the behaviour of the system. Control...

How much do you really know about the systems that keep a city alive? The Works: Anatomy of a City contains everything you ever wanted to know about what makes New York City run. When you flick on your light switch the light goes on--how? When you put out your garbage, where does it go? When you flush your toilet, what happens to the...

There are continuous efforts focussed on improving road traffic safety worldwide. Numerous vehicle safety features such as driver assistance systems have been invented. Many driver assistance features rely on radar-based sensors, but are highly-priced. Realization of low-cost radar front-end circuits would enable their implementation in less...

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Wouldn't it be great if there were a physics book that showed you how things work instead of telling you how? Finally, with Head First Physics, there is. This comprehensive book takes the stress out of learning mechanics and practical physics by providing a fun and engaging experience, especially for students who "just...

Geologist Jan Zalasiewicz takes the reader on a fascinating trip one hundred million years into the future--long after the human race becomes extinct--to explore what will remain of our brief but dramatic sojourn on Earth. He describes how geologists in the far future might piece together the history of the planet, and slowly decipher the...

Energize your next unit on electricity with hands-on activities to explain the fascinating phenomenon of electromagnetism. Students are introduced to the factors that determine the strength of electrical coils, and they use readily available materials to build a simple motor and a generator. Topics covered include circuit breakers, mag-lev...

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is gaining in popularity, especially as we find ourselves in this communications age and headed towards a ubiquitous computing world. Automatic identification systems become an important aspect not just in today’s technology but also as part of our daily life. We need RFID in our cars,...

In the late 1960s racer and businessman Gordon Spice familiarized himself with the Nürburgring using a rented BMW 2002. He went through a couple of sets of tires and three sets of brake pads during the exercise and covered the cost of such consumables by charging folks to ride with him! The rental company was somewhat puzzled by the fact...