Automotive Cars | Popular Science

Now that the price of oil is unreasonably high, people are starting to really look into alternative fuels, myself included. Alternative methods of electricity generation such as wind, solar, tidal and wave energy are all well and good and can do a great job generating electricity for fixed resources. But what about a good mobile source of power? Something that would be able to replace gasoline or diesel fuel in cars and trucks? What kind of fuel would be good for that? Bio Diesel, ethanol, natural gas, propane or other organic fuels? All of these have to be burned to release their energy, plus they all have various toxic emissions of their own. Now, with all the concern over global warming and pollution issues they just don’t stack up. Not to mention we don’t have enough fertile land to keep up with growing demand for food, let alone adding a fuel source to the already strained farming industry. So what is the answer? Well I don’t claim electricity is the end all be all, however it is a solution and a rather decent one at that.

Lets look at the basic operation of an electric car. It has an electric drive, a controller and batteries (these are the macro component groups). Electric motors are very simple devices consisting of a drive shaft, electro magnets and the housing (again over simplified, but it makes the point). Compare that to an IC (internal combustion) engine which has so many parts that it wouldn’t make sense to list them all here. What am I getting at? Well, if you have heard of the KISS (keep it simple, stupid) principle, this falls right in line. What does that mean for the user? Frankly, less maintenance and less chance of issues. Now don’t get me wrong a car is still a car and there are many other working parts that can break down, but in the end, simpler is better.

Now what kind of emissions does an electric car have? Locally, none. What the heck do you mean locally none? Well, when an electric car is using the stored energy from its batteries, there is nothing in terms of emissions generated. The motor is using the stored energy to make it turn. However that electricity has to be generated somehow and our current generation technologies have emissions, IE coal fired plants, nuclear plants and nat gas peaking plants. So in an ideal world we would use renewable energy such as wind and solar to charge our electric cars and there were be no emissions whatsoever.

What other benefits would we achieve from Electric Car Conversions? well, cars would be virtually silent when stopped, and the only sound when in motion would be tire noise, wind noise and miscellaneous others like brake and steering noises. Wouldn’t that be nice? Sitting there in traffic (well the annoying part of sitting in traffic aside…) and not having to listen to other cars rumbling next to you? I think that would be a great benefit! Cutting down tremendously on noise pollution.

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Mattel isn’t just about Barbie dolls anymore. The world’s largest toy company is also churning out, well, garbage trucks. Toy trucks with a spunky sense of humor and lots of attitude, that is.

Matchbox Stinky the Garbage Truck is the vehicle of the year.

If there’s one toy you should be considering buying this Christmas season, Matchbox Stinky should be on your list. It’s entertaining, highly-interactive, and has over 90 phrases and sounds up his sleeve.

Who would have known that garbage trucks harbored an innate sense of fun too?

Think of a regular garbage vehicle, all rough and gritty exterior, stinky too, no-nonsense, and boring, and then turn it into one audacious talking and dancing truck that throws hilarious jokes right and left and you got yourself a highly-comedic robotic toy. It’s like Oscar the Grouch reincarnated as a vehicle. Underneath all that hard exterior is a charming, mushy center that will tickle your funny bones.

Matchbox Stinky the Garbage Truck isn’t just for the pre-school set kids though. Granted the target audience is kids three and up, but even adults will appreciate its brand of humor and wacky antics. Never a dull moment indeed. Stinky’s various touch sensor points sends him instantly standing up, driving around, dancing and even exercising in delight, all the while muttering, singing, or cracking a joke. Actually, the rule of thumb is always play with Stinky, or he’ll sleep.

Of course, being a garbage vehicle, Matchbox Stinky likes to eat. Not garbage though, but cars. Just pop a car into his gaping mouth and he’ll devour it with gusto. But he’ll regurgitate it back though, and you can just take that tiny morsel of a car out again through the back hutch. (Yes, it even has a belly sensor.)

Needless to say, Matchbox Stinky the Garbage Truck is perpetually hungry, and always needs his fix, or you’ll definitely see him in a tantrum and hear him complain. (Don’t worry, he’ll let you know when his appetite needs something.) Actually, Stinky is his name, and gobbling garbage is his game, so that should give you a clue.

With Matchbox Stinky, there’s no reason anymore for garbage trucks (and other vehicles for that matter) to be boring. For a supposed garbage truck, Stinky has that lovable personality full of surprises.

Your kid will surely have fun with this quirky truck slash buddy brought to life. You might be saying, so what?, it’s just an over-priced dancing fast-talking robotic truck. How do I know if it’s worth it? Well, Stinky the Truck happens to be a really cool toy to play with. It lets your child learn how to be “in tune” with a friend, even a robotic toy one.

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