Word: caltech
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...idea for the race came from Caltech Physics Graduate Wally Rippel, 23, whose experiences with Los Angeles' eye-smarting smog had inspired him to create a fumeless electric car two years ago. When he heard that students at M.I.T. were developing a similar electric model-as are several auto companies, including Ford, General Motors and American Motors-he challenged them to a transcontinental race. The aim of the operation: to stimulate interest in non-air-pollutant electrics...
Popping Fuses. The ground rules called for the two cars, heading in opposite directions, to follow the same route, which would have a total of 53 stations where their batteries could be recharged. The floor of Caltech's minibus was covered with 20 lead-cobalt batteries, on top of which were pads where off-duty drivers slept. M.I.T.'s team borrowed a set of $20,000 nickel-cadmium batteries. Characteristically, the engineers used linear equations to work out a handicap system...
Neither team had easy going. On the second day out, as Caltech's Rippel approached Seligman, Ariz., he downshifted at 40 m.p.h. and heard a sickening crunch. Twenty-three hours passed before a new engine could be flown in from Michigan by sponsoring Electric Fuel Propulsion Inc. At Amarillo, Texas, an electronic nightmare of popping fuses and exploding diodes cost another four hours plus some added penalties for replacements...
Shortly after he was appointed president of Rice University in Houston seven years ago, Chemist Kenneth Pitzer was asked whether he planned to pattern his school after Caltech or M.I.T. Neither, replied Caltech Graduate Pitzer. "I intend to model it on Stanford...
While their map is the clearest view yet of Venus, the Caltech researchers are not the only radar astronomers mapping that planet. Similar surveying is being carried out by Cornell scientists using the 1,000-ft. dish telescope at Arecibo, Puerto Rico, and by MIT astronomers at two sites in Massachusetts. In March, Venus will again approach Earth. By boosting their radar signal to 450,000 watts, Caltech's electronic cartographers expect to make even more detailed maps...