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Tag: Cornell University

  • Cornell Researchers Discover Way to Charge Cars on the Road

    Cornell Researchers Discover Way to Charge Cars on the Road

    Cornell University researchers may have solved one of the biggest issues with electric vehicle adoption, finding a way to wirelessly charge vehicles while driving.

    Virtually every major automaker is planning on transitioning to electric vehicles in the next decade. Unfortunately, one of the biggest challenges to widespread adoption is range and fast charging. In fact, some 20% of California drivers end up trading their electric vehicles in for traditional gasoline models because of the long charge times and limited range.

    Researchers at Cornell appear to have solved the issue, developing technology that could pave the way (pun intended) for special ‘charging lanes’ that would wirelessly charge an electric vehicle driving on them.

    In an interview with Business Insider, lead researcher and associate professor Khurram Afridi, outlined how the technology could work.

    “Highways would have a charging lane, sort of like a high occupancy lane,” Afridi said. “If you were running out of battery you would move into the charging lane. It would be able to identify which car went into the lane and it would later send you a bill.”

    While Afridi’s work may sound too good to be true, it’s based on technology many already take for granted.

    “Wireless power transfer is based on the same underlying physics used to send messages through radio waves to spacecraft in deep space, things like Voyager,” Afridi said. “Except now we are sending much more energy across much shorter distances, to moving vehicles.”

    The technology is still five to 10 years from being deployed, but it promises to solve the biggest issue with electric vehicles and make ‘recharge worry’ a thing of the past.

  • Facebook Can Improve Self-Esteem

    Using Facebook can have a positive influence on the self-esteem of college students, according to a new study from researchers at Cornell University.

    This is probably because Facebook allows them to put their best face forward, said Jeffrey Hancock, associate professor of communication at Cornell University and co-author of “Mirror, Mirror on my Facebook Wall: Effects of Exposure to Facebook on Self-Esteem” published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking.

    Jeff-Hancock Hancock said users can choose what they reveal about themselves and filter anything that might reflect badly. Feedback from friends posted publicly on Facebook profiles also tends to be positive, which can further boost self-esteem, he said.

    “Unlike a mirror, which reminds us of who we really are and may have a negative effect on self-esteem if that image does match with our ideal, Facebook can show a positive version of ourselves,” Hancock said. “We’re not saying that it’s a deceptive version of self, but it’s a positive one.”

    In the study, 63 Cornell students were left alone in the university’s Social Media Lab; they were seated either at computers that showed their Facebook profiles or at computers that were turned off. Some of the off computers had a mirror propped against the screen; others had no mirror.

    Those on Facebook were allowed to spend three minutes on the page, viewing only their own profiles and tabs. They were then given a questionnaire designed to measure their self-esteem.

    Participants looking in a mirror and those in control groups were given the same questionnaire.

     Those who had used Facebook gave much more positive feedback about themselves. Those who had edited their Facebook profiles had the highest-self esteem.

    “For many people, there’s an automatic assumption that the Internet is bad. This is one of the first studies to show that there’s a psychological benefit of Facebook,” Hancock said.