Welcome to Must Read, where we single out the best stories from around the automotive universe and beyond. Today we have reports from Driving, Metro Times, and BBC.
Walter Wolf is the Canadian who helped save Lamborghini – Driving
We get it, Canada. You've contributed to the automobile. But this is an interesting profile of a man who gave the Countach serious performance.
Rarely seen without his signature Ray-Ban Generals, Walter Wolf is a legend in Canadian motorsport. During the 1970s, he hob-nobbed with the elite of the sport of kings, lunching with Enzo Ferrari, talking tactics with James Hunt, lending Gilles Villeneuve the keys to his Ferrari 512bb.
How Detroit ended up with the worst public transit – Metro Times
Jalopnik Detroit contributor Ryan Felton looked through the mistakes made in trying public transportation in the Motor City. And it goes beyond the companies there that happen to be in the car business.
Cities like New York City and Seattle have reliable public transportation, the kind of efficient, ubiquitous service that ferries commuters with few headaches besides a few grumbles about a packed bus or a temporarily closed station. But those are minor complaints, and ones many folks here would love to have in exchange for the status quo.
In metro Detroit, public transportation is a bunk concept; most riders, with no hesitation, will offer a similar refrain when asked their opinion: They hate it. It's a sick joke; ride a bus long enough and you'd surely hear a horror story.
Is pee-power really possible? – BBC
Well they're already using what's similar to animal urine to clean up emissions from diesel engines, so maybe they can just power the whole thing from pee. In all seriousness, though, there could be some answers for countries lacking decent electricity.
Last year, a group of researchers at Bristol Robotics Laboratory in the UK proved they could power a mobile phone with human urine. Their device uses what's known as microbial fuel cells, or MFCs, to generate enough energy for a smartphone to text, browse the internet and make short phone calls. But they believe, in time, it could eventually help power houses, buildings, and maybe even entire off-grid villages.
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