Posts tagged Wisconsin
Verlo Mattress Factory
Apr 29th
Custom made and locally crafted mattresses just for you! At Verlo Mattress Factory Stores, you meet with expert craftsmen dedicated to custom fitting your mattress set, futon sofa sleeper, adjustable airbed, pillow top or memory foam, one or two-sided mattress in any size or shape. With mattress retail stores in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Colorado, Georgia and Pennsylvania, we provide a wide variety of comfort levels and great prices to fit your budget. Locally owned, locally operated and locally built just for you!
3080 Valmont Road Suite 130
Boulder, CO 80301
(303) 447-1154
M-F 9am to 8pm
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News from Verlo Mattress Factory
CU study: 66 million years ago, an asteroid turned Earth into a crispy critter
Mar 27th
A new look at conditions after a Manhattan-sized asteroid slammed into a region of Mexico in the dinosaur days indicates the event could have triggered a global firestorm that would have burned every twig, bush and tree on Earth and led to the extinction of 80 percent of all Earth’s species, says a new University of Colorado Boulder study.
Led by Douglas Robertson of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, or CIRES, the team used models that show the collision would have vaporized huge amounts of rock that were then blown high above Earth’s atmosphere. The re-entering ejected material would have heated the upper atmosphere enough to glow red for several hours at roughly 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit — about the temperature of an oven broiler element — killing every living thing not sheltered underground or underwater.
The CU-led team developed an alternate explanation for the fact that there is little charcoal found at the Cretaceous-Paleogene, or K-Pg, boundary some 66 million years ago when the asteroid struck Earth and the cataclysmic fires are believed to have occurred. The CU researchers found that similar studies had corrected their data for changing sedimentation rates. When the charcoal data were corrected for the same changing sedimentation rates they show an excess of charcoal, not a deficiency, Robertson said.
“Our data show the conditions back then are consistent with widespread fires across the planet,” said Robertson, a research scientist at CIRES, which is a joint institute of CU-Boulder and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “Those conditions resulted in 100 percent extinction rates for about 80 percent of all life on Earth.”
A paper on the subject was published online this week in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences, a publication of the American Geophysical Union. Co-authors on the study include CIRES Interim Director William Lewis, CU Professor Brian Toon of the atmospheric and oceanic sciences department and the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics and Peter Sheehan of the Milwaukee Public Museum in Wisconsin.
Geological evidence indicates the asteroid collided with Earth about 66 million years ago and carved the Chicxulub crater in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula that is more than 110 miles in diameter. In 2010, experts from 33 institutions worldwide issued a report that concluded the impact at Chicxulub triggered mass extinctions, including dinosaurs, at the K-Pg boundary.
The conditions leading to the global firestorm were set up by the vaporization of rock following the impact, which condensed into sand-grain-sized spheres as they rose above the atmosphere. As the ejected material re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, it dumped enough heat in the upper atmosphere to trigger an infrared “heat pulse” so hot it caused the sky to glow red for several hours, even though part of the radiation was blocked from Earth by the falling material, he said.
But there was enough infrared radiation from the upper atmosphere that reached Earth’s surface to create searing conditions that likely ignited tinder, including dead leaves and pine needles. If a person was on Earth back then, it would have been like sitting in a broiler oven for two or three hours, said Robertson.
The amount of energy created by the infrared radiation the day of the asteroid-Earth collision is mind-boggling, said Robertson. “It’s likely that the total amount of infrared heat was equal to a 1 megaton bomb exploding every four miles over the entire Earth.”
A 1-megaton hydrogen bomb has about the same explosive power as 80 Hiroshima-type nuclear bombs, he said. The asteroid-Earth collision is thought to have generated about 100 million megatons of energy, said Robertson.
Some researchers have suggested that a layer of soot found at the K-Pg boundary layer roughly 66 million years ago was created by the impact itself. But Robertson and his colleagues calculated that the amount of soot was too high to have been created during the massive impact event and was consistent with the amount that would be expected from global fires.
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Yes, GM will loan you a Corvette if you’re scared your Chevy Volt will catch fire
Nov 29th
By Ray Wert
Yes, GM will loan you a Corvette if you’re scared your Chevy Volt will catch fire
With news of more Chevy Volt battery packs catching fire after NHTSA crash testing, General Motors yesterday made an unprecedented damage-controlling offer: Any Volt owner concerned about safety can request a free GM vehicle loan until the issue’s resolved. Yes, any car. Even a Corvette.
Earlier today, we received the official letter Mark Reuss, President of General Motors North America, is sending to all current Volt owners (they’ll also receive a follow-up phone call from their Volt Advisor — a dedicated GM employee on standby for the duration of their ownership to help them with any problems with the car). The full text of the letter’s below.
The letter includes news that GM will offer a GM loaner to any Volt owner worried about driving their car can drive a loaner car from GM until the situation’s resolved. But the verbiage in the letter — “we will provide you a GM vehicle” — piqued my curiosity.
What car would the General be handing out to owners of the automaker’s green machine? Any car GM makes? So… could you get a Corvette?
We’re not the only ones asking that question. So are several members of some of GM’s online fan forums. One forumite at GM-Volt.com said:
“I would temporally take a Corvette during the investigation. Other than that….. They aint takin my Volt!!!!”
So we called up a couple of folks at GM to find out — can you get a Corvette loaner if you’re scared your Chevy Volt will explode into a fireball after sitting in a wet parking lot for three weeks after a car accident?
It turns out the answer is yes. GM will absolutely put you in a Corvette if that’s what you so desire.
“Theoretically if you wanted to get into a Corvette, the customer’s Volt Advisor will work to get them into one,” said GM spokesperson and part-time genie in a bottle, Greg Martin.
“Obviously the intent of this program is not to provide a long-term Corvette test drive, but our priority is to make sure the customer is satisfied.”
But Martin says that they’re not concerned about a rush of owners running to grab a Corvette ZR1 or a Camaro SS for a multi-month green reprieve. Mostly because the type of person who buys a Volt presumably isn’t interested in high horsepower for the type of drives they’re taking in a Volt.
Pity. Because although I’m a fan of the Volt as a daily driver in semi-urban areas with adequate electric infrastructure, I also know I’d be even more satisfied with a multi-month “Volt vacation” in a Corvette if I were an owner.
But I do have to admit that this is a very shrewd PR move by GM and the Volt team. It’s nice to see a company once known for “turtling up” in their shell-like Detroit bunker at the first sign of a problem finally being proactive and standing by their product.
Here’s the full text of the letter from Reuss:
Dear Volt Owner,
You may have seen the recent news articles regarding the NHTSA’s (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) safety investigation of the Chevrolet Volt. I’m writing you today with more details that, I think, will put things in perspective and make you feel better about your Volt.
First and foremost, I want to assure you of one very important thing: the Volt is a safe car. The Volt continues to have a 5 star overall vehicle score for safety in NHTSA’s New Car Assessment Program. It was also given a Top Safety Pick Award from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
There are good reasons the Volt is safe. Our team has put more than one million miles into making the Chevrolet Volt as safe as it is remarkable. After all, our families, neighbors, co-workers and friends are among those who own the cars we’re tasked with designing, engineering and manufacturing.
Here are the facts behind the most recent news articles. In May, the NHTSA ran one of its most severe crash tests at a test facility in Wisconsin. The Volt battery was damaged and the coolant line was ruptured. Three weeks later, an electrical fire involving the test vehicle occurred.
NHSTA, working with GM engineers, has been running a program of severe impact and intrusion tests on Volt battery assemblies as part of its effort to understand and replicate the May 2011 incident. Thanksgiving night, NHTSA told us that one of the batteries tested was involved in an electrical fire similar to the one that took place in Wisconsin. As a result NHTSA has begun a preliminary investigation of Chevrolet Volt battery assemblies.
We are aware of no real world consumer incidents that have produced a similar result. These recent tests show a very rare set of circumstances: A severe impact resulting in the battery and coolant lines being compromised. And then the passing of a significant amount of time before an electrical fire may take place.
The Volt is as safe as conventional vehicles for its occupants – before, during and immediately after a crash. When electrical energy is left in a battery after a severe crash it can be similar to leaving gasoline in a leaking fuel tank after severe damage. It’s important to drain the energy from the battery after a crash that compromises the battery’s integrity. GM and NHTSA’s focus and research continue to be on battery performance, handling, storage and disposal after a crash.
Even though there have been no customer incidents, we’re taking steps to ensure your peace of mind. If you are in any way uncomfortable driving your Volt as a result of this information, we want to make it right. We will provide you a GM vehicle to drive until this issue is resolved. Contact your Volt Advisor to make arrangements or to answer your questions. If you are not aware of your specific Volt Advisor, the contact information is: phone: 877-4-VOLT-INFO (877-486-5846) email: Voltda101@gmexpert.com.
We take enormous pride in Volt and what it represents-a new era of electric vehicles that can reduce dependence on gas, reduce air pollution, and more. On-going collaboration between the government, manufacturers and other stakeholders will enhance post crash protocols and accelerate acceptance of electric vehicles.
There is nothing more important to us at General Motors than the safety of our customers. We will continue to aid the NHTSA investigation in every way possible.
We stand 100% behind the quality and safety of the Chevrolet Volt – now and always.
Thank you for being a Volt owner. By the way I am also a Volt owner, my daughter drives it every day and she will continue to do so.
Mark Reuss
President GM North America and Volt Owner (#1457)