Twenty-two vehicles earn the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's highest safety award for 2014, TOP SAFETY PICK+, thanks to a high level of protection in crashes and the availability of front crash prevention technology to avoid many collisions in the first place. An additional 17 earn TOP SAFETY PICK by meeting the crashworthiness criteria alone.
IIHS is using new criteria for the awards this year. TOP SAFETY PICK requires good performance in the Institute's moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraint tests and, for the first time, good or acceptable performance in the small overlap front test introduced in 2012. The same level of performance in those tests, along with at least a basic rating for front crash prevention, is required for the higher accolade, TOP SAFETY PICK+.
Just over half of 2018 model vehicles evaluated by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety are available with headlights that do an adequate job of lighting the road at night and limiting glare for oncoming drivers, but most good-rated headlights are optional or bundled with other features that can raise the price of the vehicle.
Since IIHS released its first headlight ratings for passenger vehicles in 2016, most manufacturers have focused on improving this key safety component. That year, only 2 of 95 headlight systems on 2016-model vehicles evaluated earned a good rating.
For the 2018 model year, the best-available headlights on 32 of 165 models evaluated earn the highest rating of good, and the best-available headlights on 58 models earn the second-highest rating of acceptable. Thirty-two models have only marginal-rated headlights, while poor-rated headlights are the only ones available for 43 models.
The ranks of top-rated booster seats continue to grow as manufacturers design models to earn high marks in the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s annual booster seat evaluations, plus offer the style and convenience parents look for when it’s time to pick a safe seat for their booster-age children.
Among the 41 models new for 2014, there are 27 BEST BET seats — more than in any prior year — and three GOOD BETs. Eight boosters are in a category the Institute calls “Check Fit,” and there are three new models that the Institute doesn’t recommend using as boosters. Prices for BEST BET boosters start around $25 and go up to about $370, depending on features, and several models are LATCH compatible.
The Lincoln Continental, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and the Toyota Avalon come out at the top of a group of six large cars recently evaluated by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The three cars qualify for TOP SAFETY PICK+, the Institute’s highest award. The Tesla Model S, the Chevrolet Impala and the Ford Taurus fall short of any award because they each earn only an acceptable rating in the small overlap front test.
Vehicles qualify for either the TOP SAFETY PICK or TOP SAFETY PICK+ award if they have good ratings from IIHS in five crashworthiness tests — small overlap front, moderate overlap front, side, roof strength and head restraints — and an available front crash prevention system that earns a superior or advanced rating. To qualify for TOP SAFETY PICK+, a vehicle also must come with good or acceptable headlights
The latest booster seat ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety show that child seat manufacturers have mastered something that once eluded them: building a seat that provides good safety belt fit for the typical 4-¬ to 8-¬year-¬old passenger.
Out of 53 new models evaluated, 48 earn the top rating of BEST BET, meaning they are likely to provide good belt fit for a 4 to 8 year-¬old in almost any car, minivan or SUV. When the Institute first began rating boosters in 2008, only a quarter of the seats evaluated earned the BEST BET designation.
When you’re a brilliant mathematician like the Baltimore Ravens’ John Urschel, a football playbook is only so challenging. So the 6-foot-3, 305-pound offensive lineman looks for mathematics in everyday life for mental stimulation, and he’s asking you to do the same. Get in the game by snapping photos of how and where you use math at school, at home, on the practice field — anywhere and everywhere – for a chance to win a $500 Amazon gift card and a video conference for your class with the professional athlete.
Kicking off August 19, in coordination with World Photo Day (#WorldPhotoDay), and running through September 17, you can show John Urschel how you use math for the win in everyday life on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtags #MathFTW and #TIContest to be entered to win. And, get creative! The gifted mathematician is seeing a lot of math these days as he pursues his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Urschel, who holds a 4.0 Grade Point Average, is all the proof students need to see they can be good at academics while pursuing other passions – from athletics to the arts.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7746253-texas-instruments-math-for-the-win-contest/
The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities is pleased to announce the launch of an egyptian – international Project using non-invasive and non-destructive surveying techniques for the scanning of Egyptian Pyramids under the title “ScanPyramids” project.
Just because a mystery is 4500 years old doesn’t mean it can’t be solved…” This could be the motto of the exceptional scientific mission launched October 25, 2015, under the authority of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities, initiated, designed and coordinated by the Faculty of Engineering of Cairo and the French HIP.Institute (Heritage, Innovation and Preservation). Radiographic muons, aka cosmic particles, infrared thermography, photogrammetry, scanner and 3D reconstruction: the most innovative technologies will be used by researchers of international renown and three major universities: the Faculty of Engineering of Cairo University, Université Laval of Quebec and Nagoya University of Japan. Their goal: to probe the heart of the largest pyramids of Egypt, without drilling the slightest opening.
Four millennia after their construction, these ancient giants are far from having yielded their secrets. The first mystery concerns their construction, especially Khufu, the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still existing: it is still impossible to describe with certainty how this stone monument, the largest ever built by humans, was erected.
The “ScanPyramids” project has already been approved by the permanent committee of the Ministry of Antiquities and has obtained all necessary permissions from concerned authorities. With a base of more than 5 hectares, its original height of almost 150 meters and a mass of 5 million tons, how was it possible to construct such a wonder in only 25 years?
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/uk/7671551-scanpyramids-project-launch-egyptian/
Thirteen out of 16 new booster seats for 2017 earn the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's highest rating of BEST BET, bringing the total number of boosters on the market with that designation to 118.
The BEST BET rating means a booster provides good safety belt fit for typical 4 to 8 year-olds in almost any car, minivan or SUV. Boosters that are rated GOOD BETs provide acceptable belt fit in almost any vehicle, while those rated Check Fit could work for some children in some vehicles. Seats designated "Not Recommended" don’t provide good belt fit and should be avoided.
Buckling precious cargo into a late-model vehicle has gotten a bit easier in the past year, the Institute’s LATCH ease-of-use ratings show.
IIHS launched its ratings of child seat installation hardware in vehicles in June 2015. Out of 102 vehicles rated at that time, the majority were poor or marginal. Today, a total of 170 current models have been evaluated, and most are good or acceptable. Three models — the Audi Q7, Lexus RX and Toyota Prius — earn the top rating of good+, a distinction that no vehicle achieved last year.
A properly installed, age-appropriate child restraint can protect a child much better in a crash than a safety belt alone. LATCH, which stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children, is intended to make it easier for caregivers to install child restraints properly. Child restraints installed with LATCH are more likely to be put in correctly than restraints installed using the vehicle safety belt, IIHS research has shown.
Even with LATCH, installation errors are common. The Institute’s ratings are based on key ease-of-use criteria that have been shown to minimize mistakes.
New data from a school asthma management program, “Building Bridges for Asthma Care,” presented today at the American Thoracic Society 2015 International Conference, show a significant decrease in school absenteeism among children with asthma from inner-city schools who were enrolled in the program. Absences dropped 11.75 percent among children enrolled in Building Bridges, compared to an increase of 8.48 percent in children with asthma not in the program.
“Building Bridges for Asthma Care” is a school-based program designed to empower nurses in participating elementary schools to ensure that asthmatic children are identified and provided care according to the National Institute of Health’s clinical treatment guidelines. The objectives of the program are addressing the risk of health disparities and asthma-related absenteeism, as well as its related impact on academic achievement for inner city students.
To view the Multimedia News Release, go to http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7506851-gsk-building-bridges-for-asthma-care/
A new crash test program from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety aims to ensure that manufacturers pay attention to the safety of front passengers as well as drivers.
The test was developed after it became clear that some manufacturers were giving short shrift to the right side of the vehicle when it comes to small overlap front crash protection. A good or acceptable passenger-side rating will be required to qualify for the Institute’s 2018 TOP SAFETY PICK+ award.
The first test group in the passenger-side small overlap front test program did better overall than vehicles IIHS previously evaluated for research. Ten out of 13 midsize cars tested earn a good rating, while one is acceptable and two earn a marginal rating.
In contrast with a group of 2014-16 model small SUVs tested for research, none of the 2017-18 midsize cars had a poor or marginal structural rating. Instead, the biggest problem in the new group was inconsistent airbag protection in five cars, which would put passengers’ heads at risk.
Holland America Line turns its culinary programming up a notch with the introduction of dynamic shipboard cooking shows produced in partnership with the long-running public television show America’s Test Kitchen, the most popular how-to-cook show on TV. Holland America Line is a sponsor of America’s Test Kitchen on public television, and is proud to make this experience possible at sea. The initiative was announced today in New York City at a press conference at the prestigious Institute of Culinary Education.
Holland America Line’s shipboard Culinary Arts Center will be transformed to replicate the television set where the prominent America’s Test Kitchen TV shows are recorded for broadcast by more than 350 public television stations nationwide. Designed specifically for Holland America Line, the shipboard shows will be hosted by Holland America Line chefs trained by America’s Test Kitchen culinary experts. Shipboard cooking demonstrations and hands-on workshops — with topics ranging from shaping Asian dumplings to making the perfect pie crust — will combine foolproof, accessible recipes and cooking techniques that are rooted in the rigorous testing and science-based approach of America’s Test Kitchen.
To view the multimedia release go to:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7363858-americas-test-kitchen-joins-holland-america/
