Category: Unit 2 (Page 6 of 42)

( The history of gasoline powered cars and emissions. Source IBM.com and Wikipedia )

The Auto industry seems poised for an electric car (EV) takeover as an alternative to the classic internal combustion engine that powered practically every vehicle for over a hundred years as electric vehicles were popular once but then phased out due to the gasoline powered vehicle just offered everything better such as dramatically longer range and a quicker time to refuel then recharge (and a lack of areas to actually recharge your EV it just was not a plausible option to even consider) However modern EV’s are now making a come back due to a few factors which we will discuss primarily environmental concerns. Up until 1963 there were no laws or regulations dictating how much emissions can or cannot come out of your vehicles tailpipe and as a result cities such as Los Angeles had issues with smog. Smog is a type of intense air pollution that takes the form of a dense haze thus limiting visibility and dramatically reducing the air quality that we breathe. In the mid 1900’s the number of cars and trucks on the road were rapidly rising one result of this was an increase of air pollution especially in cities and had serious impacts on the public’s health and the environment. in 1970 Congress passed the Clean Air Act and gave the newly formed EPA the legal authority to regulate pollution from motor vehicles. The U.S. vehicle pollution control is a success by many measure although many were upset by the reduced performance of their vehicle due to tight emission regulations. New passenger vehicles are 98% cleaner then equivalent vehicles produced in the 1960’s and U.S. cities have vastly improved air quality despite an increase of population and an increase of vehicles on the road since the enactment of the clean air act. The clean air act has led to “cleaner” Cars,Trucks and fuels, cars have much less hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and particle emissions to be specific. The EPA also began to phase out lead in gasoline starting in the 1970’s and leaded gasoline was fully prohibited after 1995 as a result levels of lead in the air decreased by 94% between 1980 and 1999. EPA vehicle emission standards have led to some inventions in cars such as the catalytic convertor and direct fuel injection replacing old tech such as carburetors. Despite our successes many places in the United States still have poor local air quality and there is more to be don.eThe EPA is now attempting to help solve Climate change by making hybrids and EV’s which (we will discuss next paragraph)

This video goes in depth of the beginning of anime as well as the first anime production studio called Toei Animation. The style of this animation studio was closely related to that of Disney studios which is why America and other countries began to take an interest in Japanese animation. In seeing this, more artists as well as writers in Japan began to make an increase in the production of their pieces of work. For example, Osamu Tezuka made his own animation studio where he later created the anime well known as Astro Boy. This anime reached America and became very popular allowing him to continue to release more and more anime in hope they would reach other countries aside from his own. Tezuka was very inspired by that of Disney characters allowing him to include similar styles such as big eyes and a slender figure. As well as including special styles and unique clothing ideas. For the years and decades to follow, other artists followed in the same path whilst experimenting with different genres and not so ideal storylines. This allowed for thousands of new anime to be introduced making it applicable for many different people. Allowing, Pokemon one of the most famous anime to exist to come into fruition.

I agree with this video and believe it was very informative in terms of explaining the origins of anime as well as how those steps have allowed anime to adapt into the large industry it is today.  One thing that was very interesting to me was that the first few anime production studios to come to light took inspiration from Disney in order to make the animation aesthetically pleasing as well as in relation for viewers. I believe that this also impacted the popularity of anime because once people were familiar with the style of Disney it was fairly easy to adapt to the style of Japanese anime. Additionally, this has allowed individuality of characters to develop when artists create their pieces of work. In doing so, manga readers as well as anime watchers were able to develop a love as well as a sense of attachment to certain unique characters. This allowed anime to spread to numerous countries and have a wide fandom. I believe it was very bold of Japanese artists to begin production companies on their own unsure of the effect that this new animation style as well as different genres would have on people.

“From comic strips to full length animated films, anime has endured a long and difficult journey that led to the ever so successful animation industry that Japan is so well known for.”

“Tezuka was really inspired by the character designs of Disney and decided to include some of those styles in his own work. He gave his characters extremely large eyes and a slender figure…. He also gave them unique hair and clothing styles.”

Topic: When did cars become an integral part of our culture? (This essays source is The History Channel)

introduction

During the 1920’s the automobile became the lifeblood of the petroleum industry, one of the chief consumers of the steel industry, and the biggest consumer of many industrial products. The technologies of this industry were revolutionized by the demand for automobiles (Fun fact in 1982 the automobile industry accounted for one in every six jobs in the country that’s how big of a market it is)

The automobile stimulated growth in the following; outdoor recreation, Tourisim roadside restaurants and motels and ended the concept of rural isolation and brought urban amenities, better medical care and schools to rural America where there were no such thing as walking down the street to school ( as places in rural America sometimes tend to be sparsly populated) The modern concept of a city surrounded by suburbs and industrial areas is a product of the automobile and trucking. In addition to this the automobile changed the architecture of the typical American dwelling and freed home owners from the narrow confines of their home as the automobile is a symbol of freedom and independence. In 1980  87.2% of American households owned one or more motor vehicles, 51% owned more than one and 95% of sales were for replacement vehicles. Americans have become dependent on the automobile.

Although automobile ownership is universal the motor vehicle no longer acts as a progressive force for change as new forces such as Electronic media, computers and other technology are in the process of Re-Revolutionizing the industry and American culture as one may consider the 1960’s the peak of the automobile age but since then has been melding into a new age of Electronics which in my opinion began with the invention of cruise control we have since added more and more driving assists to the modern car such as Lane assist, Blind spot monitoring, automated forward collision warning and so on. The automobile industry as we see today is pouring billions of dollars into research and development of all electric or hybrid vehicles in an effort to combat global warming and climate change (we will discuss the environmental concerns and history of smog and pollution later in the essay). and billion more dollars into self driving cars. manufactures such as Tesla have a rudimentary self driving software in place so it certainly seems in the coming years that a driverless car is certainly on the horizon.