More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
The BMW Flow electric SUV concept can change hues at the press of a button, going from white to grey or black and back again in moments. While it can't go beyond shades of grey and, even at that, it lacks the subtlety and depth of real car paint, the effect is startling.
The trick isn't done with paint at all, but with specially formed wrapping cut to fit the SUV's body panels. The wrapping has the same sort of electronic ink technology used in electronic readers. The coloured panels were cut precisely to match the shape of the SUV's body panels and then electric wiring is attached to each section.
The panel surfaces have millions of tiny capsules, each one containing negatively charged white pigments and positively charged black pigments. Electric currents bring one pigment or the other to the surface creating the different shades. Once the colour change is completed, the panels keep their tone without needing any more electrical charge.
The SUV can be coloured all one shade or different shades in different parts. Even the wheels can change colours.
Adrian van Hooydonk, BMW's head of design, described the BMW iX Flow concept as "an advanced research and design project."
BMW has not announced any plans to bring this sort of technology to a production vehicle. The automaker did cite certain advantages to being able to change the tone of a vehicle at a moment's notice, though.
First, you might just feel like it.
"This gives the driver the driver the ability to express different facets of their personality or even their enjoyment of change outwardly, and to redefine this each time they sit in their car," said Stella Clarke, project leader for the iX Flow, in a statement from BMW.
Secondly, it can make the vehicle more fuel efficient and comfortable. On hot days, a white body could reflect heat, keeping the cabin a more comfortable temperature and lessening the need for air conditioning. Conversely, a black body absorbs more heat and help keep the cabin warm on cold days, reducing the need for heat and ventilation.
On the other hand, were it to make it into production, the cost of body damage repairs could be just as striking as the colour effects.
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.