ratio of word probabilities predicted from brain for telephone and car

telephone	car
top 10 words in brain distribution (in article): design common time allow power provide modern metal line require	top 10 words in brain distribution (in article): state city build country century time Unite store model world
top 10 words in brain distribution (not in article): animal material species wood size build cat wolf breed type	top 10 words in brain distribution (not in article): cross head house church salute plate symbol street town portrait
times more probable under telephone 30 20 10 6 4 2.5 1.25 1 1.25 2.5 4 6 10 20 30 times more probable under car (words not in the model)
The telephone'" (from the, "tēle", "far" and φωνή, "phōnē", "voice") is a telecommunications device that is used to transmit and receive electronically or digitally encoded sound (most commonly speech) between two or more people conversing. It is one of the most common household appliances in the developed world today. Most telephones operate through transmission of electric signals over a complex telephone network which allows almost any phone user to communicate with almost any other user. Graphic symbols used to designate telephone service or phone-related information in print, signs, and other media include,, and. Basic principle. A traditional landline telephone system, also known as "plain old telephone service" (POTS), commonly handles both signaling and audio information on the same twisted pair of insulated wires: the telephone line. Although originally designed for voice communication, the system has been adapted for data communication such as Telex, Fax and Internet communication. The signaling equipment consists of a bell, beeper, light or other device to alert the user to incoming calls, and number buttons or a rotary dial to enter a telephone number for outgoing calls. A twisted pair line is preferred as it is more effective at rejecting electromagnetic interference (EMI) and crosstalk than an untwisted pair. A calling party wishing to speak to another party will pick up the telephone's handset, thus operating a button switch or "switchhook", which puts the telephone into an active state or "off hook" by connecting the transmitter (microphone), receiver (speaker) and related audio components to the line. This circuitry has a low resistance (less than 300 Ohms) which causes DC current (48 volts, nominal) from the telephone exchange to flow through the line. The exchange detects this DC current, attaches a digit receiver circuit to the line, and sends a dial tone to indicate readiness. On a modern telephone, the calling party then presses the number buttons in a sequence corresponding to the telephone number of the called party. The buttons are connected to a tone generator that produces DTMF tones which are sent to the exchange. A rotary dial telephone employs pulse dialing, sending electrical pulses corresponding to the telephone number to the exchange. (Most exchanges are still equipped to handle pulse dialing.) Provided the called party's line is not already active or "busy", the exchange sends an intermittent ringing signal (generally over 100 volts AC) to alert the called party to an incoming call. If the called party's line is active, the exchange sends a busy signal to the calling party. However, if the called party's line is active but has call waiting installed, the exchange sends an intermittent audible tone to the called party to indicate an incoming call. When a landline phone is inactive or "on hook", its alerting device is connected across the line through a capacitor, which prevents DC current from flowing through the line. The circuitry at the telephone exchange detects the absence of DC current flow and thus that the phone is on hook with only the alerting device electrically connected to the line. When a party initiates a call to this line, the ringing signal transmitted by the telephone exchange activates the alerting device on the line. When the called party picks up the handset, the switchhook disconnects the alerting device and connects the audio circuitry to the line. The resulting low resistance now causes DC current to flow through this line, confirming that the called phone is now active. Both phones being active and connected through the exchange, the parties may now converse as long as both phones remain off hook. When a party "hangs up", placing the handset back on the cradle or hook, DC current ceases to flow in that line, signaling the exchange to disconnect the call. Calls to parties beyond the local exchange are carried over "trunk" lines which establish connections between exchanges. In modern telephone networks, fiber-optic cable and digital technology are often employed in such connections. Satellite technology may be used for communication over very long distances. In most telephones, the transmitter and receiver (microphone and speaker) are located in the handset, although in a speakerphone these components may be located in the base or in a separate enclosure. Powered by the line, the transmitter produces an electric current whose voltage varies in response to the sound waves arriving at its diaphragm. The resulting current is transmitted along the telephone line to the local exchange then on to the other phone (via the local exchange or a larger network), where it passes through the coil of the receiver. The varying voltage in the coil produces a corresponding movement of the receiver's diaphragm, reproducing the sound waves present at the transmitter. A Lineman's handset is a telephone designed for testing the telephone network, and may be attached directly to aerial lines and other infrastructure components. History. Credit for inventing the electric telephone remains in dispute. As with other great inventions such as radio, television, light bulb, and computer, there were several inventors who did pioneer experimental work on voice transmission over a wire and improved on each other's ideas. Innocenzo Manzetti, Antonio Meucci, Johann Philipp Reis, Elisha Gray, Alexander Graham Bell, and Thomas Edison, among others, have all been credited with pioneer work on the telephone. A Hungarian engineer, Tivadar Puskás invented the Telephone exchange in 1876. The early history of the telephone is a confusing morass of claim and counterclaim, which was not clarified by the huge mass of lawsuits which hoped to resolve the patent claims of individuals. The Bell and Edison patents, however, were forensically victorious and commercially decisive. Early commercial instruments. Early telephones were technically diverse. Some used a liquid transmitter, some had a metal diaphragm that induced current in an electromagnet wound around a permanent magnet, and some were "dynamic" -their diaphragm vibrated a coil of wire in the field of a permanent magnet or the coil vibrated the diaphragm. This dynamic kind survived in small numbers through the 20th century in military and maritime applications where its ability to create its own electrical power was crucial. Most, however, used the Edison Berliner carbon transmitter, which was much louder than the other kinds, even though it required an induction coil, actually acting as an impedance matching transformer to make it compatible to the impedance of the line. The Edison patents kept the Bell monopoly viable into the 20th century, by which time the network was more important than the instrument. Early telephones were locally powered, using either a dynamic transmitter or by the powering of a transmitter with a local battery. One of the jobs of outside plant personnel was to visit each telephone periodically to inspect the battery. During the 20th century, "common battery" operation came to dominate, powered by "talk battery" from the telephone exchange over the same wires that carried the voice signals. Early telephones used a single wire for the subscriber's line, with ground return used to complete the circuit (as used in telegraphs). The earliest dynamic telephones also had only one opening for sound, and the user alternately listened and spoke (rather, shouted) into the same hole. Sometimes the instruments were operated in pairs at each end, making conversation more convenient but were more expensive. At first, the benefits of an exchange were not exploited. Telephones instead were leased in pairs to the subscriber, who had to arrange telegraph contractors to construct a line between them, for example between his home and his shop. Users who wanted the ability to speak to several different locations would need to obtain and set up three or four pairs of telephones. Western Union, already using telegraph exchanges, quickly extended the principle to its telephones in New York City and San Francisco, and Bell was not slow in appreciating the potential. Signalling began in an appropriately primitive manner. The user alerted the other end, or the exchange operator, by whistling into the transmitter. Exchange operation soon resulted in telephones being equipped with a bell, first operated over a second wire, and later over the same wire, but with a condenser (capacitor) in series with the bell coil to allow the AC ringer signal through while still blocking DC (keeping the phone "on hook"). Telephones connected to the earliest Strowger automatic exchanges had seven wires, one for the knife switch, one for each telegraph key, one for the bell, one for the push button and two for speaking. Rural and other telephones that were not on a common battery exchange had a magneto or hand-cranked generator to produce a high voltage alternating signal to ring the bells of other telephones on the line and to alert the operator. In the 1890s a new smaller style of telephone was introduced, packaged in three parts. The transmitter stood on a stand, known as a "candlestick" for its shape. When not in use, the receiver hung on a hook with a switch in it, known as a "switchhook." Previous telephones required the user to operate a separate switch to connect either the voice or the bell. With the new kind, the user was less likely to leave the phone "off the hook". In phones connected to magneto exchanges, the bell, induction coil, battery and magneto were in a separate "bell box." In phones connected to common battery exchanges, the bell box was installed under a desk, or other out of the way place, since it did not need a battery or magneto. Cradle designs were also used at this time, having a handle with the receiver and transmitter attached, separate from the cradle base that housed the magneto crank and other parts. They were larger than the "candlestick" and more popular. Disadvantages of single wire operation such as crosstalk and hum from nearby AC power wires had already led to the use of twisted pairs and, for long distance telephones, four-wire circuits. Users at the beginning of the 20th century did not place long distance calls from their own telephones but made an appointment to use a special sound proofed long distance telephone booth furnished with the latest technology. What turned out to be the most popular and longest lasting physical style of telephone was introduced in the early 20th century, including Bell's Model 102. A carbon granule transmitter and electromagnetic receiver were united in a single molded plastic handle, which when not in use sat in a cradle in the base unit. The of the Model 102 shows the direct connection of the receiver to the line, while the transmitter was induction coupled, with energy supplied by a local battery. The coupling transformer, battery, and ringer were in a separate enclosure. The dial switch in the base interrupted the line current by repeatedly but very briefly disconnecting the line 1-10 times for each digit, and the hook switch (in the center of the circuit diagram) permanently disconnected the line and the transmitter battery while the handset was on the cradle. After the 1930s, the base also enclosed the bell and induction coil, obviating the old separate bell box. Power was supplied to each subscriber line by central office batteries instead of a local battery, which required periodic service. For the next half century, the network behind the telephone became progressively larger and much more efficient, but after the dial was added the instrument itself changed little until touch tone replaced the dial in the 1960s. Digital telephony. The Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) has gradually evolved towards digital telephony which has improved the capacity and quality of the network. End-to-end analog telephone networks were first modified in the early 1960s by upgrading transmission networks with T1 carrier systems. Later technologies such as SONET and fiber optic transmission methods further advanced digital transmission. Although analog carrier systems existed, digital transmission made it possible to significantly increase the number of channels multiplexed on a single transmission medium. While today the end instrument remains analog, the analog signals reaching the aggregation point (Serving Area Interface (SAI) or the central office (CO)) are typically converted to digital signals. Digital loop carriers (DLC) are often used, placing the digital network ever closer to the customer premises, relegating the analog local loop to legacy status. IP telephony. Internet Protocol (IP) telephony (also known as Voice over Internet Protocol, VoIP), is a disruptive technology that is rapidly gaining ground against traditional telephone network technologies. As of January 2005, up to 10% of telephone subscribers in Japan and South Korea have switched to this digital telephone service. A January 2005 Newsweek article suggested that Internet telephony may be "the next big thing." As of 2006 many VoIP companies offer service to consumers and businesses. IP telephony uses an Internet connection and hardware IP Phones or softphones installed on personal computers to transmit conversations encoded as data packets. In addition to replacing POTS (plain old telephone service), IP telephony services are also competing with mobile phone services by offering free or lower cost connections via WiFi hotspots. VoIP is also used on private networks which may or may not have a connection to the global telephone network. Usage. By the end of 2006, there were a total of nearly 4 billion mobile and fixed-line subscribers and over 1 billion Internet users worldwide. This included 1.27 billion fixed-line subscribers and 2.68 billion mobile subscribers. Telephone operating companies. In some countries, many telephone operating companies (commonly abbreviated to "telco" in American English) are in competition to provide telephone services. Some of them are included in the following list. However, the list only includes facilities based providers and not companies which lease services from facilities based providers in order to serve their customers.	An automobile'" or "'motor car'" is a wheeled motor vehicle for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels, and to be constructed principally for the transport of people rather than goods. However, the term "automobile" is far from precise, because there are many types of vehicles that do similar tasks. As of 2002, there were 590 million passenger cars worldwide (roughly one car per eleven people). Etymology. The word automobile'" comes, via the French "automobile", from the Ancient Greek word αὐτός ("autós", "self") and the Latin "mobilis" ("movable"); meaning a vehicle that moves itself, rather than being pulled or pushed by a separate animal or another vehicle. The alternative name "car" is believed to originate from the Latin word "carrus" or "carrum" ("wheeled vehicle"), or the Middle English word "carre" ("cart") (from Old North French), or "karros" (a Gallic wagon). History. Although Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot is often credited with building the first self-propelled mechanical vehicle or automobile in about 1769 by adapting an existing horse-drawn vehicle, this claim is disputed by some, who doubt Cugnot's three-wheeler ever ran or was stable. Ferdinand Verbiest, a member of a Jesuit mission in China, built the first steam-powered vehicle around 1672 which was of small scale and designed as a toy for the Chinese Emperor that was unable to carry a driver or a passenger, but quite possibly, was the first working steam-powered vehicle ('auto-mobile'). What is not in doubt is that Richard Trevithick built and demonstrated his "Puffing Devil" road locomotive in 1801, believed by many to be the first demonstration of a steam-powered road vehicle although it was unable to maintain sufficient steam pressure for long periods, and would have been of little practical use. In Russia, in the 1780s, Ivan Kulibin developed a human-pedalled, three-wheeled carriage with modern features such as a flywheel, brake, gear box, and bearings; however, it was not developed further. François Isaac de Rivaz, a Swiss inventor, designed the first internal combustion engine, in 1806, which was fueled by a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen and used it to develop the world's first vehicle, albeit rudimentary, to be powered by such an engine. The design was not very successful, as was the case with others such as Samuel Brown, Samuel Morey, and Etienne Lenoir with his hippomobile, who each produced vehicles (usually adapted carriages or carts) powered by clumsy internal combustion engines. In November 1881 French inventor Gustave Trouvé demonstrated a working three-wheeled automobile that was powered by electricity. This was at the International Exhibition of Electricity in Paris. Although several other German engineers (including Gottlieb Daimler, Wilhelm Maybach, and Siegfried Marcus) were working on the problem at about the same time, Karl Benz'" generally is acknowledged as the inventor of the modern automobile. An automobile powered by his own four-stroke cycle gasoline engine was built in Mannheim, Germany by Karl Benz in 1885 and granted a patent in January of the following year under the auspices of his major company, Benz & Cie., which was founded in 1883. It was an integral design, without the adaptation of other existing components and including several new technological elements to create a new concept. This is what made it worthy of a patent. He began to sell his production vehicles in 1888. In 1879 Benz was granted a patent for his first engine, which had been designed in 1878. Many of his other inventions made the use of the internal combustion engine feasible for powering a vehicle. His first "Motorwagen" was built in 1885 and he was awarded the patent for its invention as of his application on January 29, 1886. Benz began promotion of the vehicle on July 3, 1886 and approximately 25 Benz vehicles were sold between 1888 and 1893, when his first four-wheeler was introduced along with a model intended for affordability. They also were powered with four-stroke engines of his own design. Emile Roger of France, already producing Benz engines under license, now added the Benz automobile to his line of products. Because France was more open to the early automobiles, initially more were built and sold in France through Roger than Benz sold in Germany. In 1896, Benz designed and patented the first internal-combustion flat engine, called a "boxermotor" in German. During the last years of the nineteenth century, Benz was the largest automobile company in the world with 572 units produced in 1899 and because of its size, Benz & Cie., became a joint-stock company. Daimler and Maybach founded Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (Daimler Motor Company, DMG) in Cannstatt in 1890 and under the brand name, "Daimler", sold their first automobile in 1892, which was a horse-drawn stagecoach built by another manufacturer, that they retrofitted with an engine of their design. By 1895 about 30 vehicles had been built by Daimler and Maybach, either at the Daimler works or in the Hotel Hermann, where they set up shop after falling out with their backers. Benz and the Maybach and Daimler team seem to have been unaware of each other's early work. They never worked together because by the time of the merger of the two companies, Daimler and Maybach were no longer part of DMG. Daimler died in 1900 and later that year, Maybach designed an engine named "Daimler-Mercedes", that was placed in a specially-ordered model built to specifications set by Emil Jellinek. This was a production of a small number of vehicles for Jellinek to race and market in his country. Two years later, in 1902, a new model DMG automobile was produced and the model was named Mercedes after the Maybach engine which generated 35 hp. Maybach quit DMG shortly thereafter and opened a business of his own. Rights to the "Daimler" brand name were sold to other manufacturers. Karl Benz proposed co-operation between DMG and Benz & Cie. when economic conditions began to deteriorate in Germany following the First World War, but the directors of DMG refused to consider it initially. Negotiations between the two companies resumed several years later when these conditions worsened and, in 1924 they signed an "Agreement of Mutual Interest", valid until the year 2000. Both enterprises standardized design, production, purchasing, and sales and they advertised or marketed their automobile models jointly—although keeping their respective brands. On June 28, 1926, Benz & Cie. and DMG finally merged as the "Daimler-Benz" company, baptizing all of its automobiles "Mercedes Benz" as a brand honoring the most important model of the DMG automobiles, the Maybach design later referred to as the "1902 Mercedes-35hp", along with the Benz name. Karl Benz remained a member of the board of directors of Daimler-Benz until his death in 1929 and at times, his two sons participated in the management of the company as well. In 1890, Emile Levassor and Armand Peugeot of France began producing vehicles with Daimler engines and so laid the foundation of the automobile industry in France. The first design for an American automobile with a gasoline internal combustion engine was drawn in 1877 by George Selden of Rochester, New York, who applied for a patent for an automobile in 1879, but the patent application expired because the vehicle was never built and proved to work (a requirement for a patent). After a delay of sixteen years and a series of attachments to his application, on November 5, 1895, Selden was granted a United States patent for a two-stroke automobile engine, which hindered, more than encouraged, development of automobiles in the United States. His patent was challenged by Henry Ford and others, and overturned in 1911. In Britain there had been several attempts to build steam cars with varying degrees of success with Thomas Rickett even attempting a production run in 1860. Santler from Malvern is recognized by the Veteran Car Club of Great Britain as having made the first petrol-powered car in the country in 1894 followed by Frederick William Lanchester in 1895 but these were both one-offs. The first production vehicles in Great Britain came from the Daimler Motor Company, a company founded by Harry J. Lawson in 1896 after purchasing the right to use the name of the engines. Lawson's company made its first automobiles in 1897 and they bore the name "Daimler". In 1892, German engineer Rudolf Diesel was granted a patent for a "New Rational Combustion Engine". In 1897 he built the first Diesel Engine. Steam-, electric-, and gasoline-powered vehicles competed for decades, with gasoline internal combustion engines achieving dominance in the 1910s. Although various pistonless rotary engine designs have attempted to compete with the conventional piston and crankshaft design, only Mazda's version of the Wankel engine has had more than very limited success. Production. The large-scale, production-line manufacturing of affordable automobiles was debuted by Ransom Olds at his Oldsmobile factory in 1902. This concept was greatly expanded by Henry Ford, beginning in 1914. As a result, Ford's cars came off the line in fifteen minute intervals, much faster than previous methods, increasing productivity eight fold (requiring 12.5 man-hours before, 1 hour 33 minutes after), while using less manpower. It was so successful, paint became a bottleneck. Only Japan black would dry fast enough, forcing the company to drop the variety of colors available before 1914, until fast-drying Duco lacquer was developed in 1926. This is the source of Ford's apocryphal remark, "any color as long as it's black". In 1914, an assembly line worker could buy a Model T with four months' pay. Ford's complex safety procedures—especially assigning each worker to a specific location instead of allowing them to roam about—dramatically reduced the rate of injury. The combination of high wages and high efficiency is called "Fordism," and was copied by most major industries. The efficiency gains from the assembly line also coincided with the economic rise of the United States. The assembly line forced workers to work at a certain pace with very repetitive motions which led to more output per worker while other countries were using less productive methods. In the automotive industry, its success was dominating, and quickly spread worldwide seeing the founding of Ford France and Ford Britain in 1911, Ford Denmark 1923, Ford Germany 1925; in 1921, Citroen was the first native European manufacturer to adopt the production method. Soon, companies had to have assembly lines, or risk going broke; by 1930, 250 companies which did not, had disappeared. Development of automotive technology was rapid, due in part to the hundreds of small manufacturers competing to gain the world's attention. Key developments included electric ignition and the electric self-starter (both by Charles Kettering, for the Cadillac Motor Company in 1910-1911), independent suspension, and four-wheel brakes. Since the 1920s, nearly all cars have been mass-produced to meet market needs, so marketing plans often have heavily influenced automobile design. It was Alfred P. Sloan who established the idea of different makes of cars produced by one company, so buyers could "move up" as their fortunes improved. Reflecting the rapid pace of change, makes shared parts with one another so larger production volume resulted in lower costs for each price range. For example, in the 1930s, LaSalles, sold by Cadillac, used cheaper mechanical parts made by Oldsmobile; in the 1950s, Chevrolet shared hood, doors, roof, and windows with Pontiac; by the 1990s, corporate drivetrains and shared platforms (with interchangeable brakes, suspension, and other parts) were common. Even so, only major makers could afford high costs, and even companies with decades of production, such as Apperson, Cole, Dorris, Haynes, or Premier, could not manage: of some two hundred American car makers in existence in 1920, only 43 survived in 1930, and with the Great Depression, by 1940, only 17 of those were left. In Europe much the same would happen. Morris set up its production line at Cowley in 1924, and soon outsold Ford, while beginning in 1923 to follow Ford's practise of vertical integration, buying Hotchkiss (engines), Wrigley (gearboxes), and Osberton (radiators), for instance, as well as competitors, such as Wolseley: in 1925, Morris had 41% of total British car production. Most British small-car assemblers, from Abbey to Xtra had gone under. Citroen did the same in France, coming to cars in 1919; between them and other cheap cars in reply such as Renault's 10CV and Peugeot's 5CV, they produced 550,000 cars in 1925, and Mors, Hurtu, and others could not compete. Germany's first mass-manufactured car, the Opel 4PS "Laubfrosch" (Tree Frog), came off the line at Russelsheim in 1924, soon making Opel the top car builder in Germany, with 37.5% of the market. Fuel and propulsion technologies. Most automobiles in use today are propelled by gasoline (also known as petrol) or diesel internal combustion engines, which are known to cause air pollution and are also blamed for contributing to climate change and global warming. Increasing costs of oil-based fuels, tightening environmental laws and restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions are propelling work on alternative power systems for automobiles. Efforts to improve or replace existing technologies include the development of hybrid vehicles, and electric and hydrogen vehicles which do not release pollution into the air. Diesel. Diesel-engined cars have long been popular in Europe with the first models being introduced in the 1930s by Mercedes Benz and Citroen. The main benefit of diesel engines is a 50% fuel burn efficiency compared with 27% in the best gasoline engines. A down-side of the Diesel engine is that better filters are required to reduce the presence in the exhaust gases of fine soot particulates called diesel particulate matter. Manufacturers are now starting to fit diesel particulate filters to remove the soot. Many diesel-powered cars can run with little or no modifications on 100% biodiesel and combinations of other organic oils. Gasoline. Gasoline engines have the advantage over diesel in being lighter and able to work at higher rotational speeds and they are the usual choice for fitting in high-performance sports cars. Continuous development of gasoline engines for over a hundred years has produced improvements in efficiency and reduced pollution. The carburetor was used on nearly all road car engines until the 1980s but it was long realised better control of the fuel air mixture could be achieved with fuel injection. Indirect fuel injection was first used in aircraft engines from 1909, in racing car engines from the 1930s, and road cars from the late 1950s. Gasoline Direct Injection (GDI) is now starting to appear in production vehicles such as the 2007 (Mark II) BMW Mini. Exhaust gases are also cleaned up by fitting a catalytic converter into the exhaust system. Clean air legislation in many of the car industries most important markets has made both catalysts and fuel injection virtually universal fittings. Most modern gasoline engines also are capable of running with up to 15% ethanol mixed into the gasoline; older vehicles may have seals and hoses that can be harmed by ethanol. With a small amount of redesign, gasoline-powered vehicles can run on ethanol concentrations as high as 85%. 100% ethanol is used in some parts of the world (such as Brazil), but vehicles must be started on pure gasoline and switched over to ethanol once the engine is running. Most gasoline engined cars can also run on LPG with the addition of an LPG tank for fuel storage and carburettor modifications to add an LPG mixer. LPG produces fewer toxic emissions and is a popular fuel for fork-lift trucks that have to operate inside buildings. Biofuels. Ethanol, other alcohol fuels (biobutanol) and biogasoline have widespread use an automotive fuel. Most alcohols have less energy per liter than gasoline and are usually blended with gasoline. Alcohols are used for a variety of reasons: to increase octane, to improve emissions, and as an alternative to petroleum based fuel, since they can be made from agricultural crops. Brazil's ethanol program provides about 20% of the nation's automotive fuel needs, as a result of the mandatory use of E25 blend of gasoline throughout the country, 3 million cars that operate on pure ethanol, and 6 million dual or flexible-fuel vehicles sold since 2003. that run on any mix of ethanol and gasoline. The commercial success of "flex" vehicles, as they are popularly known, have allowed sugarcane based ethanol fuel to achieve a 50% market share of the gasoline market by April 2008. Electric. The first electric cars were built around 1832, well before internal combustion powered cars appeared. For a period of time electrics were considered superior due to the silent nature of electric motors compared to the very loud noise of the gasoline engine. This advantage was removed with Hiram Percy Maxim's invention of the muffler in 1897. Thereafter internal combustion powered cars had two critical advantages: 1) long range and 2) high specific energy (far lower weight of petrol fuel versus weight of batteries). The building of battery electric vehicles that could rival internal combustion models had to wait for the introduction of modern semiconductor controls and improved batteries. Because they can deliver a high torque at low revolutions electric cars do not require such a complex drive train and transmission as internal combustion powered cars. Some post-2000 electric car designs such as the Venturi Fétish are able to accelerate from 0-60 mph (96 km h) in 4.0 seconds with a top speed around 130 mph (210 km h). Others have a range of 250 miles (400 km) on the United States Environmental Protection Agency‎ (EPA) highway cycle requiring 31 2 hours to completely charge. Equivalent fuel efficiency to internal combustion is not well defined but some press reports give it at around. Steam. Steam power, usually using an oil- or gas-heated boiler, was also in use until the 1930s but had the major disadvantage of being unable to power the car until boiler pressure was available (although the newer models could achieve this in well under a minute). It has the advantage of being able to produce very low emissions as the combustion process can be carefully controlled. Its disadvantages include poor heat efficiency and extensive requirements for electric auxiliaries.. Air. A compressed air car is an alternative fuel car that uses a motor powered by compressed air. The car can be powered solely by air, or by air combined (as in a hybrid electric vehicle) with gasoline diesel ethanol or electric plant and regenerative braking. Instead of mixing fuel with air and burning it to drive pistons with hot expanding gases; "compressed air cars" use the expansion of compressed air to drive their pistons. Several prototypes are available already and scheduled for worldwide sale by the end of 2008, though this has not happened as of January 2009. Companies releasing this type of car include Tata Motors and Motor Development International (MDI). Gas turbine. In the 1950s there was a brief interest in using gas turbine engines and several makers including Rover and Chrysler produced prototypes. In spite of the power units being very compact, high fuel consumption, severe delay in throttle response, and lack of engine braking meant no cars reached production. Rotary (Wankel) engines. Rotary Wankel engines were introduced into road cars by NSU with the Ro 80 and later were seen in the Citroën GS Birotor and several Mazda models. In spite of their impressive smoothness, poor reliability and fuel economy led to them largely disappearing. Mazda, beginning with the R100 then RX-2, has continued research on these engines, overcoming most of the earlier problems with the RX-7 and RX-8. Rocket and jet cars. A rocket car holds the record in drag racing. However, the fastest of those cars are used to set the Land Speed Record, and are propelled by propulsive jets emitted from rocket, turbojet, or more recently and most successfully turbofan engines. The ThrustSSC car using two Rolls-Royce Spey turbofans with reheat was able to exceed the speed of sound at ground level in 1997. Safety. There are three main statistics to which automobile safety can be compared: While road traffic injuries represent the leading cause in worldwide injury-related deaths, their popularity undermines this statistic. Mary Ward became one of the first documented automobile fatalities in 1869 in Parsonstown, Ireland and Henry Bliss one of the United States' first pedestrian automobile casualties in 1899 in New York. There are now standard tests for safety in new automobiles, like the EuroNCAP and the US NCAP tests, as well as insurance-backed IIHS tests. Costs and benefits. The costs of automobile usage, which may include the cost of: acquiring the vehicle, repairs, maintenance, fuel, depreciation, parking fees, tire replacement, taxes and insurance, are weighed against the cost of the alternatives, and the value of the benefits, perceived and real, of vehicle usage. The benefits may include on-demand transportation, mobility, independence and convenience. Similarly the costs to society of encompassing automobile use, which may include those of: maintaining roads, land use, pollution, public health, health care, and of disposing of the vehicle at the end of its life, can be balanced against the value of the benefits to society that automobile use generates. The societal benefits may include: economy benefits, such as job and wealth creation, of automobile production and maintenance, transportation provision, society wellbeing derived from leisure and travel opportunities, and revenue generation from the opportunities. The ability for humans to move flexibly from place to place has far reaching implications for the nature of societies. Environmental impact. Transportation is a major contributor to air pollution in most industrialised nations. According to the American Surface Transportation Policy Project nearly half of all Americans are breathing unhealthy air. Their study showed air quality in dozens of metropolitan areas has got worse over the last decade. In the United States the average passenger car emits 11,450 lbs (5 tonnes) of carbon dioxide, along with smaller amounts of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen. Residents of low-density, residential-only sprawling communities are also more likely to die in car collisions, which kill 1.2 million people worldwide each year, and injure about forty times this number. Sprawl is more broadly a factor in inactivity and obesity, which in turn can lead to increased risk of a variety of diseases. Other species are often negatively impacted by automobiles via habitat destruction and pollution. Over the lifetime of the average automobile the "loss of habitat potential" may be over 50,000 square meters (538,195 square feet) based on Primary production correlations. Fuel taxes may act as an incentive for the production of more efficient, hence less polluting, car designs (e.g. hybrid vehicles) and the development of alternative fuels. High fuel taxes may provide a strong incentive for consumers to purchase lighter, smaller, more fuel-efficient cars, or to not drive. On average, today's automobiles are about 75 percent recyclable, and using recycled steel helps reduce energy use and pollution. In the United States Congress, federally mandated fuel efficiency standards have been debated regularly, passenger car standards have not risen above the standard set in 1985. Light truck standards have changed more frequently, and were set at in 2007. Alternative fuel vehicles are another option that is less polluting than conventional petroleum powered vehicles. Future car technologies. Automobile propulsion technology under development include electric and plug-in hybrids, battery electric vehicles, hydrogen cars, biofuels, and various alternative fuels. Research into future alternative forms of power include the development of fuel cells, Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI), stirling engines, and even using the stored energy of compressed air or liquid nitrogen. New materials which may replace steel car bodies include duraluminum, fiberglass, carbon fiber, and carbon nanotubes. Telematics technology is allowing more and more people to share cars, on a pay-as-you-go basis, through such schemes as City Car Club in the UK, Mobility in mainland Europe, and Zipcar in the US. Alternatives to the automobile. Established alternatives for some aspects of automobile use include public transit (buses, trolleybuses, trains, subways, monorails, tramways), cycling, walking, rollerblading, skateboarding, horseback riding and using a velomobile. Car-share arrangements and carpooling are also increasingly popular–the U.S. market leader in car-sharing has experienced double-digit growth in revenue and membership growth between 2006 and 2007, offering a service that enables urban residents to "share" a vehicle rather than own a car in already congested neighborhoods. Bike-share systems have been tried in some European cities, including Copenhagen and Amsterdam. Similar programs have been experimented with in a number of U.S. Cities. Additional individual modes of transport, such as personal rapid transit could serve as an alternative to automobiles if they prove to be socially accepted.