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Sept. 5, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: What does 'doing the right thing' entail?

Caroline B. Glick: The master strategist

Sept. 4, 2008

Ron Kampeas: Biden, Palin take lead in clash on Mideast issues

Bruce Dancis: With humor as their weapon, the Three Stooges took on Hitler

Sept. 3, 2008

Rabbi S. Binyomin Ginsberg: Productive school years don't just happen

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Quick lamb stew serves up flavors of India

Sept. 2, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Costly Advice

Caroline B. Glick: Calling Israel's bluff

JWisdom: Wandering in Wonder by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

August 29, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: 20/20 sightlessness

Caroline B. Glick: When history is not repeated

JWisdom: Blessed or Cursed: It's Really Up to You by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 28, 2008

Steve Lipman: A Comeback for the 'Jewish Jordan'

Jeffrey Weiss: Researcher reports 'intriguing' diabetes breakthrough

August 27, 2008

Rabbi Zecharya Greenwald: Removing the perfectionist's mask

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Nunn: Summer harvest linguine

JWisdom:: The Missing Link in Spiritual Life by Rabbi David Aaron

August 26, 2008

Yaffa Ganz: Grandma gets lessons in staying cool

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: The Dems' 'soft' jihadist

JWisdom:: Today: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Plague of indifference

August 25, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: A friend is bearing a silly grudge from a supposed wrong. What recourse do I have?

Daniel Pipes: Barack Obama through Muslim Eyes

JWisdom:: The knowledge you need to overcome your insecurities by Malka Schulman

August 22, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: Life's essential ingredient

Caroline B. Glick: Dominos anyone?

JWisdom:: Actually, Do Sweat the Small Stuff! by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 21, 2008

Today in Biblical History by Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Popularization of Kabbalah: 20 Menachem-Av 1558 CE

Jonathan Rosenblum: Lessons from the Beyond

JWisdom: : The Olympian within is rooting for you -- yes, you! –- to go for the gold

August 20, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Misleading Platform Platitudes

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Chicken Salad with Asian Dressing

JWisdom: The Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith: America's Defense of the Jews --- Until WWII by Rabbi Nosson Scherman

August 19, 2008

Dennis Prager: If the Almighty doesn't exist

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Obama's Islamist problem has nothing to do with his upbringing

JWisdom: Think your life is messed up? by Rabbi David Aaron

August 18, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Business with Friends

Diana West: Roars About Russia, Bare Whispers About Islam

JWisdom: Relationship agony: The real cause by Malka Schulman

August 15, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: To love the Divine

Caroline B. Glick: Georgia, Israel, and the nature of man

JWisdom: The Truly Righteous Don't Demand Entitlements by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 14, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Confessions of broken spirit

Libby Lazewnik: The Numbers Game

JWisdom: Six Questions You'll Be Asked in Heaven? - Uh - Let's Just Take One for Now! by Gavriel Aryeh Sanders

August 13, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Georgia should be on their minds

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: Go Greek: Pair flavorful lamb kebabs with a hearty salad

JWisdom: Human hybrids aren't science fiction by Rabbi David Aaron

August 12, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: Bless us

Daniel Pipes: The West's Islamist Infiltrators

JWisdom: From Sadness to Gladness: The Route from Tisha b'Av to Rosh Hashana by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

August 11, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: A Jewish view on fair pricing

Caroline B. Glick: Ignoring failure in Gaza

JWisdom: 'Communication' Is Not The Answer! by Malka Schulman

August 7, 2008

Rabbi David Gutterman: A Continuing Story With a Sustaining Goal

Rabbi Berel Wein: Mourning and morning

JWisdom: Yes, we are still in exile by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

August 6, 2008

David Ashenfelter: Government made military engineer's life a living hell because of his faith, Defense Department report documents

Jonathan Tobin: Speak the Truth; Defeat the Lies

JWisdom: Jewish Spirituality: Fusion or Confusion? by Rabbi David Aaron

August 5, 2008

Chris Leppek: Church/state wall beginning to crumble?

Paul Greenberg: Exit Olmert (no encore, please)

JWisdom: Serenity: Make the commitment by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin (Read by Gavriel Sanders)

August 4, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Am I taking advantage of another's psychological quirk?

Andrew Silow-Carroll: A black and a Jew walk into the White House…

JWisdom: The Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith: Edward R. Morrow visits the ‘living dead’ by Rabbi Nosson Scherman

March 22, 2007

J-Rhythms with Avraham Rosenblum: JWR's cutting-edge music program showcasing performers -- singers, song writers, musicians, and bands -- who learn and live the Torah lifestyle (OUR NEWEST IGODCAST !)

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review

How airbags work

By Marshall Brain

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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | (MCT) Imagine for a moment that you are driving your car. It's a beautiful day, and you are driving down the freeway at 60 mph. The windows are down; the radio is playing. You have not a care in the world.


The funny thing is that when you are sitting in that position, you are positioned right in front of an explosion that is waiting to happen. There is a computer in your car dedicated to that explosion - its single goal in life is to set that explosion off. And the computer is listening to a tiny sensor that in many cars is no bigger than a pea. When that sensor decides it is time for the explosion to happen, the computer will hear its tiny signal. In less than a millisecond the explosion will start. When the explosion happens, it is powerful enough to kill people, but for most people it is not deadly. Instead, it saves their life.


Welcome to the world of airbags. An airbag is an explosion designed to protect rather than to destroy.


The reason why your airbag is poised and ready to explode out of your steering wheel is because an accident can happen at any moment. For example, a car driving the other direction on the freeway could suddenly veer across the median and run into you head-on.


At the moment of a head-on collision, your airbag has about 5 hundredths of a second to react. During that time, your body is going to decelerate from 60 mph to 0 mph. The goal of the airbag is to help that deceleration happen as gently as possible.


The first thing that detects the crash is an accelerometer. An accelerometer is simply a device that can sense when something is rapidly accelerating or decelerating. Many cars use a tiny micro-machine etched out of silicon to detect the crash. But an accelerometer could be as simple as a steel ball attached to a magnet at one end of a small tube. During a crash, the ball breaks free from the magnet and hits two metal contacts to complete a circuit. The airbag control computer gets a signal from the accelerometer. Most cars have four or five accelerometers, and the airbag computer wants more than one of them to send a signal to be sure it is not a false alarm. Once the computer is satisfied that this is the real deal, it starts the fireworks.


What happens next is rather amazing. Inside your steering wheel is a bag made out of a fabric like nylon. There is also a metal canister called an inflator that contains sodium azide. Sodium azide is a highly reactive chemical that is very much like the fuel in a solid rocket engine. The signal from the computer fires an igniter, which lights the sodium azide. The sodim azide reacts incredibly quickly and it produces a huge cloud of hot nitrogen exhaust gas. That gas goes straight into the nylon bag. The bag inflates in a few milliseconds, with the front of the bag bursting out of the center of the steering wheel at 200 mph. This 200 mph piece of fabric is heading straight for your face.


The reason why it is heading for your face is because, if you think about it, your head is the most important thing to protect in this collision. Your torso is held in place by the seatbelt, but your head, attached to your spindly little neck, weighs as much as a bowling ball. This bowling ball contains your brain. Your brain is pretty fragile and it is still moving forward at 60 mph. The idea behind an airbag is to slam the piece of nylon, backed by a jet of nitrogen gas, into your head at 200 mph. That way, your head slows down to zero MPH as gently as possible. The airbag also takes a big load off your neck. Without an airbag, your neck has to take all the stress of bringing your bowling ball head to a stop.


So think about this the next time you are driving down the road. Sitting in front of you is your own personal explosion, connected to its own explosion-control computer. Around your car there are a number of hidden collision-sensing accelerometers. All of this equipment is sitting there quietly, waiting to bring your bowling ball head to a stop in 5 hundredths of a second, should the need ever arise.

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Previously:


How the U.S. income tax works
How gum works
How caffeine works
How Daylight Saving Time works
How a cruise missile works
How snow making works

© 2007, How Stuff Works Inc. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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