LABJ’s LA Stories
Auto Stimulation
It’s been a decade since Jay Leno drove into the first Gilmore Heritage Auto Show at Farmers Market in a wood-paneled 1922 Rolls Royce truck.
It overheated while idling in line to be registered.
Similar mishaps are less likely to happen with the Ford Mustangs, Chevrolet Camaros, Dodge Chargers, Plymouth Road Runners, Pontiac GTOs and Oldsmobile 442s that will be on display at the 10th annual show, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 5.
A. F. Gilmore Co., which owns the market and organizes the exhibition, chose “Pure American Muscle: A Tribute to the American Muscle Car” as this year’s theme, designed to appeal to car buffs with a special attraction for nostalgic baby boomers.
The 90 vintage cars on display from owners throughout Southern California will also include autos of other makes and models from the 1930s through the 1970s.
David Greenberg
Heart of Matter
When Brad Filippone and a team of physicists first tried to slow down neutrons six years ago, their initial experiment was pretty much a bomb.
“The first time, we got zero, none,” said Filippone, a physics professor at the California Institute of Technology. “It was really disappointing.”
But their latest attempt was a success. Filippone and a group of Caltech colleagues and scientists from universities around the nation were recently able to slow down neutrons (which usually travel at 10 percent of the speed of light) to about 15 miles per hour. The scientists collected about 140 neutrons per cubic centimeter, the most significant number since the efforts in 1970s.
“We were really excited about the measurements,” Filippone said. “We went out and had several big collaboration dinners.”
The researchers honed the technique of trapping slowed, ultracold neutrons at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. There, they smashed protons from a nuclear accelerator into a material like tungsten; this knocks the neutrons out of their nuclei. Passing through plastic material and heavy hydrogen further slows the neutrons until they eventually emerge at the desired speeds.
Karey Wutkowski
Rolling Along
Bikers the kind who take their pleasure in motorized, not pedal-powered vehicles have never had the reputation of being particularly health-conscious.
But don’t tell that to the folks at the American Diabetes Association, who count on Harley Davidson aficionados and other hog lovers for their biggest fundraiser of the year. About 8,000 riders from across Southern California are expected to participate in this year’s Rip’s B.A.D. Ride. (B.A.D. stands for “Bikers Against Diabetes,” in case you hadn’t guessed.) The ride raised $400,000 for the Orange County chapter of the association last year and this time around the goal is half a million.
The June 13 journey starts at various locations, including sites in Marina del Rey and Van Nuys, and ends at Oak Canyon Park in the Santa Ana Mountains, where participants listen to live bands and feast on a barbecue lunch.
“A lot of our goal is to create an awareness of the disease and what people can do (to avoid it),” said Lori Stevens, executive director of the chapter. “Diet and exercise is the key.”
Laurence Darmiento
Superhero
Just because blind kids don’t actually see “Spider-Man” doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy the big-screen adventure.
The movie was screened recently at Universal Studios for about 100 vision-impaired children supplemented with a special soundtrack that featured narration by Stan Lee, creator of Marvel Comics heroes, including Spider-Man.
Woodland Hills-based TheatreVision has produced 400 such narrated movies since 1994 and schedules special screenings annually. The non-profit organization wants to offer narrations in theaters through headsets.
“When the viewing is over, the children come up to me and ask if they’ll have to wait another year to see a movie,” said Helen Harris, founder of TheatreVision. She said she is working with studios and theater chains to equip theaters for these movies. “Hopefully they won’t have to wait.”
Andrew Simons
The Roving Eye
What Price Freedom?
Without the sunshine, the beaches, the hot rods and culture, where does California wind up? Near the bottom of the heap, according to a new survey that quantifies which states are the friendliest toward business.
The Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy in San Francisco created an “economic freedom” index to measure states according to 143 business-friendly variables from tax rates to tort laws, welfare spending to environmental regulations. California ranked 49th (and New York 50th).
Though the Golden State ranked near the bottom in three heavily weighted categories regulatory burdens and government and welfare spending it placed second in judicial reforms and 21st in government size.
Lawrence McQuillan, the group’s project director, said that California’s judicial ranking got a boost from recently enacted workers’ compensation reform that now puts it ahead of most states in reducing litigation.
He also acknowledged that Californians are willing to pay more to live here. “Many people choose to live with less economic freedom and to get other benefits, like the weather, that can’t be measured,” McQuillan said.
For those businesses looking to relocate, the survey found Kansas, Colorado and Virginia had laws that encouraged free enterprise.
The study was released last week in association with Forbes magazine, which also provided its ranking of the best cities to live in.
Overall, Madison, Wis., captured the No. 1 ranking, followed by Raleigh, N.C., and Austin, Tex. Los Angeles ranked 116th overall and near the bottom of the list, at 147th, in cost of doing business.
Kate Berry
Best and Worst: States rated highest and lowest in ‘economic freedom.’
1. Kansas
2. Colorado
3. Virginia
4. Idaho
5. Utah
46. Illinois
47. Rhode Island
48. Connecticut
49. California
50. New York
