electricity, is wasted.

Internal combustion engines generate heat, much of which is lost to the environment. To put it more bluntly, most of the heat energy produced by your automobile, which could be used to produce electricity, is wasted.



If German exhaust system supplier Eberspaecher has its way, some of that currently-wasted heat may go back into powering a steam turbine, that may some day replace the alternator. The concept is simple: water is piped into a housing that surrounds part of the exhaust system. Residual heat from the exhaust vaporizes the water, producing steam that drives a miniature turbine blade. The turbine can then spin agenerator, which can either supplement or replace a conventional alternator.



Since most alternators are driven by engine belts, they rob power and increase fuel consumption, at least to some degree. The Eberspaecher-designed turbine system has the potential to generate up to 1,100 watts of power, which thecompany equates to a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of 10 g/km.



That's not the only technology the company is working on; a second design (which could easily be used in conjunction with the company's turbine generator) can translate residual heat directly into electricity. The system uses the temperature differential between the hot exhaust gas and the ambient air to produce electricity, which can be used to lessen the load on a car's alternator. This system produces about a third as much power as Eberspaecher's steam turbine, but even this is enough to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 5 g/km.

Har ek friend zaroori hota hai

What would you do when things get tough and you struggle to keep pace with your competition? Most people would turn to their friends. So did the country's largest mobile operator. After reporting lower profits in the first quarter and failing to score with its recent campaigns, Airtel came out with Har ek friend zaroori hota hai ad, and won over several fans if not friends.



Consider this: the ad has had 1.8 million views on YouTube, shared over 62,000 times on Facebook and mentioned in 10 lakh plus Tweets; more than 1.45 lakh users have set it as their hello tune, and some 1.17 lakh people downloaded the tune in August!



"Airtel's manifestation of connection in its latest ad is better than any other brand; it speaks the language of the youth and the entire concept of staying connected with friends has been executed well," says Abraham Koshy, professor of marketing at IIM Ahmedabad.





It's not just Airtel that has rode piggy on friendship to connect with the new-read Facebook-generation of consumers by either using it as a theme in advertising or as a business model. Its rivals Vodafone and DoCoMo, cola majors Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, internet giant Google and liquor maker United Spirits have all used friendship as a model for marketing or building brands.



While the concept itself is not new, it has emerged a big trend of late, thanks to a modern lifestyle where people spend hours socializing, if not in pubs then on social media network sites such as Facebook and Twitter.



"The big difference today is the idea of 'friends with benefits'. Friendship now is almost a currency," says Dheeraj Sinha, regional planning director of marketing communications agency Bates 141.



FRIENDSHIP IS 'TOUCHSHIP'



Two-thirds of young people in India admit that their friends have more influence over their decisions than their families, according to McCann Worldgroup's latest Truth About Youth global study released in May 2011.



A recent survey by research firm Demographix and Know Your Mobile found that 93% participants offered advice and recommendations to their friends and families on mobile phones.



McCann's Truth About Youth revealed that connecting to a broader network of friends has replaced the singular need to belong to a tight-knit group of friends.



Lyricist and McCann Worldgroup Executive Chairman Prasoon Joshi calls it a friendship of convenience, which is less demanding, less taxing and suited to the mindset of consumers.



"We are becoming a more self-indulgent society, and it's reflected in the friendship and the friends that we have. To stay in touch has become the latest phenomenon; therefore, it's no longer friendship but touchship," says Joshi.



Clearly, friendship is no longer only about emotions; it's also about the transaction that this relationship enables. And this shift from emotions to benefits has become a big playing ground for brands.





FRIENDSHIP IS BUSINESS



United Spirits' McDowell's No. 1 has been consistently celebrating the spirit of friendship in its ads and brand positioning over the last few decades. Whether it's Golden McDowell Moments with friends or Dosti Ka No. 1 Spirit campaign, the brand has grown on the friendship plank to become the fastest growing Indian liquor brand in the world.



"For McDowell's No.1, friendship is the language of the consumers," says United Spirits Senior Vice President (Marketing) Mathew Xavier. "The brand has ensured integrating this language in all its consumer communication across all media."

Success in mathematics

Primary schoolchildren are getting full marks in maths at school despite not knowing how to multiply, add or subtract small numbers in their heads, experts say.



The national curriculum expects pupils to know how to do basic addition and subtraction using numbers up to 20 by the end of their third year in school.



However, academics from the Institute of Education tested 259 children in schools judged outstanding by Ofsted and found none of them knew all their basic number facts even though their maths was 'above average'.



The findings come as a separate report today warns that A-levels are failing to teach pupils enough maths to study physics and engineering at university.



It raises fresh concerns about the way students are being taught at A-level, with fears that they simply learn how to pass the exams rather than given an adequate grounding in the subject ahead of university study.



Richard Cowan, of the Economic and Social Research Council-funded project at the IOE, who led the primary school maths test research, said: 'Ignorance of number facts is not the barrier to success in mathematics it is often believed to be.'



During the tests Professor Cowan asked children to perform a series of sums within three seconds. Only 61 per cent knew more than half the sums and only 1 per cent knew all of them.

The children were also asked what strategy they used to solve each problem. Only 10 per cent relied on their knowledge of sums on most problems, and none did on all of them.



Professor Cowan said: 'The current national curriculum suggests children develop their knowledge of facts initially through counting, then by using principles until the facts are well established.



'It is a compromise between a traditional emphasis on knowledge of facts as a basis for success in maths and a progressive emphasis on understanding principles.

'Many people agree with the traditional view and think children should spend more time learning facts to become competent in arithmetic and progress in mathematics. This study does not support the traditional view.



'We are not saying that fact knowledge is irrelevant, just that it develops more slowly than the current national curriculum allows and that this does not jeopardize children's mathematics progress.'



He said: 'Facts help children grasp principles, and applying principles helps children learn facts.'



'If parents want to help their children, then they should encourage them to use their knowledge of principles to solve problems, not get them to memorise the answers to problems like little parrots.



'We agree with the current national curriculum that there is no point in teaching that 3+5=8 if the child doesn't know what that means and can't solve the problem by counting', he added.

The report into A-levels maths today says that students are left struggling with their degree courses because they lack a good understanding of maths, according to the study commissioned by the Institute of Physics (IOP).



It raises fresh concerns that students are simply being taught to pass exams at A-level, with pupils taught how to use equations 'like recipes', rather than understanding what they actually mean.



The study is based on a survey of 393 physics, engineering and computer science students and 40 UK academics, as well as a small number of interviews.



The findings show that more than half of the academics questioned said students were not well prepared to deal with the maths in their degree course.



The vast majority of academics said this lack of maths 'fluency' would be an obstacle to students achieving their potential in the future.





The study also found that almost half of the students questioned thought that the maths in their course was more difficult than they expected.



But nearly four fifths thought they were able to deal quite or very well with the mathematical content of their degree.



Some of the students questioned said that they were unaware that physics contained so much maths.



Overall, 91 per cent of academics said that students joining their degree course lacked maths knowledge.



The report concludes that many academics are concerned about teaching to the test at A-level.



A number of academics felt that mathematics was taught too heavily to exams at A-level - in so far as students are taught to learn various equations and techniques by rote in order to pass exams, rather than being taught how and why the equations have been developed.



The report found that many academics and youngsters believe students should be able to practise maths more, in the same way that a musician practises musical scales.



The study also raises concerns that there is a big gap between physics and maths A-levels, warning that they are treated as two separate subjects, when they should be closely linked.