July 23, 1903 was sold the first production car Ford — Model A. Proud owner of the machines became a resident of the city of Chicago (Illinois) Dr. Ernst Pfenning. He purchased this vehicle for 750 U.S. dollars (about 18 thousand dollars in our time). The total for the year released 1750 cars in Model A. In 1904 the series was replaced by the new line — Model C.
Model A was a double stroller. This gave rise to a quadruple version with a canvas roof. The basis of the vehicle was the engine of eight horsepower and 3-speed planetary gearbox. Weighs about 560 kg Model A could accelerate to 72 km / h. Like most cars of that generation, the car is not known for high reliability. The engine constantly overheated, and the transmission “slipped”. However, Model A has become popular in the United States.
It is noteworthy that before the start of sales, the company spent virtually all investments in the amount of 28 000 USD (669 000 dollars currently). And at the time of sale of the first copy of Model A Ford on account of there were only 223 of the dollar and 65 cents. If the first series of these vehicles has proved to be commercially unsuccessful, then perhaps automotive company wouldn’t last two years. But today Ford Motor Company is the world’s fourth largest car manufacturer in terms of production over the entire period of existence of the company.
Ford Model A
23 July 1985 on combat duty was delivered the first missile regiment “Topol” in the city of Yoshkar-Ola. “Topol” is a mobile missile system equipped with three-stage solid-fuel Intercontinental ballistic missile RT-2PM. The development of this weapon began in 1975 at the Moscow Institute of thermal technology under the leadership of chief designer A. D. Nadiradze, but officially the decision on creating the “Topol”, which was released on 19 July 1977. The first flight test of the missile took place on 27 October 1982 at the site “Kapustin Yar” and ended in complete failure. The second launch took place on 8 February 1983. He has been successful. August 10, 1983 was the fourth test launch of “Topol”, first produced not from a silo, but by a self-propelled mobile launcher.
The missile RT-2PM performed according to the scheme with three stages. Structure Assembly weighs about 45 tons. The power of the rocket to date is 0.55 megatons. RT-2PM with index 15Ж58 able to overcome a distance of about 10,000 km, but rockets with the index 15ZH65 range increased to 11 000 km.
Launcher designed on the basis of semionovo chassis MAZ-7912/MAZ-7917, able to accelerate to 40 km/h.
Missile complex “Topol”
July 23, 2013, the public was presented a network of neuromorphic chips that can mimic the function of the human brain. Artificial intelligence today is called horrible. For example, Siri integrated in Apple devices. And powerful supercomputers that can process and store a lot of information, but, nevertheless, unable to make independent decisions. But researchers from the University of Zurich and ETH made the first step towards the development of real artificial intelligence. So, scientists were able to create a network of neuromorphic chips — the small circuit boards that mimic the work of brain neurons. Formed network, according to the researchers, striving for size, power, and energy consumption indicators to the human brain. The transistors in these chips function analog scale, and therefore they do not require a large number of items. This network can simulate some cognitive processes of the human brain. It can store a large number of models of behavior provided by the user. The network was given the job, the fulfillment of which was required to use short-term memory and the ability to make decisions. And the system successfully coped with them. The study’s lead author Giacomo Indiveri argues that the network of microchips imitate the brain’s neurons and is reminiscent of the structure of the mammalian brain.