The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • A11

E1 INDYSTAR.COM MONDAY, MAY 21, 2018 11A INDIANAPOLIS Beloved Sister, Mother, and Aunt. She is sur- vived by her sisters (Donna Evelyn), her brother (Larry), her son (Bubba) and nephew (Bryan). She was a mother to so many around her from OK, KY, IN. Linda Dickison James A. Wesner, 69, passed May 18, 2018.

At his request, the services are private. Arrangements by G.H. Herrmann Green- wood Funeral Home at The Gardens at Olive Branch. www.ghher- rmann.com James A. Wesner Linda 75 Indianapolis 17-May WoodlawnFuneral Home JamesA.

69 18-May GHHerrmannFH Additional information in display obituaries Obituaries appear in print and online at www.legacy.com/obituaries/IndyStar OBITUARIES AND DEATH NOTICES Name Age Town, State Death Date Arrangements Obituaries Gone from us, but leaving memories death can never take away, memories that will always linger while upon this earth we stay. SOURCE: The Book of Memoriams view mirror that helped him win the Indy 500 in 1911 was banned for said Matt Anderson, cura- tor of transportation at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn, Mich. Every car in the race except yellow and black Marmon Wasp had two occupants, the driver and a whose job included watching behind for 3-by-8-inch mirror made his car lighter by eliminating the need for a second oc- cupant. Other drivers complained, and rearview mir- rors were not permanently allowed at Indy until the late 1930s. Disc brakes Jaguar and British Racing Motors began using disc brakes in the early 1950s at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and in Grand Prix racing, Goddard said.

The brakes lasted longer and provided more stopping power in ex- treme use than the disc brakes that were common until then. Nearly all vehicles use disc brakes today. Safety cage Rover racing cars in the 1950s pioneered the safety cage or roll cage that was the precursor to energy-ab- sorbing vehicle structures that allow people to walk away from violent, high-speed crashes today, Goddard said. It was the brainchild of engineering whiz Spen King, who went on to become later Rover chief engi- neer and create the luxury SUV with the original Range Rover. Antilock brakes English engineering specialist Ferguson Formula Developments, or FFD, built a few race cars with anti- lock brake systems for in the 1960s, Goddard said.

Called ABS, the system is used on nearly every new vehicle today. It keeps the brakes from locking, making it easier for the driver to control the car even in panic stops. FFD also developed a pioneering all-wheel- drive Formula 1 race car, the P99, which ran with little success in the early 1960s. All-wheel-drive cars All-wheel-drive came into its own when legendary Volkswagen executive Ferdinand Porsche made AWD synonymous with high-performance cars that used all four wheels to transfer the power to the pave- ment, most notably the original Audi Quattro rally car. Fiat legendary Lancia Delta Integrale Group rally car further popularized AWD for performance cars in the 1980s.

Street cars stressed that AWD pro- vides more control on slippery surfaces as well as when racing. Crash data recorders Like the black boxes in planes, data recorders keep track of what happened and how severe crashes and other incidents are. The Indy 500 required them start- ing in 1993, and most new vehicles have them today. Multifunction steering wheels Most modern vehicles' steering wheels have built- in controls for audio, cruise control or voice recogni- tion, a trend that began when race car designers learned it was easier and safer for drivers to adjust controls if they have to look away from the road to the right button or dial. like they teach you in ed: Keeping your hands on the wheel is Anderson said.

Laser headlights High-intensity headlights using lasers were pio- neered by endurance racing cars at Le Mans and other races in this decade, Goddard said. next? Carbon Airliners, military aircraft and many race cars are already made of carbon a composite lighter and stronger than steel. The expensive material is used on a few high-performance cars like the Ford GT and Chevrolet Corvette, but automakers are hard at work to reduce its cost and make it easier to work with so they can use it to make mass-market cars and trucks lighter, safer and more fuel The 2019 GMC Sierra is an example. It will an optional carbon cargo box. Contact Mark Phelan: or 313-222-6731.

Follow him on Twitter lan. Innovations Continued from Page 1A known for its danger, like the time a plastic bag de- railed Juan Pablo qualifying run. But most of all its known for its abundance. Perhaps just part of having more than 300,000 fans get hyped for the biggest sports event of the year. But one has to wonder if the refuse is really worth it.

encourage fans to be respectful of the property and the said Alex Damron, the Speed- director of communications. He added that there are several opportunities for guests to recycle, and that their catering vendor uses biodegradable plates. Damron could not give a number for how many pounds of trash are left behind after the race. But Fox59 reported in 2013 that Speedway esti- mated 50,000 pounds. For comparison, an IndyCar is about 1,600 pounds meaning race attendees pro- duce about 31 cars worth of trash.

Luckily, it stay there for long. Each year, hordes of volunteers tackle the mountains of trash in exchange for donations to their organizations. Balloons a time-honored tradition that dates back to 1947, according to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway: Thou- sands of balloons are released on race morning. certainly a sight to see, but just the thought makes Christina stomach churn. the Indy 500 and some universities are still doing balloon releases is beyond said Trapani, a marine debris researcher in Virginia.

you took a bag of (thousands of) balloons and threw them on the ground, that would be littering. So the Trapani at one point worked on a stranded response team for wildlife on the Virginia coast. She said there were several times that she found balloons in the gas- trointestinal tracts of sea life, particularly turtles, who mistake the debris for tasty The danger is not exclusive to marine life, however. Birds and other wildlife, Trapani said, are also suscep- tible to either choking on the balloons or starving when they become lodged in their throats. such a concern that balloon releases are illegal in a handful of states, according to Balloons Blow, a website devoted to eliminating balloon litter.

According to Damron, the balloons used in the event are made from 100 percent organic rubber, and are even hand tied to ensure that everything released is fully biodegradable. Still, according to Trapani, it can take years for the balloons to biodegrade, during which time they con- tinue to pose a threat to wildlife. And, no, not im- plausible that a balloon could make it from the Speed- way to the East Coast. lot of it depended on the currents, the weather and the Trapani said. a few months ago we found a balloon in the Chesapeake Bay that was from Despite the danger and the handful of complaints the Speedway receives every year, it looks like this tra- dition going anywhere.

have not considered an alternative. The bal- loon release is a cherished piece of our pre-race cere- mony and will continue to be part of Race Dam- ron said. Emissions from traffic to calculate how much carbon Indy 500 spectators spew on their way to and from the race without knowing exact travel plans and the makes and models of their vehicles. So turn to the back of the envelope. Assuming that a fair number of attendees say 150,000, or about half the last Indy 500 at- tendance will be coming from at least Lafayette-dis- tance away (about an drive).

Using most popular car F-series) at the most popular age (about 11 years), fair to assume that those folks would produce about 19.95 million pounds of carbon dioxide, according to the Terrapass carbon footprint calculator. Now, consider this by comparison. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the average passenger vehicle emits roughly 10,000 pounds of car- bon dioxide. Over the course of an entire year.

Oh, and that take into account the seeming- ly endless minutes that tick by as drivers sit idling in to arrive at the Speedway or parking, con- tinuing to spew out greenhouse gases that play their role in climate change. Cloudy or smoggy? Also making its way out of the countless tailpipes that congregate around the Speedway is a cocktail of other air pollutants that can be hazardous for human health. One of the top culprits: particulate matter. These particles of soot and metals give smog its murky color and can penetrate deep into the lungs, which make them one of the most serious threats to human health. While these pollutants make their way out of most cars running on gasoline, diesel exhaust is a particu- larly big contributor.

Not to be outdone, other exhaust emissions such as carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen ox- ides irritate your lungs. Ever had a coughing at the Speedway? Now you might know why. Race car releases Saving perhaps the most obvious environmental impact for last the spectators the only ones driving cars when it comes to the Indy 500. Indy cars slurp up about 115 gallons of fuel on race day. So, yeah, roughly miles to the gallon.

No one is arguing these gas-guzzling speedsters that tack to the track are fuel That said, IndyCar switched several years ago to run on fuel that is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent racing gasoline. Fueled by ethanol, the cars burn more fuel cleanly, according to a report presented at the American Chemical Society in 2013. That means the emissions they belch out are much lower in air pollutants that can adversely human health and contribute to the formation of smog. That includes carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and par- ticulate matter those nasty tiny particles of metals that get deep in the lungs. But also an environmental downside.

The fuel cocktail means the cars release mainly carbon di- oxide and water vapor into the air and that means more bad that absorbs and traps heat on Earth. And that means, yep, global warming. Emily Hopkins and Sarah Bowman cover the envi- ronment for IndyStar. Contact Emily at (317) 444-6409 or emily.hopkins@indystar.com. Follow them on Twit- ter: Call Sarah at (317) 444-6129.

Follow her on Twitter and Facebook: environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. Pollution Continued from Page 3A Volunteers clean up what Indy 500 spectators leave behind, in exchange for donations to their organizations. how the Snake Pit looked in 2017. MYKAL.