Congratulations!

In celebration of your achievement and of the responsibility we all have to make the world a better place, take a listen to the only speech you'll ever want to hear twice.

It comes from Robert Krulwich, NPR science reporter and Radiolab co-host. It was originally featured on Radiolab's podcast back in 2008. [Learn more about Radiolab here.] 

In a commencement address at CalTech, Krulwich makes the case that reasoned thought doesn't sell itself.

You're lucky enough to have found both the time and money to further your education, and now you can share the wealth. In doing so, Krulwich argues, your delivery matters.  A lot. Think of all the liars, writers, TV and radio shows, and second-rate raconteurs you're competing for attention with. The trick is to understand how the importance of your work is mainly limited by how good you can tell its story. Don't talk about science, tell them a story.

Congratulations again, and good luck. 

-Mike Dronkers

In an unusual Op-Ed on the eve of marijuana's high holiday*, the Gregory Brothers (best known for making music from TV news clips) are given some facetime on the New York Times' opinion page. 

In this case, Autotune is the news. 

"There must be something amiss if Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York, former Representative Ron Paul of Texas and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, despite having different views on drug legalization, can all agree that the War on Drugs is fundamentally flawed. Mr. Paul has long favored ending the federal War on Drugs, while Governor Christie recently called it a failure. Though he does not support legalization. Governor Cuomo has introduced plans to bring fairness, through decriminalization methods, to the racial imbalance of marijuana-related arrests in New York City.

To us, the harmony of these criticisms begged to be recast as harmony of the musical variety. With the help of a supporting cast (including Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes of “Jay and Silent Bob” fame), the governors and the former congressman are almost able, in song, to resolve the dissonance of this failed policy."

*No pun intended whatsoever. Seriously. 

84 mpg in a standard VW Passat TDI.

It can be done, as John and Helen Taylor have recently proven. And you can do it, too. More on that in a moment.

Humboldt's gas prices are high, but last week's North Coast Journal cover story doesn't suggest relief anytime soon, if ever. And a quick scan of used cars on Humboldt Craigslist shows that people are holding on to their high-mpg cars. So it's on us to figure this out.

Back to that Passat. New York Times:

"To simulate real-world driving conditions, the Taylors brought along 120 pounds of luggage and limited their driving to daylight hours. “We wanted the drive to be realistic...inspiring Americans to save on their upcoming summer driving holidays,” Mr. Taylor said."

How did they do it? 

Hypermiling is the habit of driving as efficiently as possible. Some people are able to push a Prius up to over 100 mpg, but it'll work on any old car. Older cars can get hybrid-milage, even.

I've tried some basic hypermiling techniques over the last two tankfuls. And it totally worked.

I took my automatic-transmission Honda from 21 mpg to 25.7 mpg basically by driving more smoothly. That's a 22 percent efficiency increase for free. That's the gas equivalent of one less commute per week. So I'm hooked on hypermiling and shooting for 26 mpg. 

Here are the big hypermiling tricks:

• Be smooth. Don't sprint off that red light light or race up to that stop sign. Be consistent. Coast when it's safe.
• Lower RPMs in higher gears. 
• Obey the speed limit, especially on the highway. Every 5 mph over 65 is like adding 25 cents per gallon.

That's basically what I did on my Eureka-Ferndale commute. If you drive stick -- or better yet, have a diesel vehicle -- the sky's the limit.

The couple above, John and Helen Taylor, have an extensive list of tips.

Taking off the roof rack, getting junk out of the car, keeping your tires inflated properly ... a lot of this stuff is common sense. Even more isn't: removing mudflaps and wipers, buying groceries at uphill locations, modifying intakes. Check it out. Saftey comes first, so hypermile responsibly.

With nothing to lose and money to save, give it a shot and tell us about your experiments with efficiency. 

Further reading:

50+mpg in non-hybrid 80's cars

Popular Mechanic's MPG picks

John & Helen Taylor's Fuel Academy

New York Times' Hypermiling Tips

EcoModder: hardcore efficiency gearheads