History of the Old Testament Essay Example for Free

History of the Old Testament Essay Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken. I. Historical context of Isaiah 7:14-16 The historical setting is critical to the account since the prophet supplies it and the oracle draws on its timing. With a close study of the events referred to we may date the oracle in this chapter to 734 B. C. (Ross,Allen) It was when the ruthless Assyrian conqueror, on the throne is Tiglathpileser III, a ruthless and powerful king was terrorizing the all other nations, and Judah, unwilling to join in a coalition against him, was attacked by Israel and Syria, the ancient Aramaea , with its main city in Damascus, and Ephraim, the northern Israelite state, with its main city Samaria and therefore, King Ahaz when he heard of this coalition was thinking seriously of inviting Assyrian help(Tiglathpileser III). It must be pointed out that the whole purpose was to dissuade King Ahaz from embarking a wrong course of action, namely, that of relying upon Assyria rather than upon the Lord. In the name of Jehovah, it was this moment the prophet commences with a historical announcement. Isaiah 7:1 says It came to pass, in the days of Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aramaea, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, and could not make war against it. The Syrian king Rezin had come up against Jerusalem and with him was Pekah of Israel. Their purpose was to wage war, but unable to besiege it the prophecy of the chapter is amazingly accurate. The sign that a boy was about to be born is the pivotal point. Before he would be old enough to tell right from wrong, that is, about 12 years old, the enemies would not only be defeated but cease to exist. According to history, Shalmaneser V (the successor to Tiglathpileser) campaigned against the land and besieged Samaria. He died in the duration and was succeeded by Sargon II who completed the destruction of the northern state in 722 or 721 B. C. So the oracle in Isaiah 7 could be dated about twelve years before that destruction in 722 B. (Ross, Allen ) II. Literary Context of Isaiah 7:14-16 Therefore the Lord Himself give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. The word therefore signifies that something had taken place before the incident forwarded here in verse 14, and inasmuch as the wicked king in hypocritical fashion rejects the opportunity of asking for a sign, then he lost the privilege of asking a sign in his own favor. Instead the Lord Himself will give a sign, and this one of His own choosing, announcing the birth of a wondrous Child as the sign of deliverance, and making the infancy of that Child the measure of the time that Judah is yet to suffer affliction, before the time of deliverance will come. Yet as we have seen because of Ahaz unbelief after the comfortable promises made to him as a branch of the house of David, what took place was a terrible threatening against him, as a degenerate branch of that house; for though the God was patience and His loving kindness shall not be utterly taken away, for the sake of David and the covenant made with, yet his inequity shall be dealt with the rod, and his sin with stripes. In fulfillment of the prophecy, the Egyptians and the Assyrians filled the land in their war with each other. Devastation from this war severely tested the people, so that nothing grew in the fields, and the survivors had to rely on curds and honey. This led up to and included the invasion of 701 B. C. under Sennacherib, the next Assyrian king, when Hezekiah was on the throne in Jerusalem, and 200,000 people from Judah were carried off into captivity. As we shall see, the details of the Assyrian crisis are very accurately prophesied in these oracles (Ross, Allen_______ Young, E. J. 1993). III. Commentary on Isaiah 7:14-16 Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Since the King did not ask for a sign that the land shall be delivered from the enemies, Yahweh will furnish one unasked. Yahweh will not withhold it because a proud and contemptuous King refuses to seek it. The LORD himself, He will do it and not hindered though it is rejected and despised; he will do it because of its necessity for the welfare of the nation, and for the confirmation of his religion, to furnish a demonstration to the people that he is the only true God. It is clearly implied here, that the emphasis is that the sign should be such as Yahweh alone could give. If this refers to the birth of a child, then it means that this was an event which could be known only to God, and which could be accomplished only by his agency. If it refers to the miraculous conception and birth of the Messiah, then it means that that was an event which none but God could accomplish. Shall give you, primarily refers to the house of David; the king and royal family of Judah. It was especially designed to assure the government that the kingdom would be safe. Doubtless, however, the word you is designed to include the nation, or the people of the kingdom of Judah. It would be so public a sign, and so clear a demonstration, as to convince them that their city and land must be ultimately safe. A sign, a pledge; a token; an evidence of the fulfillment of what is predicted. The word does not, of necessity, denote a miracle, though it is often so applied; see the notes at Isaiah 7:11. But rather it means a proof, a demonstration, a certain indication that what he had said should come to its fulfillment. Behold this interjection serves to designate persons and things; places and actions. It is used in lively descriptions, and animated discourse; or when anything unusual was said, or occurred; it means, that an event was to occur which demanded the attention of the unbelieving King, and the regard of the people-an event which would be a full demonstration of what the prophet had said. A virgin, it is used in its obvious natural sense, to denote a young, unmarried female. The derivatives are applied to youth; to young men; to young women-to those who are growing up, and becoming youths. This virgin as used in his word properly means a girl, maiden, virgin, a young woman who is unmarried, and who is of marriageable age. And shall call his name, it was usual for mothers to give names to their children. The idea is, it is the appropriate name that would be given to the child. Although another name was also given to this child, expressing substantially the same thing, with a circumstantial difference. Immanuel a Hebrew name which means God with us the name is designed to denote that God would be with the nation as its protector, and the birth of this child would be a sign or pledge of it. The name, Immanuel, denotes nothing more than divine aid and protection. Others have supposed, however, that the name must denote the assumption of our nature by God in the person of the Messiah, that is, that God became man. The true interpretation is, that no argument to prove that can be derived from the use of the name; but when the fact of the incarnation has been demonstrated from other sources, the name is appropriately expressive of that event. ( Barnes, 1997). Isaiah 7:15 He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. (NASV) Young( ), showed that the infancy of the promised Messiah is made the measure of the time that Judah will be in danger from her two enemies. This thought namely, namely the duration of a period of difficulty, is expressed symbolically in that Immanuel iws pictured as subsisting during His infancy on curds and honey, which was symbolical royal diet. From the time of His birth, supposedly, the Child will eat this peculiar food, and at the time when He can discern between good and evil, rejecting the one and choosing the other, He will be eating these things. At an early age a child learns to reject evil and to choose good, or at least to distinguish between the two. Thus, by means of this measure, we learn that the affliction or desolation of the two enemy kings is short-lived, possibly only two or three years. The reference may be to what is injurious or useful in life but in the light of the usage of this phrase in Genesis 2, it clearly refers also to what is morally good and evil. Isaiah 7:16 For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken. (NASV) The land that you dread, the land concerning which thou art so much alarmed or distressed; that is, the united land of Syria and Ephraim. Refers to one land, because they were united then in a firm alliance, so as to constitute, in fact, or for the purposes of invasion and conquest, one people or nation. The phrase, which you dread, means properly, which thou loathes, the primary idea of the word being to feel a nausea, or to throw up. It then means to fear, or to feel alarm; and this, probably, is the meaning here. Ahaz, however, evidently looked upon the nations of Syria and Samaria with disgust, as well as with alarm. The meaning of the land is that the kings themselves were the objects of dislike or dread; and not merely that the two kings should be removed, but that the land itself was threatened with desolation. This construction is an exegetical kind which agrees with the idiom of the Hebrew. (Barnes, 1993) IV Summary of Isaiah 7:14-16 As a summary of these three verses it was shown that in verse 14 Isaiah made a proclamation that the Lord will give a sign. This seeing of the virgin is not with with the physical eyes, Isaiah have not seen the Messiah in His physical birth, but in vision. In vision, then, the prophet beholds the virgin with child. An in the birth of this son, the presence of God is manifest in a most unique way. The fourteenth verse constitutes a sure and a definite fulfillment of the prophecy of the birth of Immanuel. With verse 15 the prophet proceeds to show that the infancy of the Messiah a symbolical representation of the fact that the threat which overhung Judah would be short-lived. This he does by picturing the child in vision eating royal food (according to commentator Young which I prefer to use in this summary). The child will eat this food, symbol of threat and desolation; yet before He reaches the age where He knows the difference between good and evil, the two kings which Ahaz dreads will forsake the land of Israel, and there will be nothing more for him to fear from them. The prophetical naming of this child having thus had its accomplishment, no doubt this, which was further added concerning him, should have its accomplishment likewise, that Syria and Israel should be deprived of both their kings. One mercy from God encourages us to hope for another, if it engages us to prepare for another. BIBLIOGRAPHY Barnes Notes, Barnes and Nobles Commentary. Electronic Database. (Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft) Ross, Allen. â€Å"A Call for Faith and the Sign for Emmanuel†. Bible. Org http://www. bible. org/page. php? page_id=2088 Young, E. J. â€Å"The Book of Isaiah: A Commentary†. (Michigan:William B. Eerdsman Publishing Company, 1993)

A Memorable Game of Cricket :: Art

A Memorable Game of Cricket Statement of Intention: My intended audiences for this piece of writing are teens who are interested in sports. I aim to show them that in times of need how people from all different interests come together as one to help those in need. I plan to do this with a very soft, friendly yet excited tone of writing, which I am writing a journal entry. Dear Diary, Cricket, one of the best sports any can play, where eleven fielders and two batsmen stand on a field trying to show how they are better than the other. This was definitely not the case at one of the best cricket matches I have ever been to. The Asian XI VS The Rest of the World XI match which was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in January 2005. This match was played for the reasons of Charity for the Boxing Day Tsunami disaster in 2004. The match was very different to a normal cricket match where racial slurs would be thrown around and people would only be supporting their own team and putting down the other. There were many factors that made this match very special and very memorable. Well excluding the first factor that made this match special that millions of dollars were being raised to go to the countries that were hit by the terrible Tsunami disaster, there were so many others. One of the things that made this match very special, which would be near the top of my list was that you got to see all your favorite superstars in the one go. You had some of cricket’s greats including Sachin Tendulkur, Brian Lara, Steve Waugh, Daniel Vettori and last but not least muttiah muralitharan. To see all these players, playing together in the same teams was just excellent. Talking about teams I don’t think there were any. Even though the players were in two different teams playing against each other the crowds didn’t seem to think so. For the first time at a cricket match that I have seen people from all countries supporting not just their own country but all the others no matter which side they were on. Everyone was joining into the chants no matter which country they were from or were supporting. I being Indian was sitting in a huge group of Indians and what really got my attention was that the Indians were joining the Go Aussie Go chants and the Australians were joining into the Indian chants though I doubt they new what they meant but yet still chanting along.

Online Grading System Essay

Computer technology has become an essential tool in the current human race. Computers serve as efficient data storage systems and excellent information processors. It can store, organize and manage huge amount of data. Moreover, it operates on incomparable speeds, thus saving human time and effort to a large extent. True, computers are an integral part of the lives of the people today. It said that inventions change the way people live. Computer technology is a classic example of this adage. It has indeed changed the way of living of the people all over the world. In essence, grading is an exercise in professional judgment on the part of instructors. It involves the collection and evaluation of students’ achievement or performance over a specified period of time, such as one month, a semester, or entire school year. Through this process, various types of descriptive information and measures of students’ performance are converted into grades that summarize students’ accomplishments. The increasing usage of computers gave way for the birth of a new technological advancement that had assisted teachers to easily compute for grades, the digitization of spreadsheets. The main advantage is speed, since no manual calculations are needed, and confirmation of grade for any further necessary alterations can also be performed more quickly than traditional means. Managing grades had become easier for instructors when using electronic spreadsheets1. With the advancement of information technology, the Internet suddenly became an important aspect for local and global connectivity. Because the computers around the globe were logically connected through the Internet, communication had been easier with the use of E-Mail, message boards and other communication programs. As the technology’s complexities and bandwidth arise, so does the need for software to utilize them. From basic text and images, innovation pushed web sites to include tools for specialized services. The need to inject applications to the fundamental web pages gave birth to server-side scripts like PHP, and database applications like MySQL. Thus, having an online system for a particular company, means having advantages, advantages like having to visit the own website whenever wanted with comfort and without having to walk yourself to the company itself. The current Grading System of Asian Development Foundation College is done manually. The researchers observed that the current aforementioned system allocates a lot of time before having to submit the grades of the students from the teachers. The posting and viewing of grades in Asian Development Foundation College is also manually processed. The teachers go through a lot of computations for each of their student’s grade which causes a lot of effort and consumes time as well, then after computing the grades, the teachers then presents the grades to the school administration of Asian Development Foundation College to provide it for the students. The students will have to wait for their teacher to finish computing their grade and will need to go to school to ask for their grades. So if there would be a much easier way in posting the grades by the teachers and viewing the grades by the students, it is through an Online System. The researchers proposed an Online Grading System of Asian Development Foundation College so that the submission and viewing of grades would be much easier. It is far more convenient for a student to visit a website of their school and is able to view their grades through online without any hassle. Moreover, it is very less stressing for the teachers to just input the grades of the students through online without computing manually. So if an Online Grading System for Asian Development Foundation College would be developed, then the process of submitting the grades of the students by the teachers would be easier and less stressing. Because the teachers will not have to compute manually anymore, the Online System will be the one to compute the grades once inputted. And the students of Asian Development Foundation College will be able to see their grades through online. Statement of the problem The proposed Online Grading System is exclusively designed for Asian Development Foundation College Tacloban city. It aims to answer the following: 1. What are the problems encountered by the respondents on the present Grading System of Asian Development Foundation College(High School Department)? 2. What system will be proposed to lessen the problems with regards to the Grading System of the institution? 3. What are the inputs needed to develop an Online Grading System of the Aforementioned institution? 4. What are the assessment of the respondents on the developed Online Grading System of in terms of: a. Contents? b. Usefulness? Theoretical Framework As saying knowledge is power. Gagne suggest that learning tasks for intellectual skills can be organized in a hierarchy according to complexity: procedure following, the use of terminology, discriminations, concepts formation, rule application and problem solving. The primary significance of the hierarchy is to identify prerequisites that should be complete to facilitate learning at each level. Doing a task analysis of learning and training task identifies prerequisites. Learning hierarchies provide a basis for the sequencing of instruction. Learning strategies refer to methods that students use to learn. These ranges from techniques for improved memory to better studying. The method of logic is a classic memory improvement techniques, it involves in making associations between facts to be remembered in a particular location. In order to remember you have to visualize place and associated facts. Some learning strategy involves changes to the design of the instruction. For example, the use questions before, during or after instruction has been shown to increase the degree of learning that occurred have called â€Å"mathemagenic†. Information Processing Theory, this concept of information processing states that this theory is primarily concerned with the study of memory and on the evaluation of information. Like computer the human mind takes in information and performs operation when needed and retrieval. Having accurate information in conducting the study will help in the process evaluation primary concern. The researchers in getting information to their pilot area that will be needed as the study continues have applied the theory2. Constructivism Theory views that knowledge is not about the world but rather constitutive of the world. Knowledge is not a fixed about the individual through his practice of the object constructs it. A person who has the exact knowledge of a certain activity is so much important. When people work collaboratively in an authentic activity they bring their own framework and perspective to the activity. They can see the problems form different perspective and are able to negotiate and generate meaning and solution through shared understanding3. Elaboration Theory of Instruction deals with the macro level of instruction. It is primarily concerned with the sequencing of ideas as opposed to the individual ideas themselves and examples relating to them. The sequencing of ideas relates to fundamental and representational ideas or core principles. This theory serves as foundation from which more specific maybe developed. This is applicable to the researchers study because this ideas with the analyzing of the program4. Conceptual Framework The basis for conceptualizing the Online Grading System of Asian Development Foundation College which is proposed by the researchers is that it can help envision the path that the aforementioned system would be heading to.

A Detailed History of Crash Test Dummies

The first crash test dummy was the Sierra Sam created in 1949. This 95th percentile adult male crash test dummy was developed by Sierra Engineering Co. under a contract with the United States Air Force, to be used for evaluation of aircraft ejection seats on rocket sled tests. — Source FTSS In 1997, GMs Hybrid III crash test dummies officially became the industry standard for testing to comply with government frontal impact regulations and airbag safety. GM developed this test device nearly 20 years prior in 1977 to provide a biofidelic measurement tool — crash test dummies that behave very similarly to human beings. As it did with its earlier design, Hybrid II, GM shared this cutting-edge technology with government regulators and the auto industry. The sharing of this tool was made in the name of improved safety testing and reduced highway injuries and fatalities worldwide. The 1997 version of Hybrid III is the GM invention with some modifications. It marks another milestone in the automaker’s trailblazing journey for safety. Hybrid III is state-of-the-art for testing advanced restraint systems; GM has been using it for years in the development of front-impact airbags. It provides a broad spectrum of reliable data that can be related to the effects of cra shes on a human injury. Hybrid III features a posture representative of the way drivers and passengers sit in vehicles. All crash test dummies are faithful to the human form they simulate — in overall weight, size, and proportion. Their heads are designed to respond like the human head in a crash situation. It is symmetrical and the forehead deflects much the way a persons would if struck in a collision. The chest cavity has a steel rib cage that simulates the mechanical behavior of a human chest in a crash. The rubber neck bends and stretches biofidelically, and the knees also are designed to respond to impact, similar to human knees. The Hybrid III crash test dummy has a vinyl skin and is equipped with sophisticated electronic tools including accelerometers, potentiometers, and load cells. These tools measure the acceleration, deflection, and forces that various body parts experience during crash deceleration. This advanced device is being improved continuously and was built on a scientific foundation of biomechanics, medical data and input, and testing that involved human cadavers and animals. Biomechanics is the study of the human body and how it behaves mechanically. Universities conducted early biomechanical research using live human volunteers in some very controlled crash tests. Historically, the auto industry had evaluated restraint systems using volunteer testing with humans. The development of Hybrid III served as a launching pad to advance the study of crash forces and their effects on a human injury. All earlier crash test dummies, even GMs Hybrid I and II, could not provide adequate insight to translate test data into injury-reducing designs for cars and trucks. Early crash test dummies were very crude and had a simple purpose — to help engineers and researchers verify the effectiveness of restraints or safety belts. Before GM developed Hybrid I in 1968, dummy manufacturers had no consistent methods to produce the devices. The basic weight and size of the body parts were based on anthropological studies, but the dummies were inconsistent from unit to unit. The science of anthropomorphic dummies was in its infancy and their production quality varied. The 1960s and Development of Hybrid I During the 1960s, GM researchers created Hybrid I by merging the best parts of two primitive dummies. In 1966, Alderson Research Laboratories produced the VIP-50 series for GM and Ford. It was also used by the National Bureau of Standards. This was the first dummy manufactured specifically for the auto industry. A year later, Sierra Engineering introduced Sierra Stan, a competitive model. Neither satisfied GM engineers, who made their own dummy by combining the best features of both — hence the name Hybrid I. GM used this model internally but shared its design with competitors through special committee meetings at the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Hybrid I was more durable and produced more repeatable results than its predecessors. The use of these early dummies was sparked by U.S. Air Force testing that had been conducted to develop and improve pilot restraint and ejection systems. From the late forties through the early fifties, the military used crash test dummies and crash sleds to test a variety of applications and human tolerance to injury. Previously they had used human volunteers, but rising safety standards required higher speed tests, and the higher speeds were no longer safe for human subjects. To test pilot-restraint harnesses, one high-speed sled was propelled by rocket engines and accelerated up to 600 mph. Col. John Paul Stapp shared the results of Air Force crash-dummy research in 1956 at the first annual conference involving auto manufacturers. Later, in 1962, the GM Proving Ground introduced the first, automotive, impact sled (HY-GE sled). It was capable of simulating actual collision acceleration waveforms produced by full-scale cars. Four years after that, GM Research originated a versatile method for determining the extent of injury hazard produced when measuring impact forces on anthropomorphic dummies during laboratory tests. Aircraft Safety Ironically, the auto industry has dramatically out-paced aircraft manufacturers in this technical expertise over the years. Automakers worked with the aircraft industry in the mid-1990s to bring them up to speed with the advances in crash testing as related to human tolerance and injuries. NATO countries were particularly interested in automotive crash research because there were problems in helicopter crashes and with high-speed ejections of pilots. It was thought that the auto data might help make aircraft safer. Government Regulation and Developing Hybrid II When Congress passed the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, the design and manufacture of automobiles became a regulated industry. Shortly thereafter, a debate began between the government and some manufacturers about the credibility of the test devices like the crash dummies. The National Highway Safety Bureau insisted that Aldersons VIP-50 dummy be used to validate restraint systems. They required 30 mile-per-hour head-on, barrier tests into a rigid wall. Opponents claimed the research results obtained from testing with this crash test dummy were not repeatable from a manufacturing standpoint and were not defined in engineering terms. Researchers could not rely on the consistent performance of the test units. Federal courts agreed with these critics. GM did not take part in the legal protest. Instead, GM improved upon the Hybrid I crash test dummy, responding to issues that arose in SAE committee meetings. GM developed drawings that defined the crash test dummy and created calibration tests that would standardize its performance in a controlled laboratory setting. In 1972, GM handed the drawings and calibrations to the dummy manufacturers and the government. The new GM Hybrid II crash test dummy satisfied the court, the government, and the manufacturers, and it became the standard for frontal crash testing to comply with U.S. automotive regulations for restraint systems. GMs philosophy has always been to share crash test dummy innovation with competitors and earn no profit in the process. Hybrid III: Mimicking Human Behavior In 1972 while GM was sharing Hybrid II with the industry, experts at GM Research began a ground-breaking effort. Their mission was to develop a crash test dummy that more accurately reflected the biomechanics of the human body during a vehicle crash. This would be called Hybrid III. Why was this necessary? GM was already conducting tests that far-exceeded government requirements and the standards of other domestic manufacturers. Right from the start, GM developed every one of its crash dummies to respond to a particular need for a test measurement and enhanced safety design. Engineers required a test device that would allow them to take measurements in unique experiments they had developed to improve the safety of GM vehicles. The goal of the Hybrid III research group was to develop a third-generation, human-like crash test dummy whose responses were closer to biomechanical data than the Hybrid II crash test dummy. The cost was not an issue. Researchers studied the way people sat in vehicles and the relationship of their posture to their eye position. They experimented with and changed the materials to make the dummy, and considered adding internal elements such as a rib cage. The stiffness of materials reflected bio-mechanical data. Accurate, numerical control machinery was used to manufacture the improved dummy consistently. In 1973, GM held the first international seminar with the worlds leading experts to discuss human-impact response characteristics. Every previous gathering of this kind had focused on injury. But now, GM wanted to investigate the way people responded during crashes. With this insight, GM developed a crash dummy that behaved much more closely to humans. This tool provided more meaningful lab data, enabling design changes that could actually help prevent injury. GM has been a leader in developing testing technologies to help manufacturers make safer cars and trucks. GM also communicated with the SAE committee throughout this development process to compile input from dummy and auto manufacturers alike. Only a year after the Hybrid III research began, GM responded to a government contract with a more refined dummy. In 1973, GM created the GM 502, which borrowed early information the research group had learned. It included some postural improvements, a new head, and better joint character istics. In 1977, GM made Hybrid III commercially available, including all the new design features GM had researched and developed. In 1983, GM petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for permission to use Hybrid III as an alternative test device for government compliance. GM also provided the industry with its targets for acceptable dummy performance during safety testing. These targets (Injury Assessment Reference Values) were critical in translating Hybrid III data into safety improvements. Then in 1990, GM asked that the Hybrid III dummy be the only acceptable test device to meet government requirements. A year later, the International Standards Organization (ISO) passed a unanimous resolution acknowledging the superiority of Hybrid III. The Hybrid III is now the standard for international frontal impact testing. Over the years, Hybrid III and other dummies have undergone a number of improvements and changes. For example, GM developed a deformable insert that is used routinely in GM development tests to indicate any movement of the lap belt from the pelvis and into the abdomen. Also, the SAE brings together the talents of the car companies, parts suppliers, dummy manufacturers, and U.S. government agencies in cooperative efforts to enhance test dummy capability. A recent 1966 SAE project, in conjunction with NHTSA, enhanced the ankle and hip joint. However, dummy manufacturers are very conservative about changing or enhancing standard devices. Generally, an auto manufacturer must first show the need for a specific design evaluation to improve safety. Then, with industry agreement, the new measuring capability can be added. SAE acts as a technical clearinghouse to manage and minimize these alterations. Just how accurate are these anthropomorphic test devices? At best, they are predictors of what may happen generally in the field because no two real people are the same in size, weight or proportions. However, tests require a standard, and modern dummies have proven to be effective prognosticators. Crash-test dummies consistently prove that standard, three-point safety belt systems are very effective restraints — and the data holds up well when compared to real-world crashes. Safety belts cut driver crash deaths by 42 percent. Adding airbags raises the protection to approximately 47 percent. Adapting to Airbags Airbag testing in the late seventies generated another need. Based on tests with crude dummies, GM engineers knew children and smaller occupants could be vulnerable to the aggressiveness of airbags. Airbags must inflate at very high speeds to protect occupants in a crash — literally in less than the blink of an eye. In 1977, GM developed the child airbag dummy. Researchers calibrated the dummy using data gathered from a study involving small animals. The Southwest Research Institute conducted this testing to determine what impacts the subjects could safely sustain. Later GM shared the data and the design through the SAE. GM also needed a test device to simulate a small female for testing of driver airbags. In 1987, GM transferred the Hybrid III technology to a dummy representing a 5th percentile female. Also in the late 1980s, the Center for Disease Control issued a contract for a family of Hybrid III dummies to help test passive restraints. Ohio State University won the contract and sought GMs help. In cooperation with an SAE committee, GM contributed to the development of the Hybrid III Dummy Family, which included a 95th percentile male, a small female, a six-year-old, child dummy, and a new three-year-old. Each has Hybrid III technology. In 1996, GM, Chrysler, and Ford became concerned about air bag inflation-induced injuries and petitioned the government through the American Automobile Manufacturers Association (AAMA) to address out-of-position occupants during airbag deployments. The goal was to implement test procedures endorsed by the ISO — which use the small female dummy for driver-side testing and the six- and three-year-old dummies, as well as an infant dummy for the passenger side. An SAE committee later developed a series of infant dummies with one of the leading test device manufacturers, First Technology Safety Systems. Six-month-old, 12-month-old, and 18-month-old dummies are now available to test the interaction of airbags with child restraints. Known as CRABI or Child Restraint Air Bag Interaction dummies, they enable testing of rearward-facing infant restraints when placed in the front, passenger seat equipped with an airbag. The various dummy sizes and types, which come in small, average, and very large, allow GM to implement an extensive matrix of tests and crash-types. Most of these tests and evaluations are not mandated, but GM routinely conducts tests not required by law. In the 1970s, side-impact studies required another version of the test devices. NHTSA, in conjunction with the University of Michigans Research and Development Center, developed a special side-impact dummy, or SID. Europeans then created the more sophisticated EuroSID. Subsequently, GM researchers made significant contributions through the SAE to the development of a more biofidelic device called BioSID, which is used now in development testing. In the 1990s, the U.S. auto industry worked to create a special, small occupant dummy to test side-impact airbags. Through USCAR, a consortium formed to share technologies among various industries and government departments, GM, Chrysler and Ford jointly developed SID-2s. The dummy mimics small females or adolescents and helps measure their tolerance of side-impact airbag inflation. U.S. manufacturers are working with the international community to establish this smaller, side-impact device as the starting basis for an adult dummy to be used in the international standard for side impact performance measurement. They are encouraging the acceptance of international safety standards, and building consensus to harmonize methods and tests. The automotive industry is highly committed to harmonizing standards, tests and methods as more and more vehicles are sold to a global market. The Future of Car Safety Testing What is the future? GMs mathematical models are providing valuable data. Mathematical testing also permits more iteration in a shorter time. GMs transition from mechanical to electronic airbag sensors created an exciting opportunity. Present and future airbag systems have electronic flight recorders as part of their crash sensors. Computer memory will capture field data from the collision event and store crash information never before available. With this real-world data, researchers will be able to validate lab results and modify dummies, computer-simulations and other tests. The highway becomes the test lab, and every crash becomes a way to learn more about how to protect people, said Harold Bud Mertz, a retired GM safety and biomechanical expert. Eventually, it might be possible to include crash recorders for collisions all around the car. GM researchers constantly refine all aspects of the crash tests to improve safety results. For example, as restraint systems help to eliminate more and more catastrophic upper-body injuries, safety engineers are noticing disabling, lower-leg trauma. GM researchers are beginning to design better lower leg responses for dummies. They have also added â€Å"skin† to the necks to keep airbags from interfering with the neck vertebrae during tests. Someday, on-screen computer dummies may be replaced by virtual humans, with hearts, lungs, and all the other vital organs. But its not likely that those electronic scenarios will replace the real thing in the near future. Crash dummies will continue to provide GM researchers and others with remarkable insight and intelligence about occupant crash protection for many years to come. A special thanks to Claudio Paolini