CONCENTRATION
AYRTON SENNA was, to my mind, the most cerebral race driver of all time. And in a hot, crowded pressroom at the Japanese Grand Prix, October 1989, he proved this … Continue reading
LOL
HERE I’M thinking of LOL as in “Lots of Luck,” one of the many possible meanings for this oft-used internet alphabetical triple. One website lists seven interpretations of LOL earning … Continue reading
WHAT’S A SLIDE RULE, GRANDPA?
THERE ARE blessedly few of us these days who remember the slide rule, and fewer still who understand its workings. So why not join this hardy band and learn some … Continue reading
ST. PETE FLIGHTS, REAL AND VIRTUAL, PART 2
MEANWHILE, ACROSS the Atlantic in another St. Petersburg, a Florida businessman named Percival Elliot Fansler approached aeroplane maker Tom Benoist with an intriguing idea. Tampa Bay separated the cities of … Continue reading
ST. PETE FLIGHTS, REAL AND VIRTUAL, PART 1
TWO HIGHLY significant events in aviation history involved the cities of St. Petersburg, one in Russia, the other in Florida. What’s more, they happened within months of each other in … Continue reading
JAPAN’S LITTLE WORLD
I HAD my most moving religious experience in Japan’s Little World. Though it calls itself a theme park, I’d term it an indoor-outdoor cultural museum. Little World is about an … Continue reading
PRINCE ROY, R.I.P.
PADDY ROY Bates passed away at the age of 91 earlier this month. You may not have known him by this name, but how about Prince Roy of Sealand? Roy … Continue reading
GOT THE BLUES?
THERE HAS been a lot in the news these days about the color blue: a new African monkey, the male of whom has an astonishingly blue butt; a berry reported … Continue reading
TOYOTA SEMINAR NUGGETS
THIS LAST of five mini-essays on the 2012 Toyota Future Mobility Seminar, held Oct. 16-17 in Denver, collects technological nuggets gleaned there. The price of motor fuels was a recurring … Continue reading
NREL HAPPENINGS
THE NATIONAL Renewable Energy Laboratory hosted attendees of Toyota’s 2012 Future Mobility Seminar at its Golden, Colorado, facilities on Oct. 17. Here are some technical take-aways from a most interesting … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 