WAR BY BITS AND BYTES
CYBER WAR: Does this describe the next major world conflict? Or is it merely electronic saber rattling of those hoping to profit from a non-threat? An item in 1 March … Continue reading
WHAT’S ISINGLASS?
“WITH ISINGLASS curtains y’ can roll right down/In case there’s a change in the weather.”—“The Surrey With The Fringe On Top,” from Oklahoma!, 1943. What do you suppose “isinglass” was? … Continue reading
NANO BRIGHT
KEEPING GRANDMA’S silver tea service nice and bright has always been a pain—until now. Researchers in the University of Maryland’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering have applied nanoscience to … Continue reading
H2 PRODUCTION
THE WORD “breakthrough” can get overworked in science news, but Virginia Tech researchers may have a legitimate claim to it. They’ve discovered an efficient way to extract significant quantities of … Continue reading
BUY THE MARQUE, NOT THE CAR
WE ALL love our cars, though personal mobility may be approaching a shift of paradigm. A recent survey of ownership options suggests this. A marketing idea with the Fiat 500e … Continue reading
U OR NON-U, REDUX
IT USED be so simple. Beginning with October 14, 1066, one was either Norman or non-Norman. Up until recently (two days ago), it was U or non-U, the “U” standing … Continue reading
A WALK IN THE CITY
PEDESTRIANS AREN’T common in my portion of the world. (Book ’em on a 203—”Without a motor vehicle in the County of Orange, State of California.”) On the other hand, I … Continue reading
SHAKESPEARE, INC.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE a loan shark? A tax dodger? Worse yet, a hedge trader? Or was he merely a man of his Elizabethan times? And the greatest dramaturgist of all time? … Continue reading
OPEL’S RAKS
WHEN WE last visited the German aviation industry (in 1922; see http://www.wp.me/p2ETap-W8), the Inter-Allied Commission had demanded—and got—destruction of the Zeppelin-Staaken E-4/20. This passenger liner was simply too advanced, potentially … Continue reading
LIKES TELL A LOT
EVERY TIME you click on a Facebook “Like,” you’re telling something about yourself—and a lot more than your preference for cat videos. This observation comes from a team of psychologists … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 