TASTY TIME TRIPPIN’
COOKBOOKS FROM other eras can be fun—and real adventures in the modern kitchen. Needless to say, I have several examples; here are three of my favorites. This isn’t a cookbook … Continue reading
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
THE CONTROLLED fury of Formula 1 racing has been affected this season by discontent over the sound of the cars’ exhaust. To me, this is misguided acoustics, much ado about nothing, and in … Continue reading
JAPAN—IN 1950
MY COLLECTION of guidebooks on Japan goes back to the turn of the century (that earlier turn, not our recent one). Two of my favorite books, however, are rather more … Continue reading
JOKING AROUND, MUSICALLY, WITH GERARD HOFFNUNG
A WAGNER opera begins at 7 p.m. Three hours later, you look down at your watch and it’s 7:25. What’s the difference between a viola and an onion? Nobody cries … Continue reading
ZÉCAR AND THE MIL FOLHAS PROJECT
IT’S TURNABOUT of the best kind: A charming little toy car is helping to reforest an area destroyed by highway expansion. The toy is Zécar. The reforestation is Mil Folhas … Continue reading
TOYOTA LINEAR GENERATOR
RESEARCHERS AT Toyota’s Central R&D Labs in Japan have shared details of generating electricity with an unorthodox internal combustion engine. The engine is a two-stroke design, but with a piston … Continue reading
HAPPY (BELATED) BIRTHDAY, LEONARDO DA VINCI
WELL, WE missed celebrating Leonardo da Vinci’s 562nd birthday. It was a few weeks ago on April 15 Old Style, so I can’t even appeal to the Julian-to-Gregorian Calendar update, … Continue reading
TALK TO ME, IRIS
WE’RE FAMILIAR (sometimes irritatingly so) with autonomous voices and their menu-based options. “Hello, your call is important to us,”—but apparently not enough to employ a real person. What’s more, whether … Continue reading
MACHINE TOOLS BY JOHN ASCHAUER
JOHN ASCHAUER was a model builder extraordinaire. Whereas others fashioned car, aircraft or architectural models, Aschauer built 1/16th scale machine tools. There’s a permanent collection of Aschauer’s models at the … Continue reading
THE TOWER OF HANOI—AND CANNONBALLS
IS THE Tower of Hanoi a kid’s game? A mathematical endeavor connected to cannonballs? Or a calendar to the end of the universe? Yes, yes and yes. Start with a … Continue reading
