Simanaitis Says

On cars, old, new and future; science & technology; vintage airplanes, computer flight simulation of them; Sherlockiana; our English language; travel; and other stuff

Monthly Archives: November, 2022

LOTUS 23—FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION (ANOTHER ADAGE COMES TO MIND TOO)

“RACING IMPROVES THE BREED” has equestrian origins, and horsepower of another variety confirms this adage as well. As does architect Louis Sullivan’s axiom “Form follows function.” The Lotus 23 sports … Continue reading

November 10, 2022 · 1 Comment

AN ATOM’S ADVENTURE

“A METAL ATOM IS a metal atom,” says Alan Nelson, senior vice president for battery materials at Redwood Materials, a company that has specialized in recycling. “That element doesn’t know … Continue reading

November 9, 2022 · 2 Comments

TEAM TEACHING: DISSOLVING THE WALLS OF EDUCATION

AT FIRST GLANCE, IT LOOKS LIKE pandemonium. But Mesa, Arizona, is piloting a Team Teaching project, wherein the separation of classes across physical or grade distinctions are dissolved. Here are … Continue reading

November 8, 2022 · 7 Comments

LENA, YODAVILLE, SHIRLEYS, AND THE TEAPOT PART 2

YESTERDAY, JAMES VINCENT began a review of Dylan Mulvin’s Proxies: The Cultural Work of Standing In. Today in Part 2 we continue with a familiar proxy, the International Prototype Kilogram, … Continue reading

November 7, 2022 · Leave a comment

LENA, YODAVILLE, SHIRLEYS, AND THE TEAPOT PART 1

WHAT DOES LENA, A PLAYBOY CENTERFOLD in 1972, have in common with Yodaville, a simulated Middle East community near Yuma, Arizona? Both Lena and Yodaville are discussed by James Vincent … Continue reading

November 6, 2022 · Leave a comment

REFINING HEMINGWAY’S DETECTOR

ERNEST HEMINGWAY SUGGESTED in The Paris Review, “The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shockproof, shit detector.” I used to suggest to students that readers as … Continue reading

November 5, 2022 · Leave a comment

A PLACE FOR THE CAR

BRITISH ARTIST KIERAN GABRIEL HITS a sweet spot in my appreciation of cars, architecture, and favorite artistic influences. The September 2022 Classic & Sports Car features his work in its … Continue reading

November 4, 2022 · 1 Comment

FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS IN COMPUTING

THE WORD “ADVERTORIAL” SETS an alarm in my mind: Is this thing trying to bamboozle me or what? On the other hand, AAAS Science magazine uses it in the pure … Continue reading

November 3, 2022 · 3 Comments

AUTOMAKER GREEN—AND NOT JUST MOOLA

IN SIGNIFICANT BUSINESS NEWS, General Motors recently announced that it had secured all of the renewable energy it needs to power all of its U.S. facilities by 2025, fully 25 … Continue reading

November 2, 2022 · 2 Comments

KEEP ON TRUCKIN’—WITH H2 PART 2

ENCOURAGED BY MITCHELL/BORRONI-BIRD/BURNS, yesterday we began a discussion of hydrogen-fuel-cell trucking. Today in Part 2, evidence for and against various ideas is offered. Is Blue Hydrogen Worth the Candle?  You’ll … Continue reading

November 1, 2022 · 3 Comments