THE EXOPLANET TRAVEL BUREAU
NASA AND Cal Tech’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have devised a wonderfully artful means of describing exoplanets, planets that are extrasolar, orbiting stars other than the Sun. The two organizations have … Continue reading
CAR STYLING: KATSURA OR NIKKO?
THE FASHION of automotive styling is an evolving thing, and I sense we were in the midst of a swing from Nikko to Katsura and are now heading back to … Continue reading
SHAKESPEARE COUNTRY—1914 AND TODAY
I HAVE claimed that old guidebooks are useful for travel today. (See “Baedeker’s Handbooks for Travelers,” http://wp.me/p2ETap-ki.) What was worth seeing a century ago is still worthy of attention today, … Continue reading
SMUGGLING AND MOTORSPORTS
FULL DISCLOSURE: Here I do not mean mere smugglers, of drugs or whatever, who happened as well to participate in motorsports of one kind or another. Instead, I celebrate two … Continue reading
OPERA AND AVIATION
A RECENT mention of the John Adams opera Nixon in China (http://wp.me/p2ETap-2Rh) got me thinking of other links of aviation and opera. One of today’s links is a classic, two are … Continue reading
PRESIDENTS ALOFT
THE TALES of U.S. presidents in the air extend from a joy ride of Teddy Roosevelt to a flying date of Barak and Michelle Obama. In between, there are international … Continue reading
SUSHI GAME
寿司が大好きです! Sushi ga daisuki desu! I love sushi! This artful Japanese presentation of vinegared rice, seafood and other delicacies offers a variety of tastes; a sushi bar offers a congenial … Continue reading
BUGATTI RAILCARS
IT’S THE Great Depression, fabulous Royale luxury cars are glued to the Molsheim showroom floor, and there’s a surfeit of the Royale’s 12.76-liter six-cylinder powerplants. What is one to do? … Continue reading
PASSING A TURING TEST
CAN YOU outthink a 13-year-old Ukrainian kid? Or, more accurately, can you outthink an artificial intelligence, a chatbot, programmed to imitate him? This has become a cause célèbre, not without … Continue reading
FLATLAND—THE ANNOTATED VERSION
I WAS a mere lad when I first encountered the science-fiction fantasy Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. Its multi-dimensional worlds amused me; but its 19th-century verbosity challenged my typical … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 