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

Category Archives: Sci-Tech

THE LA4’S VIRTUAL GRANDNEPHEW FROM RFPRO     PART 1 

SEBASTIAN BLANCO REPORTS IN SAE INTERNATIONAL’S AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING magazine, August 2024, “Simulation company rFpro has already mapped over 180 digital locations around the world, including public roads, proving grounds and … Continue reading

August 20, 2024 · Leave a comment

KEEPING KEWL WITH AND WITHOUT VAPOR COMPRESSION PART 2

THIS ALL BEGAN WITH LEARNING ABOUT solid-state refrigerants as described in “Sizing Up Caloric Devices,” AAAS Science, August 2, 2024. Today in Part 2, three types of solid-state devices offer … Continue reading

August 13, 2024 · 3 Comments

KEEPING KEWL BOTH WITH AND WITHOUT VAPOR COMPRESSION PART 1

MY AUGUST 2, 2024, ISSUE OF AAAS SCIENCE has “Sizing Up Caloric Devices,” by Suxin Qian and Ichiro Takeuchi. Its subtitle is also eye-catching: “Emerging solid-state cooling technologies may help … Continue reading

August 12, 2024 · Leave a comment

THE NECKER CUBE, ESCHER ILLOS, AND A CUBED CUBE

YESTERDAY IN “I Was Reading Wittgenstein the Other Day….,” LRB reviewer A.W. Moore cited “the two ways of seeing a Necker cube” appearing in Wittgenstein’s Proposition 5.5423. Though this cube … Continue reading

August 9, 2024 · 1 Comment

MORE (CLEAN) ENERGY TO YA

“HOW DOES YOUR STATE MAKE ELECTRICITY,” asks Nadja Popovich in The New York Times, August 2, 2024. What’s more, she provides the answers in a most illustrative way. Here are … Continue reading

August 5, 2024 · 1 Comment

1811: A VERY GOOD YEAR

ALAS, AAAA SCIENCE NOTES, “When it comes to understanding the medieval climate of Europe, scientists face a daunting issue: Europeans loved to chop down their oldest and biggest trees.” “Outside … Continue reading

August 3, 2024 · 1 Comment

MATH: THE A.I. BS STOPS HERE

QUOTED HERE AT SIMANAITISSAYS, A.I. machines “are hard-wired for bullshit. They aren’t designed to be accurate—they are designed to sound accurate.” And among human endeavors, mathematics is one that values … Continue reading

July 25, 2024 · 2 Comments

A VARIETY OF SCI-TECH TIDBTS

TALK ABOUT VARIETY! I CONFESS that many of the articles in AAAS Science pass miles over my head. (I won’t bore you with my life-long biological naivete; it’s beyond storks … Continue reading

July 23, 2024 · Leave a comment

AN IMPORTANT PROGRAM IS EXPANDING

EMILY MULLIN WRITES IN WIRED, July 15, 2024, “It Will Soon be Easier for Americans to Recycle Batteries.” “This month,” Mullin writes, “the US Department of Energy announced a $14 million … Continue reading

July 21, 2024 · 2 Comments

SAN FRANCISCO’S HYDROGEN FERRY

THE FIRST HYDROGEN FUEL-CELL FERRY is now operating in San Francisco Bay. Marika Price Spitulski gives details at Nice News, July 15, 2024. Cutting Pollution. Hitherto, conventional diesel engines power … Continue reading

July 18, 2024 · 3 Comments