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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
A.I. AND A SENSE OF MORALITY
A NEW BOOK, THE AI MIRROR, offers the views of philosopher Shannon Vallor, who at PhilPeople says, “My research explores how emerging technologies reshape human moral and intellectual character, and … Continue reading
ON A GOSSAMER VEIL OF SILENCE
IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE: MIT researchers have developed a silk fabric that can suppress unwanted noise and reduce noise transmission in a large room. Adam Zewe reports … Continue reading
