ANDES HIGH (AND WE’RE NOT TALKING ALTITUDE)
ANDREW LAWLER’S OPENER IS DATELINED CHAVÍN DE HUÁNTAR, PERU: “The subterranean corridor was lit only by eerie light that filtered down narrow ventilation shafts and reflected from polished stone. Priests … Continue reading
A.I. VERSES MATHEMATICS
DR. ZEYNEP TUFEKCI HAS BECOME MY GO-TO on lofty matters: See “How Zeynep Tufekci Keeps Getting the Big Things Right,” Ben Smith, The New York Times, August 23, 2020. See … Continue reading
HERE’S LOOKIN’ ATCHA
DANIEL CLERY REPORTS “NASA’S ROMAN TELESCOPE Readies a Sweeping View of the Universe,” AAAS Science, August 26, 2026: “With a view 100 times larger than Hubble,” Clery recounts, “the observatory … Continue reading
EV NUTS AND BOLTS
NUTS ARE JUST NUTS. AND BOLTS, BOLTS, RIGHT? And, for once, I’m not talking about political nutballs or party defections. Indeed, it turns out in this evolving world of EV … Continue reading
FENDER-BENDERS ’WAY UP THERE PART 2
YESTERDAY WE WERE ENCOURAGED TO LOOK SKYWARD on the advice of Hannah Richter and her Science article “Planned Satellite Megaconstellations Could Generate Runaway Space Debris.” Today in Part 2, we … Continue reading
FENDER-BENDERS ’WAY UP THERE PART 1
HANNAH RICHTER REPORTS “PLANNED SATELLITE MEGACONSTELLATIONS Could Generate Runaway Space Debris,” AAAS Science, August 7, 2026. Richter warns, “Modeling suggests infamous ‘Kessler syndrome’ would make the swarms unsustainable.” Geez, just … Continue reading
CONSEQUENCES OF A.I. SYCOPHANCY
MERRIAM-WEBSTER DEFINES “SYCOPHANCY” as “obsequious flattery.” Also, M-W notes that “obsequious” is “marked by or exhibiting a fawning attentiveness,” aka known in vulgar circles as “ass-kissing,” coincidentally another of M-W … Continue reading
EINSTEIN’S ANNUS MIRACULOSUS PART 2
RAY MONK’S “EINSTEIN’S MIRACLE YEAR” encouraged our celebrating relativity theory and its fascinating implications in reviewing three recent books: Free Creations of the Human Mind: The Worlds of Albert Einstein; The … Continue reading
EINSTEIN’S ANNUS MIRACULOSUS PART 1
“NEW THEORY OF THE UNIVERSE, NEWTONIAN IDEAS OVERTHROWN” ANNOUNCED THE TIMES of London, November 7, 1919. Yet it could have been even more astonishing: “GRAVITY BENDS LIGHT!” This thought came … Continue reading
HURRAH FOR PROFESSOR GIBSON—AND THE HIDDEN MADAGASCAR!
HA! IT SOUNDS LIKE AN EXPECTED ESSAY TOPIC ON THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: “Make at least one clear comparison between factory/industry work then and work or technology today.” But Alcorn State … Continue reading
