eVTOL UPDATE PART 1
“VTOL” MEANS “VERTICAL take-off and landing” aircraft. Drones are VTOL; so are helicopters; and so are aircraft like the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey, Hawker Siddeley Harrier Jump Jet, and Dornier … Continue reading
BIOFUELS—ASSESSED HOLISTICALLY
BLENDING CORN-BASED ETHANOL into gasoline has been seen as a means of reducing anthropomorphic carbon dioxide emissions. However, “Environmental Outcomes of the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., … Continue reading
EXTRACTING RARE EARTHS FROM WASTE
RARE EARTH ELEMENTS present an environmental paradox: REEs are key to green technologies such as solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles. Yet their rarity involves mining that causes significant … Continue reading
DEISM—THROUGH A COMPUTER HARD DRIVE?
I LEARNED YEARS ago that our Founding Fathers were Deists. And I knew from Roman Catholic Latin/English missals that “Deus” meant “God.” Thus, I figured, Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, and those … Continue reading
MY NEW EYES
I’VE HAD MY new eyes for about a month now and I want to celebrate the talented people who made this possible. Here are tidbits on my experience with cataract … Continue reading
TWO EINSTEIN ANECDOTES
I WAS SORTING THROUGH colloquium presentations of mine from the mid-1970s—Geez, was I ever scholarly back then—and I came upon these two Einstein anecdotes. Their source was Ira M. Freeman, … Continue reading
EXASCALE COMPUTERS COMING IN 2022
DIGITAL COMPUTERS MERELY count on two fingers, 1, 0, on, off; but they do so amazingly quickly. And the faster they count, the more things they accomplish. Recent articles in … Continue reading
MEDICAL TIDBITS
THE COVID PANDEMIC has made me aware of SIR analyses modeling Susceptibility, Infection, and Recovery; of R0, R-naught describing Covid’s average rate of transmission; and of other medical complexities. Yet … Continue reading
NUTS, THINKING ECOLOGICALLY
AAAS SCIENCE MAGAZINE, November 26, 2021, reports that “Researchers Probe Climate as a Cause of Banner Nut Years.” The magazine’s Elizabeth Pennisi writes, “New database could help solve the mystery … Continue reading
THOUGHTS ON CONTAINER SHIPS
I WAS ADMIRING a southern California sunset—and stopped counting when I reached 35 giant container ships in view. A recent White House statement, November 10, 2021, said that fully 40 … Continue reading
