POWER QUANTS
IT’S QUITE enough to give mathematics a bad name. “Traders Profit as Power Grid is Overworked,” in The New York Times, August 14, 2014, explains how “quants” (those mathematically trained … Continue reading
ELECTRICALLY FORCED INDUCTION
FORCING MORE air and fuel into the combustion process enhances power on demand, a great idea in these days of downsized engines for better mpg. Hitherto, forced induction has been … Continue reading
PONO SOUND
THE WORD “pono” is Hawaiian for “righteous,” and a fellow graduate of Worcester Polytech has teamed with Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Neil Young to return righteous fidelity to … Continue reading
FUEL CELLS AND THE INTERNET
WE OFTEN forget that the Internet is an immense user of energy. What’s more, this is expected to follow a Moore’s Law-like trend of doubling every five years. The good … Continue reading
ARE YOU UNHAPPY? HERE’S NOT WHY, BUT HOW
A RECENT item making the rounds identifies the happiest and unhappiest cities in America. See, for example, http://goo.gl/IQPXNc and http://goo.gl/rskKG2. Superficially, it sounds like one of those social-network personality games: “Which … Continue reading
DR. ROBERT H. GODDARD—FATHER OF AMERICAN ROCKETRY
CELEBRATING, AS we are, the 45th anniversary of our first visiting the moon, we can also give a shout-out to Dr. Robert H. Goddard, rightfully known as the Father of … Continue reading
YOU WANT SHORTER FRIES WITH THAT? OR HIGHER G?
GOOD SCIENCE is never over. To wit, something as ubiquitous as the french fry is the subject of news items in Science, published by the American Association for the Advancement … Continue reading
SON OF DIRECTOR’S CUT
I THOUGHT I was done modeling the Otto Silent Engine, thus my posting the project’s Director’s Cut yesterday (http://wp.me/p2ETap-2is). However, as mentioned then I still sensed the need to endow … Continue reading
OTTO’S FOUR-STROKE—DIRECTOR’S CUT
TODAY I offer my director’s cut of the previous two items, “The Otto Four-Stroke—Self Taught” (http://wp.me/p2ETap-2hj) and “Otto’s Four-Stroke—The Continuing Tale” (http://wp.me/p2ETap-2hL). Building a computer model along the lines of … Continue reading
OTTO FOUR-STROKE—CONTINUING THE TALE
THE OTTO engine’s four strokes (see yesterday, http://wp.me/p2ETap-2hj) involve two complete revolutions of its crankshaft, twice 360 degrees. From a timing point of view, the intake stroke is 0 to … Continue reading
