CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
THE CONTROLLED fury of Formula 1 racing has been affected this season by discontent over the sound of the cars’ exhaust. To me, this is misguided acoustics, much ado about nothing, and in … Continue reading
TOYOTA LINEAR GENERATOR
RESEARCHERS AT Toyota’s Central R&D Labs in Japan have shared details of generating electricity with an unorthodox internal combustion engine. The engine is a two-stroke design, but with a piston … Continue reading
TALK TO ME, IRIS
WE’RE FAMILIAR (sometimes irritatingly so) with autonomous voices and their menu-based options. “Hello, your call is important to us,”—but apparently not enough to employ a real person. What’s more, whether … Continue reading
THE TOWER OF HANOI—AND CANNONBALLS
IS THE Tower of Hanoi a kid’s game? A mathematical endeavor connected to cannonballs? Or a calendar to the end of the universe? Yes, yes and yes. Start with a … Continue reading
MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS TURBO
ALL THE teams are using new engines in Formula 1 this season, turbocharged direct-injected 1.6-liter V-6s. But innovative packaging of familiar technology is putting the Mercedes AMG Petronas team at … Continue reading
CIVILIZATION, IN A FEW WORDS
AN OP-ED piece in The New York Times, March 30, 2014, “Civilization’s Starter Kit” by astrobiologist Lewis Dartnell discussed an interesting question. It was first posed by physicist Richard Feynman: … Continue reading
LIVING DAGUERREOTYPES
THE FEBRUARY 21, 2014, issue of Science magazine, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, contained a news item titled “Portraits and Their Parasites.” How could I pass … Continue reading
WILL THE REAL REALITY PLEASE STAND OUT
A HEADLINE in The New York Times, February 16, 2014, read “Is the Universe a Simulation?” (See http://goo.gl/E9FZgw.) This provocative question aroused my interest all the more because it was … Continue reading
MECHA-MAN, DOKTOR DARKNESS—AND YOU!
HERE’S YOUR chance to choose between Good and Evil—and to promote science along the way. Scientists at Britain’s University of Central Lancashire and a pair of professional comic book artists … Continue reading
BIG CATS, DOGS—AND A SEA OTTER?
BEING AT the top of the food web carries real ecological responsibilities. And I’m not talking about you or me. I’m talking about certain members of the order Carnivra, the … Continue reading
