HARVESTING ELECTRICITY FROM THE AIR—BEN FRANKLIN, NICOLA TESLA, THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY, AND THE UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, AMHERST PART 1
RESEARCHERS AT THE UNIVERSITY of Massachusetts, Amherst, and, independently, at the European Commission’s CATCHER project have been transforming atmospheric humidity into renewable power. This is in line with Benjamin Franklin’s … Continue reading
SCIENTIFIC METAPHORS
ADVANCEMENTS IN SCIENCE PROFIT from explanatory metaphors. For instance, hydrogen’s promiscuity explains why its universal abundance doesn’t promote its being the slam-dunk of energy production. There’s lots of hydrogen, but … Continue reading
PEGASO TIDBITS PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE LEARNED FROM R&T, November 1954, that Wilfredo Ricart’s Pegaso cars seemed well-nigh unbreakable. Today several other sources contribute to this Spanish exotic’s history. More Pegaso Lore. Wikipedia gives … Continue reading
PEGASO TIDBITS PART 1
READING OLD R&T MAGAZINES is like experiencing a time machine, in this case, back to November 1954. Robert C. Goldich’s “The Flying Horses of Barcelona” was about the Pegaso, Spain’s … Continue reading
APPRECIATING MATERIALS
LEARNING THAT NOTRE DAME RESTORATION was featuring medieval craftsmanship prompted pal and regular reader Bob Storck to share a similar tale from a classic barn raising: “I learned,” he wrote, … Continue reading
A.I. GIGO
IT’S A TIME-HONORED TRADITION of computer programming: Garbage In/Garbage Out. And, all its hallucinations included, modern Artificial Intelligence is nothing more than high-falutin computer programming. Here are tidbits on recent … Continue reading
ROCKING WALLS MAY SURVIVE THE BIG ONE
AS REPORTED IN The San Diego Union-Tribune, May 9, 2023, Gary Robbins writes, “10-story Tower Survives Fake Earthquake in Possible Boon for Tall Wood Structures.” UCSD’s Large-scale Shaker Table. The … Continue reading
FLYING ENZED
“AIR NZ NAMED AIRLINE OF THE YEAR FOR 2023,” says AirlineRatings.com, as reported by Francesca Street at CNN Travel, May 30, 2023. She writes, “Its economy lie-flat seating concept is making … Continue reading
RESTORATION—IN MEDIEVAL STYLE
A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF RESTORATION: Jeffrey Schaeffer reports in AP News, May 30, 2023, “If time travel was possible, medieval carpenters would surely be amazed to see how woodworking techniques … Continue reading
PITY THE AUSTIN A-30
AN ASTOUNDING DESIGN LEAP in automobile design occurred in Britain between the 1954 Austin A-30 and the 1959 Morris 850, aka the Mini. Whereas the Mini was innovative in so … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 