PHOTOPHORETIC FLIGHT IN THE IGNOSPHERE, THANKS TO CROOKE’S RADIOMETER, SORTA
THERE ARE SEVERAL NEAT WORDS ABOVE gleaned from Annika Inampudi’s article “Featherweight Flyers Could ‘Levitate’ Above Earth Indefinitely,” AAAS Science, August 13, 2025. Let’s consider each of these words, then … Continue reading
RETHINKING A.I. PART 2
YESTERDAY, Gary Marcus’ “The Fever Dream of Imminent ‘Superintelligence’ Is Finally Breaking,” a Guest Essay in The New York Times, described that today’s A.I. is failing to achieve Artificial General … Continue reading
RETHINKING A.I. PART 1
A.I. SPECIALIST GARY MARCUS WRITES IN THE NEW YORK TIMES, SEPTEMBER 3, 2025, “The Fever Dream of Imminent ‘Superintelligence’ Is Finally Breaking.” Here, in Parts 1 and 2 today and … Continue reading
ANIMALES FANTÁSTICOS
“AT AROUND 20 FEET TALL,” PBS SENIOR ARTS Correspondent Jeffery Brown recounts, “they’re hard to miss, brightly colored and intricately designed…. fantastic animals that have their roots in Oaxaca and … Continue reading
MORE DIRTY BOOKS
THERE—THAT SHOULD GET YOUR ATTENTION AGAIN. Who would have guessed Boccacio’s Decameron was once described as “probably the dirtiest great book in the Western canon.” I gleaned this from Barbara … Continue reading
ANTHONY COMSTOCK, CHAUCER’S LITHE-AS-A-WEASEL ALISOUN, AND PERSONAL CHOICE
AN ENLIGHTENED ENGLISH TEACHER ENCOURAGED US to master the first lines of Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales—in Middle English: “Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote/ The droghte of March hath … Continue reading
ENOUGH ALREADY WITH PENCILS IN KNIFE FIGHTS
JIA LYNN YANG WRITES OF DEMOCRATS in The New York Times, August 15, 2025: “Will the battle over Texas’ gerrymandering lead to a new era for the party?” An interesting … Continue reading
C&SC’S LUST-WORTHY CLASSICS PART 2
YESTERDAY WE BEGAN SELECTING FAVS from Classic & Sports Car’s “29 Sexy Cars for the Masses.” We continue here in Part 2 with others from its list, also accompanied by … Continue reading
C&SC’S LUST-WORTHY CLASSICS PART 1
MY FAVORITE CAR MAGAZINE, THE BRIT CLASSIC & SPORTS CARS, has assembled “29 Sexy Cars for the Masses,” a selection of “lust-worthy classic cars that didn’t cost the Earth when … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 
R&T/B&B TESTS THE POGUAR
“ALTHOUGH IT MAY BE ARGUED,” Bounce & Bound wrote in January 1955, “that the scrutiny of a road test crew should be confined to the technical and performance aspects of … Continue reading →