TIDBITS FROM AUTOMOTIVE NEWS
THE FOLLOWING AUTOMOTIVE tidbits aren’t indicative of important trends, compelling gossip, or breakthrough technology. They’re just things I found interesting in recent issues of Automotive News, the weekly journal of … Continue reading
RARE EARTH PRODUCTION—NIMBY
RARE EARTHS, DESPITE their name, are ubiquitous in mobile phones, computer hard drives, automotive catalytic converters, and other features of modern life. Back in 2016, “As Rare As… Earth?” here … Continue reading
TO ALL OF US, SHE IS “OUR LADY” PART 2
OUR CELEBRATION of Notre Dame’s resilience and beauty continues today in Part 2. We travel down the Seine on a Batobus, get cathedral specifications from 1874 and 1937, and read … Continue reading
TO ALL OF US, SHE IS “OUR LADY” PART 1
WE WERE ALL horrified by the Notre Dame Cathedral fire of April 15, 2019. Yet we also celebrate Our Lady’s inherent resilience and beauty. Here are photos of Notre Dame, … Continue reading
WHAT DOES CLIMATE CHANGE HAVE TO DO WITH SEX?
THERE. NOW THAT I have your attention, I’ll cite “Atmospheric Scientists Join Pheromone Quest” by Kai Kupferschmidt, in Science, April 12, 2019. And, before we’re done here today, there’s an … Continue reading
ROBIN HOOD AND THE CALIFORNIA PERSPECTIVE
WIFE DOTTIE AND I recently enjoyed a Robin Hood flick on the telly. What a hoot! A classic tale of medieval England, California landscapes, and, come to think of it, … Continue reading
ON PSEUDOARCHAEOLOGY
DID ALIENS BUILD the Egyptian pyramids? Were the Americas first populated by Western Europeans? A growing number of people believe in such claptrap, according to Science magazine, published weekly by … Continue reading
CELEBRATING THE BROWN DERBY(S)
I WAS VERY WELL connected at Hollywood’s Brown Derby restaurant, albeit only briefly. A recent mention of this restaurant on SiriusXM “Radio Classics” rekindled the memory. There were actually four … Continue reading
DOUGLAS DST: WHEN FLYING WAS RESTFUL
THE DOUGLAS SLEEPER TRANSPORT arose through airline competition. Transcontinental Air Transport flights in 1929 were anything but uneventful. For example, TAT passengers interspersed train travel with segments aboard Ford Tri-Motors. … Continue reading
THE CARS OF DONALD HEALEY
I HAD A SECRET crush on a high-school math teacher who drove an Austin-Healey Hundred. This recollection came to mind while I was rearranging my Automobile Quarterly collection, far from … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 