Simanaitis Says

On cars, old, new and future; science & technology; vintage airplanes, computer flight simulation of them; Sherlockiana; our English language; travel; and other stuff

ICELAND AND ALUMINUM

ICELAND IS a greater producer of aluminum than the United States. This and other tidbits are gleaned from The New York Times article, “American Companies Still Make Aluminum. In Iceland,” … Continue reading

July 6, 2017 · Leave a comment

CELEBRATING MATHEMATICIAN PARLIAMENTARIAN CÉDRIC VILLANI

EARLIER THIS year, the French had strikingly different candidates in their national elections and voters exhibited rare wisdom. The brand-new centrist Emmanuel Macron and his Le République en Marche! party … Continue reading

July 4, 2017 · Leave a comment

LET’S DIFFERENTIATE “BULLY PULPIT” FROM A WRETCHED BULLY

I AM a lover of the English language, with a deep appreciation of Theodore Roosevelt. It was he who characterized the presidency as a “bully pulpit.” But, I note emphatically, … Continue reading

July 3, 2017 · 3 Comments

SPOOKY ACTION AT (REALLY) AFAR

CHINESE RESEARCHERS have sent entangled photons from a satellite to two ground stations 745 miles apart. This distance is by far a new record for what Einstein called “spooky action … Continue reading

July 2, 2017 · Leave a comment

THE FIRST BUGATTI IS IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD

THE LYON Air Museum is located at John Wayne Airport, not far from SimanaitisSays world headquarters in Orange County, California. Among the museum’s regular displays are an American Airlines Douglas … Continue reading

July 1, 2017 · 3 Comments

A MODEST PROPOSAL FOR DISNEY IMAGINEERS

IT IS rare that I turn to Variety, America’s weekly entertainment trade magazine, for political updates. Typically, the Orange County Register and The New York Times suffice for balance, along … Continue reading

June 30, 2017 · 1 Comment

MY (NON-FAKE) MAGAZINE COVERS

WHAT WITH the current brouhaha concerning the alternative-fact March 1, 2009, Time magazine cover, I should like to go on record that my eight, possibly nine, covers of R&T are … Continue reading

June 29, 2017 · 9 Comments

A HOLMES RIVAL IN DEDUCTION?

THE WORLD’S first consulting detective has exhibited great deductive prowess, but he may have a new rival, a mere junior office clerk in the Cambridgeshire village of Grantchester. I enjoy … Continue reading

June 28, 2017 · 1 Comment

HERMANN THE GERMAN JOINS THE GREATER HUMAN RACE

MIGRATION, ETHNICITY, and racial purity have been much in the news these days. Fortunately, so have the stabilizing influences of scientific research. In particular, goodbye to a favorite myth believed … Continue reading

June 26, 2017 · Leave a comment

TOURING THE WORLD’S LETTUCE CAPITAL

EL CENTRO, once renowned as the Lettuce Capital of the World, is in California’s Imperial Valley, about 115 miles east of San Diego and 15 miles north of the Mexican … Continue reading

June 24, 2017 · 8 Comments