WHY ANIMALS LINK UP
HUMANS AND some other mammals practice social monogamy; one guy, one gal, more or less for life. Researchers have done lots of work seeking clues about the evolutionary benefits of … Continue reading
MG C-TYPE, 1931
THE MOTORING moniker “C-Type” usually conjures an image of a 1950’s Jaguar competition car, successful in endurance racing. But two decades before this, other C-Types—these, MGs—made a name for themselves … Continue reading
A YEAR IN REVIEW
THIS MINI-ESSAY appears precisely one year after the first of SimanaitisSays. As such, it’s devoted to a review of the past year’s activities, the highs, the lows… no, let’s leave … Continue reading
ADAPTIVE OPTICS FROM THE PERSEIDS
ASTRONOMERS CAN benefit from air pollution—provided it’s cleverly exploited in what’s called “adaptive optics.” The topic is most appropriate at this time, as we’re at the high point of the … Continue reading
JUST JOKING AROUND
MARK TWAIN said, “Man is the only animal that laughs, or needs to.” Once our ancestors evolved open-ended thinking, they followed with a hard-wired sense of humor. And if you’d … Continue reading
AFOOT WITH ARCHEOLOGY
SHERLOCK HOLMES was a master at identifying what his chronicler Dr. John H. Watson preferred to call “footsteps.” And, according to Science magazine, 26 July 2013, the San people of … Continue reading
CELEBRATING SIR PETER USTINOV
TO SAY that actor, writer, dramatist, filmmaker, opera director and stage designer Sir Peter Ustinov was a renaissance man does him a disservice. None of the renaissance men I’ve read … Continue reading
AN ALVIS SPEED 20 SB? A TALBOT LAGO T26?
“IF I were a rich man…,” mused Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. Though my circumstances are decidedly different, my musings are the same as I look through the catalogs … Continue reading
RISKY RESEARCH
HOW MUCH risk should a journal assume when publishing new—and potentially contentious—findings? This may sound purely academic, but there are implications in how the rest of us accept things that … Continue reading
A QUEST FOR LATERAL CONTROL: THE GOUPY II
EARLIEST AIRCRAFT were on a quest for control, especially laterally, from side to side, in roll. Wing warping was one choice; ailerons were another. Major court cases ensued (for the … Continue reading
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