MRS. THORNE AND ORSON WELLES
AN ODD synergy exists between a wealthy Chicago woman, Mrs. James Ward Thorne, and the theater/film/radio great, Orson Welles. It’s all the more curious in that Welles has been called … Continue reading
HONDA “SMART IMA”
THINK OF Honda’s recently announced hybrid One-Motor Intelligent Dual Clutch Drive as “Smart IMA.” I’ve admired the engineering elegance of the earlier Integrated Motor Assist hybrid except for one aspect: … Continue reading
TYPE CASTING
TYPOGRAPHY IS an art form, the design of letters, numerals, punctuation marks and other characters and how they fit together. And to paraphrase an old chestnut, “I don’t know much … Continue reading
東京ディズニーシー
TRAVELING INTO Tokyo from Narita International Airport, when the train or bus ran along Tokyo Bay, I passed an active volcano on the left. It’s no cause for concern because … Continue reading
OWLS HEAD TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM
WHAT A perfect time to visit Owls Head, Maine, and its Transportation Museum (http://www.ohtm.org)! The museum offers a real variety for enthusiasts of motion, with 50 cars, 28 aircraft, 14 bicycles, … Continue reading
SCIENCE TIME TRAVEL
SUPPOSE YOU could travel back in time and share some 21st Century knowledge with someone of an earlier era. Whom to choose? What knowledge to share? In its “NextGenVoices,” 5 … Continue reading
TRANNY TALK
HOW COME electric vehicles don’t have transmissions whereas traditional vehicles need gears, seemingly the more, the better? The answer is surprisingly straightforward—it’s all a matter of torque. Torque, or twisting … Continue reading
OPERA CHAOS, ACT III
YES, LADIES and gentlemen, the curtain is going up for Act III of Opera Chaos. Even the most high-toned audience enjoys a snicker, not to say the occasional full belly … Continue reading
POLIKARPOV PO-2 AND THE NIGHT WITCHES
HEROINES OF the highest order—and one of the world’s most successful aircraft designs—bedeviled the Nazis during World War II. The tale of the Night Witches and the Polikarpov Po-2 is … Continue reading
WHALE TALES
I DISLIKE multi-tasking but confess what follows is simultaneously a book review, a favored research activity and a technological report. Christopher Moore’s book Fluke is a tale of whimsy, fantasty … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 