Posted in Informative Articles on Jan 16th, 2006
[Alternative Fuels, Auto Show, Detroit, Fuel Cell, Hybrid, Hydrogen, NAIAS]Today my wife and I visited Detroit’s 2006 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). I went specifically with the intent of surveying the state of North American hybrids. What I’ve come back with is a bunch of pictures, and a report card of sorts […]
Posted in Informative Articles on Jan 15th, 2006
[Comet, Interstellar Medium, NASA, Planetary Science, Science, Space, Stardust, Wild 2]Those that closely follow space-related news will no doubt have already heard of Stardust@Home, but I decided I would wait until the Stardust probe made it safely back to Earth before I wrote about it. Well, that has happened, NASA’s Stardust probe has returned […]
Posted in Informative Articles on Jan 13th, 2006
[History, IAEA, Iran, Non Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, Proliferation, Security Council]In light of the news from Iran, I thought I would put together a guide to nuclear proliferation that will allow myself and my readers to understand this issue a bit more clearly than otherwise. Below are a number of questions that I think get […]
Posted in Informative Articles on Jan 9th, 2006
[Futurism, Hunger, Paul Ehrlich, Population Bomb, Thomas Malthus, Vertical Farming]Without significant advances in agricultural technology, the food-production capacity of the Earth will not be able to keep pace with the current global population growth rate indefinitely. When there are more mouths to feed than can be satisfied, the population in countries short on food […]
Posted in Informative Articles, Opinion on Dec 7th, 2005
[Earthquake, Overhyped, Skyscraper, Taipei 101]For those of you, like me, who had no idea what Taipei 101 is, it is the new tallest building in the world. Completed in 2004, it stands over 508 meters (1667 ft) tall. Recently, an increase in microtremors in Taipei has had people asking if this new massive […]
Posted in Research Synopses, Informative Articles on Nov 15th, 2005
[Peer Review, Popular Science, Science]Science advances as a whole because of communication. Scientists communicate their findings to each other in both written form and in presentations at conferences. At a deeper level, colleagues discuss their research in a multitude of informal ways, of course. But, the formal process of peer-reviewed publication is […]
Posted in Informative Articles on Oct 19th, 2005
[Art, Futurism, Technology]Somewhat belatedly, I came across the Long Now Foundation, a group devoted to promoting long term thinking. When I say long term, I mean 10,000 years, not 8, as goes the political definition. They are that “dances around the maypole” of the 10,000 year clock, as conceived by Danny Hillis. […]
Posted in Informative Articles on Oct 17th, 2005
[Beauty, Materialism, Nature, Science]I have wondered for a long time what exactly causes leaves to change colors. I remember reading several years ago about the color change being associated with the reuptake of cholorplasts by the trees in preparation for winter. If this is true, then there must be some reason, energetically, why […]
Posted in Informative Articles on Sep 9th, 2005
[Astronomy, Helix Nebula, Peer Review, Publication]I just finished submitting my first for-publication journal article entitled “The Origin and Physical Properties of Cometary Knots in the Helix Nebula NGC 7293.” I am second author, after my Astronomy Senior Thesis advisor, Dr. Eugene Capriotti. We submitted it to the Astrophysical Journal, one of the more […]
