Ever since the Supreme Court overturned abortion rights with the Dobbs ruling there have been anecdotes about people fleeing the red states for the friendlier environs of the blue states. According to an article in Axios, there is now a reliable study confirming the anecdotes; there really is a brain drain caused by red states … Continue reading Brain Drain
Science
Engine
As I was reading Asimov’s New Guide to Science, I came across this passage: The first person to translate this idea into a practical working device, however, was an English military engineer named Thomas Savery. His steam engine (the word engine originally denoted any ingenious device and comes from the same Greek root as ingenious) could … Continue reading Engine
Of Kites and Chlorine
I’ve previously written about attending the lecture that Isaac Asimov gave at the Schwab Auditorium at Penn State, but all I could do was say that it was sometime in April 1970. Now I’ve come across not only the Centre Daily Times archives, but also the archives of the campus newspaper, The Daily Collegian. So … Continue reading Of Kites and Chlorine
A Yard of String
Galaxy magazine had a monthly science column written by Willy Ley. Ley was born in Germany in 1906 but fled that county in the mid-1930s and settled in the US. When Isaac Asimov was the toastmaster at a science fiction convention and Willy Ley was in the audience, he spent some time making Willy Ley … Continue reading A Yard of String
The Student Who Charged the Atom
Working on his doctorate at the University of Uppsala in 1884, 25 year old Swedish student Svante August Arrhenius submitted his 150-page dissertation on electrolytic conductivity. It did not go over well. He was a brilliant student and recognized as such, but his professors, led by Per Teodor Cleve, grilled him on his preposterous idea … Continue reading The Student Who Charged the Atom
Science and I
I’ve always loved science. One of the earliest books I remember having is one of those oversized astronomy books with beautiful color pictures of each of the planets in the solar system. It must have been given to me as a present when I was six or seven, probably by my aunt Irene, I would … Continue reading Science and I
Engineers vs. Climate Change
In the Naked Scientists episode Engineers vs climate change Chris Smith takes a look at some novel means of combatting climate change. A sample quote: So for me, energy is absolutely key to solving the climate crisis. 80% of all the world's greenhouse emissions from energy comes from fossil fuels. Interesting fact, if we stop … Continue reading Engineers vs. Climate Change
Correcting the nytimes
The New York Times used to be a respected newspaper, but over the last few decades it’s been sliding downhill, particularly rapidly in the last few years. Its science reporting especially used to be top notch. No more. A case in point is its recent article alleging that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was hatched in a … Continue reading Correcting the nytimes
Fingerprint Breakthrough
In the 12 January 2024 episode of the Naked Scientists podcast, there is a discussion with Gabe Guo of an analysis from scientists at the Creative Machines Lab at Columbia University that has found that fingerprints from the same person exhibit certain features in common. Gabe - This research started as a chat between me … Continue reading Fingerprint Breakthrough
Instant Replay
On Tuesday I posted one of the best posts this blog has ever published. I say that with all due modesty because most of the words in it were not mine but those of Isaac Asimov. Alas, no one seems to have read it. Or at least hardly anyone. Perhaps folks were recovering from the … Continue reading Instant Replay