News of science and technology and their policy and social impacts comes in many venues. I read the prime science journals, Science and Nature, as well as society journals and feeds (Physics Today, Eos Buzz), popular magazines, and online feeds. I also keep up research with colleagues and publish with them at intervals.
The blog here is eclectic. Most often, my entries are a hearkening back to mathematical and physical reality from accidentally or intentionally excessive claims.
Technology bound to fail – a satellite launcher
Spinlaunch is a company based in Sunnyvale, California. They propose to start satellites on their journey to Low Earth Orbit ...
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Zika not alone in affecting fetal brains
Fearsome flaviviruses: A very short note in a recent issue of Science (Vol. 359: 530, 2 Feb. 2018) cites a ...
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Densified wood – stronger than steel (but…)
Densified wood: In a very recent issue of Nature (Vol 554: 224-228), authors Jianwei Song and others reported that they ...
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Our brains got a lot of mutations while we were in utero
Mutations in our brains as they develop in our time as fetuses: In a very recent issue of Science (Vol ...
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Proxima Centauri b – a habitable planet? (No)
Recently, astronomers using the European Southern Observatory telescope in northern Chile, detected a planet orbiting the star nearest to our ...
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Making spider silk for fun and profit: worth it?
Company using microbes to make spider silk garners $123,000,000 in venture capital. This is a story reported on the Tech ...
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Kelp won’t save us, alas
19 October 2017. National Geographic misses the math. In the November 2017 issue you'll find a two-page spread entitled Kelp ...
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Hydrogen-powered vehicles
15 October 2017. The pros and cons of hydrogen-powered cars and trucks have been discussed over the years, so I'm ...
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Unequal treaty
15 October 2017. "Wisconsin enters into an unequal treaty with Foxconn." That's the title of an incisive column by Prof ...
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Nemo’s Garden
12 October 2017: comments on a proposal to farm regular food crops, such as vegetables, underwater. It’s called Nemo’s Garden. I give ...
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The archive of all posts from this page is available (useful when more than 10 posts have been made); the full content of each blog is present there.