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- 1 in 200 American Deaths Have Been Because of War
- When Will Scotland Sell More Wind Than Whisky?
- When Did Fiction Turn Female?
- “Lethal Tides” – Researcher Heroines of WW II
- Why Does “Avatar” Look So Dated?
- Musk Really Is Like Tesla, But Not In a Good Way
- “The Mountain in the Sea” – Aliens Among Us
- The Netherlands Would Be a Pretty Nice Future
- Why Care That “The Rings of Power” Is Mediocre?
- Obscure Creators of the World #1 – Federico Faggin
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Author Archives: jlredford
1 in 200 American Deaths Have Been Because of War
This Memorial Day, let us note how war is a common cause of death for Americans. Wiki lists 1.35M deaths from 1775 to 2023 in 81 conflicts. About half were in combat and half not. About half the deaths were … Continue reading
When Will Scotland Sell More Wind Than Whisky?
Here’s something unexpected – there is actually an advantage to living on a storm-swept rock in the North Atlantic: Scotland now has more wind power per person than any other country! They’re now up to 1900 W/person of capacity for … Continue reading
When Did Fiction Turn Female?
I was browsing the Boston Globe Sunday Arts section, looking at the Local Bestseller lists, when this caught my eye: Hardcover Fiction Paperback Fiction Hello Beautiful Ann Napolitano Daisy Jones & the Six Taylor Jenkins Reid Lessons in Chemistry Bonnie … Continue reading
“Lethal Tides” – Researcher Heroines of WW II
“Lethal Tides – Mary Sears and the Marine Scientists Who Helped Win World War II” by Catherine Musemeche is a thorough biography of the sort of person that is easy to overlook. Sears was an unassuming marine biologist who wound … Continue reading
Why Does “Avatar” Look So Dated?
“Avatar: the Way of Water” is an overwhelming movie. Every frame is filled with astonishing detail. The alien world of Pandora is as vivid as the most scenic places on Earth. Beyond that, the performances are rich and expressive, even … Continue reading
Musk Really Is Like Tesla, But Not In a Good Way
Although Elon Musk did not found or name Tesla Inc, he often gets compared to its namesake, Nikola Tesla. Both were from the provinces – South Africa for Musk and Serbia for Tesla – and made their fortunes in the … Continue reading
“The Mountain in the Sea” – Aliens Among Us
In the last few years we have been learning an enormous amount about intelligence among animals. In particular, we’ve found that octopuses are startlingly smart. They use tools, they invent hunting techniques, they invent disguise techniques, and they are curious … Continue reading
The Netherlands Would Be a Pretty Nice Future
The Washington Post today has a fascinating article about what would seem to be a dull topic: Netherlands Agriculture Technology. It notes that tiny little Holland, with the land area of Maryland and only 17M people, is the second largest … Continue reading
Why Care That “The Rings of Power” Is Mediocre?
“The Rings of Power” is a new streaming series based on Appendix A of “The Lord of the Rings”. It gives the history of Middle Earth before the War of the Ring: the second rise and fall of Sauron, the … Continue reading
Obscure Creators of the World #1 – Federico Faggin
The people we know about are usually the ones with publicity staffs. Their success depends on how widely known they are. This is obviously the case for sports figures, actors, musicians, and politicians, but also applies to technicals like Steve … Continue reading
A Niche in the Library of Babel 