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Tag Archives: Tech life in New England
“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
Ekranoplans are Back! Maybe. The Regent Seaglider
The Soviets used to build the world’s biggest and ugliest airplanes: They called them by the ugly term “ekranoplans”, or “screen effect” in Russian. They flew low over water, and got lift from the cushion of air between the wings … Continue reading
How Re-industrialization Now Works: GO Lab and Wood Fiber Insulation
I was driving through central Maine recently, and was struck by how dreary the landscape looked. The houses and towns looked run-down, and store fronts were vacant. This is an old story about industry leaving rural areas, and can be … Continue reading
Good News on Backstopping Renewables (1) – Ambri
Wind and solar at this point are cheaper than any other form of electricity, and are getting steadily cheaper still. Coal plants are getting shut down because it’s just not worth it to run them, and even natural gas is … Continue reading
The Obsolescence of White Nationalism
I was sitting in a conference room the other day, meeting with a company that wanted to supply a component for a new chip we’re working on. These days most chips are assembled from big pieces from other firms. It’s … Continue reading
The Least Substantial Lasts Longest
A few days ago a friend noted that this was the 40th anniversary of the VAX computer line, one of the most successful and most criticized machines ever. Its first model was the VAX 11/780, which was announced on Oct … Continue reading
The Engineering of Biology at MIT
One of the big reunion activities at MIT is Technology Day, a series of lectures from faculty done shortly after commencement. This year the theme was Synthetic Life, and the talks were just as creepy and interesting as you might … Continue reading
Rebecca Leaf, Engineer Heroine from MIT
I recently came across a striking set of stories about leftist women who attended MIT. The school has had female graduates longer than any other major US university (their first was in 1873), and they’ve done remarkable things. It turns … Continue reading
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Tagged energy-ish, mit-ish, political-ish, Tech life in New England
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Deep Time Geology and the Fermi Paradox
A few weeks ago I went out for a beer and some geology, and learned one reason why the sky is so dark. The beer came from The Burren, a rundown Irish bar in Somerville MA. The geology … Continue reading
Saving Whales With Quadcopters
A few weeks ago there was a horrifying story on the front page of the Boston Sunday Globe – Chasing Bayla by Sarah Schweitzer. It described the desperate efforts by Michael Moore, a researcher at the Woods Hole Oceangraphic Institute, … Continue reading
A Niche in the Library of Babel 