Science
History of Mach 1: Yeager Breaks the Sound Barrier – as told by him
Reading Time: 6 minutesTHE HISTORY OF MACH 1 On June 10, 1948, the U.S. Air Force confirmed that Captain Chuck Yeager had repeatedly attained supersonic speeds in the Bell X-1. ut it was on October 14, 1947, that Chuck Yeager, who died in 2020, actually broke the sound barrier, Mach 1, for the first confirmed time. It…
Read MoreScience of the Harvest Moon
Reading Time: 3 minutesScience of the Harvest Moon his year, the Harvest Moon rises on September 26, 2026, with peak illumination at 12:49 PM EDT. It will be visible near the planet Saturn in the evening sky. While last October’s Harvest Moon was a “Supermoon,” this year’s is not. We did have a Supermoon in January, and we’ll…
Read MoreAI: Noise and Confusion
Reading Time: 10 minutesAI: Noise and Confusion Podcast ecent news has been filled with stories about the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the potential existential threat it poses to humanity, voiced by smart people in the AI industry and echoed across the press and government. Last Thursday (Sept. 17), the New York Times front page ran…
Read MoreHistory of Fall: What is the Autumnal Equinox?
Reading Time: 2 minutesHistory of the Fall: how does it relate to the Autumnal Equinox?
Read MoreHistory of Star Trek: 60 Years Ago, Now, and the Future
Reading Time: 16 minutesHISTORY OF STAR TREK Podcast tar Trek premiered on NBC TV on September 8, 1966… 60 years ago. It is my favorite television show; I was glued to the TV for the first episode and every one after that. It had a significant influence on my choice of a career in technology. The show…
Read MoreNorthern Lights and Coronal Mass Ejection: Existential Threat from Methanogenic Cattle
Reading Time: 3 minutesNORTHERN LIGHTS AND CORONAL MASS EJECTION: METHANOGENIC CATTLE OAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) has announced a G2 geomagnetic storm watch for tomorrow, August 28, which could potentially boost aurora activity. Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are plasma and magnetic field explosions from the Sun’s corona. When aimed at Earth, they trigger geomagnetic storms that affect…
Read MoreHistory of Infinity Day: Why is it on August 8?
Reading Time: 2 minutesHISTORY OF INFINITY DAY: AUGUST 8 Infinity Day, also known as Universal & International Infinity Day, is a commemoration held on the 8th day of the 8th month of each year to celebrate and promote Philosophy and Philosophizing for the ordinary person.
Read MoreScience of the Buck Moon
Reading Time: 2 minutesScience of the Buck Moon onight’s full moon is called the Buck Moon. This full moon is so called for the antlers that grow annually from the forehead of a buck (male deer), around this time of year. Alternate names include Hay Moon, Wyrt Moon, and Thunder Moon. I’ve written previously about the Sturgeon Supermoon,…
Read MoreHistory of the 1st Moon Landing – Apollo 11: 57 Years Ago
Reading Time: 5 minutesHISTORY OF THE 1ST MOON LANDING: APOLLO 11 ifty-seven years ago today, at 4:17 Eastern Time, July 20, 1969, the American lunar module touched down on the Moon, and about seven hours later, at 10:56:15 pm EDT, the first human stepped out of the Apollo 11 lunar module onto the Moon. With the immortal words…
Read MoreScience of the Summer Solstice: Start of Summer
Reading Time: 3 minutesSCIENCE OF THE SUMMER SOLSTICE olstice comes from the Latin word solstitium, meaning “Sun, standing still.” The Summer Solstice occurs on June 20 at 10:22 PM EDT. But for our European friends and those farther east, it’s on June 21 at 08:25 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time, or Zulu Time, roughly Greenwich Mean Time). Greenwich, England,…
Read MoreHistory of Star Wars: Premiered 49 Years Ago
Reading Time: 6 minutesHISTORY OF STAR WARS The original Star Wars movie premiered on May 25, 1977. Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away… …in Berkeley, in November 1976, I picked up a new science fiction novel called “Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker” by George Lucas. I did not know then that…
Read MoreHistory of Earth Day
Reading Time: 3 minutes HISTORY OF EARTH DAY pril 22 is called Earth Day because it commemorates and celebrates the anniversary of our discovery of planet Earth. By all accounts, there is general agreement that Earth is far superior to the planet from which we came, as we shall recount below. Meanwhile, several companies on Earth celebrate it as…
Read More