Tom Swift and the blessings of invention

The Tom Swift books introduced young folks to inventions and scientific research. The original series was written in the early 1900s. Later series, featuring the offspring of the original characters, introduced different generations to much later technologies and discoveries. The books were written in a sort of industrial fashion, by the pseudonymous Victor Appleton. (One […]

How to manage invasive carp (2 methods)

There are several documented methods for managing invasive carp. Here’s one, used in Australia: “Managing invasive carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) for habitat enhancement at Botany Wetlands, Australia,” L. Pinto, N. Chandrasena1, J. Pera, P. Hawkins, D. Eccles, R. Sim, Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, Volume 15, Issue 5, pages 447–462, September/October 2005. Here’s another, used […]

Pyramids can fly, under certain circumstances

Pyramids can fly, under certain circumstances. This new study explains: “Intrinsic Stability of a Body Hovering in an Oscillating Airflow,” Bin Liu, Leif Ristroph, Annie Weathers, Stephen Childress, and Jun Zhang, Physical Review Letters, 108, 068103 (2012). The authors, at New York University, explain that in their experimental setup [pictured below]: “weight support and orientational […]

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