Thoughts on creative destruction, from George Will, with a generous nod to Virginia Postrel.
Category Archives: Technology and Society
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This could be a useful breakthough in terms of a cheaper protein source. Via Natural News, who is naturally whining about it.
[Update a few minutes later]
This seems sort of related: Red meat makes you happier. The science is settled!
The North Korean “Satellite” Launch
Heading for a polar “orbit”? Well, if so, at least it won’t overfly Japan.
First Tweet Ever
Happy birthday, Twitter.
The Recruiting Of Viruses
Faster, please.
The Coming Helium Shortage
Because we’re wasting it on party balloons. It really is a critical strategic resource; it’s nuts to be selling off the reserve. It’s vital for a lot of rocketry.
But here’s my question, that a quick search doesn’t answer. With the increase in natural gas production from fracking, are they capturing the helium along with it? Does this solve the problem? Or is the artificially low prices making it not worthwhile to do so? The other question is, are there places where it’s easy to mine in the solar system? For instance, how practical would it be to skim Saturn’s atmosphere for it?
Reinventing The Busemann Biplane
Here we go again. Folks at MIT are proposing a low-drag low-boom supersonic aircraft, but this is a head scratcher to me:
Through calculations, Busemann found that a biplane design could essentially do away with shock waves. Each wing of the design, when seen from the side, is shaped like a flattened triangle, with the top and bottom wings pointing toward each other. The configuration, according to his calculations, cancels out shock waves produced by each wing alone.
However, the design lacks lift: The two wings create a very narrow channel through which only a limited amount of air can flow. When transitioning to supersonic speeds, the channel, Wang says, could essentially “choke,” creating incredible drag. While the design could work beautifully at supersonic speeds, it can’t overcome the drag to reach those speeds.
If the design “lacks lift” (which it does — that’s the problem with a Busemann biplane) how does it “work beautifully at supersonic speeds”? What holds the airplane up?
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
Twitter Has Broken AP’s “Breaking”
Heh.
I will confess a little irony, though, in the fact I got this off a twenty-hour-old tweet.
Fossil Fuels
What if they aren’t really “fossil” fuels? I’m skeptical on this, but maintain an open mind. If Gold is right, it’s a huge game changer, not just technologically, but politically. Of course, it will just send the carbon loons further around the bend.
Pilotless Air Cargo
This is probably inevitable. If it doesn’t happen by then, or sooner, it will be due to regulatory inertia at the FAA. It will probably take longer for pilotless passenger flights. Regardless of the actual safety level, I think that a lot of people are going to still feel more comfortable if there’s someone in the cockpit whose ass is on the line along with theirs.
Of course, we’ll be doing some market experiments in suborbital in the next few years. Virgin Galactic has redundant pilots, XCOR has a single-string one, and Armadillo is automated.