Imagine for a moment that you're a hummingbird living near our home. Every day, you feed at the feeders that somehow never run out of n...

As if the problems with models and mis-placed incentives weren't enough, now there's good reason to be skeptical of the historical c...

Driving in my truck yesterday, I happened to notice the odometer was getting close to 150,000 miles. My 1996 Toyota T100 has given me nearl...

From Jim M., who starts out with this quote from Thomas Jefferson: "Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do n...

There's a new poll up, at the right. This one tests your understanding of the mechanics of a ship… Get it right and you might have a c...

I have smart readers! 60% of you who responded to the poll got the right answer: scattering. And nobody took the dunce's answer (pigme...

This morning the planet Mercury was at its greatest elongation (angular distance from the sun) as seen from Earth – which means this morning...

Here's a fact that surprises many people – even many computer professionals: one of the most difficult challenges for a computer system ...

Strategy Page has an excellent article about the pervasive corruption in Middle Eastern governments, and the challenges of cleaning it up. ...

Last fall, California's voters – by a 70% majority – passed “Jessica's Law”. This law makes it illegal for sex offenders to live wi...

This morning's news includes a hard-to-believe story of animal cruelty : two 15 year old girls setting a trapped 8 week old kitten on fi...

The way we perceive color is very different from what you might think (if you've ever thought about this at all!). When someone with no...

This evening I sat down to start restoring a fine old Dring & Fage slide rule, and I finally remembered to do something I've been me...

This is a fine example of a watch-style circular slide rule, albeit a very large one – it is 87mm (about 3½ inches) in diameter. Click on...

Via NBC San Diego, this news (more photos here ) of a hit-and-run wreck that seriously injured a mother of four, but spared her kids: Polic...

Imagine you could travel back in time … say, a couple thousand years. Would you be able to teach people about technologies that are now comm...

This slide rule (click to enlarge the photo at right) was made around 1897 and sold by Keuffel & Esser. It may have been actually manuf...

I thought you loved me!

Each summer we depend on our air conditioner to keep our home's temperature at a livable level – otherwise it would be 100°+ in the hous...

Maneuvering a spacecraft in orbit requires some tactics that most of us would find counter-intuitive. This morning I got to pondering exact...