Monthly Archives: April 2023
Lake Tulare
I’ve been watching with intrigue as the long dormant Lake Tulare has been refilling itself following record rain and snow-fall in California. It was once the largest body of freshwater west of the Mississippi but was drained for farmland a couple generations ago. My initial response to the story has been to root for the…
Good enough
The James Webb Space Telescope was in the news a couple of months ago after the primary mirror sustained a bit of damage from a micro meteoroid hit. Not a big deal. The damage is small compared to the size of the mirror and the frequency of these hits can be probabilistically forecasted to ensure…
Exploration and Culture
Being in space exploration you’re never far from the question, “but is it worth it?” A typical answer normally references that technological spin offs from space exploration improve life on Earth, that NASA is only a very small portion of federal government spending, that space exploration supports many well-paying jobs across the country (although I…
Leonardo
Leonardo Da Vinci is the quintessential genius. Particularly in the engineering world, a clever idea might be described as a moment of Leonardo-esqe inspiration. Most people probably recognize the distinctive style of his sketches immediacy and even more quickly would identify the Mona Lisa or LAst Supper Paintings. I’ve often counted him as something of…