To everybody in the USA – happy Fourth of July! To everybody not in the USA – fourth of July.   Regardless of where you’re from, I hope you enjoy a little compilation of space-related fireworks, both manmade and provided by nature.  “The rocket’s red glare”  “The bombs bursting in air”... [Read More]

In his book, A Many Colored Glass, Freeman Dyson describes his vision of a future in which humanity uses synthetic biology (engineered life forms and the like) to expand across the solar system and eventually the galaxy.  As Arthur C Clarke said: “If an elderly but distinguished scientist says that... [Read More]

Today I visited the offices of MadeInSpace – a startup building 3-D printers for space applications- and spoke to one of the founders.  On top of the extremely cool technology, I was impressed by his outlook, which combined massive breadth and optimism with a hearty dose of reality.  Not a... [Read More]

Working in both academia and government, it feels like I’m exposed to the maximum possible amount of face-palm-inducing bureaucratic shenanigans.  I’ve collected some good quotes that hopefully illustrate why bloated edifices of red tape and generalized rules fill me with alternating rage and despair:  Teacher incentives: "If a student does... [Read More]

In this week’s EconTalk podcast  (around minute 55,) Russ Roberts reiterates an interesting idea: that economists should film a constant video feed of themselves and their computer screen while they’re doing research. That way, all the discarded dead ends and fruitless attempts are documented along with the brilliant paper-worthy successes. The reason... [Read More]