If you’ve been paying attention to space news recently, you’ll know there’s a lot of conflict in congress concerning the course that they want NASA to take. It’s like a bunch of small children fighting over a teddy bear – in the same way that the bear isn’t fun for... [Read More]

Today, the NYT writes about yet another bizarre interplay between government and private incentives - in this case, the helium market.  The upshot seems to be that the days of getting a free balloon for getting your braces off might soon be over. A spike in the price of helium... [Read More]

 Saturday Space Stories!  Ordered from least to most probable: Through some excellent mechanical design, you can now imagine that you’re in a Battlestar Galactica space battle with your stomach as well as your brain. Verdict: while the simulator is a very cool real thing, close quarters space combat with robots-that-have-evolved-into-people... [Read More]

Today holds a special place in my heart: it's the long standing Caltech tradition known as Ditch Day! While it started off as a normal senior ditch day, Caltech undergrad culture being what it is, it didn't stay normal for long. The original Ditch Day "stacks"-a Caltech euphemism for locks-were... [Read More]

And now for something completely different! Listen close, and you will hear a tale of an intriguing interplay between consumer choice, government regulation and market competition, the likes of which happen all around us but for the most part go unseen. There are two brands of unsweetened almond milk  - let's call... [Read More]