Sometimes, it feels like non-computer technology has kind of stagnated. Then you see Laser guns...  Robot police in Africa... and Fantasia in real life My analysis? Most of the hardware innovation doesn't permeate our everyday lives the way software does. Instead, it's working behind the scenes to make the same... [Read More]

Today I inadvertently ran a human toxicity trial with N = 1 data points. I’m calling it ‘the effects of way too much black pepper on human physiology.’ The conclusion is that you should ALWAYS make sure you have the side of the the pepper container with many little holes,... [Read More]

A snippet from an abstract I'm working on - further details about 'falling up': Although they have many advantages over present technology, eddy-current actuators are not a killer app for generating 6-degree-of-freedom forces. Eddy-current forces are small and drop off quickly with distance. The necessary electromagnets and motors both generate... [Read More]

Whenever I explain my research, the conversation goes something like Me: "I'm working on a concept for a contact-less spacecraft actuator" Them: "A what?" Me: "*sigh* I'm trying to make a tractor beam." That, combined with our lab's youtube videos being listed along with the perpetual motion machines always makes... [Read More]

Have you ever gone through the Wikipedia disambiguation pages for the greek and Roman characters? If not, you should. Even if you narrow your scope to just a single discipline like Mechanical Engineering, the same symbol can mean multiple things (G can be both the gravitational constant and electrical conductance.)... [Read More]