Rare Earths and China
Most of you reading this already understand that rare earths are not hard-to-find potting soils; they are exotic materials like cerium, neodymium or dysprosium, that have been key to the development of such diverse products as advanced optics, computer hard disk drives, and hybrid automobiles. While environmental concerns were shutting down RE mines in […]
Female Robots
Just when you thought Siri was the hottest chick in the hood, along comes “Geminoid F”. Granted, the name isn’t much to brag about, but the technology is pretty amazing. Of course, she’s Japanese. GF’s creator, robotics genius Hiroshi Ishiguro, talks a lot about using robots to direct traffic, make sushi, or clean […]
AED Reliability
As any engineer can tell you, product reliability is a huge challenge. How exactly are you supposed to prove a device will last for 5 years, when it will be obsolete in 2? Consumers are a fickle lot; if their shiny new iPad works flawlessly, they will brag to a few friends. If the […]
Killer Technology
As a society, we appear to embrace the idea that death is inevitable, and that inflicting it on another is sometimes justified. War, abortion and capital punishment are three examples that come to mind. The latter two form a convenient litmus test for liberal vs. conservative labels. Liberals generally support abortion but oppose […]
No More Britannica
Both of my parents were educators, and my Dad was, in today’s lingo, an early adopter. Our first TV was about the size of a washing machine, with a small, roundish black and white screen. I don’t remember many of the programs we watched, and in those days there weren’t many to remember. We also […]
