ENIAC's Daddy
<I>Computerworld</I> posts a fascinating interview with J. Presper Eckert, who co-invented the first practical all-electronic computer—a <I>tube</I> computer.
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But I Loved Primordial Soup!
Mostly because the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum had Julia Child do a hilarious Julia Child parody for its "Life on Other Worlds" exhibit, in which she "made" primordial soup. Still, sorry to see this theory go.
Is Toyota Better Than Ford and GM?
Maybe just better run. Mark Thoma at <I>Economist's View</I> has some thoughts. So do his readers.
More Blimpy Goodness
Over at <I>Popular Science</I>, there's a post about a gargantuan "cruise blimp" that just seems too cool to ever get built. Check out the illustration of the observation deck—it's like an irony-free <A HREF="http://www.jamesgoodmangallery.com/mccall/pages/exhibframez.html">Bruce McCall</A> illo, which is kind of disorienting.
Recording for the Future
<i>JA captured the image: I watch as Michael Bishop works with a dirty pot. Robert Baird sits in the hotspot. Lukas Lipinski monitors the session.</i>
Mix Your Own Version of "Revolution 9"
Hours of mindless fun!
Layman's Guide to the Banach-Tarski Paradox
The BTP posits that it's possible to take a solid sphere, cut it into pieces, rearrange the pieces using nothing more than rotation and translation, and then re-assemble them into two identical copies of the original sphere. "In other words," <I>www.kiro5hin.org</I> explains, "you've doubled the volume of the original sphere."
Dharma is a Cat
Teaching Buddhist precepts with a cartoon kitty. Probably won't cause riots.
Instant Replay
Turns out, it might reinforce a bad call rather than correct one. What works better? Maybe the pause button.
There Were Other Scientists Working in 1905
Although 1905 is remembered as Einstein's <I>annus mirabilis</I>, there were other scientists doing good work then, too. Tony Rothman gives a few of them a shout-out.