ISAM demonstration from DARPA; Axiom accused Vast of IP theft; return of Mars Sample Return?; A new model of Uranus and Neptune's magnetic fields; First data release from Euclid; expanding VPP capabilities; Signal analysis in the blind in real time; Quantum imaging for improved resolution; Printable photonic crystals; Shocking procrastinating brains to make them more proactive.
DragonGods Review
If you’re looking for a book that scratches that classic fantasy itch and blends heartwarming moments with a villain arc suitable for an ancient Greek playwright, DragonGods is worth your consideration.
Planned Obsolescence: Customer Frustration and Engineering Necessity
Parts wear out, components fail, systems degrade: to keep a machine operating indefinitely will eventually require replacing every part of it, in the fashion of the philosophically debated ship of Theseus. For most systems, this means there comes a point of diminishing returns
Ideas and Innovations Newsletter – 202611.07
Progress on harnessing spider silk; Unexpected energy in "empty" space; Zapping brains to improve concentration; Accidential characterization of Martian dust; A toothbrush that generates electricity to shock your teeth; Blue Origin's New Glenn updates; A temperature record in space; New history of Celtic and Germanic languages
The Golem and the Djinni Review
It’s quiet and thoughtful without being heavy, the magic is subtle and understated, and the two protagonists are thoroughly rendered and deeply explored. There are plenty of djinni stories, and plenty of golem stories, but this one manages to do something unique and interesting with both those commonplace fantasy beings.
Inspired by What Not to Do
Failure can be a bountiful source of more concrete inspiration, like all the times I see an interesting idea and think I could execute it better or that I would like to see it done differently.
Ideas and Innovations Newsletter – 202610.31
Lucy reaches the Trojan asteroids, Starfall delivers for AFRL, Voyager keeps going, the ISAM state of play in 2026, a new pointing-based human-machine interface, cadmium from waste, and an RFI on Hubble servicing missions.
Theseus and Romulus Review
We are closer in time to the great inventors of the Renaissance than Plutarch was in time to his first two subjects.
Ideas and Innovations Newsletter – 202610.24
Improved Martian helicopter blades, SMD's new approach to science mission selection, a comparison of creativity in adults and children, amino acid in alien ice, understanding dark matter through its unexplained absence, impacts of Falcon 9's impending retirement, and poplar proprioception.
The War in the Air Review
Though the narrator makes some gestures to the human toll and tragedy attendant to the war in the air, the downward spiral precipitated by the first battles is holistically depicted with a kind of solemn glee
