With its variety of the vignettes, Mazirian the Magician still tells a cohesive story for the reader, just not in the way we normally understand the idea. It's a bit like how a collection of fables can give an overall consistent sense of a culture.
Blog
Designs and Means
Sometimes a notion gets lodged in my brain which I just can’t shake, for something that seems like it should be easy, obvious, such that a solution should already exist…but I can’t seem to find one that does just what I’m looking to do.
Ideas and Innovations Newsletter – 202609.26
Induced side-channel leakage, social proximity affects homeostasis, improved plywood adhesive formulation, octopus-inspired high-DOF actuator, and a sugar-alcohol thermal battery
Maintenance: Of Everything Review
As you read, you will find yourself looking around at the complex systems with which we interact every day, and thinking either a) there's a lot of maintenance going on behind the scenes we don't normally notice, or b) it's astonishing they don't require more maintenance.
Poetry Practice, Exercise 5
Here, we're tasked with two quatrains of 8-syllable iambic tetrameter, two quatrains alternating between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter, and two quatrains featuring trochaic tetrameter (one quatrain with pure trochee, and one with docked weak endings on lines 2 and 4).
Intergalactic Update 2026
I’ve always tried to be clear that any schedules and dates I offer are goals and guesses, not promises, unless I specify otherwise, but I know how dismaying it can be when an author puts dates out into the world which then blow past with nary a word. If my projections for the next year and future work seem even more ambiguous than usual, that’s probably why.
Ideas and Innovations Newsletter – 202609.19
Clues on 3I/Atlas's formation environment, Rocket Lab challenges Blue Origin for Mars infrastructure, science says reading is good for you, special spin feature, taking T. Rex's temperature, and 3D printing with sound
Assyria Review
As Frahm points out, the Assyrian Empire is as much a part of our cultural heritage as the Greeks, though they receive far less attention for their contributions.
From Scratch
When it comes to starting most projects from scratch, though, it’s a bit more complicated than setting down the starting line for a race.
Ideas and Innovations Newsletter – 202609.12
Mathematics of percolation, experiments in quantum gravity, lunar surface technology call for proposals, a singularity in Navier-Stokes, variations on triboelectricity, drugs as the catalyst for civilization, and textured electrodes for better batteries.
