Category Archives: Materials

Engineering, History, Materials, Physics, Science, Technology

Ramjets: Making Mock of Mach

October 10, 2014 Nicholas Gerbis Leave a comment

The faster you go, the less inclined the air becomes to get out of your way. This simple fact, which stood for years as an impediment to breaking the sound barrier, can also be ingeniously harnessed to create an engine capable of zipping along at supersonic speeds without the fuel weight required by rockets.

In this article, I trace the history, science and engineering behind this revolutionary “flying stovepipe,” from its theoretical birth during the biplane era to its modern military and commercial offshoots. By the time we’re done, you’ll understand…

How Ramjets Work

Astronomy, Electromagnetism, Engineering, Imaging, Materials, Physics, Science, Space, Technology

The James Webb Space Telescope Prepares to Peer Past Hubble

September 26, 2014 Nicholas Gerbis Leave a comment

Artist's rendering of JWST — Artist’s rendering. Image courtesy NASA.

For two decades, the Earth-orbiting Hubble Space Telescope helped pierce the veil of time, image stellar nurseries and prove that galaxies collide. Now, the James Webb Space Telescope stands poised to take those observations to the next level, making the delicate observations possible only in the cold, dark spaces beyond the moon.

Slated for a 2018 launch date and team-built by 14 countries, 27 states and the District of Columbia, Webb will take astronomers closer to the beginning of time than ever before, granting glimpses of sights long hypothesized but never seen, from the birth of galaxies to light from the very first stars. Join us as we explore…

How the James Webb Space Telescope Will Work

Biochemistry, Consumer, Culture, Engineering, Gadgets, Genetics, Health, How To, Materials, Medicine, Neuroscience, Science, Technology, Weird

Biohackers Take DIY Approach to Biological Future

September 10, 2014 Nicholas Gerbis Leave a comment

Not terribly long ago, do-it-yourself projects were the province of shade-tree mechanics and people who kept wood lathes in their garages. They dealt with grease and iron, wood and wiring, and left anything biological to the experts.

But today, body-modifying grinders implant jury-rigged biotech via the kitchen cutting board. Elsewhere, basement biohackers collaborate to build a better biological mousetrap, while volunteers teach basic genomics in community biotech spaces. Little by little, small pockets of enterprising people are working to make the long-promised post-human, cyborg, genomic future a reality.

How Biohacking Works

Chemistry, Consumer, Engineering, Gadgets, Green, How To, Materials, Science, Technology

Throwable Fire Extinguishers: You Had Me at “Fire Grenade”

May 27, 2014 Nicholas Gerbis Leave a comment

Fire is frightening and dangerous – that’s why they call it fire. So it’s a little strange that we have laws requiring us to stock canister extinguishers but not regulations requiring that we learn how, if or when to operate them. If you’re like most people, you probably don’t even know what kind of fire your extinguisher is rated for, and you likely have no idea when you last serviced or inspected the device, if ever.

Recently, a few companies have begun marketing new kinds of extinguishers, updated versions of fire grenades intended to make fighting fires as worry-free as possible. Lightweight and easy to use, they rely on the most basic of human skills: throwing. Which raises the question:

How do throwable fire extinguishers work?

Computing, Consumer, Engineering, Materials, Technology

Rethinking the Black Box: Is it Time for Cloud Storage?

April 22, 2014 Nicholas Gerbis Leave a comment

The 2014 loss of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 revived a perennial argument among airline safety wonks: In the age of satellites, big data and cloud storage, why do we lock away essential flight data on a box that can go down with the plane? It wasn’t simply a question of losing the device, as nearly happened with the Air France Flight 447 crash five years earlier; it was the risk that, when we finally found it, the data we needed to understand the calamity might already have been erased.

Does the black box need a 21st-century update? And, if so, is cloud storage practical, affordable, reliable and secure enough to supplement or replace the status quo? In other words…

Should black box data be stored in the cloud?

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