Category Archives: Series

Listing posts by topic, an alternative to using the Tag Cloud

Super-Duper Super Earths and the Search for Life

This week, I’ll talk about Professor Ethan Siegel’s view that “the myth of the super-habitable super-Earth planet” is “a scientific catastrophe”, other non-catastrophes; and a problem with “super-Earths” as a label. Along the way I’ll look at science, news, headlines … Continue reading

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Pax Romana: Good Times, Remembered

“…the glory that was Greece,And the grandeur that was Rome….”(“To Helen,” Edgar Allen Poe (1845) via Wikipedia) I don’t yearn for ‘the good old days’ of my youth, or for more remote golden ages. My memory’s too good, and I’ve … Continue reading

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ChatGPT and the End of Civilization as We Know It

I’ll be talking about ChatGPT, artificial intelligence, and why I don’t think we’re doomed. Search Engines, Iron Gall Ink and Me I’ll start by admitting that I’m a human. Furthermore, I like technology. I’ve been using software and search engines … Continue reading

Posted in Being Catholic, Creativity, Discursive Detours, Series | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Snow Cruiser, Moon Buggies, Mars Tractors

I started writing about the Antarctic Snow Cruiser, “one of the colossal engineering flops of history”. Or, my opinion, a basically good design that was rushed into service. The Snow Cruiser and Little America III reminded me of imperial ambitions … Continue reading

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Exoplanets, Dust, and Who Sees Data First?

It’s been a little over 10 years since scientists spotted Kepler-22 b. It was the first time we’d spotted a transiting exoplanet that’s in its sun’s habitable zone. That may or may not mean that Kepler-22 b is habitable. The … Continue reading

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