The strangeness of air-conditioned golf courses
Golf runs in my family, although I don’t seem to have inherited that gene; I was nonetheless interested to read about an air-conditioning network embedded in the ground itself at this year’s Masters Tournament, dehumidifying the course from below. In an article called the “Weather Underground,” published in the May 2011 issue of Golf Digest,…
Is ET avoiding us out of a fear of human galactic conquest?
Has ET evolved to be discreet? An evolutionary tendency for inconspicuous aliens would solve a nagging paradox – and also suggest that we Earthlings should think twice before advertising our own existence. As physicist Enrico Fermi argued in 1950, unless the evolution of life is unique to Earth, there must be many intelligent species out…
In 2033, all marriages will be controlled by dystopian government bureaucrats
In the year 1933 physician Ira S. Wile made some wild predictions about what marriage would look like 100 years in the future. And although it’s not yet 2033, we can still be thankful that his predictions for our world just 22 years from now were wildly off the mark. Dr. Wile imagined a bureau…
A brief history of engine-powered pogo sticks
It seems that the first US patent for an internal-combustion powered ‘Pogo’ stick was issued to inventor R.J. Mays back in 1950. The jumping machine was intended to run on gasoline, and, according its creator was “…highly efficient and amusing in operation.” It’s not altogether clear whether May’s power-stick ever went into production, but a…
In roiling seas, Navy laser sets a ship on fire
A Navy laser set fire to a small ship bobbing in unruly seas this week, the first at-sea demonstration of one of the Navy’s ray guns. Check out the Navy’s video of a fire slowly consuming the inflatable boat’s outboard motors. At times, the turbulent waters seemed ready to swallow the small craft, a testament…
