The Propeller-Driven Fighter Plane Evolves

In the latest James Bond flick 'Quantum of Solace' Bond makes an escape by piloting my favorite airplane of all time, a Douglas DC-3. Seconds later he's shot down by an Italian-made circa 1964 Aermacchi SF-260. The obvious high performance of this tiny propeller-driven plane got me to wondering. Has propeller fighter tech continued to advance since WWII and Viet Nam? The answer is an astonishing yes. The state of the art is the Brazilian Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano. And the US Navy is seriously interested.

Model Steam Engine/Lego Mashup

Here's a useful steam application from twdunbar - its a steam powered USB iPod charger. The steam engine is a Jensen #75 connected to a Lego Technic motor via a rubber band. Since the Lego motor is being driven by the steam engine it acts like a generator. You can hear the engine load up once the iPod is plugged in.

Steampunk

The exploding mantel clocks and the Victorian electric engines seem to be further evolutions of Steampunk fashion. Here's a modern-Victorian take on the all-in-one PC from the Steampunk Workshop and how it was done.

The Froment Engine and Others

"When Michael Faraday in Great Britain and Joseph Henry in the United States both discovered electricity at roughly the same time in 1831 nobody knew what to do with it because nothing in the world worked on electricity." But it didn't take long. The earliest devices were modeled on contemporary steam engines - liner motion converted to reciprocation. Up and down becomes round and round. The great breakthrough came with the invention of pure revolving armatures. Here are some exquisite model kits of vintage electric engines by The Old Model Company. And you won't believe the old world attention to detail. The video shows three of their gorgeous models.

Table Clock With Plunkydunks

We've been mildly interested in getting a new mantle clock for the living room. I came across this astonishing original art clock made by Toronto artist Roger Wood. Three feet tall. With plunkydunks. I always wondered what those dangly wassanames were called. Sorta like earrings I guess. Check out Roger's Current Inventory. My real favorites are the Small Exploding Mantle Clocks.

What is Going On With the Sun?

Sunspots are a leading indicator of solar activity. In other words, the more sunspots, the more output, the hotter the sun gets. For months now there has been no sign of sunspots. The sun is actually cooling slightly. If this continues, we may find ourselves in a new "Maunder Minimum". That was a period of about 30 years centered on 1700 when there were also no sunspots. It is the time we know today as The Little Ice Age. It seems intuitive to me that sun output and temperatures on Earth are directly linked. But that's an inconvenient truth to the man-made global warmists. More from today's Independent.

Packard. Studebaker. Oldsmobile...

What do these three have in common? They were once thriving, now dead car brands. And now its official - they will be joined in 2010 by Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Hummer. GM is dying the death of a thousand cuts. Hummer was a dead man walking anyway. Saturn they got completely wrong. But Pontiac and Saab? That's a shame. Robert Farago has the story over at The Truth About Cars.

Global Warming: How It All Began

Here's a little perspective: What do the British coal miner's union, Trident nuclear missiles and man-made global warming all have in common?

Margaret Thatcher.

Yes, in 1979 that right-wing heroine of free market capitalism faced two seemingly divergent problems - she desperately needed a way to crush the coal miners union and she desperately needed new atomic weapons.

So she and her advisers contrived to invent global warming to scare the public off King Coal. To replace the coal she proposed nuclear plants with their handy byproducts of fissionable material.

Lady Thatcher touted her bachelors in Chemistry degree as qualification enough to expound on the brand new "science" of global warming. She succeeded beyond her wildest dreams. She had her way with the unions, built new nuclear plants and weapons, and left us with one of the greatest scientific hoaxes of all time - Anthropogenic Global Warming - the Piltdown Man of climatology.

Read the exquisite details here.

Liberals Can Be Skeptics Too

Yes liberals are allowed to be skeptics too. "Climate change catastrophists classify those who disagree with their position as 'deniers,' Republicans in bed with big oil, etc. Well, there's at least one exception." This is from Thomas Fuller, liberal environmental analyst with the San Francisco Examiner.

Achoo! Oink. Update...

Here's what you need to know about swine flu from New Scientist.

Bringing Up BillG

Slashdot links to an article in the Wall Street Journal about dealing with an unruly 12-year old Bill Gates. "I'm at war with my parents over who is in control,' Bill Gates recalls telling a therapist...". Note to parents everywhere: Guess who won that war?

How To Deal With Pirates

"An Italian cruise ship with 1,500 people on board fended off a pirate attack far off the coast of Somalia when its Israeli private security forces exchanged fire with the bandits and drove them away." Well good for them.

Inside the Echo Chamber?

Have you ever wondered why it seems the mainstream US media (ABC, MSNBC, CNN, NYT etc.) all seem to have the same slant, er bias, er narrative? Has it ever occurred to you that they seem to be working off the same playbook? Yeah, I thought so too. Well here is a possible reason for that. I don't know if there's a Canadian version of JournoList, but I would not be surprised at all, at all.

Charles W. Cushman Photograph Collection

I probably came across this collection while searching for pictures of old cars and there are plenty of them here. But that's not usually what Charles Cushman was shooting. His collection of seemingly random Kodachromes of people and scenes taken all over the world is a remarkable time capsule. Beware though, Cushman was prolific. You can waste a lot of time here, but as John Lennon said, "Time you enjoy wasting is not time wasted." So Enjoy!

Pharmacy Mistake Blamed in Deaths of 21 Polo Horses

"An Ocala pharmacy has taken responsibility for botching a vitamin compound given to the horses just hours before they died." So it appears it was not deliberate.

The Aptera Electric Car

"If you're the kind of person who loves to be the center of attention, the Aptera 2e is the car for you. The three-wheel, two-seat electric car draws a crowd everywhere it goes." I'm OK with electric cars. As long as the on-the-road power, heater and defroster are as good as an internal combustion engine in the worst of the Newfoundland winter.

Star Trek Reviews

The Star Trek prequel (young Kirk, Spock et al) opens May 8. With twelve reviews in it scores 100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Trailers here.

Obama Names MADD CEO to Head NHTSA

The NHTSA is the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. MADD of course is Mothers Against Drunk Driving. I supported MADD when they were really about getting drunks off the roads but now MADD has been taken over by the total abstinance crowd. And they have a much more annoying agenda than just drunk driving. No reason to believe they are less motivated in Canada

Facebook Ettiquette - 50s Style

"This is a simple lesson on Facebook etiquette. Rule #1 - don't change your relationship status without consulting the other person. Watch the rest for the other four rules." I love the fake-50s production values, especially the "computing machine".

Bea Arthur Has Died

Bea Arthur, born Beatrice Frankel, has died at age 86. More from the Washington Post.