Ambivalent Engineer

Last month I complained that the Hyperloop-alpha proposal has a heat balance problem. Here is the fix for that problem, as promised. I’ve...

Key points: The Hyperloop proposal implies a steam tank almost as large as the entire vehicle, and at least 3200 kg, which is not account...

This isn't a movie review.  There are already  lots of movie reviews for Pacific Rim. Rather, I want to ask the question, why was th...

Google just announced project Loon ( Google Blog , AFP article , and Wired article ).  This is a scheme to provide internet access to folks...

[Update: I'd like to thank Phil Pressel, John Gregor, and Gordon Petrie for their corrections to this post.  The changes required have...

Check it out!  This is the baffle for the R7 StreetView camera.  The final apertures are being cut with a laser.  These apertures have to...

First, let me recommend a great book: Clouds in a Glass of Beer: Simple Experiments in Atmospheric Physics: Craig F. Bohren: 9780486417387: ...

Someone recently asked me if aerial survey could be accomplished with a swarm of tiny drone aircraft.  Imagine foot-long planes made of s...

The Department of Homeland Security has said that it wants imagery delivered in the cloud. Several counties and states have expressed the s...

Continuing with the recent theme of analyzing both natural and man made cameras, I thought I'd analyze an insect eye in this post.  ...

Here's an explanation from RED about why high frame rate video is a good thing.  They are right, and this is a great explanation with r...

Here's an exotic high flying camera: ARGUS-IS.  I've been trying to figure what these folks have been up to for years, and today I...