Category Archives: Engineering

The Government Can’t Do Anything Right

Posted on August 6, 2012 by

Can you imagine sending a car to Mars? Can you imagine carefully landing it on the Martian sufrace even though there is a 14 minute delay between the time you send a signal on Earth until the time it is … Continue reading →

Posted in Engineering | Leave a comment

Airline Tickets: Pay by the Pound?

Posted on July 3, 2012 by

Hello disagreeables. As you may (or may not have) noticed, I’ve been away from the blogging machine for a little while. Turns out, work, traveling, sports competitions, moving, and general life got in the way of angrily smashing keys on my keyboard … Continue reading →

Posted in Engineering | Tagged | 2 Comments

Neil deGrasse Tyson remix

Posted on March 15, 2012 by

Neil deGrasse Tyson makes a great point in this video (and others) about how the space race was such a driving force in our culture and how it paid dividends far beyond the ability to put a man on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, Engineering, Science | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Cars Have Destroyed Livable Communities

Posted on February 13, 2012 by

I’ve always been absolutely fascinated by the way communities organize themselves. Communities (including geography, infrastructure, cultural norms, etc) are an amazingly salient example of the huge impact technology and incentives have on adaptive systems. Learning about the historical mechanisms that … Continue reading →

Posted in Engineering, Society | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Best Thing Ever: White House Science Fair

Posted on February 8, 2012 by

Yesterday the President hosted the 2nd annual Science Fair at the White House. This event is quite possibly my favorite thing the President has done since taking office. I should start by describing the event in detail and why I … Continue reading →

Posted in Engineering | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Ask Why Campaign

Posted on January 30, 2012 by

One of the concepts most lacking in our public discourse is a desire to ask a simple question. Saying “why,” or “how” (basically, “prove it”) always seemed natural to me. Everyone does this when they’re young: Based on my own … Continue reading →

Posted in Engineering, Philosophy | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Speaking of Networks: Design Constraints and Local Policy

Posted on January 24, 2012 by

I think that if you read this blog long enough, you’ll find that we all have different ideas regarding what constitutes good policy, and also *where* that policy should be implemented. I might have an interesting example that illustrates both … Continue reading →

Posted in Engineering | Tagged , , | 9 Comments