Author Archives: Alexander Szewczak

A Single Autonomous Car Has a Huge Impact on Alleviating Traffic

Posted on May 18, 2017 by Alexander Szewczak

Just one autonomous car out of 20 vehicles can significantly alleviate traffic congestion, according to research from the University of Illinois.  The culprit behind many traffic jams is the variability in speed of human drivers — waves of excessive braking and … Continue reading →

Posted in Automation | Leave a comment

2017.05.18

Posted on May 18, 2017 by Alexander Szewczak

Handpainted scenes from the original Star Wars trilogy, with a link to a cool documentary on 1980’s special effects from Industrial Light and Magic. Interesting recent gallery exhibit and some interviews with Tara Donovan.  See also this, and for a comprehensive look at her work, just … Continue reading →

Posted in Art & Design | Leave a comment

2017.05.08

Posted on May 8, 2017 by Alexander Szewczak

Why Do Gas Station Prices Constantly Change? Blame the Algorithm.  Retailers are using artificial-intelligence software to set optimal prices on thousands of items a day, sometimes as often as every hour. Watch This Robot 3D Print a Building Out of Spray Foam.   … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Time Lapse Engine Rebuild of a Ford Flathead V8

Posted on April 11, 2017 by Alexander Szewczak

Courtesy of the folks at Hagerty.

Posted in Engineering | Tagged | Leave a comment

Vantablack, the Darkest Substance Ever Made

Posted on April 5, 2017 by Alexander Szewczak

The photo above shows two identical sculptures, one of which is painted with Vantablack, a carbon-fiber coating from surrey nanosystems. It is the darkest substance known to man, absorbing more than 99.96% of incident light; so dark that details disappear and … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation, Science | Leave a comment

States with the most NIH funding

Posted on March 5, 2017 by Alexander Szewczak

Updated for fiscal year 2016: California dominates in overall funding (above), but Massachusetts, DC, and Maryland stand out in NIH funding per capita (next chart).   Below, you can see more clearly how Massachusetts has the highest per capita and second … Continue reading →

Posted in Research | Leave a comment

What’s Stored in DNA? An Old French Movie and a $50 Amazon Gift Card

Posted on March 2, 2017 by Alexander Szewczak

So many people are now tapping into the internet and social media that the torrent of data they’re creating is outstripping the storage capacity of traditional devices such as hard drives, optical discs, and magnetic tape. New research advances hope … Continue reading →

Posted in Biotech, Innovation, Science | Leave a comment

How Ikea’s Billy Bookcase Took over the World

Posted on March 1, 2017 by Alexander Szewczak

The Billy bookcase is perhaps the archetypal Ikea product. It was dreamed up in 1978 by an Ikea designer called Gillis Lundgren who sketched it on the back of a napkin, worried that he would forget it. Now there are … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation | Leave a comment

How Liquefaction Occurs During an Earthquake

Posted on February 18, 2017 by Alexander Szewczak

 With a little shaking, solid earth can behave like a liquid – heavy objects on the surface (e.g. buildings) sink, low density buried objects (e.g. fuel tanks) rise upward.

Posted in Science | Leave a comment

2017.02.17

Posted on February 17, 2017 by Alexander Szewczak

DESIGNER DRUGS, MICRO ROBOTS, DEEP SPACE MISSIONS.  The Origami Revolution. THE OPEN DATA SCIENCE CONFERENCE is coming to Boston on May 3.  

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment