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Author Archives: Alexander Szewczak
SpaceX sticks the landing
SpaceX Dragon 9 booster lands safely on an autonomous floating platform, after launching a payload into space. Potentially a 10-fold reduction versus current launch costs. Game. Changer. Video at: https://youtu.be/sh8V0COrrzE?t=2129 And Blue Origin isn’t far behind. Update: The payload was the inflatable … Continue reading
Florence Nightingale was a data scientist
Everyone knows Florence Nightingale as a dedicated and courageous caregiver, the founder of modern nursing. But she was also quite a good statistician. In 1850’s, while she served at the British military hospitals in Turkey, she instituted rigorous data collection and analysis for medical records. She collected … Continue reading
Liam – Apple’s Robotic System for Recycling iPhones
One of the more interesting topics this week at Apple’s product event was the introduction of Liam, a robotic system for disassembly of iPhones: Click here for a cool YouTube movie. When an iPhone is finally discarded, Liam detects, disassembles, and separate parts … Continue reading
6% of companies make 50% of U.S. profit
From an analysis done by USA Today: Just 28 companies in the S&P 500 index generate 50% of all the net income. Of those, Apple and JPMorgan Chase together make 10% of the profits. Berkshire Hathaway, Wells Fargo, Gilead Sciences … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Investing
Tagged cap weighting, corporate profits, index funds, S&P500
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Massive 2016 Snowstorm Seen from Space
As #blizzard2016 passes over #Chicago, the #EastCoast seen in distance clearly has a long way to go. #YearInSpacepic.twitter.com/qMrkTXo9ie — Scott Kelly (@StationCDRKelly) January 23, 2016
Posted in Fun Science, Space & Astronomy
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A comeback for incandescent light bulbs as MIT makes them more efficient than LEDs
Researchers at MIT have demonstrated a new kind of incandescent light bulb which uses nanocrystal structures surrounding the filament to bounce heat back and re-emit the energy as light. The new technology would allow incandescent light bulbs to be more efficient … Continue reading
Collaboration overload is degrading our organizations
Harvard Business Review has a must-read article on a phenomena that some of us have already started to notice: Too much collaboration degrades an organization’s ability to get work done. The rise of matrix organizational schemes, dual reporting structures, and the large amount of … Continue reading
SpaceX makes history by launching, then landing rocket booster
A new age of space exploration dawns as SpaceX has for the first time landed a first stage rocket booster used on an orbital mission. Some estimate that launch costs can be reduced 10 or even 100-fold if boosters — and their … Continue reading
Teleconferences — the mute button is on, and people are off doing yoga or the laundry
“Much of what we call work is noise” – Nassim Taleb Here’s the latest example of that, from the New York Times: The Modern Meeting: Call In, Turn Off, Tune Out. Backed by personal observation, data from consulting firms, and tons … Continue reading
New Horizons spacecraft spots a wandering Kuiper Belt object
As the New Horizons space craft heads out through the Kuiper Belt at the outer reaches of the solar system, it will be able to capture images of these mysterious objects more detailed than anything previously seen. In the four frame time series above, a … Continue reading
Posted in Space & Astronomy
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