Category Archives: Science and Technology

Sea-Tac’s rain gage has been empty!

Posted on August 11, 2017 by Jim deMaine

From Gordon Gray:  

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The Space Needle view of smoke

Posted on August 3, 2017 by William Calvin

That’s Pier 91 at right. The visibility from Skyline is down to about three miles, looking north.  May clear some by weekend, maybe not.

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New Survey Shows Consumers are Overconfident of Their Ability to Spot Imposter Scammers

Posted on August 2, 2017 by Jim deMaine

To avoid imposters, consider these tips on avoiding some common imposter scams: click here for the full article in Age Wise King County. IRS Imposter Scam—The IRS will not contact you by phone about paying back taxes without first sending … Continue reading →

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UW students create innovative devices to solve vexing medical problems

Posted on July 31, 2017 by Jim deMaine

From Ann Milam: Published in the Seattle Times Last year, there was a national outcry after the price skyrocketed for a medical-injection device that counteracts the life-threatening symptoms of a severe allergic reaction. But for a team of students at … Continue reading →

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Picturing the Eclipsed Sun with a Holy Leaf

Posted on July 28, 2017 by William Calvin

 With a total eclipse of the sun coming up on August 21 (92% covered in Seattle, 100% in Corvalis), it seems a good time to review how our ancestors might have predicted eclipses with simple methods.  I will borrow from … Continue reading →

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Cool new stamp showing Total Eclipse of the Sun

Posted on July 27, 2017 by Jim deMaine

This forever stamp changes with a touch of the finger – amazing technology! From Ann Milam and the USPS web site On August 21, 2017, tens of millions of people in the United States will have an opportunity to view … Continue reading →

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Sunglasses won’t cut it: How to keep your eyes safe during the solar eclipse

Posted on July 26, 2017 by Jim deMaine

From Ann Milam Jul. 25, 2017 at 7:27 AM A. Pawlowski TODAY The total solar eclipse is coming, and as the excitement builds, so does the worry that it will leave behind a nation of eye problems. On Aug. 21, … Continue reading →

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Understanding Programming – from Graham Sayer’s presentation

Posted on July 13, 2017 by Jim deMaine

Below are the slides from Graham’s excellent presentation.  

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Alexa addiction

Posted on July 10, 2017 by Jim deMaine

My son handed me one of these $50 gadgets a few months ago and I remember thinking that is was one more potential dust collector. But we plugged it in anyway and connected it to our Wifi. That’s it. No … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Media, Music, Science and Technology | 1 Comment

The Tesla Plant – How to make a car.. The Tesla plant.. Fremont , CA

Posted on May 7, 2017 by Jim deMaine

From Rosemarie W: “ “Want a new car? Just  wait a few minutes and I will build you one….   Watch this and you’ll better understand why manufacturing jobs will never be what they once were. Can you picture Henry Ford’s … Continue reading →

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Scientists get political, will march

Posted on April 16, 2017 by Jim deMaine

From the San Diego Tribune: By Joshua Emerson Smith Will Americans start seeing more lab coats at political rallies like the upcoming March for Science in the nation’s capital, San Diego and hundreds of other locations? While many scientists have … Continue reading →

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Partisan differences in the consumption of science books

Posted on April 8, 2017 by William Calvin

Clipped from Nature: Taking advantage of [Amazon and Barnes/Noble] ‘customers who bought this item also bought’ feature of online commerce, the researchers constructed a co-purchase network of political books and science books. And they found a clear division, which they … Continue reading →

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A tour of the space station

Posted on March 23, 2017 by Jim deMaine

From Dorothy W: it’s a bit long but fascinating  

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Things of Beauty: Scientific Instruments of Yore

Posted on March 23, 2017 by Jim deMaine

Are you a collector? Or if you aren’t do you wish you had been? A friend has his house full of cash registers. Of course, he worked for NCR and just can let them go. Below is a video of … Continue reading →

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Human evolution lectures now on streaming video

Posted on March 12, 2017 by William Calvin

https://plus.google.com/collection/0IJzmB All five lectures are collected at that URL.

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The first seen Earthrise

Posted on March 9, 2017 by Jim deMaine

From PT: “I’m sure you’ve seen the world’s most famous photograph, “Earthrise”. It’s been on the cover of TIME and on stamps. But did you know it almost didn’t happen. It was Christmas Eve, 1968.”

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How does Big Ben keep accurate time?

Posted on February 9, 2017 by Jim deMaine

Sent along by Dorothy Wendler. Have you ever wondered how Big Ben works? https://youtube.com/watch?v=Qad6Q_RbQQ0%3Frel%3D0  

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Human Evolution Lectures 2016-2017 (Calvin)

Posted on January 21, 2017 by William Calvin

After each stand-up lecture, I am producing a scripted youtube version. Here are the ones so far, in order. They are video files, so you can pause and back up easily, should you want to think about something for a … Continue reading →

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Why the hype around medical genetics is producing promise fatigue

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Jim deMaine

Knowledge of genetics can cure cancer, right – well, wrong. Predictions about living to 1000, curing aging, wiping out cancer – all of these are in the scrap-pile of medical promises. Click here to read an essay of “Why the … Continue reading →

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Seattle’s tech boom is just getting started

Posted on November 15, 2016 by Jim deMaine

There interesting commentary in Crosscut discussing the silicon valley and San Francisco tech growth problems. Seattle is beginning to look more and more attractive, perhaps not to the new hires who sleep on futons, but certainly to the more mature tech … Continue reading →

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Magnet Putty

Posted on November 15, 2016 by Jim deMaine

Wow, this is creepy science – amazing!

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Coded vibrations and signal jamming – the secret language of the treehoppers

Posted on November 10, 2016 by Jim deMaine

From Aeon: “Treehoppers, a large family of insects found around the globe, live on plant branches, sucking nutrients from sap and frequently blending in with their surrounding to avoid the attention of predators. At first glance, the creatures appear rather … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature, Science and Technology | 2 Comments

Beautiful chemistry

Posted on October 24, 2016 by Jim deMaine

This video isn’t just for the scientists. “Eight types of beautiful chemical reactions are presented in this short video, including metal displacement, precipitation, chemical garden, crystallization, color change, bubbling reactions, dancing fluorescent droplets, and smoke. This video won an Experts’ … Continue reading →

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Can we operate without computers?

Posted on October 18, 2016 by Jim deMaine

Frank C. sends along this article from the Guardian. It’s about how we are dangerously becoming over-reliant on computers in a variety of areas – even pilots. Do they really have enough experience in handling a sophisticated aircraft when the … Continue reading →

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“With $10 million investment, Amazon expands relationship with UW”

Posted on October 6, 2016 by Jim deMaine

From Crosscut: “The University of Washington announced today that Amazon has pledged $10 million to help fund the construction of a second building for the Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) department on campus. “The new building will double the department’s … Continue reading →

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