'Temper Foam' - a Soft Touch

"Everyday Tech From Space: 'Memory Foam' for the Masses"
Denise Chow, Space.com (February 7, 2011)

"Chances are you've encountered something called temper foam, even if you didn't realize it. This foam padding, which absorbs shock while providing comfort and protection, is now widely used almost 50 years after it was developed for NASA.

"Temper foam has padded the helmets of race car drivers and Dallas Cowboys, been used to manufacture comfortable prosthetic limbs, and found its way into shoe insoles so that men and women around the world need not sacrifice style for comfort. Yet it was invented in 1966 for use in NASA's airplane seats.

"Charles Yost was an aeronautical engineer with Systems Dynamics Group at North American Aviation Inc. who in 1962 helped build a recovery system for the Apollo command module, during the agency's lunar landing program...."

The article runs through how this high-tech foam is used - from protective gear to a special obstacle course for returning astronauts.

If you're younger than about 40, you've never lived in a world that didn't have this remarkable stuff in it:

"...The invention was originally referred to as 'slow spring back foam,' because the material flowed to match the contour of whatever was pressing against it – like a mold – and returned to its original shape once the pressure was removed.

"In 1969, Yost formed Dynamic Systems Inc. to sell the technology, which came to be known as 'temper foam.' ..."

Materials technology - the stuff things are made of - has changed a lot since the Lemming started taking notice. In the last 50 years, we've gone from glass bottles to - glass bottles. Some products still come in glass containers - but many more are in bottles made of synthetics that didn't exist back in the 'good old days.'

The Lemming once dropped a grocery bag with a ketchup bottle in it. A glass bottle. Plastic is, in the Lemming's opinion, better.

Yves Rossy and His Flying Backpack

"Jet-man: Human powered flight"

fdt2k, YouTube (December 22, 2006)
video, 3:13

"Yves Rossy, the first man to have the performances of an airplane (climb !) with only his body movements to steer: The Icare's dream reality !"

Yves Rossy's flown across the English Channel since that video was made: and other folks are developing personal flight technology, too. The Lemming doesn't think that the flying belts of the Jetsons are all that likely - not any time soon.

On the other hand, there are recreational and practical applications that just about guarantee that we'll see more of these things in the next few years.

Related posts:

• "They're Birds! They're Planes! No, It's the SWAT Team!"
  (December 4, 2009)
• "Fusion Man: Jet-Propelled 'Rocket Man' Flies"
  (May 15, 2008)

More, in this blog:

• "The Future: Just Like Today, Only Different"

More, elsewhere:

• Jetman
• JetCat USA

What Next: Robot Lifeguards?

"A robot lifeguard patrols Malibu"
Cindy Waxer, Innovation Nation, CNNMoney.com (October 25, 2010)

"Emily may not be the prettiest thing with plastic parts on bikini-riddled Zuma Beach in Malibu, Calif., but 'she' still turns heads.

"That's because Emily -- whose name is an acronym for Emergency Integrated Lifesaving Lanyard -- is a four-foot-long robotic buoy capable of racing through rough surf at 24 miles per hour. Emily's creators estimate that the robot can rescue distressed swimmers twelve times as fast as human lifeguards. Take that, David Hasselhoff!..."

"...The final result is a remote-controlled contraption powered by a tiny electric pump called an impeller, which squirts a forceful stream of water, much like the propulsion system on a Jet Ski. Manufactured by Mulligan's startup, a seven-employee company called Hydronalix in Sahuarita, Ariz., Emily can run up to 80 miles on a single battery charge. The device's foam core is buoyant enough to support up to five people, who cling to Emily's ropes until human aid arrives...."

It looks like a sawed-off red pontoon with a flag - and relies on the drowning victim being alert, and able to grab and hold on to the lines along its side. Also realize that the red torpedo is there to help.

"...'This is a classic example of an inventor's idea of how to solve a problem that doesn't necessarily coincide with reality,' says B. Chris Brewster, president of the United States Lifesaving Association. He notes that a robotic floatation device -- no matter how nifty -- can't save an unconscious swimmer...."

That's a reasonable point.

Still, that 24-knot 'swimming' speed is impressive. And well outside the envelope of what human beings can do.

The Lemming thinks that something like EMILY could be a lifesaver - literally - in situations where getting there fast is important.

Add a camera, arms, and artificial intelligence - and the 'uncooperative victim' issue is dealt with. That'd be a huge upgrade, of course.

Digital Image Inventor Looks Past the Pixel

"Digital Image Founder Smooths Out Pixels"
Tech News, Discovery News (June 26, 2010)

"Russell Kirsch says he's sorry.

"More than 50 years ago, Kirsch took a picture of his infant son and scanned it into a computer. It was the first digital image: a grainy, black-and-white baby picture that literally changed the way we view the world. With it, the smoothness of images captured on film was shattered to bits.

"The square pixel became the norm, thanks in part to Kirsch, and the world got a little bit rougher around the edges.

"As a scientist at the National Bureau of Standards in the 1950s, Kirsch worked with the only programmable computer in the United States. 'The only thing that constrained us was what we imagined,' he says. 'So there were a lot of things we thought of doing. One of which was, what would happen if computers could see the world the way we see it?'..."

There's a pretty good signal/noise ratio in the article: which covers (very briefly) the history of digital images; and discusses (also briefly) Kirsch's new idea.

Which sounds a lot like vector graphics - and a little like the way our visual cortex process data. Which is another topic.

It's not exactly 'smoothing out the pixel' - more like developing a new way to present images. And, maybe, a promising one.

A History of the Divisive Paperclip

"Paperclip"
About.com

"The fastening of papers has been historical referenced to as early as the 13th century, when people put ribbon through parallel incisions in the upper left hand corner of pages. Later people started to wax the ribbons to make them stronger and easier to undo and redo. This was the way people clipped papers together for the next six hundred years...."

About.com left quite a bit out: like the Fay Paper Clip (1867). The article does a fast-forward through:

• John Ireland (1835)
  • New York physician
  • Inventor of machine to make straight pins
  • Which held papers together until - - -
• Johan Vaaler (1899)
  • Norwegian inventor - - -
  • Of a paperclip

All of which doesn't seem very "divisive." Johan Vaaler patented his invention in Germany: which wasn't particularly divisive, either. Norway didn't have patent laws in 1899, according to the About.com article.

The paperclip wasn't divisive in 1923, either, the year in which no paperclips were found in King Tutankhamen's tomb.

Somewhere between 1940 and 1945, though, the paperclip was downright divisive. In Norway:

"...During World War II, Norwegians were prohibited from wearing any buttons with the likeness or initials of their king on them. In protest they started wearing paperclips, because paperclips were a Norwegian invention whose original function was to bind together. This was a protest against the Nazi occupation and wearing a paperclip could have gotten you arrested."

There's more to the history of the paperclip. Like Cornelius J. Brosnan, an American, who filed a patent in 1900 for the sort of paperclip he called the Konaclip. Funny: It's really hard to find a Konaclip these days.

That may have something to do with with Gem Manufacturing Ltd., of the U.K. - the company that designed and marketed the 'trombone' paperclip that we're familiar with today.

If this account seems overly-simple: you're right. There's quite a lot that can be written about the history of paperclips. And has been:

More:

• "History of the Paper Clip"
  Early Office Museum

Gratzel Cells: Windows that Generate Power

"Windows that Work as Solar Cells"
David Teeghman, Tech News, Discovery News (June 13, 2010)

"The biggest problem with solar panels is that they're expensive. Solar power is actually the most expensive type of renewable energy. But a Swiss professor has just received the Millennium Technology Prize for developing low-cost solar cells that can be built into glass windows. So instead of installing solar panels on your roof; you'd just install them as windows, which you need anyway...."

"...Michael Gratzel spent two decades developing a revolutionary type of dye-sensitized solar cell called a Gratzel cell (guess where he got the name for it). The group that presented the award, the Technology Academy Finland, says this invention is a huge leap forward for solar technology...."

It's not just technically nifty. Apparently, Gratzel cells could be relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

The basic idea of using cheap materials to convert windows and roofs into power generators is many decades old - in 'hard' science fiction, anyway. Looks like someone's come up with a practical approach to making the things.

As they used to say, 'stay tuned.' I suspect we may be hearing more about the Gratzel cells.

Urban Chairlift: No Kidding

"Fly Through The City on an Urban Chairlift"
Autopia, Wired (May 14, 2010)

"Designer Martin Angelov has dreamed up a new system of public transportation that gives entirely new meaning to 'hanging out downtown.'

"Named Kolelinio, the device is worn like a backpack and integrates an electric motor, batteries and seat. When approaching an urban center, Kolelinio owners can hook onto the two wires overhead and travel at speeds up to 15 miles per hour. Depending on your perspective, it resembles either a chairlift or that conveyor belt they hang shirts on at the drycleaner.

"While the lines will be for public use, you’ll probably own your own transportation device. 'The wires are static and any citizen who wants to use the system has their own transportation device, powered by electric battery,' Angelov said. Transportation devices will be lightweight and can be stored in the trunk of a car - a car that will be parked on the outskirts of town, naturally.

"Kolelinio follows the similarly-named Kolelinia, a bike-by-wire system that Angelov designed earlier this year...."

This transportation looks like a smart way to move people around - when there are a whole lot of people who all want to go in the same direction and it's too far to walk - say over 200 meters.

Since it's 'green' - and, presumably 'sustainable' - I wouldn't be surprised if we don't soon see this horizontal chairlift in places like Laguna Beach, Miami, Cannes and Singapore.

Up here in Minnesota, I'm pretty sure that it will take longer for the Kolelinio to catch on. It isn't that we hate the environment: it's our climate. Here in Minnesota, water is a mineral for several months each year. After we start roofing over Minneapolis-St. Paul and other cities - then something like this will make more sense.

Looks Like a Mutant Egg, Purifies Water: Not Bad

"Cool water"
The Gazette (Montreal) (January 19, 2010)

"His Filter system is more than something that works and is eco-friendly. Manuel Desrochers shows 'functional objects can be beautiful, too'

"Manuel Desrochers didn't set out to design an award-winning piece of utilitarian sculpture.

" 'I'm not even a designer,' is the first thing Desrochers, the 34-year-old Montreal creator of the Ovopur water-filtration unit, says about himself.

" 'But I've always been preoccupied by water and how underappreciated it is in our society. We open the tap and let it pour, or we buy it in plastic bottles and then throw them away.

" 'In our society, water is taken for granted or hidden away.'

"It's that sentiment that prompted him to come up with an eco-friendly water-filtration system for the home or office that is at once functional, environmentally friendly and aesthetically pleasing. His Ovopur, which retails for about $690, is an egg-shaped water-filtration system of handmade porcelain and mouthblown glass that filters tap water through a reusable glass filter and keeps it cool without electricity...."


(from Pierre Obendrauf, via The Gazette, used w/o permission)

The Gazette gives Mr. Desrochers and his Ovopur, quite a write-up. Deservedly, I'd say. Even if that photo hadn't been in black-and-white to show how sophisticate and elegant the Ovopur is, I think I'd have been impressed. The thing has clean lines; looks like the glorified jug it is; and seems to be fairly easy to use.

Great!

I've run into goofy 'environmentally aware' tech over the decades. Like the eco-toilet that used half as much water as the usual sort for each flush: Just one problem, it took three flushes to get the waste out.

It's gotten to the point where I tend to cringe when I see "eco" in an article.

This time, though, it see,s we're looking at something that actually works.

Kudos.

Paul Otlet, The Mundaneum, and the Proto-Web

"Dec. 10, 1944: Web Visionary Passes Into Obscurity"
This Day in Tech, Wired (December 9, 2009)

"1944: His dream of a global interlinked 'web' of documents lying in ruins, information-science pioneer Paul Otlet dies.

"The Belgian bibliographer's grand scheme to organize the world's information made him the aspiring Google of his day, but his sprawling card catalog and decimal classification system proved woefully inadequate to the task.

"Some historians see in Otlet's work a prototype of the World Wide Web and the hyperlink. Although unsuccessful, it was one of the first known attempts to provide a framework for connecting all recorded culture by creating flexible links that could rapidly lead researchers from one document to another — and perhaps make audible the previously unheard echoes between them. Anticipating postmodern literary theory, Otlet posited that documents have meaning not as individual texts, but only in relationship to each other.

"Building on the achievements of Carl Linnaeus (father of the simple genus-species classification and inventor of the 3×5 index card) and Melvil Dewey (inventor of the Dewey Decimal System), Otlet developed what some regard as the first faceted classification system...."

The Belgian government funded Otlet's work, allowing him to put tons of documents and 15,000,000 index cards in a building he called "The Mundaneum." Then Nazi Germany invaded Belgium and destroyed most of his work. Otlet died four years later, in Paris.

This Wired article is a pretty good overview of the relatively unknown achievements of someone who anticipated a great deal of the theory under the Web. Hats off to Paul Otlet: a man who didn't quite invent the World Wide Web, in the 1930s. Considering that he was working with index cards and telegraph machines, not hard drives and integrated circuits, he did a pretty good job.

More:

• "The Web Time Forgot"
  Science, The New York Times (June 17, 2008)

Haptic Cow Teaches Vet Students Probing Techniques

"Vet School 2.0: Stick Your Hand Up a Virtual Cow Butt"
Wired Science, Wired magazine (November 6, 2009)

"There's nothing tidy about sticking your arm deep into a cow's backside, getting up to your elbows in warm and gooey bovine innards.

"But for new vet students, there's no avoiding the procedure: To diagnose pregnancy or check for infection, you've got to reach into a cow's rectum and feel for the uterus, ovaries and stomach. Unfortunately, proper palpation is a tough skill to teach, because once your arm is buried inside a cow butt, no one can see what you're doing.

"That's why veterinarian and computer scientist Sarah Baillie has created the 'Haptic Cow,' a virtual, touch-feedback device that mimics the feeling of real bovine anatomy, placed inside a fiberglass model of a cow's rear end...."

What can I say? I grew up in an area where agribusiness is a major part of the economy, and central Minnesota is home to a great many dairy farms: so the idea of spending time, up close and very personal with the south end of a north-facing cow isn't foreign to me.

I just hope that there aren't too many queasy city kids among those veterinary students.

Sarah Baillie was a veterinarian until an injury forced her to re-train in computer science. It was one of those shazam! moments - someone with a practical background as a veterinarian realizing that touch-feedback technology used to simulate human anatomy could be used to simulate the innards of a cow.

" 'It took me a long time to get it right,' Baillie said. 'It would be no underestimate to say that the code that creates the feel has been iterated on hundreds of times. But when I got it right, I knew it was right, because I've actually felt the inside of a cow many, many times.' "

Baillie's now working on a Haptic Horse and a Haptic Cat.

Leon Theremin, Inventor of the Theremin: a Weird-Sounding Instrument

"Nov. 3, 1993: Theremin Fades Out"
This Day in Tech, Wired Magazine (November 2, 2009)

"1993: Leon Theremin dies in Moscow. The Russian-born inventor leaves behind a legacy that touches several technical and creative disciplines.

"During his 97 years, Theremin left his indelible mark on the fields of science, radio and television broadcasting, espionage, electromagnetic circuitry design and, most famously, music.

"The electronic instrument of his design which also bears his name — by all accounts the first electronic musical instrument — is notable for its whooping and sliding high-pitched squeal. The theremin has influenced popular music, classical music, television and film soundtracks, and the musical avant-garde...."

Quite a set of accomplishments.

And, wouldn't you know it: There's a website devoted to the theremin: www.thereminworld.com. I did a little checking elsewhere, and there's a theremin kit available for $120. Another, apparently already built, goes for $499: not unreasonable for a serious musical instrument.

Leon Theremin had learned to play the cello as a child, which I think helps explain his skill with his new instrument.

The first theremin was built in 1920, according to the Wired article. Different articles give slightly different dates for the theremin's history - but it does seem to have been developed right around 1920.

More, about Leon Theremin and the theremin:

• "History of the Theremin"
  Moog Music
• "Theremin History"
  Theremin World's link list
• "History / Learn about Theremin history through original documents."
  thereminvox.com, link list
• "History of the Theremin"
  eHow.com
  video, 1:49
  • Part of the video series: How to Build & Play a Theremin

"Leon Theremin playing his own instrument"

slonikyouth, YouTube (January 14, 2008)
video, 1:33

That video isn't 'special effects.' He's actually playing the theremin. You do it by moving your hands around in the electrical field surrounding the antennae.

1793: Whitney Applies for Cotton Gin Patent

"Oct. 28, 1793: Whitney’s Cotton Gin Patent Not Worth Much"
This Day in Tech (October 27, 2009)

"1793: Eli Whitney applies to patent his new invention: a machine that quickly separates cotton seeds from cotton fibers. The cotton gin was the little engine that could — and did — transform the economy of the South and change the course of American history.

"Young Whitney wanted to become a lawyer but first needed to pay off some debts after graduating from Yale College in 1792. He obtained work as a private tutor at a plantation in Georgia.

"Southern planters were having trouble with their tobacco crops: They were growing too much of it (driving prices down), and tobacco farming was exhausting the soil. Cotton looked like a good alternative. Right along the coast, planters could grow long-staple cotton, which has seeds that separate easily from the valuable fiber.

"Everywhere else, the only cotton they could grow was short-staple...."

Eli Whitney might have gotten rich as a result of his cotton gin, if he and his partner hadn't used the wrong business model.

The Wired article takes you through the invention of the cotton gin, Mr. Whitney's career, why it's called a cotton gin, and how Whitney finally cleaned up, financially.

Bottom line: a pretty good look at on of the 'milestone' inventions in American history. And, a look at the inventor and the culture he lived in.

Never Heard of the Packing Noodle? There's a Reason

"Packing It In: Why the Foam Noodle Couldn't Cut It in the Protection Racket"
Wired, June 22, 2009

"...Even though the Noodle was a vast improvement over the peanut, 'they didn't sell well,' says Carter Swift, a brand manager at 3M. 'They were just too different.' The Noodles came fitted together in compact, shrink-wrapped blocks. Retailers loved them because they took up such little shelf space. But consumers didn't understand that the blocks broke apart into hundreds of Noodles. In June, Burchard's brilliant idea was discontinued, and once again we're left with only God (and a few lesser earthly products) to protect our precious cargo."

Generally, I quote from the beginning of an article or post, by way of an introduction.

This time it seemed appropriate to show you the end. This Wired article starts by describing a near-disaster involving Michelangelo's La Pietà (which involves a familiar packing material), and takes you through the development - and ultimate failure - of a remarkable invention.

Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci, Online

the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci

"'The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding.' - Leonardo"

This website is mostly a collection of drawings done by Leonardo da Vinci. He drew quite a few subjects, and names given to his drawings show that: Study of a Tuscan Landscape; Siege Machine; Study of Brain Physiology; Study of Horse and Rider; Five Characters in a Comic Scene; Studies of Concave Mirrors of Differing Curvatures; Anatomy of the Neck; and Head of Saint Anne.

Looking at five-hundred-year-old drawings isn't for everyone, but I think this is a good place to start looking at what a remarkably artist, engineer, and researcher was doing.

There are also links to related resources, like the Milan Science Museum and Leonardo da Vinci Exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science.

Seeing With Your Tongue? This isn't Science Fiction, Folks

"Seeing with your tongue: BrainPort device brings sight to the blind "
Wisconsin State Journal (May 20, 2009)

"Roger Behm lost his sight at 16, the victim of an inherited disease that destroyed his retinas. Both of his eyes were surgically removed.

"Now 55, Behm has made himself at home in a sightless world. He started his own business in Janesville selling devices that help the blind cope with day-to-day tasks. He and his wife have raised five children and just adopted another child from China who is also blind. He fishes, canoes, camps and scuba dives.

"But Behm can remember seeing. Which is why he couldn’t believe it when, three years ago, he slipped a device over his head, turned it on, and was once again able to discern light and dark, shapes and shadows, letters and numbers, and even a rolling golf ball.
..."

You'll be able to get BrainPort commercially by the end of the year, according to this article. It's a gadget that takes data from a video camera and feeds it into the user's brain via the tongue.

My guess is that a person couldn't use it while eating: but apart from that it sounds quite useful.

Erik Weihenmayer, another person who lost sight in his teens, likes BrainPort. He uses it to hike in the woods, play tic-tac-toe with his daughter, and pet his dog.

The article does a quick overview of the science involved - basically, that the brain can sort out data from non-standard sources, to get sensory input.

This year's model of the BrainPort is black-and-white, which is better than nothing.

What impresses me about BrainPort is that it is essentially external: a video camera on sunglasses, something you put on your tongue, and a small control unit. I suspect that high-resolution, color imagery may require something implanted in or near the brain - but we'll see how that works out.

Kudos to Paul Bach-y-Rita, his brother George, and everyone else who worked on the project.

Better Ideas from France: the Dog-o-Matic

"Is the Dog-o-Matic an owner's best friend?"
Mail Online (May 16, 2009)

"When a dog comes home from a walk filthy and smelling of something unmentionable, the temptation sometimes is to throw the darn thing in the washing machine.

"Well, now you can. An entrepreneur has come up with the Dog-O-Matic, a mini car-wash that transforms pets from filthy to fluffy in half an hour.

"Frenchman Romain Jarry, 31, who insists the device is not cruel, hopes to introduce it to Britain next year after it proved a huge success in his home town of St Max, near Nancy...."

You can't make up stuff like this.

Cruel? Probably not: certainly not compared to what the dog - and owner - would have to go through with an old-fashioned washing. But I can think of more intellectually stimulating activities - even for a dog - than being locked in a car-wash for a half hour.

More ideas - good, dubious, and strange - at "Better Ideas From ... "

Thomas Edison: Inventions by the Bushel

"Edison's Patents"
The Thomas Edison Papers, Rutgers

"Edison executed the first of his 1,093 successful U.S. patent applications on 13 October 1868, at the age of 21. He filed an estimated 500–600 unsuccessful or abandoned applications as well. Unfortunately, the names given Edison's patents are too irregular to make simple word searches an accurate means of finding patents for particular technologies. His issued patents are presented here in three lists—by execution date, patent date, and subject. The execution and patent date lists are each presented in six parts to make the files less cumbersome.

"The execution date of a patent application is the date on which the inventor signs the application, and hence is the date closest to the actual inventive activity. However, in his early years Edison did not always rush to his patent lawyer with an invention, especially if there was little competition for the invention or he was feeling broke and unable to pay the various fees involved in an application...."

We don't read much about Thomas Edison these days. "The Wizard of Menlo Park" developed quite a few devices that started us toward the information age, and affected the way inventions are made.

Quite an interesting chap, I think.

More:

• "The Thomas Edison Center at Menlo Park

Samuel F. B. Morse: Inventor of the Lightning Wire

"Samuel F. B. Morse"
National Inventors Hall of Fame™

"...Improvement in the Mode of Communicating Information by Signals by the Application of Electro-Magnetism
"Telegraph
"Patent Number(s) 1,647

"Morse developed 'lightning wires' and 'Morse code,' an electronic alphabet that could carry messages. The patent was applied for in 1840. A line was constructed between Baltimore and Washington and the first message, sent on May 24,1844, was 'What hath God wrought!'..."

By 1861, cities on the east and west coasts were connected by telegraph.

And, "....In 1858 several European countries combined to pay a gratuity of 400,000 francs as compensation for their use of his system...."

Samuel F. B. Morse started out as a portrait painter, but turned to inventing. The three patents for pumps he took out with his brother are largely forgotten - but the telegraph and the code he developed for transmitting information put his name on the map.

And, arguably, launched the Information Age.

Morse "...realized that pulses of electrical current could convey information over wires...." And, what set him apart, worked out the technology to send information over wires and a code for encoding the information.

The telegraph system is no computer: but I think the wide-spread use of this information transmitting technology marks the beginning of the age we live in. Today, transcontinental videoconferencing is possible, computers are commonplace in many countries, and telephone networks are even more common. I think that Samuel F. B. Morse's lightning wires and code, making high-speed transmission of information possible, was the first step into this era.

More at:

• "Timeline: Biography of Samuel Morse 1791 - 1872"
  About.com: Inventors
• "Samuel F. B. Morse"
  Samuel F. B. Morse's homepage at the Library of Congress
• "The Inventor of Morse Code"
  McArthur Fundamental school, Santa Ana, California
• "Samuel Morse A Better Telegraph"
  PBS
  • He did not invent the telegraph!
    (all he did was make one that was practical)

Set PHASERs on Stun: Koloc's Kugelblitz Research is For Real

"Scientist Looks to Weaponize Ball Lightning"
Wired (February 20, 2009)

"Two hundred years ago this week, the warship HMS Warren Hastings was struck by a weird phenomenon: "Three distinct balls of fire" fell from the heavens, striking the ship and killing two crewmen, leaving behind 'a nauseous, sulfurous smell,' according to the Times of London.

"Ball lightning has been the subject of much scientific scrutiny over the years...."

An Aside About Sprites, Hallucinations, and Video Cameras

David Hambling, who wrote this article, is almost certainly younger than I am. Ball lightning may have received "much scientific scrutiny over the years" - but I can remember when quite a number of scientific experts poo-poohed laymen who thought that ball lightning existed.

Or, that thunderstorm sprites weren't hallucinations. I remember when people like Stuart L. Becher were vindicated. Before the 1989 STS-34 Shuttle mission, pilots, soldiers, and other 'credulous' non-scientists saw lights shooting up from thunderstorms. The usual 'scientific' explanation was that they were crazy. A video camera on the shuttle recorded sprites.

Given a choice between saying that a video camera was hallucinating, and acknowledging that laymen had noticed something that scientists hadn't, scientists started studying sprites.

Smart move, I'd say.

Back to Ball Lightning

From the looks of it, scientists have decided that ball lightning exists, too. Also a smart move. I think video cameras and funding for high-energy physics helped.

Anyway, physicists haven't decided what ball lightning is, exactly. Actually, quite a few have: but they've come up with a whole lot of different explanations. A few more years - or decades - of this, and they'll probably work out a description of ball lightning that fits all the facts. Maybe several descriptions: I suspect there could be more than one sort of 'ball lightning.'

Although the natural phenomenon hasn't been quite nailed down, a scientist named Paul Koloc, has developed a technology that makes plasmoids (chunks of really hot stuff) about a foot in diameter. Problem is, they're not stable: yet.

Dr. Koloc's goal is to make stable magnetoplasmoids that would last about one to five seconds. Compressed and accelerated to around two hundred kilometers a second, the things would make an ideal anti-missile weapon.

Koloc called the weapon system "Phased Hyper-Acceleration for Shock, EMP, and Radiation." That's right: PHASER.

If he ever works out the kinks, the PHASER could - in theory - be a real-world equivalent of Star Trek's phaser - possibly the most well-known science fiction stun gun. At relatively low power, it could - again, in theory - scramble a car's electrical system: giving law enforcement another tool for ending high-speed chases.

And, a similar technology could - in theory - maybe - be used to contain fusion reactions.

Exciting times, these that we live in.

The Wired article includes this YouTube video:

"Ball Lightning compilation"

NaturalPhenomena, YouTube (October 20, 2008)
video (5:44)

Why "Hello," and Mark Twain About Telephone Conversations

Why do Americans and other English-speakers say "hello" when they answer the telephone?

We apparently don't know why, but we're pretty sure about who started the custom.

Online:

• "Re: Hello
  The Phrase Finder (October 3, 2002)
  • "...Surprisingly enough, 'hello' didn't become a truly common greeting until the mid 1860s...."
• "Mark Twain Satirizes 'A Telephonic Conversation' "
  History Matters
  • "...Alexander Graham Bell first exhibited his telephone at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, but many people were initially dubious about the utility of Bell's invention. Nevertheless, by the mid-1890s, about 300,000 phones were in use and by World War I, the number reached 10.5 million. Learning to use this new device, Americans wondered what to say to start a telephone conversation. Bell's choice for an initial greeting was 'Ahoy.' Others argued for more formal greetings like 'What is wanted?' or 'Are you there?' In 1877, Thomas Alva Edison, the famous inventor who developed the first practical telephone transmitter, solved the problem by introducing 'Hello!' as the standard English telephone greeting...."
  • A bit after that, History Matters does get around to Mark Twain's essay.