Saturday, June 17, 2006


Explore the Technology Underground!

Welcome to Notes from the Technology Underground. The Tech Underground is a world of edgy, highly kinetic, physical science. If there's news on stuff goes whoosh, boom, or splat, then, this is the place to read about it.

During the summer, it's hard for me to update the blog regularly, but check back from time to time to see what's new. I plan to start posting more regularly in a few months.

Here are links to some of my favorite posts:

1000 Dead Men:
A description of the Gerry Report, perhaps the most grotesque bureaucratic report in all of American history.

The 10 Best North American Geek Fests
A link to a recent article I wrote for Wired Magazine

The Rise, Fall, and Rise of Robotic Combat
Remember Robot Wars? Many are still at it.

Hollywood's Catapult Warrior
Orlando Bloom's catapult fetish.

Celebratory Gun Firing: Good Idea or Not?
What goes up, must come down. A lot of comments on this one.

Nitric Acid Acts Upon Trousers
Ira Remsen, a chemist with a great sense of humor.

Fun With Jet Engines
Cool video.

Dippy Bird Power
My idea to end the energy crisis.

Navy Swimmer Nullification Program
A bizarre government defense program comes to light

My Name is Bond; Covalent Bond
Chemistry sets ain't what they used to be.

Water Bears - The World's Toughest Animal
Fun with tartigrades.

Please write in with comments, ideas, and experiences.

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Support United Nuclear



Don't Try This at Home: Garage chemistry used to be a rite of passage for geeky kids. But in their search for terrorist cells and meth labs, authorities are making a federal case out of DIY science.

-Wired Magazine


The latest edition of Wired Magazine contains this article, which is concerned with the current state of affairs regarding governmental control of materials versus science education in the USA. I feel this is a sad state of affairs, one in which the best parts of science and technology are being forced out of existence in the name of extreme and probably uneccessary security and safety concerns.

It's worth checking out the United Nuclear website if only to get their perspective and find out what it is they do. While I haven't done any independent checking, it seems that the FCC is clamping down on what appears to be stuff that isn't really worth clamping down upon.

This is not, in my opinion, what the government should be spending tax dollars on.