This American Life in my life…
When I’d just gotten out of the Marine Corps, I got a factory job making sheet plastic. I spent the entire day watching molten plastic come out of an extruder in a column, and it rose up into a tower to cool, was folded by a set of molds, and then it came down, ran … Read more
Petra Haden
When I went to NPR this morning, I followed a link to a live recording of Petra Haden and her a capella group doing a cover of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’. I must admit, I didn’t care for it at first, but it grew on me quick, and by the end of the day I’d … Read more
Solucar energy puts forth innovative power-plant
NPR did a story on Europe’s first solar thermal power plant, the PS-10, outside Seville, Spain. Over 600 mirrors concentrate sunlight onto a tower in the center of the plant. Heat from the sunlight turns water into steam that turns a turbine, creating enough power for roughly 6,000 houses. The project is expanding, and by … Read more
Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation
In an excellent move by the American Library of Congress, a former storage facility for U.S. currency in reserve for the aftermath of a nuclear war has been transformed to store the Library’s 6-million+ item audio/visual collection. Currently housed in four states and Washington, DC, the material consists of everything from delicate early-film reels and … Read more
ITER fusion power
NPR, this week, released a story about a project in Southern France that is attempting to create a working fusion reactor. The Project, ITER or International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, is a joint project of EURATOM, Japan, China, India, Korea, Russia and the USA. Fusion reactions have the potential to provide limitless, green power with almost … Read more
