Category Archives: Technology

Western Union Telegrams Come to a Full Stop

Not that I was a big user, but there’s something a little sad about the disappearance of what was revolutionary technology almost 150 years ago.

Very Cool

Dave Williams has developed a refrigeration system that relies just on compressed air. Williams, 26, knew that forcing compressed air through a hole in the middle of a pipe causes hot and cold air to flow from opposite ends, a phenomenon known as the Ranque-Hilsch vortex-tube effect. No one is quite sure how the separation […]

Mars Pic

Check out this image taken from the Spirit Mars Rover. Having landed in January 2004, Spirit’s still trucking along, and it’s just beamed back this picture from atop “Husband Hill.” Both rovers have lasted about 17 months beyond their original mission. And Spirit is in especially fine form, operating at a power level of 950 […]

Katrina Communication Cut-off

A colleague from New Orleans said yesterday that his sister’s cell phone from that area stopped working, even though she’s in New York. But her text-messaging does work, which apparently isn’t uncommon: Cellular phone providers said their service was severely limited, at best, in New Orleans and along the Mississippi coast, and they encouraged people […]