link dump #6

 

I follow a lot of RSS feeds which makes it easier for me to discover interesting web pages without having to visit my list of interesting blogs which aren't updated often.  I hate to send these interesting links via email since it feels too much like a teacher giving homework... here, go read all of these web pages and report back to me.  Instead I think collecting them in a blog post is a friendlier way to pass links along.

Tracy Kidder, the author of the excellent book The Soul of a New Machine, died recently.  Here's some memories of Tracy from the daughter of one of the engineers featured in the book.  Her memories emphasize the importance of not letting work interfere with spending time with your family.
https://www.jessamyn.com/journal/2026/03/tracy-kidder-rip

I plan on re-reading The Soul of a New Machine.  A while back I had saved a link to an article with interesting notes on the book so I could access them while enjoying the book.
https://auxiliarymemory.com/2017/01/06/rereading-the-soul-of-a-new-machine-by-tracy-kidder/

Kim Stanley Robinson, author of several books about Mars, has pointed out how ridiculous the idea of emigrating to Mars is.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2520312-author-of-red-mars-calls-bullshit-on-emigrating-to-the-planet/

NASA's plans for a moonbase seem rushed to me.  I worry that they'll be sacrificing safety to meet arbitrary goals.
https://www.livescience.com/space/space-exploration/nasa-announces-near-impossible-space-plans-including-usd20b-moon-base-and-humanitys-first-nuclear-powered-interplanetary-spacecraft

It's getting harder to get a look at the night sky which is clear of satellites. That's sad since seeing stars is one of many reasons I enjoy living in a more rural area.
https://petapixel.com/2026/03/21/as-spacex-launches-its-10000th-satellite-a-photographer-captures-the-impact-on-the-night-sky/

CERN has succeeded in transporting antimatter particles in a containment trap.  This allows them to distribute samples for experimentation at other laboratories.
https://home.cern/news/press-release/experiments/base-experiment-cern-succeeds-transporting-antimatter

Scientists have byproducts of bourbon production into super capacitors, probably extra tasty super capacitors.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/03/how-chemists-turned-bourbon-waste-into-super-capacitors/

There's evidence that Romans used a weapon similar to a machine gun 2000 years ago.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/archaeology/a70698814/archeologists-uncovered-evidence-of-a-2000-year-old-machine-gunand-the-damage-it-did/

Stephen Colbert and his son are developing a new Lord of the Rings film.  This article also mentions Andy Serkis' project, The Hunt for Gollum, which I haven't heard about in a while.
https://variety.com/2026/film/news/lord-of-the-rings-movie-stephen-colbert-warner-bros-1236698684/

Recently I read about a documentary about Lowell George of Little Feat fame.  It's available to watch free on Youtube at the link below and I enjoyed watching it yesterday.  I hadn't realized that Lowell collaborated with Frank Zappa.  I had also never noticed that he used a Craftsman 11/16" spark plug socket as the slide for his guitar.  Apparently his reasoning was that it would be easy to replace if it ever got lost while it might be hard to find the same type of bottle had he used if he used a bottle neck as many musicians who play a slide guitar do.
https://youtu.be/VZ8EKw46Ce8?si=TESumuPdWsGPj-f3

link dump #5

I follow a lot of RSS feeds which makes it easier for me to discover interesting web pages without having to visit my list of interesting blogs which aren't updated often.  I hate to send these interesting links via email since it feels too much like a teacher giving homework... here, go read all of these web pages and report back to me.  Instead I think collecting them in a blog post is a friendlier way to pass links along.

For a while, Turbo Pascal was my favorite programming language.  The IDE it used was fast and made me more productive than other compilers available in the mid 1980s by showing me the cause of any compilation errors immediately.  This web page shows how small it was which seems weird in an age of phone applications are quite large.  It was also much, much faster than other compilers of that time.
https://prog21.dadgum.com/116.html

Somone has used AI to disassemble Turbo Pascal to better understand how it achieved such a small size.
https://simonwillison.net/2026/Mar/20/turbo-pascal/

Apparently it can dangerous to fill your SSD devices too full.  I knew this was the case on some of the low level flash memory devices used on embedded systems but thought SSD controllers would be able to handle this more gracefully.
https://www.makeuseof.com/why-never-fill-ssd-past-80-and-you-shouldnt-either/

This research into how fireflies stay in sync is fascinating.  I wonder whether this is similar to how starling murmurations work?
https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/03/the-science-of-how-fireflies-stay-in-sync/

MIT has a study which suggests that the use of AI may lead to cognitive decline.  This rings true to me.  I know anytime I've had a break from programming, it's hard to jump back in and be nearly as productive as I am when I do it regularly.  The same thing happens to software developers who move into management and completely leave programming behind.  An extreme case of this was a CEO at a small company where I used to work.  He liked to ingratiate himself to engineers by telling us about having started out as an ALGOL programmer.  From his performance as a CEO, it was not obvious he had ever possessed any technical skills.
https://publichealthpolicyjournal.com/mit-study-finds-artificial-intelligence-use-reprograms-the-brain-leading-to-cognitive-decline/ 

A number of bloggers are bemoaning the changes heralded by widespread use of AI in software development.  I'm glad I'll be retiring before management tries to force me to use it.  Programming and debugging are like solving puzzles for me and I'd hate to give that up.
https://nolanlawson.com/2026/02/07/we-mourn-our-craft/ 

link dump #4

I follow a lot of RSS feeds which makes it easier for me to discover interesting web pages without visiting a lot of favorite blogs which haven't been updated.  I hate to send these interesting links via email since it feels too much like a teacher giving homework... here, go read all of these web pages and report back to me.  Instead collecting them in a blog post seems like a friendlier way to pass links along.

I watched Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan again a few nights ago.  I had forgotten that they used old maintenance panels from a GE-635 mainframe computer to serve as controls for one of the Enterprise's systems.  I recognize panels from Honeywell and GE computers since I serviced both as a field engineer nearly 50 years ago.  It's not uncommon to see old maintenance panels used in this capacity since they usually have lots of lights and switches.  Here's a few other movies and TV shows which have used parts of the GE-635.
https://www.starringthecomputer.com/computer.html?c=427 

Apparently RAM kits are now being sold with one real RAM stick and a fake one due to the RAM shortage created by AI datacenters.
https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/ram/fake-ram-bundled-with-real-ram-to-create-a-performance-illusion-for-amd-users-1-1-value-pack-offers-desperate-psychological-relief-as-the-memory-shortage-worsens

Here's an interesting article about how how Lego goes about creating a new set.
https://www.theverge.com/c/23991049/lego-ideas-polaroid-onestep-behind-the-scenes-price

This article about how snakes manage to get up to 70% of their body length into the air is interesting but I found the picture a bit disturbing.
https://nautil.us/heres-how-snakes-defy-gravity-to-stand-up-1278914 

Scientists have figured out how to revive frozen mouse brains.  This might be a step towards allowing longer spaceflights.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00756-w

Iranian physicists have estimated that technological civilizations probably only last 5,000 years at most.  This could explain why we haven't encountered aliens yet.
https://boingboing.net/2026/03/03/iranian-physicists-estimate-advanced-civilizations-last-5000-years-or-less.html

Swiss watchmakers continue fighting back against accurate clocks from Japan.  It's got to be hard competing against both cheap accurate models and smart watches like the Apple Watch which can offer more features.
https://worksinprogress.co/issue/watch-men/

This article about how taxing the use of AI can be on users' brains makes me glad that I'll be retiring before being forced to use it at work.
https://www.the-independent.com/tech/ai-brain-fry-artificial-intelligence-b2934903.html

NASA's steadily shrinking budget

According to this article at least some politicians are aware of the problems posed by NASA's steadily dwindling budget. With the economy as strained as it is now, there's very little chance they'll get the increase they so desperately need. The problem isn't widely understood either. According to this article, most Americans grossly overestimate how large a part of the nation's budget NASA gets. It's hard to believe they only account for 0.6% of the budget. Where else can you get that type of return for such a small investment?

We need to revisit our priorities because correcting NASA's funding deficits isn't merely something to do to make ourselves feel good, it's an absolute imperative. Have a look at this chart of the number of near Earth asteroids (NEAs) observed within the last 60 days. Do we really want to take the chance that none of these will come close enough to do massive damage, especially when funding NASA is so affordable compared to a lot of the other budget items?

Most scientists credit an asteroid strike with causing the extinction of dinosaurs. That may be the way we're headed unless we find a way to fund more space research.

One of Carl Sagan's last speeches

I've just finished listening to a Point of Inquiry podcast featuring Ann Druyan (widow of Carl Sagan). That would have been interesting in its own right but this episode also features Carl Sagan’s last public address for CSICOP (Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal).

While I've always enjoyed Sagan's work, I found this speech particularly interesting. In it, he makes a number of very accurate prophecies about the slow backwards slide America seems to have been taking in its understanding of scientific topics. What I find most amazing is that he could be skeptical of pseudo-science and still be so understanding of people who subscribe to these erroneous beliefs. In this speech, he urges skeptics everywhere to be more understanding of the individuals on the other side. We must learn to separate the erroneous belief from the believers. Education, not ridicule, is the proper response.

He also manages to sneak in a few jokes at the expense of those who believe in alien abductions and crop circles. Why would a race sufficiently advanced to have traveled such long distances waste time making circles in wheat fields? It seems a bit silly when put that way, eh?

Point of Inquiry podcast

I've just started listening to the Point of Inquiry podcast and have consequently been catching up on older episodes. The episode I was listening to today featured one of my favorite scientists, Bill Nye. Bill was making a case for improving the poor state of scientific literacy in this country. He was doing it with his usual enthusiasm and humor.

With all the environmental challenges currently facing us, this is an unfortunate time to have enrollment in engineering and science programs at such low levels. Given the absurd popularity of pseudoscience these days, it's particularly disturbing to see so few new scientists entering the workforce.

This podcast also has episodes featuring interviews with or information about more of my favorite scientists and/or skeptics - Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Phil Plait (AKA The Bad Astronomer), Harry Houdini, and James Randi. I can't wait to listen to those.

The same company which produces this podcast also publishes Free Inquiry and Skeptical Inquirer magazines.

Goodbye Mr. Wizard

Don Herbert, TV's Mr. Wizard, has died (see article). I credit Mr. Wizard for instilling a love of science in me as he did for several generations of kids. You've really got to admire people like him and Carl Sagan for helping popularize science.