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 #3

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.

Nathan Fillion has been dropping hints lately which make are making fans suspect that some type of Firefly sequel might be in the works.  If I had the power to bring back a single show, it would definitely be Firefly.
https://www.ign.com/articles/nathan-fillion-is-getting-firefly-fans-all-sorts-of-excited-over-20-years-after-the-show-was-canceled 

I find a lot of anti-AI sentiment among techies and artistic types in various places.  I've lost the link, but I recently saw a CTO complaining that he got the axe because his company was replacing some executives with AI.  There's a company I definitely wouldn't want to work for or to reply upon as a customer.  I'm lucky because I'm very close to retirement with more than enough work to keep me busy until I pull the ripcord.  I feel sorry for younger engineers who have to deal with the instability AI is causing.
https://www.scottsmitelli.com/articles/you-dont-have-to/

NASA's DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) just managed to nudge a binary asteroid system.  There may be hope if we manage to detect a killer asteroid early enough to launch a mission.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/03/nasas-dart-mission-shifted-the-orbits-of-two-asteroids/

The news that younger males are clinging harder to outdated gender roles than older generations do depresses me.  One can only hope that they alienate partners before managing to reproduce.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/05/gen-z-men-baby-boomers-wives-should-obey-husbands

Videos of launching small cars via trebuchet are entertaining but I really wish they has stuck to launching Yugos or other worthless cars.  A classic Austin Mini seems too valuable to waste this way.
https://www.jalopnik.com/2117130/watch-cars-launched-by-trebuchet/

Space DVDs

I just started watching a DVD set I recently picked up of the HBO series From the Earth to the Moon. I hadn't watched this series since it was first aired on HBO in 1998 so I'd forgotten just how great it was. It really stresses just how monumental the task of landing a man on the moon really was.

It also serves as a great companion to Ron Howard's film Apollo 13, another magnificent film for science geeks.

If you haven't seen either of these, I highly recommend both. I'm something of a space program buff so I watch any film about it which comes out. I also liked The Right Stuff (both the film and the book) a lot.

Needless to say, I'm excited about NASA's recently announced plans to return to the moon. This is the type of challenge that people like me with an engineering mindset dream about.