Here’s an easy read about Boom Supersonic’s project to create a supersonic airliner capable of cruising at Mach 1.7 without a significant sonic boom reaching the surface beneath the aircraft. Their target is to deliver aircraft by 2029, though skeptics think that’s overly ambitious because Boom is designing a supersonic-capable engine from scratch. The engine [ ]
Earlier today I happened upon an article in Futurism describing the latest on using published books to train AI. Basically, AI providers are buying used print books (not ebooks!) in bulk, taking off the covers by machine, and then scanning, OCRing, and training their AIs on the OCRed pages. The twist is that unlike Anthropic’s [ ]
Reader Vince posted a comment on my 74th birthday entry, asking about my strategy for retiring and getting old. Carol and I do whatever we can to grow old in style and (more to the point) functional and (most pointedly) alive. It’s complicated, but I’ll get as much of it as I can into this [ ]
Freedom is a slippery business. I call myself a contrarian skeptic because that’s the catchphrase for what I consider freedom: Question everything, especially conventional wisdom; and develop a tendency to lean away from conventional behavior. What this requires, of course, is sufficient generosity of spirit to allow others the same freedom. And the real problem [ ]
74 today. Data from my family tree indicates that I’m doing all right by still breathing: I’ve lived longer than any man in my paternal line going back to one Johann Andreas Duntemann 1729-1808. He made it to 78. If I can log five more years, I’ll be the oldest guy in my paternal line [ ]
Creatine not only helps you build muscle—new tests strongly suggest that it can help the body fight cancer cells. The tests are with mice, so there will need to be a lot of further research, but this is great news for anyone (like us) who take creatine on a daily basis. Lazarus Version 4.8 is [ ]
I’ve written about my father quite a bit here, but there is one story about my dad that I haven’t be able to tell before. On this year’s Father’s Day, I’m going to swallow my hesitation and tell you about the miracle my father worked for me. Frank W. Duntemann was struck by advanced oral [ ]
Southwest Airlines has just banned “human-like” or “animal-like” robots from its flights. Oh—and in checked baggage too. The concern is about biggish lithium-ion batteries, which does make sense. There’s also the issue of whether robots are considered passengers, checked baggage, or carry-on baggage that carries itself on. Interesting long-form piece about archaic homo sapiens, a [ ]
Amazon just messaged me that my latest Kindle title was now available. “Morning Man” is a 6,300-word short story with an interesting history. It’s about an AI DJ at a small farm-town AM radio station in Wisconsin. I wrote it in 1989. I never tried to sell it, but just threw it in a box [ ]
Asteroid Apophis will come within 20,000 miles of Earth during its close approach in 2029. Scientists say there’s no chance of the big rock hitting us, which is a relief, given that it’s the size of the Eiffel Tower (if a lot fatter) and could level any city it struck. I didn’t know this: A [ ]