General Interest Articles

The World Wide Web Will Continue To Spread

Jim Smith — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:45:34 +0000

In a few days the World Wide Web will celebrate its sixteenth birthday. The World Wide Web was made available for widespread use on April 30, 1993. In the last sixteen years the global spread of the web has been truly incredible.

The Strange Tale Of The Buddha Boy Of Nepal

Jim Smith — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:36:12 +0000

His international legend continues to grow. He has been featured on National Geographic and the Discovery Channel. He meditates in the solitude of the jungle most of the time, but when he reappears his followers have made some very unique claims.

Life Jackets Are Not Polar Bear Gear This Year

Jim Smith — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 02:01:51 +0000

Last May global warming alarmists were very concerned about the fate of the polar bear. Melting Arctic Sea ice due to man-made global warming was highlighted in stories in many newspaper and magazine publications as the prime reason that polar bears would become an extinct species.

Another Bid To Build A Flying Submarine

Jim Smith — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 21:15:33 +0000

Submarines that can fly like airplanes have been promoted in science fiction entertainment for many years. As early as the 1960s, in the Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea movie and television series, a flying sub often used for exploration, was contained in the belly of a larger submarine called the Seaview.

A Promising Future For An Invisible Man

James Smith — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:52:19 +0000

The concept of a man becoming invisible was introduced by H.G. Wells over one hundred years ago. Through the years, science fiction has used the idea of a fantasy cloaking device to provide object invisibility often. In fact, it is a term that has become so common that it is found in the Star Trek Encyclopedia.

Giving A Hand To A Real Bionic Man

James Smith — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 22:07:21 +0000

In 1974, there was a futuristic television show called The Six Million Dollar Man. The popular show ran for four years and featured the adventures of astronaut, Steve Austin (Lee Majors). The show began with the astronaut near death but with science fiction and Hollywood creative thought readily available to provide an interesting story line.

Buckypaper Could Change The World

James Smith — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 21:29:11 +0000

Steel is one of the most common materials in the world. It is used in buildings, tools, bridges, automobiles, airplanes and appliances. Over the years, the strength of steel has been used by engineers to support structures, by architects for the design of different buildings, by the military for ships, tanks and planes and even by Hollywood in many movies that promote Superman as the "Man of Steel".

The Large Hadron Collider Journeys Into The Unknown

James Smith — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:01:17 +0000

Three hundred feet below the ground in a seventeen mile long circular tunnel on the border of France and Switzerland is the home of an eight billion dollar machine that took more than twenty years to build.

The Last Mission To The Hubble Telescope

James Smith — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 21:21:26 +0000

The Hubble has given us pictures of merging galaxies, asteroids, new galaxies, the rings around Uranus, and other planets. It has given scientists insights into star formation and star death. The Hubble Deep Field has produced pictures of distant galaxies nearly ten billion years ago.

Internet’s Inventor Tries To Discover The Perfect Soldier

James Smith — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 20:12:33 +0000

The Russian satellite Sputnik was launched into space at the height of the Cold War in the 1950s. In America, the Sputnik satellite was met with complete national security fear.

Amphibian Extinction May First Claim The Frog

James Smith — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:12:40 +0000

Many of us grew up watching friendly Kermit the Frog on a television show called Sesame Street. Certainly, we can remember reading the fairy tale of the frog that turns into a handsome prince after receiving a kiss. However, in the Bible, frogs were certainly less endearing when they became a hideous plague that confronted Egypt.

Future Cities Will Move And Change Shape

James Smith — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 22:47:20 +0000

Every day millions of people all over the world go to the office to work at the same location. It is another work day at the same address in the same office building. The structure may be old or it may be new, but the structure does not change. It remains constant. The building faces in the same direction and each window offers the same view to the outside.

An American Holiday On The Fourth Of July

James Smith — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 00:13:44 +0000

John Adams thought that America's birthday would be celebrated every year on the 2nd of July. Adams thought that the vote by the Continental Congress on July 2, 1776 to secede from British rule would become the date that Americans would honor throughout the ages. Ultimately, he would be proven wrong on his prediction of the day each year that America celebrates its independence.

Sinatra's Stamp And Fred Astaire's Vacuum

James Smith — Wed, 14 May 2008 00:41:09 +0000

It has been a decade (May 14, 1998) since his death but the music of Frank Sinatra is still everywhere. New York, New York” can be heard at every Yankee baseball game. Evening dining at any upscale restaurant usually features a musical rendition of a famous Frank Sinatra tune. His movies can still be seen on cable television and on DVD.

Time Magazine's Profitable Use Of Climate Change

James Smith — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:48:11 +0000

On April 3, 2006, the cover of Time Magazine read "Be Worried, Be Very Worried" introducing an article on Global Warming. One year later the cover of Time Magazine announced its "Global Warming Survival Guide.” A Time Global Warming cover story in 2001 showed an egg in a frying pan. Time Magazine’s Global Warming cover stories even date back nearly two decades