Time to admit owning 40% of the world’s guns is wrong

Mourners after the shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks. Credit: CNN

I used to think after each horrific shooting that now -finally – something would have to be done.

Each event seemed more terrible than the last. Surely murdering kindergarteners would bring people together to demand change. Surely cutting down teenagers in their classrooms would make people say enough is enough. Surely mowing down a crowd in a Las Vegas plaza would lead people to cry out for this senseless violence to stop. Continue reading “Time to admit owning 40% of the world’s guns is wrong”

Overlooked No More: Jackie Mitchell, Who Fanned Two of Baseball‘s Greats

The baseball pitcher Jackie Mitchell. She was on the roster of the minor league Chattanooga Lookouts when she faced the Yankees. Credit George Rinhart/Corbis, via Getty Images

Mitchell was a 17-year-old pitcher in 1931 when she struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in an exhibition game, but questions about that exploit linger.

Source: www.nytimes.com

Mosaic Bird Bath

I’ve never really thought of myself as being particularly artistic and I’m certainly not patient, but for some reason I enjoy doing mosaics.  A number of years ago after seeing a demo at the Getty Villa, my wife and I went to the Bay Area (closest!) to take a mosaic class.  We learned the basics such as how to cut the media and how to properly grout a project.  I’ve since gone on to make a half dozen or so mosaics as gifts to family or to keep for myself.  I’ve wanted to do some sort of outdoor mosaic and the opportunity finally presented itself when my daughter gave me a concrete bird bath that was sitting unused in her back yard.  Continue reading “Mosaic Bird Bath”

Sprayable antennas turn surfaces into ultra-thin, transparent transmitters

 

As crucial as antennas are, the rigid metals they’re made of can limit what devices they can be built into. To help with that, researchers at Drexel University have developed a new kind of antenna that can be sprayed onto just about any surface.

Source: newatlas.com