A series of articles on various concepts of interesting technical import.
Counting Cars More than you ever wanted to know about gathering traffic data. (Legally! :-)
Really Advanced Medicine What to expect when the medical revolution gets started.
Forerunner Proposed advanced homebuilt aircraft designs.
Never Take an Alien Into a Sauna Human biological quirks and how they might impact our relations with aliens.
Two Heads One reason to genetically engineer other intelligent species.
Imaging The technology of looking.
Going Ballistic How to get from anywhere on Earth to anywhere else in under two hours. (Legally! :-)
Armor Protection How armor of various kinds protects.
Strength of Materials How strong are various materials? How strong do they need to be?
Wonder Warthog The A-10 Thunderbolt II is the best ground attack airplane ever built. Find out why.
Zipping The F-104 was designed to specialize in flying high and fast. It still does this better than almost any other fighter.
Propelling us Towards the Future Basic rocket propellant technology, with some interesting anecdotes.
Secret Weapons Focussing on WWII tech, but also discussing some general principles.
Powered Armor Yes, this long-standing feature of space opera and anime both has practical applications and is becoming technically feasible.
Imaging Film photography is far from dead, but digital is closing fast.
Bang! The basics of fission and fusion explosions.
Measurement One of humanity's greatest accomplishments is our ability to measure things precisely and accurately. Learn how the ancient Egyptians really laid out the pyramids. ;-)
Preservation How long can we make something last?
Air-breathing propulsion How fast can we go?
Stargazing Some thoughts on astronomy, amateur and professional.
The technological knack. Plus, some book reviews.
Natural Climate Change vs. Global Warming
The Process of Science: The Channeled Scablands.
What is a Battlecruiser, and why do so many people get that wrong?
Weapon design throughout history. (Revised and reposted, August 28, 2009.)
What bullets do and how they do it.
MACHO WIMP; Or: Dark Matter and What it Can Do for You!
Mors Ab Alto (Death From Above)
Databases (in Excel format) of information painstakingly gathered over several years are linked below:
Example Vehicles
Theoretical fission and fusion rockets.
General propellant information, expanded, reorganized and now including monopropellants. Please note that the values given here are *typical* and not definitive. Different engines will have different performances and efficiencies.