58 Replies to “May 8, 2022: Reader Tips”

  1. Steven Hill left the series after the first year. The story I heard was that he set out to become a rabbi, though his IMDB biography says he worked in real estate.

    Fans of the series Law and Order will recognize him as one of the lawyers.

    Barbara Bain and Martin Landau were married when M:I was on the air and, later, when they were in Space: 1999.

    1. The show’s regular cast changed throughout its run. It not only included Peter Graves (who took over from Hill), but also Leonard Nimoy (after Star Trek went off the air), Lesley Ann Warren, and Sam Elliot.

      The original production company was Desilu (which was founded by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz), the same one that initially made Star Trek. It eventually became part of Paramount.

      By the way, the music was by Lalo Schifrin, whose compositions included the scores for Bullitt, Dirty Harry, and Magnum Force.

      1. Lalo Schifrin also put out some kind of rock/pop album back in the day which didn’t sell worth beans and which I never heard but I thought its title was sheer genius: A Whole Lalo Schifrin Going On.

        1. Clever…..

          He isn’t limited to TV and movie music, having composed some classical music of his own. He’s also an orchestral conductor.

    2. B.A., Bain and Landau were good in M:I, but were miscast in Space 1999. Both actors were quiet, cerebral types — good for spy and who-dunnit stories, but awkward for space operas. Shatner helped define Star Trek, given his gung-ho leadership traits.

    1. I’m a long-time member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and, in recent years, interest in electric aircraft has increased. I’ve noticed several articles about them in the AIAA’s main magazine Aerospace America, as well as notices for research conferences.

      A number of companies are examining the idea, some of them having built and flown experimental prototypes.

      I wouldn’t bet the farm on a battery-powered supersonic transport just yet.

      1. BAD. You have an amazing history.
        I’m a great believer in continuous technological breakthroughs. We will find a way to keep flying whether it’s jet fuel, batteries, hydrogen or nano-tech rubber bands. Maybe Blade Runner was about a future where jets had used hydrogen fuel for several decades and their exhaust, water vapour, caused it to train all the time.

        1. BAD. You have an amazing history.

          Thanks. Unfortunately, a lot of employers didn’t think so, keeping my application “on file for 6 months”, if you know what I mean.

          I joined the AIAA as a graduate student when I still thought I’d be working in aerospace.

      2. “I’m a long-time member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics…”

        Worthwhile membership? One of ours is in grad school in a flight related program. Wondering if she’d benefit any.

        1. The AIAA is the premier scientific/technical society in aerospace. Its world-wide membership includes not just people working in the business, but also academics, astronauts, and military officers. It publishes a number of technical journals and it holds numerous meetings and conferences. (I presented a paper at one in Reno more than 20 years ago.)

          Take a look at:

          https://www.aiaa.org

    3. Not to mention there’s a problem with getting ballots out to fairly long-term members.

    2. They just can’t kill us fast enough. That should be a crime and all the vax pushers need to be charged.

    3. Does he expect to attract votes away from Ford with that one? Seems like a very foolish plan given all of the negative information about the vaxes that is now available.

  9. Well, since we are discussing exotic topics like electric airplanes and steampunk bikes, how about hydrogen locomotives?

    CP Hydrogen Locomotive Program Advances

    CP’s Hydrogen Locomotive Program began in December 2020 with the retrofit of an existing diesel-electric linehaul locomotive. The diesel prime mover and traction alternator have been replaced with hydrogen fuel cell and battery technology to power the unit’s electric traction motors.

    The new hydrogen production and refueling facilities will be built, starting later this year, at CP’s Calgary and Edmonton railyards, according to ATCO, which is described as “a diversified global corporation” with investments in Structures & Logistics (workforce and residential housing, modular facilities; construction, site support services; workforce lodging services; facility operations and maintenance; defense operations services; and disaster and emergency management services); Utilities (electricity and natural gas transmission and distribution, and international electricity operations); Energy Infrastructure (electricity generation, energy storage and industrial water solutions); Retail Energy (electricity and natural gas retail sales); Transportation (ports and transportation logistics); and Commercial Real Estate.

    Each site will include a 1 MW electrolyzer as well as compression, storage and dispensing for locomotive refueling. In Calgary, the electrolyzer will be powered in part by renewable electricity from CP’s existing 5 MW solar-power facility co-located at its headquarters, ATCO reported. Both sites are expected to be operational in 2023.

    Hydrogen produced by an electolyzer ‘powered in part’ by solar panels? How much electricity will the other part require? And I wonder what the total cost will be to generate, compress and store the hydrogen for use by the locos. Diesel fuel may look cheap by comparison.

    The locomotive will run the hydrogen through fuel cells to generate electricity which will be used directly by the traction motors and stored in the ‘battery technology’. It should be interesting to see how well the variable traction motor requirements match the fuel cell generation and battery technology storage capabilities.

    1. I watched the proceedings of the Canadian Utilities annual general meeting earlier this week. Nancy Southern mentioned it in her presentation.

    2. That’s a whole lotta infrastructure $$ to test a concept, likey for yard /shunt locomotives. Hydrogen like other gases requires a pressure vessel for fuel storage. Energy density is still a factor versus old fossil fuels.

    3. Interesting.
      But if it’s anything like Amazon’s hydrogen powered forklifts it will be a tremendous waste of resources.
      You need electricity to make hydrogen, only to turn it back into electricity. Nowhere near 100% efficient.
      All that compressing and then venting to cool it down just doesn’t make sense.
      Crazy amount of infrastructure… only works with huge subsidies.

      Locomotives powered by nuclear reactors make more sense.

      1. “Compressed explosive gas going through tunnels? Maybe not a great idea.”

        Exactly. You can throw a lit match in some diesel and it won’t ignite.
        And a solar panel array in Calgary? That has maybe 4 hours of usable solar power on a winter day…if it’s sunny?

  14. “Trust” the Process: IPCC AR6 WG1 Edition

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/05/07/ar6-wg1-final-revised-report-and-expert-review-comments-have-just-been-released/

    “If you scroll down to the bottom you can find the heretofore secret list of Expert Reviewers:”

    “Note that, until now, even the Expert Reviewers, themselves, were not permitted to see any of this material. Even while reviewing the SOD (Second Order Draft) we were not permitted to see the authors’ responses to even our own FOD (First Order Draft) comments.

    In the case of our FOD comments, we’ve had to wait nearly three years to see the authors’ responses.

    The IPCC’s “expert review” process, despite the similar name, does not resemble peer review for academic papers. The IPCC treats its own “expert reviewers” like mushrooms. The IPCC’s authors needn’t even take reviewer comments into consideration.

    Imagine an academic journal which ran its peer-review process the way that the IPCC runs their “expert review” process:”

  19. One of the greatest TV theme songs ever. Who writes music in 5/4 time? Today’s pop musicians think triplets are challenging.

    1. Lalo Schifrin was born in Argentina and the Mission: Impossible theme sounds like it uses Latin American rhythms.

      1. He’s in distinguished company. His fellow Argentinians Alberto Ginastera and Astor Piazollo were well-known composers.

          4. The section that starts at around 8 minute (Los trabajdores agricolas) was once used as the theme for a CBC Stereo show some 40 years ago, which was where I first heard it. Eventually, I found out who composed it and where it was from.

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