Author, Scientist, …
The word “pen pals” was recently in the news. In the 1960s, students were taught U.S and World History. Long before the days of personal computers and the Internet, we high school students were encouraged to expand our perspective by becoming pen pals with other students around the world. Of course, back then, the phrase … Continue reading “Where is Pham-lỷ-Täi?”
“The U.S. President was on the phone with the President of China when a video from the International Space Station came in from the NASA feed to the Emergency Operations Center. A huge burnt-orange cloud was covering the entire southern Pacific, extending all the way up to Hawaii and down to New Zealand. This was … Continue reading “The Basic Chemistry of Nitrogen Dioxide”
It was dark, the only light coming from the red glowing numerals of my digital alarm clock. I hadn’t set it to alarm—I needed to sleep as long as I could. It was also quiet in my bedroom, quiet enough for me to hear my breathing as I lay still, trying to sleep. The breath … Continue reading “Pendelluft—The Beast Within”
Exotic Adventures Only Count if You Safely Return Clarke Life Support Consulting, (CLSC, LLC) is a consulting company based on over forty years of experience with military and civilian life support in subsea, dry land, air, and space environments. That experience has been applied to tactical life-support systems for Tier 1 operators, deep diving systems, … Continue reading “Life Support Consulting”
“Consider this a warning order.” The voice on the other end was from the Pentagon. That was the last thing I’d expected to hear on Saturday morning, March 21st, 2020. On October 1, 2018, I had happily retired after forty years of Federal service. I had remained engaged with the Naval Sea Systems Command and … Continue reading “Warning Order”
“Happy hypoxia,” or more properly, silent hypoxia, has been one of the most puzzling signs and symptoms of patients presenting to Emergency Rooms with COVID-19. The patient’s arterial oxygen saturation can be in the fifties instead of the normal values in the upper 90s, and yet the patient can be cheerful, fully coherent, and even … Continue reading “Happy Hypoxia – A 2018 Warning”
A December, 2019 article in the New York Times has the catchy headline, “Bubble Subs Arise, Opening Eyes to the Deep Sea.” From my perspective, it’s always great when anything about the deep sea attracts the attention of major newspapers. In general, well researched and written publications on the subject are hard to find. A … Continue reading “Bubble Submarines Resurface After Fifty-Two Years”
Future Tech Rebreathers are rapidly making scuba gear look like the underwater equivalent of a windup watch By Kathy A SvitilJuly 1, 2000 12:00 AM Bill Stone will never forget the day he began to make diving history by immersing himself in Wakulla Springs, a network of submerged caves in northern Florida. On the early afternoon … Continue reading “Back to the Future – from a 2000 Discover Issue”
When I was a graduate student, I found Hal Clement’s science fiction novel in the Florida State University Bookstore. I had just completed a summer in the U.S. Navy-sponsored Scientist in the Sea Program in Panama City, Florida. Being an avid diver, and a burgeoning scientist, my imagination was captured by Clement’s book. I read … Continue reading “Ocean on Top”
Heat pumps have been a boon for efficient residential heating and cooling, at least in those regions of the country where winter temperatures do not consistently hover in the frigid range. In the southern United States, whole house heat pumps are arguably the most efficient way to heat and cool a house. Outside temperatures rarely fall … Continue reading “When Heat Pumps Become Killing Machines”
