Jeff Danner's Common Science

Spinal Cord Miracle?

Posted by Jeff Danner | Nov 2, 2014 | Common Science

In 2010, 40 year old Bulgarian firefighter Darek Fidyka had his spinal cord severed at mid-chest level during a brutal knife attack. He was completely paralyzed below the wound and, despite intensive physical therapy,...

Common Science Grab Bag

Posted by Jeff Danner | Oct 26, 2014 | Common Science

Generally speaking, I stick to one topic per week, but at the moment there are a number of items which are laying claim to my attention, none of which seem to call for stand alone treatment. So please enjoy my first-ever Common...

How Chemical Engineering Is Like Calculus

Posted by Jeff Danner | Oct 20, 2014 | Common Science

If you are not familiar with chemical engineering, you may have the impression that it is a narrowly-focused degree intended to train you to design and operate equipment that you might find in chemical plants such as pumps, reactors, and distillation towers. While chemical engineers are certainly taught these things, the foundation of the degree is a much broader study of the application of chemistry and physics to real world phenomena. Thus it can be and is used by graduates in many non-chemical industry jobs. There is also a strong emphasis on data analysis and problem solving. As a result, chemical engineers tend to have quite varied careers.

The Case of the Disappearing Lakes

Posted by Jeff Danner | Oct 12, 2014 | Common Science

Elementary school was a challenging time for me. I was terribly unorganized and a bit of a mess. Once, in the third grade, my teacher was so frustrated by the slovenly state of my desk that she dumped it out on the floor in the...

Mercury Rising

Posted by Jeff Danner | Oct 5, 2014 | Common Science

As I noted last week in Of Minerals and Men, the journal Nature recently reported that the concentration of mercury in the upper zone of the world’s oceans has more than tripled since the start of the Industrial Revolution. I...

Of Minerals And Men

Posted by Jeff Danner | Sep 28, 2014 | Common Science

I recently read a report from the journal Nature noting that the concentration of mercury dissolved in the oceans has more than tripled since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. A number of questions immediately came to...

Chikungunya Part III: The Epidemic Continues

Posted by Jeff Danner | Sep 21, 2014 | Common Science

Since I published Part I and Part II of this series in July, the ongoing chikungunya epidemic in the Americas has mostly fallen out of the headlines. I suspect that the 400,000+ people who have been infected with Chikungunya...

All About Electricity

Posted by Jeff Danner | Sep 14, 2014 | Common Science

The fatal flaw in solar roads is that they generate direct current (DC) power which is difficult to transmit over long distances without significant loss of power. Alternating current (AC) power can be transmitted over long distances with only a small loss of power. This difference in transmission losses explains why electricity transmission around the globe uses AC rather than DC.

How to Teach an Engineer to Play Guitar

Posted by Jeff Danner | Sep 7, 2014 | Common Science

I am on the road again this week. So as I cruise at 34,000 feet over Knoxville, Tennessee, let me share with you the long, circuitous history of my learning to play guitar. It’s a story which has lessons about mathematics as...

Why Solar Roads are a Bad Idea

Posted by Jeff Danner | Aug 31, 2014 | Common Science

If you paid attention to the news last spring, you may remember that solar roads were experiencing their 15 minutes of fame. There were newspaper articles, TV reports, viral Facebook messages, and at least one Kickstarter...

Jeff Danner

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