3D Printing Part II: The Future
In Part I of this series, I discussed the history and science of 3D printing. This week I will move on to discussing the current uses of 3D printing, as well as some potentially exciting future applications.
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The Birthday Problem
Posted by Jeff Danner | Mar 31, 2014 | Common Science, Town Square
You may have heard that if you are in a room with 23 people, there is a greater than 50% chance that two people in the room have the same birthday. This is commonly known as the “Birthday Problem.” Most people presented with this information are, at least initially, quite skeptical. Typically what throws people off is that they approach the problem with an incorrect perspective.
Read More3D Printing Part I: The Technology
Posted by Jeff Danner | Mar 23, 2014 | Common Science
For the past several years, 3D printing technology has been garnering quite a few headlines. Unfortunately, as is common for the main-stream media, many of the interesting science elements are left out of these stories. So I...
Read MoreChina, The Canary in the Coal Mine
Posted by Jeff Danner | Mar 16, 2014 | Common Science, Town Square
When I started writing Common Science in 2011, I did not envision devoting so many columns to resource constraint issues. However, every time I listen to the news or read the paper I am assaulted with warning signs of rapidly...
Read MoreChecking In On Peak Oil
Posted by Jeff Danner | Mar 3, 2014 | Common Science
In last week’s column, The Case of the Missing Propane, I explained how the widespread use of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of shale oil deposits since 2008 has led to a 30% increase in the production of crude petroleum in the...
Read MoreThe Case of the Missing Propane
Posted by Jeff Danner | Feb 23, 2014 | Common Science
Over the past few weeks, I have seen many stories about propane shortages in the United States. As a result of these shortages, prices for propane have nearly doubled from around $2.20 per gallon at the end of last year to over...
Read MoreA Tale of Two Spills
Posted by Jeff Danner | Feb 16, 2014 | Common Science
On February 2, 2014, a storm water drain at a retired coal-fired power plant near the North Carolina-Virginia border ruptured, which allowed more than 80,000 tons of coal ash to spill into the Dan River. The Dan River is the...
Read MoreKeystone Pipeline Update
Posted by Jeff Danner | Feb 10, 2014 | Common Science
With the recent release of the State Department’s report on the Keystone XL pipeline, I thought would review some of the key issues for this topic. The Keystone XL pipeline is intended to transport diluted bitumen, a low-grade,...
Read MoreMy First PC Weighed 25 Pounds
Posted by Jeff Danner | Feb 2, 2014 | Common Science
My children like to make comparisons between the technology I had growing up and what they have today. In the course of a recent conversation on this topic, it occurred to me that, having been born in 1966, I have lived through...
Read MoreWest Virginia Chemical Spill
Posted by Jeff Danner | Jan 26, 2014 | Common Science
On January the 9th, 2014, 7,500 gallons of a chemical called 4-methylcyclohexane methanol (MCHM) leaked from a Freedom Industries storage tank into the Elk River near Charleston, West Virginia, polluting the drinking water...
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