Paul Hansel

Author: paul

  • Try your hand at entomology

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    paul
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    Can you identify the subject of the header image of this website? If so, leave a comment. Here is a full resolution copy. The edited version could also help.

  • A TrailerTail for every EV?

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    paul
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    For a little over a decade, the rare sight of a passive aerodynamic modifier could be seen on highways across America. Depending on your vantage point, it could look like the tail of the Enterprise Space Shuttle… or perhaps a deflated pastry box. TrailerTail® was a hand-operated origami structure that reduced aerodynamic losses at highway…

  • Our rights to life and liberty, imploded

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    paul
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    The loss of the OceanGate submarine in late 2023 didn’t really shock me much. On one hand, I knew first-hand that carbon fiber was a terrible material for submarines. Having tried to build a molded battery shell for my college RoboSub team back in 2017, I couldn’t imagine scaling up the material that I found…

  • A funny kind of party

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    A few weeks back, I went to a funny kind of party. Someone hammered posters into telephone poles all over my commute route, and I figured I wasn’t the only one seeing them, so I looked into it. Scanned the QR code and was compelled to download an “app.” Why would I risk catching some…

  • The untapped potential of whale brains: FishBux(tm)

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    paul
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    [The authors do not condone exploitation or abuse of wildlife.] Introduction Whales are an underappreciated part of the marine ecosystem. On the basis of their brain-to-body mass ratio, they have a similar capacity for learning as humans or elephants. Dolphins and killer whales, in particular, can collaborate via intentional acoustic communication to achieve tasks like…

  • GEO Group is named after George Zoley

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    paul
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    From Wikipedia, the trustiest of sources: George Christopher Zoley (born February 7, 1950) is a Greek-born American businessman, the chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), and founder of the GEO Group, which manages prisons and jails in the US and internationally. Surprisingly, Wikipedia is out of date. The position of CEO is no longer held by…