Wednesday is my sci-tech day.  With the recent passage of   Richard Garwin,   I'll assess where we are today on the Hydrogen Bomb, for he was the individual who was in charge of building the first one in 1951, at the age of 23.  Yes, he lived to be 97. My only link to nuclear energy is that I twice worked under Edward Teller at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.  But this was in the 1970's, and for half a century I haven't done much in this field.  In any case, at LLNL I was with the laser fusion program.  Teller was not only the father of the Hydrogen Bomb, he also was director of this lab, where  John Nuckols  had developed a process to use a laser to produce fusion for power. Teller came to Hawaii in the 70's, proposing a bank of wind turbines at the top of the Koolaus.  This was so long ago that Google can't find that photo, which was on the front page of one of the local newspapers.  While there, I joined him and Momok...

To follow-up on the Kamala Harris - Tim Walz ticket, some humor.  Read Laura Yuen's op-ed,  No, Walz isn't old.  He's 60 (which is the new 40 ).  To quote. Joe Biden is old. Now that he’s dropped out of the race, we all can agree Donald Trump is old. Kamala Harris looks youthful. Tim Walz appears oldish, but he’s only about six months older than Harris. Our governor, who was announced as Harris’ vice presidential running mate, acknowledges the disparity. The former teacher attributes his graying appearance to having supervised a high school lunchroom for 20 year s. Retorted Walz:   You do not leave that job with a full head of hair. Trust me . By the way, Brad Pitt is also 60.   Photo taken this year , in an article that says he is worth $400 million. Yuen also had a dig at Trump:   The lines on his face come from the worry of protecting Minnesotans during COVID-19, and the glee from being swarmed by schoolkids when he signed a free-lunc...

The Russian War in Ukraine has re-aroused the fear of a nuclear holocaust.  The closest humanity has been to extinction was the prospect of a similar horror through much of the Cold War.  Two J. Robert Oppenheimer productions will shake you out of your comfort zone.  It's actually worse because he is only the Father of the Atomic Bomb.  He had a feud with Edward Teller, Father of the Hydrogen Bomb. MSNBC had a documentary last night:   To End All War:  Oppenheimer and the Atomic Bomb , featuring a number of comments by Christopher Nolan, whose film,  Oppenheimer , will be released on July 21.  This movie is rated R and will be 3 hours long, with a glowing cast:  Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, Emily Blunt as his wife, Matt Damon as General Leslie Groves, who ran the Manhattan Project, Robert Downey, who eventually became Oppie's nemesis, Kenneth Branagh, Florence Puch, as O's girlfriend/mistress, Gary Oldman, Josh Hartnett, Rami...