WELCOME
Thanks for coming to visit my website. I write about science, technology, foreign affairs, and other subjects.
Follow me on Twitter: @kkakaesDrones and Aerial Observation
I edited and wrote part of a short book published by New America in July 2015 and freely available online, about how drones are being used in new ways around the world. It's meant to be useful to people who want to fly drones.The Pioneer Detectives
I published a short book with The Millions.
It's the story of the Pioneer Anomaly, a long-standing mystery. The book is short and fun—the length of a novella—but also, in the words of Amazon's reviewer, "powerful and sad". If you've got any curiosity about how NASA works behind the scenes or why scientists believe what they do, I think you'll enjoy the book.
It is available on Amazon as a Kindle Single and also on Apple's iBooks.Drone Wars
I wrote a chapter on the long history of drone technology going back to the early 20th century in this edited Cambridge University Press volume.
Why Are Drone-Makers Helping Governments Crack Down on Drones?
28 January 2015
DJI’s brute force regulation through software
The dangers of users lacking control over the devices they use, as illustrated by one drone-maker’s reaction when one of its aircraft crashed on the White House grounds.
[Slate]
clips, Drones
tags: DJI, drones, Lawrence Lessig, Phantom, Slate, software, UAVs, White House Drone
A small step backward for mankind
5 November 2014
Why America needs to embrace a culture of risk in order to build the next-generation space program.
How and why to be resilient in the face of failed spacecraft, and the loss of life.
[Foreign Policy]
Sayur Manis: Delicious, But Also Deadly, Greens From Borneo
14 August 2014
Eat too much of it raw, and it can cause lung failure
Also known as sabah veggie, and a multitude of other names, sayur manis tastes like spinach crossed with asparagus
[NPR]
clips, Food
tags: Borneo, Lung failure, Malaysia, NPR, Nutrition, Sabah, Sabah Veggie, Sayur Manis, Spinach
Book Review: ‘The Interior Circuit’ by Francisco Goldman
9 August 2014
Ka Wong Seng looks as if it fell into a Chinatown wormhole and emerged complete with roasted duck.
Review of Goldman’s memoir of Mexico City, which I think does not succeed in its aims.
[Wall Street Journal]
Book Reviews, clips, Latin America and the Caribbean, Mexican Business and Culture, Mexican Politics, Mexico
tags: Enrique Peña Nieto, Francisco Goldman, Guatemala City, Jonathan Candell, La Capital, Long Night of White Chickens, Marcelo Ebrard, memoirs, mexico, Mexico City, Say Her Name, The Interior Circuit, Wall Street Journal
Not So Offal: Why Bone Soup, A ‘Perfect Food,’ Tastes So Meaty
16 July 2014
In praise of Tulang Soup, the most delicious thing I ate in Singapore
Trying to figure out the richness of bone marrow
[NPR]
clips, Food
tags: Bone Marrow, Hawker Centers, NPR, Singapore, The Salt, Tulang
How Gobbledygook Ended Up in Respected Scientific Journals
27 February 2014
The IEEE and Springer published dozens of algorithmically generated articles
What a slew of nonsensical publications says about the state of science.
[Slate]
Responding to the New York Times off-base math education editorial
10 December 2013
Math doesn’t have to be boring, but it does have to be math
The New York Times editorial board doesn’t understand the first thing about mathematics, and this is a big problem.
[Slate]
Chang’e 3
5 December 2013
The Second Space Race
Short voiceover of a photograph of China’s lunar rover.
[The Weekly Wonk]
PR Stunts
2 December 2013
Amazon Prime Drone Delivery? It’s Hot Air
Why Amazon won’t be delivering packages with drones by 2015.
[Slate]
How many nuclear weapons does China have?
11 November 2013
Consensus: China Offers Limited Deterrent
Probably fewer than 300.
[Aviation Week and Space Technology–Subscription Required]
Bard of Folly
21 October 2013
Book Review: ‘Command and Control’ by Eric Schlosser
A fantastic new book about nuclear weapons, and what it says about technology more generally.
[The American Prospect]
How High the Moon?
4 October 2013
Book Review: ‘Dreams of Other Worlds’ by Chris Impey and Holly Henry
Where the Milky Way’s missing arms went and other tales of astronomical discovery.
[Wall Street Journal]
America’s Last Nuclear test
3 October 2013
A photograph of divider
And the wacky names for other nuclear tests; a short voiceover.
[The Weekly Wonk]
Jack Ryan’s Quest
3 October 2013
Hunting Red October
In praise of Tom Clancy’s early work (and in criticism of his later work) on the occasion of his death.
[The Millions]
In Praise of Joe’s Shanghai
1 September 2013
Discovering The Small Miracle Of The Soup Dumpling
An appreciation of one of the deliciousest foods.
[NPR]
clips, Food
tags: Joe's Shanghai, NPR, Soup, Soup Dumplings