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Showing posts from March, 2012

Of Thermite and Tube Oscillators

While searching for low frequency, high current amplifiers I cam across the following two articles in an issue of Popular Science from 1944 on Google Books . The first is a great article on how oscillators work and what they are used for. The second article is on iron. The great part is that there's a "try it at home" recipe for thermite and a primer on the first page of the article. They definitely know how to grab and hold a reader's interest. Finally, check out the whole issue at the link above. There are lots of other cool things like two color pages containing Disney created fighter squadron insignia, (some of which are shown above). For the moment, the Google Boooks embed code below has gone loopy, so follow the links to the magazine articles. Oscillators: Thermite:

More on Agnew Hunter Bahnson Jr. and Medical History

A while back, I reported that Agnew Hunter Bahnson Jr. was named after the pair of doctors that removed his grandfather's elbow. The elbow bone wound up in the possession of another grandson, Dr. Henry Theodore Bahnson M.D. I turns out that Dr. Bahnson was the first surgeon to successfully perform a heart and liver transplant. He studied under Alfred Blalock and in the Bahnson family tradition named his son Alfred Blalock Bahnson. Dr. Bahnson is shown with Dr. Blalock below, and, (I believe), Agnew. Dr. Blalock was featured in the movie about the life of Vivien Thomas , the African-American surgical technician who developed procedures for treating blue baby syndrome in the 1940s.

SPESIF 2012 and Getting Around at the University of Maryland

I'm attending SPESIF 2012 this week at the University of Maryland. I'm learning a few tricks for getting around the area easily since I'm using solely public transportation on this trip. Getting from the Airport to the University: The B30 metro bus leaves the airport every 40 minutes or so [pdf]. It costs $6 and you have to have exact change. It will take you directly to the Greenbelt Metro station. From there, you can ride one stop on the metro train to the College Park Metro station. University of Maryland College Park Shuttle System: From here on out, you can get a remarkable number of places on the UMD shuttle bus system. Make sure to check the complete schedule and maps [really big pdf[ to see if where you're headed is on a route. You can also use the excellent NextBus application on your phone. Just click on the NextBus logo in the upper right corner of the UMD transit web page . To get from the College Park Metro Station to campus, hop on the 1...