Six Science Tweets #66

Water-powered computing, new new math, Unicode's awesomeness and more

Author

Harshal Chhaya
March 25, 2025

Six Science Tweets

Six tweets that celebrate engineering and all things STEM.

I scroll so you don’t have to.

Some excellent reader feedback is below the posts. Check it out!

#1 🤯 

Often times we do things not because they are easy but because they are interesting. And they look easy. But they aren’t easy. They are still interesting, though.

#2 🤯 

Laurie’s fascinating multi-post thread includes:

Digital computers weren’t able to match the utility of the Water Integrator for DECADES. In the mid-70s, they were still being used at over 115 Soviet research sites. These “Lukyanov integrators” weren’t decommissioned until the late 1980s!

More details are at https://www-nkj-ru.translate.goog/archive/articles/7033/?_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp

#3 🤯 

I once heard someone refer to rechargeable batteries as another example of “wireless electricity” and I have been thinking about it since.

What an elegant re-think of an everyday object

#4 🤯 

Without his backyard experiment there’s no Falcon 9, no Starship, no humans on the Moon or Mars.

#5 🤯 

I <heart> unicode!

#6 🤯 

Don’t try this in school! 😆 

This is issue #66. Some interesting facts about 66

  • 66 is a positive integer that is the product of three distinct prime numbers

  • 66 is the atomic number of Dysprosium - symbol Dy. It was discovered by French chemist Paul Émile Lecoq de Boisbaudran from its oxide after more than 30 attempts at his procedure. On succeeding, he named the element dysprosium from the Greek dysprositos (δυσπρόσιτος), meaning "hard to get".

  • 66 is the international calling code for Thailand

  • U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) is one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926 and ran from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica in Los Angeles County, California, covering a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km).  (you can read all about this iconic road at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_66)

I got some excellent feedback about issue #65 - esp. related to the post about the eclipse photos from the Blue Ghost mission.

Reader KH said that it was a solar eclipse since the sun was covered and not a lunar eclipse. However, I still say that it was a lunar eclipse since the earth was in the middle. But the photo was from a different viewpoint - from the moon. What’s your take? Solar eclipse or lunar?

Reader IG was skeptical about the photo being an actual one. He explained that even if the Earth is between the Moon and the Sun, the relative sizes are different and wouldn’t result in the “diamond ring” effect. He followed up a day later with more information and shared https://science.nasa.gov/resource/eclipse-apollo-12/ which does show that it is possible. Thanks IG!

I am really thankful for all the folks who write to me and all the ones who share this newsletter with others.

Thanks, y’all!

About

This newsletter is my way of sharing interesting science-related news with my curious friends. I enjoy finding science and math connections in our world.

Please share this newsletter with others. Let’s encourage curiosity.

- Harshal (@hschhaya on X/Twitter)

That’s it for this issue.

Hit ‘reply’ to tell me what you think.

And hit ‘forward’ to share with your friends and family.

Let’s all celebrate science and engineering and curiosity.

Best wishes,

Harshal