Six STEM Tweets

Six tweets that celebrate engineering and all things STEM.

I scroll so you don’t have to.

An out-of-cycle issue just because there’s SO much going on in the world of science and technology.

#1 🤯 

Several companies have been making chips in the US for a long time now so this isn’t the first chip factory but it is definitely an achievement because TSMC makes some of the world’s most advanced chips.

#2 🤯 

LIDAR for all! We need to LIDAR all the mountains - who knows what’s under all that dirt?

The full Nature paper is at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08086-5

Historians used to think big cities couldn't exist up in the mountains because it was too hard to grow food & survive the harsh conditions

This opens up a whole new chapter in our understanding of dwellings in the mountains of Central Asia because:

#3 🤯 

Lego bricks are the epitome of industrial engineering. To make millions of them with the precision and accuracy needed is a marvel of modern manufacturing.

It’s the kind of invention I love - using high tech to make something that easy to use and educational and fun.

#4 🤯 

#5 🤯 

I guess I need to rename this newsletter to “Six M Tweets” 😄 

#6 🤯 

This is a reference to the “double slit experiment” that demonstrates the wave–particle duality of electrons.

Wikipedia’s article on the double-slit experiment is a good reference.

This is issue #47. Some fun facts about 47:

• 47 is the atomic number of silver - symbol Ag, from Latin ‘argentum’. Silver is the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal.

• 47 is international calling code for Norway

• It’s a prime!

  • 47 is a also 'safe prime' - since it can be written as 2p + 1 where p is also a prime number, 23 in this case

  • And It is an “isolated” prime since neither p − 2 nor p + 2 is prime.

• The 47-year cycle of Mars: after 47 years – 22 periods of 780 days each – Mars returns to the same position among the stars and is in the same relationship to the Earth and Sun.

In the last issue #46, I had shared how “46 BC” it was the longest year because it had 3 extra months and was a transition year from the pre-Julian Roman calendar to the Julian calendar.

Got a comment saying that the folks living at the time didn’t call it ‘46 BC’

Yep! That’s true.

Per Wikipedia, at the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Caesar and Lepidus (or, less frequently, year 708 Ab urbe condita). But if I called it that, no one would get it. Since I am writing for my contemporaries and not theirs, 46 BC it is 😄 

Please forward this to folks who enjoy learning about the world of science and technology. And hit ‘reply’ to let me know what you think.

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