Notes.
Season 2 of The Prepared's podcast is here! To kick things off, I talked with Max Haot of Launcher Space about developing rocket engines. Launcher's proposed rockets will be 20 m long and set up primarily for microsatellites; they're NYC based and just recently completed their first round of hot fire testing.
We've got an *awesome* lineup of guests; I can't wait to share more :)
Planning & Strategy.
- Joe Lhota, the chairman of the NYC MTA, also has a board position at MSG - a clear conflict, as the MTA necessarily negotiates with MSG over Penn Station. The remarkable thing about this is that although Lhota earns something like $1.75MM a year, only $1 of it comes from the MTA. I ask you: Does this system incentivize intelligent, hardworking people to both take jobs that matter *and* avoid conflicts of interest elsewhere?
- A somewhat serious suggestion: What if we rebranded water conservation to be about reducing how often combined sewer overflows dump sewage into our harbors?
- As you probably heard, Trump announced tariffs on aluminum and steel last week; Marketplace has a good quick "what to know" on the economics. Related, about a week and a half ago Carl Icahn (the corporate raider who is both a longtime Trump associate and also resigned a position as an economic adviser to the president last summer after reports of his conflicts of interest) dumped about $31MM worth of stock in the Manitowoc Company, a crane manufacturer whose stock then lost more than 16% after the tariffs were announced.
- Trump has also imposed tariffs on foreign-manufactured solar panels; US solar installer SunPower will lay off 3% of its workforce this month.
- Remember how Uber was investing a bunch of money on a new office in Oakland? Well, not anymore.
- GE is working on a wind turbine that would be 853' tall and would produce 12 megawatts; the largest turbine in operation now is a 9.5 megawatt unit made by Vestas.
Making & Manufacturing.
- Expanded metal being made.
- A quick explainer on the benefits of sandwich panels in composite construction.
- On Mori Building's philosophy towards their developments in Tokyo. For context, Nori manages about half as much property as NYC's Related Companies.
Maintenance, Repair & Operations.
- I'm reading Junkyard Planet, Adam Minter's book about scrap processing & recycling. This book has nearly 100% overlap with The Prepared: Unexpected manufacturing methods, a reevaluation of what it means to be a "product," an appreciation for both good intentions *and* good outcomes, and a built-in sense of empathy for the people doing the actual work. Recommended.
- A good, short video documentary about John Deere's aggressive (and I believe unwise) digital rights management policies, and the rather charming farmer-hackers fighting them.
- Chinese-funded Malaysian firms are plundering old shipwrecks (illegally) for low-background steel.
Distribution & Logistics.
- Drew on bike sharing.
- Biketown, Portland Oregon's Nike-sponsored bike share program, uses Jump (née Social Bicycles) bikes but is operated by Motivate (the company behind NYC's Citi Bike.
- A good high level explainer on Chinese investment (through Cosco and others) in foreign ports. "Chinese state firms, which once kept close to their home market, now control about one-tenth of all European port capacity." Jeez.
- The NHTSA mandate for rear-facing cameras on almost all passenger vehicles will go into effect in just a few months.
Inspection & Testing.
- NASA and Aerojet Rocketdyne test fired an RS-25 engine up to 113%. The RS-25 was the Space Shuttle's main engine, and is currently planned to be used on the Space Launch System - but there's some indication that NASA is considering other options (possibly including Blue Origin's BE-3U).
- The EA-18G Growler, a Boeing-made jet which is loaded with signal jammers and missiles for taking out an enemy's air-defense systems, has a tendency for its environmental control system to malfunction. In a recent case, "the cockpit suddenly plunged to temperatures reaching -30 degrees and a mist pumped into the the cockpit, covering the instruments and windows in a layer of ice, rendering the pilots almost completely blind."
- There is a persistent low-frequency hum in Windsor, Ontario. Its origin is unknown.
Tangents.
- Global paper pulp prices are up, and Taiwanese toilet paper manufacturers announced price increases as a result. Chaos ensued.
- Termites are officially a type of cockroach.
- A detailed explanation of John Searle's Chinese Room argument, which attempts to cleave true intelligence from its facsimile. TL;DR: Passing the Turing Test doesn't mean you're conscious.
- A correction from last week: In a link about Rocket Lab's recent launch, which carried Planet Labs satellites, I incorrectly referred to Rocket Lab as Planet Labs :/
The IRT Flushing line in Sunnyside Queens in 1917, shortly after it was extended from Queensboro Plaza to Corona; Queens' population nearly doubled that decade and the decade after.
The same location today.
Thanks as always to our recurring donors for supporting The Prepared.Credit also to Drew, Dan, Brad, Alex, Dan, Matija, and Mike for sending links.
Love, Spencer.
p.s. - We should be better friends. Send me a note - coffee's on me :)
p.p.s - Whenever possible, we work to encourage inclusivity. Here's how.
