danelabonte

Public School Students Are Getting Poorer

In 2011, 48 percent qualified as low-income.

(http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/10/study-public-school-students-are-getting-poorer-and-poorer/280664/)

http://click-to-read-mo.re/p/3Dgz

Groundbreaking at Legoland Discovery Center Boston

Scheduled to open in May, the center will be located in Assembly Row in Somerville and will feature millions of Lego bricks, some of them designed to look like Boston landmarks.

The 44,000 sf indoor attraction will be aimed toward children aged 3 to 10 and their families and “will offer a fun, highly interactive and educational two- to three-hour indoor experience".

(http://boston.com/business/news/2013/10/16/somerville-gears-for-the-groundbreaking-legoland-discovery-center-boston/zCezCGKhZjoIhMso0NZ0uK/story.html)

http://click-to-read-mo.re/p/3Cue

jtotheizzoe:

via wolframalpha:

66 years ago today, Chuck Yeager became the first pilot to break the sound barrier with the aid of The Bell X-1.

Happy Sound Barrier Day!

I’m a bit disappointed that Wolfram|Alpha does not link to the following two music videos when presented with this query:

“Careful What You Wish For” – Bell X1

“Speed of Sound” – Coldplay

The buildup of air and the unstable physics of a wing near Mach 1 meant early flight near the sound barrier was pretty harrowing stuff. Engineering advances soon made it a rather trivial milestone for many aircraft, culminating in now-defunct commercial airliners like the Concorde, flying dreams of an unrealized future where we all flew at speeds beyond sound. 

I highly recommend Amy Shira Teitel’s tale of Yeager breaking the sound barrier (or really anything she writes about space and flight history). As she writes, the man who piloted the rocket-powered Glamorous Glennis that day had (very aerodynamic) balls of steel:

“Yeager was like some sort of airplane whisperer.”

And from that whisper came a boom.

Nailed it

Chick-fil-A Cow Appreciation Day trophy (at Bohler Engineering)

Chili! Making sure the new house smells great.

Maroon Bells in Colorado Rockies

(http://www.clarkvision.com/galleries/gallery.nightscapes/web/maroon-bells_nightscape_rnclark_c09.28.2013.lf3-bin6x6c1-1024vs.html)

http://click-to-read-mo.re/p/3tkb

House warming gift from my boss. This guy is the best. Went out in the pouring rain to get this. “The stuff on the left is for the unwashed masses, the stuff on the right is for you and @kaylalabonte.” (at Bohler Engineering)