Computing
Engineering
Communism
Will AI benefit humanity?
Elon Musk has said that AI and robotics can lead to a future of universal high income and eliminate poverty by creating an abundance of goods and services making human work optional. Elimination of poverty [more…]
Engineering
New Year Transport Update
The big day arrives! Puffins will recall a previous unread article, Christmas Transport Catastrophe. This detailed the railway and motorway closures and diversions required as a West Coast Mainline bridge is being replaced over the [more…]
19th Century
Railway Review
Following the outpouring of joy over the street cars of Paramaribo – complete with a trip to Kabelstation (where a rope-worked gondola spanned the Suriname River), and a railcar ride with the Queen of Holland, [more…]
Computing
AI Think Therefore AI Am?
The ancient Greeks, guardians of philosophy and medicine, wrestled with a timeless tension: *Could we?* versus *Should we?* The Hippocratic oath embodied this restraint—harnessing knowledge and technique while pledging “first, do no harm.” Aristotle warned [more…]
Engineering
Christmas Transport Catastrophe!
A catastrophic disaster unparalleled in the history of transport unravelled itself towards the tail end of 2025. This threatens to ruin every little boy’s Christmas. Or does it? In fits and starts from the end [more…]
Collecting
An odd obsession
There is a saying that one chainsaw is too many, but 10 is not enough…. I have fidddled about with mechanical things all my life – not only because of the enjoyment but because of [more…]
19th Century
Today’s 200th Anniversary of The Railway
This weekend sees the 200th anniversary of railways – or at least of the first steam locomotive-hauled passenger service, which took place on the Stockton to Darlington railway 200 years ago today (27th September). On [more…]
19th Century
The Shock of The Modern
Besides excitement and trauma, might the shock of the new also provide a synapse re-ordering adrenaline burst that remodels the brain? As a little boy the make-believe near-future modernist world of Thunderbirds (and the like) [more…]