The healthcare system in the US is broken - Updated

This article has a follow-up update on the bottom. I realize this is the buzzword of the 2020 election, universal healthcare, but I am here to tell you that we need to do something about it and soon. As you may have read, I returned from Europe about a year ago after a 5-year stint. I have been blessed to have been privately insured through my employment for most of my adult life. Before I left, my run-ins with an insurance representative were minimal with 1 exception. A...

January 17, 2020

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Ro Saiciton

Games, like life, evolve

Board games have been around since humans settled into civilizations. The oldest known game is from 3500 BC. Most of us are familiar with the game of Life. The contemporary version of the game emerged in the 60s and revolves around paydays and cash to help you succeed in the game. The original version, however, was less cheerful. The original version, released a century prior, in 1860, revolved around the impartation of moral principles. The point of the game was to educate players on the various challenges, successes...

January 15, 2020

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Wen Ruoy

2019 Year in Review

What can we say about 2019? At the very least, it was the year of investigations and impeachment. Not only the talk and threat of impeachment for most of the year, and its culmination therein, but also the big reveals of the Mueller investigation and the house intelligence inquiry. Along with that, we published a great series on Life in the EU and how it differs to the US. We talked about how a simple vaccination could have prevented 100 days worth of pain and ache in our...

December 31, 2019

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Tiab James

Motor-less water pump?

Water is a weird substance. Think about it, unlike most other substances, it expands when it becomes a solid. This is the reason pipes can burst in the winter, and why placing a beer bottle in the freezer is a bad idea. To make things even weirder, it is slippery when it's a solid and not for the reason you'd think. This brings us to a motor-less pump called a hydraulic ram pump. This type of pump does not use a motor, and no, it does not "generate"...

December 18, 2019

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Tiab James

Why is ice slippery?

It is Winter here at headquarters and things are getting icy, and slippery. But why is that? Why is ice slippery. It makes sense that it's cold, but slippery? One of the more common reasons for why ice is slippery is there is a light layer of water atop the ice which makes the surface slippery. But if that is the case, water should be equally slippery, right? It turns out the reason is more at the molecular level. Want to find out more, see the video 🙂

December 17, 2019

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Tiab James

Unsinkable metals?

Imagine ships and boats being made out of a metal that could never be sunk. A material which even with holes all around it had buoyancy, and as such, would always floated back to the surface. First, let's talk about what makes a boat float. In order for a boat, or ship to float above water it has to displace more water than its weight. Meaning that if a boat weighs x, it has to displace water equaling x + 1. Certain vessels use this approach, plus something...

November 26, 2019

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Mario Aigoloncet

The final round of the MotoGP season is this weekend

November 17 will mark the final round of the 2019 MotoGP World Championship. All three main Championships have been settled at the top, though bridesmaid places have not. The other World Championship still open is the MotoE Championship. But truth be told, nobody really cares :\ (at least not yet). Valencia seems to have a deal with MotoGP's CEO, Carmelo, similar to Qatar's; where each are guaranteed the final and first round of the Championship respectively. Valencia also marks the first official test of the 2020 season. It...

November 13, 2019

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Mario Aigoloncet

Cookies anyone?

A month ago, I posted my recipe for the best homemade pizza there is. I got a lot of likes on it and it seemed to help many folks begin to cook in their home. Today I thought I'd share my own cookies recipe. Similar to the pizza recipe, this one will work in a pinch and it's supper fun to make with the kids. There aren't too many ingredients as you can see: Dry Ingredients: 205g of bread flour 5g salt 3g baking soda (1/2 tsp) 2g...

November 12, 2019

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Wen Ruoy

Racing is a tough business

A while back I wrote about how quickly things change in MotoGP, while at the same time remaining the same. Today I wanted to talk about how tough the racing business is. In the US, most people follow ball-and-stick sports, though there are some ardent fanatics of NASCAR. The business of racing a vehicle, whether on a track or dirt, is an expensive proposition. This is one of the reasons you often see racing drivers/riders covered up with sponsor decals and long family racing dynasties. Any sponsor is...

November 6, 2019

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Mario Aigoloncet

Alphabet purchasing Fitbit is a negative for consumers

Alphabet, Google's parent company, announced it was purchasing Fitbit for over $2 billion a few days back. This a huge win for Alphabet and Fitbit, but not for us, the consumer. It is thanks to a shriking number of large corporations that consumers are left with little choice in the form of mobile phones, search and browsers. And thanks to these same companies we will also be left with a lesser number of choices in this consumer space, the wearable trackers. If you look at the data, you'll...

November 5, 2019

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Tiab James