Gregory Barber

San Francisco

science and technology journalist / McGraw Fellow @newmarkjschool / words in @nytimes @theatlantic @quantamagazine @WIRED etc. / [email protected]

Articles

In Search of a Boring Business

1 month ago | myheraldreview.com | Gregory Barber

When Nicole Rizzo saw the “For Sale” listing for Die Cleaning Equipment, the first detail she liked was that it was run by a married couple. Rizzo, then 43, was searching for a company to run alongside her own husband. But her husband, David, was puzzled by the name. Was it something involving janitors? The Smiths had carved out their niche-within-a-niche from scratch, with Kristin Smith initially moonlighting as a church secretary to keep food on the table.
Young Professionals Are Increasingly Turning to Boring Small-Business Niches

1 month ago | businessandamerica.com | Gregory Barber

“Making It Work” is a series about small-business owners striving to endure hard times. When Nicole Rizzo saw the “For Sale” listing for Die Cleaning Equipment, the first detail she liked was that it was run by a married couple. Ms. Rizzo, then 43, was searching for a company to run alongside her own husband. But her husband, David, was puzzled by the name. Was it something involving janitors? Die Cleaning Equipment, as it turned out, employed welders.
Flood-Soaked Homeowners Face a Costly Choice: Raise or Raze

Dec 31, 2024 | rethinking65.com | Gregory Barber

Shortly after moving into their home in St. Petersburg, Florida, Meghan Martin and her husband noticed a drawback to their new neighborhood. The quiet streets of Shore Acres, a leafy community bisected by canals, occasionally flooded. On some days it was easiest for Martin, a pediatric ER doctor, to reach the hospital by paddle board — a feat she once demonstrated in a widely viewed TikTok.
Residents Turn to Home Lifting In Response to the Threat of Flooding

Dec 26, 2024 | nytimes.com | Gregory Barber

It was a storm in 2016 that made the choice clear for Drew and Pam Shefman. They loved their neighborhood, and their house, which they had recently "made perfect," using a flood insurance payout. But raising would be costly: $420,000. "The hardest part to get into your head is that you're going to lose money," Mr. Shefman said.
Como os matemáticos descobriram novos modos de resolver um problema de décadas

Oct 5, 2024 | terra.com.br | Gregory Barber

Em 1986, quando o ônibus espacial Challenger explodiu aos 73 segundos de voo, o eminente físico Richard Feynman foi chamado para descobrir o que tinha acontecido. Tempos depois, ele demonstrou que as vedações "em forma de anel", que deveriam juntar as seções de propulsores dos foguetes do ônibus espacial, haviam falhado devido às baixas temperaturas, com resultados catastróficos. Mas ele também descobriu outros erros. Entre eles estava a maneira como a Nasa tinha calculado o formato dos anéis.
Mathematicians Discover New Shapes to Solve Decades-Old Geometry Problem

Sep 20, 2024 | quantamagazine.org | Gregory Barber

Introduction In 1986, after the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds into its flight, the eminent physicist Richard Feynman was called in to find out what had gone wrong. He later demonstrated that the “O-ring” seals, which were meant to join sections of the shuttle’s solid rocket boosters, had failed due to cold temperatures, with catastrophic results. But he also discovered more than a few other missteps. Among them was the way NASA had calculated the O-rings’ shape.
How to Fall in Love With Baseball

Aug 5, 2024 | nytimes.com | Gregory Barber

The hallmark of a great baseball radio announcer is knowing when to remain silent. That way, the game speaks for itself. Near home base, a pair of parabolic dishes relay the smack of a catcher's glove, the scrape of spikes on dirt and chalk, the fizz of the crowd. A crack of the bat, caught by a shotgun mic poking out the window of the booth, announces a home run long before the ball drops into the stands.
Grad Students Find Inevitable Patterns in Big Sets of Numbers

Aug 5, 2024 | quantamagazine.org | Leila Sloman |Matt von Hippel |Gregory Barber

Introduction In late 2017, Ashwin Sah and Mehtaab Sawhney met as undergraduates at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since then, the pair have written a mind-boggling 57 math proofs together, many of them profound advances in various fields. In February, Sah and Sawhney announced yet another joint accomplishment.
America Is Still Stuck on Prius vs. Pickup

Jun 28, 2024 | msn.com | Gregory Barber

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Why Is This Shape So Terrible to Pack? | Quanta Magazine

Jun 28, 2024 | quantamagazine.org | Gregory Barber

IntroductionFor centuries, mathematicians suspected that hexagonal tiles are the best possible way to fill space. By this they mean that if you want to subdivide a large area into tiles of equal size while minimizing the perimeter of each tile, you can’t do any better than hexagons. In 1999, Thomas Hales of the University of Pittsburgh finally proved it. They’re better than squares, triangles, or any other alternative. But many shapes can’t be tiled without leaving gaps.