Jan Freeman writes The Word column for Ideas.
Joshua Glenn is a Boston-based writer, editor, and multimedia
producer.
Christopher Shea writes the Critical Faculties column for Ideas.
 Send the Brainiac bloggers a
comment on a post.
  Week of:
November 11
Week of:
November 4
Week of:
October 28
Week of:
October 21
Week of:
October 14
Week of:
October 7
Mind the gap
Shop talk What he learned in the newsroom Mr. Boffo lays an eggcorn Curse of the mummy's tummy More in Word Watch  |
« Podcasts for brainiacs | Main | Lethem continued » Monday, March 5, 2007Switching off the incandescent bulbSee that lightbulb in the top left corner of the Brainiac homepage? According to the Christian Science Monitor, Thomas Edison's most famous invention is about to "fizzle into obscurity." Thanks to Al Gore and others who claim that energy efficiency is the answer to curbing climate change, Australian officials and European lighting manufacturers have announced phaseouts of the energy-guzzling incandescent bulb in favor of CFLs and advanced halogen lamps. Some of the world's largest bulbmakers have joined environmental groups and the California Energy Commission in talks that could lead to a phaseout in the US within a decade, according to the CSM. This raises a question. Can fluorescent lightbulbs, which flicker on so slowly, replace incandescents as a symbol of sudden mental inspiration? I think not. So... how to represent illumination of the mind? Readers, we want to hear from you. Posted by Joshua Glenn at 11:57 AM
|
