Into the future

If one considers the way things have progressed, we are now in 2022, which is 100 years later than 1922. Looking back to 1922, a great number of things had changed from the beginning to that... 

Beware of geeks bearing gifts

In a previous article in this column, I wrote about an emperor who was conned by two people into believing that he was wearing the most fabulous clothes. Two con artists told him that he was... 

The emperor again

There is a story about an emperor who is told by his staff that he is wearing a very beautiful jacket and that the jacket is more beautiful than any of the other jackets that he has worn. They say... 

Evolution of ordinary things

Once upon a time, when people wanted to write something out, there were a number of pre-requirements for this to happen. The first was that they could actually write and read. While it is quite a... 

A long time ago

I recently noticed that I had suddenly become old. I had been quite happily moving along through my sixties when somebody mentioned that my brother was one year from being. This, of course, put me... 

The end of text?

Writing has been around for a very long time. We all know that there is some text which has been around since the 1400s produced by Gutenberg and distributed widely. Gutenberg’s invention of the... 

Things that do not change

There are a number of things that people think do not change. We believe that the sun is always going to be more or less the same colour, that the temperature of the Earth will, within some limits,... 

De Ruyter comes to the party

Most people who are not electrical engineers or in anyway associated with the electrical business or are not associated with the interconnected power pystem will probably have no real idea what... 

Who knows what comes next?

It is 122 years since the beginning of the Second Boer War in South Africa. To all intents and purposes, at the time, electricity did not exist. There were a few small devices that produced... 

Well, apart from the gladiators

It is quite possible that, at the time of the Roman empire, some smart operators made some (as my friend Harry Minnie would say) serious wonga from supplying gladiators for the Roman arenas. It’s... 

Hazop studies

A hazard and operability (Hazop) study is a systematic brainstorming process of assessing the existence of hazards in equipment and plant operation. This involves a group of engineers and... 

Oh! Oh! Toto

As all our readers will know, in aerodynamics, the Joukowsky transform is used to solve the two-dimensional potential flow around a class of aerofoils[WM1]  known as Joukowsky aerofoils. A... 

Injustices of the tender system

Astronaut John Glenn, about to be rocketed into space in 1962, was asked how he was feeling. His supposed reply was: “I felt exactly how you would feel if you were getting ready to launch and knew... 

Energy experts

I think that, by any measure, I am an energy expert. I have been a senior engineer in Eskom operations (Eastern Cape). I have worked for a number of years in the petrochemicals field. I have... 

Unintended consequences

One of the songs of the Beatles (remember them?) has the words: “Do you want to know a secret? Do you promise not to tell? Whoa, oh, oh.” So, here’s the thing: Elon Musk did not invent the modern... 

My most difficult field trip

I am going to write on this day, the tenth anniversary of the event, about the most difficult field trip I ever experienced. Now, let me warn you, not all of this is true. There is some... 

Where to invest in Africa

I was fortunate enough to watch Rob Hersov speak at the BizNews Investment Conference. Hersov is not short of a few bob and is a leading investor in the revamp of Fisantekraal Airfield, in Cape... 

Using wolves to guard sheep

We have seen some interesting developments in the past year. Actually, that’s not true at all; we’ve seen some horrifying developments. I think every South African acknowledges that we live in a... 

Politics and electricity

Our Mineral Resources and Energy Minister, Gwede Mantashe, has come out swinging with pronouncements that the future of South Africa’s energy supplies is based on natural gas. On December 14, just... 

Working knowledge of EVs

The definition of true fanaticism is this: redoubling our efforts when our aim is forgotten. As we slide into the 2020s, we are reaching new heights of asinine stupidity, the uttering of cosy... 

Hazel goes to war

My mother Hazel served at Cape Town in the Women’s Auxiliary Army Service (WAAS) in World War II as an artillery specialist. She had a tough childhood in the Great Depression of the 1930s and... 

All so confusing: the decibel

Okay, here are your questions. Take your time; answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’. (a) Are decibels used to measure sound power? (b) Are decibels used to measure sound pressure level? (c) Are decibels used to... 

Children playing with knives

In 2004, Harry M decided that Willy and I should go to Hannover, to attend the Hannover fair, a huge exhibition of electrical goods and other products. We were to find some information for Harry.... 

Pushing back the night

Some of you will know that, for a very long time, the richest person in the world, ever, was John Rockefeller. Not all will know why. The reason is that he was in the oil business. Rockefeller... 

The return of the Hindenburg

One of the most compelling sound recordings of all time was made by Herb Morrison in 1937. His eyewitness recording and commentary of the explosion and crash of the German passenger airship, the... 

To ensure lasting peace

By the end of 1988, I was deeply unhappy. From 1980 until 1988, I had been regularly called up to attend military camps in the South African Navy. My employers did not fully compensate me for the... 

A little night music

  A Little Night Music is a musical based on a 1955 Ingmar Bergman film, Smiles of a Summer Night. One of the songs from the musical is Send in the Clowns and its first few lines are: “Isn't it... 

Vote early, vote often

I am in a meeting in a council chamber at the City of Cape Town municipal premises. The subject of discussion is a report I wrote, which contains an analysis of whether the noise of aircraft... 

Frankly disgusted – Part 2

In last week’s instalment of this column, I wrote about the proposal to construct a wind farm consisting of 45 large wind turbines. The wind farm is to be located at the beautiful area of... 

Frankly disgusted

Barbara Creecy is Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister. One of the main functions of her department is to deal with environmental-impact assessments (EIAs). These are required when some... 

The balloon rises

My friend, Vladimir Kilmik, lives in Minsk and visits occasionally. He tells me that Russia can squeeze the economy of all the European Union (EU) as much as IT want, just by throttling the supply... 

Our hospitals

One of our unqualified journalists recently wrote about Charlotte Maxeke Hospital that it had been built during apartheid and that, at the time, there were no regulations regarding the construction... 

The crooks at Eskom

I don’t think South Africans are keener on theft than any other nation. Anybody who has seen the film Goodfellas may remember the line (from Henry Hill): “By the time I grew up, there was... 

Speech transmission intelligibility

It’s almost a given. At any function, on any TV broadcast, we will hear somebody speak. More likely than not, the speech will come across with an echo, which will make it hard to understand. Not... 

The usual suspects

In the film Casablanca, the resistance suspects are at an airport, trying to escape by aircraft. German soldiers are there. Rick, the anti-hero (Humphrey Bogart) shoots dead the German officer,... 

Hospital engineering

At about midnight, 35 years ago, in 1986, I travelled in my car down Athol avenue towards Glenhove road. Things changed and, when I became conscious, I was in the wreck of my car. I was badly... 

South Africa’s power system

There are a few people who the media will call up to give an opinion on the South African power system. These persons are always referred to as energy experts, as in “according to energy expert... 

Power system stability

Recently I was asked what I meant when I said that the proposed Karpowership generation at Saldanha Bay would make the power system unstable. For those who don’t know, there is a consortium that... 

Mackenzie-Hoy’s exploits

No, no, not me. Benito Mussolini, who died in 1945, was an Italian political leader who became a dictator of Italy from 1925 to 1945. On June 11, 1940, he declared war on Britain and France and, as... 

A brand-new theory

When I was young, I worked on the gold mines. On many occasions, I worked in a chamber underground on 18 Level – which is 1 800 m below ground. Underground it was hot and humid. Very hot. The...