New U.S. Navy Superweapon

There was a news report today that the United States Navy has been testing a new weapon. To anyone who has played any number of shooter-style videogames or a science fiction buff, the idea of a railgun is familiar, but this sci-fi weapon is becoming a reality for the U.S. military. The railgun uses electricity rather than gunpowder to hurl a projectile over 200 nautical miles at supersonic speeds (approx. 3,700 mph or mach 5), and the gun sucks a wopping 10 megajoules for power. One of the many benefits of such a gun is that it will no longer be necessary to store huge amounts of gunpowder on board the equipped vessels, thereby eliminating the threat of an explosion on board the ship. It is always fascinating to me how technology of someone’s imagination often becomes a reality.

Arizona Eric

This is my first blog. Well, I should specify, I have blogged before on myspace, but that is largely reserved for silly things. My first blog is about my choice for my blog name: Arizona Eric.  When I moved to Arizona to study archaeology at the University of Arizona, my father said that I was going to be like Indiana Jones. Now of course, I couldn’t steal the same name. Besides, I do not have a dog named Indiana (supposedly this is where George Lucas got the idea), nor have I ever been to the state.  Arizona was much more suitable, and my name is not Jones.  So Arizona Eric it was, and for the first year of my residence in Arizona, my weekly phone-calls would begin with my dad asking, “How is Arizona Eric?”