Operation: Food and Light

Stinkin' Up The News - Thursday Edition

Here are a few news tidbits about the shield-shaped invaders, gathered from various sources.

Students go buggy at the school play:

http://articles.glendalenewspress.com/2012-04-06/news/tn-gnp-0407-bugz-invade-keppel-school-in-glendale_1_stink-bug-federal-grant-arts-magnet

An Ashburn, Va., resident speaks out against cutting programs that include stink bug education:

http://www.leesburg2day.com/opinion/letters/article_463e4798-8259-11e1-8a83-001a4bcf887a.html

The brown marmorated stink bug’s pest partner in crime, the kudzu bug, terrorizes Georgia:

http://www.neighbornewspapers.com/stories/Kudzu-bugs-leaving-Paulding-in-a-stink,183295?content_source=&category_id=6&search_filter=&event_mode=&event_ts_from=&list_type=&order_by=&order_sort=&content_class=&sub_type=&town_id=&page

Stinkin’ Up The News – Wednesday Edition

Here are a few news bits about the shield-shaped invaders, gathered from various news sources.

The warm weather is bringing out the critters:

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-03-27/news/31246312_1_stink-bugs-halyomorpha-insects

For another take on the weather, record heat means beaucoup bugs:

http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-03-27/news/31242915_1_brown-marmorated-stink-bug-halyomorpha-bean-and-soybean

Spring is really bugging New Yorkers:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/22/us/early-spring-brings-flowers-but-also-pollen-and-pests.html

Stink bugs are on the march to the Deep South:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/stink-bugs-migrating-to-the-deep-south/2012/03/15/gIQA2noTHS_story.html

And they’re rearing their ugly heads in Maryland:

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=41&sid=2815925

Allentown and The Great Hitchhiker

When we talk about stink bugs, we often speak of them as an invasive species.  Outside, they decimate whatever agriculture they can nibble on, causing millions in crop damage and drawing the ire of farmers.  Inside, they make themselves a nuisance to homeowners with their haphazard, clumsy flight and noxious odor.  Yes, it’s easy to feel invaded.  But stink bugs may view themselves more like biological tourists – they must have really liked the song “Allentown” by Billy Joel, because they felt they needed to stow away aboard a cargo container from Asia in the late 1990’s and see this mystical Pennsylvania town for themselves.  Watch the stink bugs’ American adventure unfold in our newest video: The Great Hitchhiker.

All joking aside, stink bugs have spread quickly to 36 states in the last few years. They’ve taken a shine to the warmer climates, and are rapidly expanding throughout the southeastern United States.  It’s there that farmers grow tons of tasty snacks that are perfect for stink bugs – soybeans, for one.  Stink bugs will also be happy to take up residence in the Midwest’s Corn Belt, since corn is a choice morsel for stink bugs.

Our main concern is homeowners: people driven absolutely batty by the smelly, shield-shaped invaders.  Whether they’re flying into your hair, crawling on your toddler or dive-bombing you while you sleep, we want to help.  Feel free to email us or interact with us on Twitter.

Stink Bugs and Billy Joel

What's the connection between stink bugs and Billy Joel? Watch our newest video to find out!

 

Tesla vs. Edison: An nth Solutions Cage Match

n^th Solutions combines a whole lot of research and innovation, a dash of logistics and a smidgen mad scientist. But with eyes firmly fixed on the future, we tip our hat to the past. And two names provide constant fuel for debate: Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. 

For a quick introduction to the two pioneers, please see these articles. But who would win in a cage match? We polled some of the staff, and here are their responses:

Scott: What? It’s a toss-up.

Bob A.: You’ve got two opposite geniuses. On a physical level, Edison was kind of a wiry guy, and Tesla… well, a lot of people don’t know about him as much. I’d be glad to meet either one of them.
 

Ernie: Tesla, because Edison had to hire him.
 

Laura: Tesla. In a heartbeat. Because he’s better looking, and looks like a boxer. (She had to take a minute to look at the two pictures and decide.) 

Eric: For business, Edison. Technology? Tesla. Tesla was a flat-out genius. And when it comes to integrity, Tesla. In terms of business and self-promotion? Edison. 

A.J.: My uneducated decision would be that the fight would be unbelievably pathetic because neither of them are actually trained fighters – unless weapons are permitted in the fight, in which case I think Tesla would win with some sort of weapon that emitted a deadly amount of voltage.

Which inventor do you think would win in a cage match? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter.

Behind The Scenes at nth Solutions: The Secret Weapon

(Blogger’s note: n^th Solutions boasts a crop of resourceful, skilled personnel.  Here’s a glimpse of one of our many talented staffers.)

He sits with magnifiers perched on his head, tweezers clutched in his hand, working on minuscule electronics.  He’s quiet except for the occasional journey to the kitchen for military-grade coffee – that is, coffee that could stand without a cup.

His name is Jim, and he’s n^th’s secret weapon.

Jim grew up in rural northeastern Pennsylvania, near Stroudsburg.  A family friend who taught at MIT suggested Jim study engineering.  Off he went to Drexel University, and worked for Westinghouse in South Philadelphia as part of his co-op program.

His first brush with the military came when he was drafted in 1952, the year before he graduated.  So he signed up for the Air Force.

“I spent three whole days in the military,” he says, smiling.  He failed the physical exam due to football injuries and was discharged.  But there would be time enough for Jim’s work with the U.S. military.

After college Westinghouse offered him a job and transferred him to Kansas City, KS, where he met his wife, Julie.  Little did she know that she was in for a life of intrigue.

What was he working on? The afterburner section of the jet engine was his specialty when he was at Westinghouse.  Around the time Westinghouse was getting out of the jet engine industry, they sent him to North American Aviation in Columbus, Ohio. His project?  The F-4 Phantom.  The engineers were having problems with thermal aspects of the engine, so Jim served in an advisory role and taught the machinists.  “Have you ever gotten to ride in a Phantom?” he asks, interrupting his own story. “I have – I knew the test pilots really well, and I got to ride in the Phantom.”

Jim soon left Westinghouse for General Electric, where he became a third-level manager, and worked on more hush-hush projects.

“I used to get calls in the middle of the night,” he said. “Julie got used to it – I’d be on the phone and she’d make me coffee.  But it really bothered me that I’d have to go somewhere and I couldn’t tell her where I was…” Jim pauses, takes a breath. “I’ve worked in the missile fields in North Dakota…Montana…at Cape Canaveral…”

He worked on Minuteman 3 missiles, bio-satellites and what he blithely describes as “military stuff,” with a small chuckle.  “Remember when we were sending monkeys and men into space?  A lot of that was moving missiles around.  We were fooling people.”

But he did work on the space program, though he remains coy about his role.  “I was involved in solving problems, especially as it pertained to materials. We were behind other countries – especially the Soviet Union – in procuring and using materials in space.”

But over the years, he’s changed his mind about countries using missiles. “It didn’t bother me at first – but it bothered me toward the end,” he says.  “It scares me that we have the power to annihilate – really.  Back during the Cold War, we didn’t have much of a choice.  You had to have the power so that people wouldn’t mess with us.  Now, it’s different.  With this Iran thing, we could make it so there wouldn’t be an Iran. Do we want to do that? Do they know that we could? I hope they do.”