I haven't posted in a while. Life has been good to me. I'm happily married, expecting a daughter in a couple of months, and I have a job I enjoy. What more could a man want?
Lately I've been watching as news stories come out that boggle my mind. Using table salt to quintuple the amount of storage space on a disk drive, 3D printers, tanks that make themselves invisible, and discovery of faster-than-light particle speeds. Data is getting more compact, we are in the early stages of digital replication technology, (don't even get me started on the cloaking fields), and evidence that we might make a journey to the stars faster than we imagined. Gene Roddenberry has to be smiling in his grave.
I've thought a lot about science fiction inventions that have come true. I wonder what a protein re-sequencer might entail. Using RNA and other enzymes to "grow" food or drinks such as coffee, etc. The trick of course would be speeding up the process. Already our 3d plastic printers allow someone to send a digital rendering of a shape and create a plastic rendering of that object. There is even an open source one that makes the majority of it's own components. Next we will have to have one that shapes metals. Though it won't be forged steel, (At least for a while), it can technically be done. An encouraging thought. Imagine printing out a motherboard... or maybe one day a silicon processor... perhaps an entire functioning computer.
These notwithstanding, everyone from George Lucas to Joss Whedon can agree that there is one thing we all would love to see someday... Hyperspace Engines.
In 2006 New Science magazine printed an article on the possibility. With recent developments in the LHC, I wonder how much closer such a design can be. Surely combining the velocity of particles to produce an even faster velocity has infinite implications.
I always hoped one day I might watch with my daughter as man becomes a two-planet species. I hope she can someday watch us go even further...
Monday, October 17, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Rome is Sinking
Today's fact: A mere 400 of America's wealthy now have more money than the
other 50% of America in total.
I'm not a political person. I'm really not. I don't even claim any party, and dislike the idea of 'parties' altogether. But some things that happen in politics are worth standing up and voicing one's anger about.
Two hundred and fifty years ago, Americans decided they'd had enough of the politics of Britain, and a revolution occurred. Two years ago, I'd have said that would be impossible for America today. But in the last few months, I've seen some things that make me question how this nation functions.
Teachers in this state have among the nations lowest wages, and I see why so many want to live elsewhere. The ignorance and belligerence that comes from parents, students, and co-workers makes it impossible to live. When a student has an issue with a teacher, even a violent or abusive confrontation, they are often ignored, and the teacher defended. Any other teacher who stands up for the student is pushed aside. If that teacher mentions they want their union rep with them, they are looked upon with disdain and loathing.
And now, across the nation, even that right is being taken away.
For over a decade, I've tried to finish school and do the right thing, become a teacher. I've found myself blocked at every turn. Now, twelve years after making that decision, as I start to see the light at the end of the tunnel, It doesn't look so bright. Maybe it's the local sun, but I see everything I once thought as what I wanted to do with my life coming under attack. It's feels like seeing everything I've ever known as good and lush and green deforested to a desert wasteland.
I stop to tell myself, it's not so bad. I've got a job I love, family nearby, and a wife who loves me. But every day she comes home I see how unhappy she is. And I am powerless to stop the heartache.
When a ship is taking on water, you have two choices. You can try to fix the problem if you think it's possible, else try to jump ship. Lately, I've been watching the decisions of this nation as if I were a lowly rat on that ship and wincing. And as a student of History, I recognize that the America is following the patterns of past nations before they begin their decline into either oblivion or revolution; before "their ships sank", so to speak. And if you're a Roman citizen when Rome is sinking, you'd better hope there is a plan to respond, or else flee the city, and maybe pray to find a man with an ark.
...I wonder if Rome tried that last part when the Gauls invaded?
other 50% of America in total.
I'm not a political person. I'm really not. I don't even claim any party, and dislike the idea of 'parties' altogether. But some things that happen in politics are worth standing up and voicing one's anger about.
Two hundred and fifty years ago, Americans decided they'd had enough of the politics of Britain, and a revolution occurred. Two years ago, I'd have said that would be impossible for America today. But in the last few months, I've seen some things that make me question how this nation functions.
Teachers in this state have among the nations lowest wages, and I see why so many want to live elsewhere. The ignorance and belligerence that comes from parents, students, and co-workers makes it impossible to live. When a student has an issue with a teacher, even a violent or abusive confrontation, they are often ignored, and the teacher defended. Any other teacher who stands up for the student is pushed aside. If that teacher mentions they want their union rep with them, they are looked upon with disdain and loathing.
And now, across the nation, even that right is being taken away.
For over a decade, I've tried to finish school and do the right thing, become a teacher. I've found myself blocked at every turn. Now, twelve years after making that decision, as I start to see the light at the end of the tunnel, It doesn't look so bright. Maybe it's the local sun, but I see everything I once thought as what I wanted to do with my life coming under attack. It's feels like seeing everything I've ever known as good and lush and green deforested to a desert wasteland.
I stop to tell myself, it's not so bad. I've got a job I love, family nearby, and a wife who loves me. But every day she comes home I see how unhappy she is. And I am powerless to stop the heartache.
When a ship is taking on water, you have two choices. You can try to fix the problem if you think it's possible, else try to jump ship. Lately, I've been watching the decisions of this nation as if I were a lowly rat on that ship and wincing. And as a student of History, I recognize that the America is following the patterns of past nations before they begin their decline into either oblivion or revolution; before "their ships sank", so to speak. And if you're a Roman citizen when Rome is sinking, you'd better hope there is a plan to respond, or else flee the city, and maybe pray to find a man with an ark.
...I wonder if Rome tried that last part when the Gauls invaded?
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