What would the world be, once bereft of wet and wildness?
Let them be left, O let them be left, wildness and wet;
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.
Gerard Manley Hopkins
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
who will watch the watchers
If the increasing reports of police brutality in America bother you, you may be interested in Copwatchers, a collection of YouTube videos of "police abusing their powers for all to see."
A recent mathematical discovery by scientists is being hailed as "one of the most important developments in the history of science." The conclusion? Parallel universes just may exist. An illustration of what this means:
In Everett's "many worlds" universe, every time a new physical possibility is explored, the universe splits. Given a number of possible alternative outcomes, each one is played out - in its own universe.
A motorist who has a near miss, for instance, might feel relieved at his lucky escape. But in a parallel universe, another version of the same driver will have been killed. Yet another universe will see the motorist recover after treatment in hospital. The number of alternative scenarios is endless.
It is a bizarre idea which has been dismissed as fanciful by many experts. But the new research from Oxford shows that it offers a mathematical answer to quantum conundrums that cannot be dismissed lightly - and suggests that Dr Everett, who was a Phd student at Princeton University when he came up with the theory, was on the right track.
The only really workable answer to the question of why the universe was created:
In answer to the question of why it happened, I offer the modest proposal that our Universe is simply one of those things which happen from time to time.
-- Edward P. Tryon
Photon Propulsion Breakthrough Could Cut Mars Transit From Six Months to a Week
TUSTIN, Calif., Sept. 6 [PRNewswire] -- The aerospace industry has taken notice of a California researcher who, using off-the-shelf components, built and successfully demonstrated the world's first successful amplified photon thruster. Dr. Young Bae of the Bae Institute first demonstrated his Photonic Laser Thruster (PLT) with an amplification factor of 3,000 in December, 2006.
Major aerospace agencies and primary contractors have since invited Bae to present his work, including NASA JPL, DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency), and AFRL (Air Force Research Laboratory). Senior Aerospace Engineer at AFRL, Dr. Franklin Mead, "Dr. Bae's PLT demonstration and measurement of photon thrust (is) pretty incredible. I don't think anyone has done this before. It has generated a lot of interest."
Recently, the Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, a peer-reviewed AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) (http://www.aiaa.org) Journal, accepted Dr. Bae's PLT demonstration paper, "Photonic Laser Propulsion: Proof-of-Concept Demonstration" for publication this year. In his paper Bae documents in explicit detail how he overcame the inherent inefficiencies of traditional photon thrusters in generating thrust by amplification with the use of an innovative optical cavity concept. For decades rocket scientists have tried to overcome the inefficiency of photon thrusters by amplification based on optical cavities separated from laser sources, but failed. In contrast, Bae's patent-pending PLT breakthrough places the laser medium within a resonant optical cavity between two platforms to produce a very stable and reliable thrust that is unaffected by mirror movement and vibration -- ideal for spacecraft control or propulsion.
Dr. Bae will be presenting his PLT concepts, demonstration, and applications at the AIAA Space 2007 Conference 18-19 September 2007 in Long Beach, CA, in four sessions: Space Transportation Systems, Promising Space Concepts from the NASA Institute of Advanced Concepts (NIAC), Space Systems for the Next 50 Years, and Advanced Vehicle Systems.
The PLT research was partially funded by NIAC (NASA Institute of Advanced Concepts) as part of a spacecraft formation flight concept grant.
Bae's PLT demonstration produced a photon thrust of 35 uN, which is sufficient for several space missions currently envisioned, and is scalable to achieve much greater photon thrust for future space missions. Applications for PLT include: highly precise satellite formation flying configurations for building large synthetic apertures in space for earth or space observation, precision contaminant-free spacecraft docking operations, and propelling spacecraft to unprecedented speeds greater than 100 km/sec.
Bae, looking forward with anticipation, observes, "This is the tip of the iceberg. PLT has immense potential for the aerospace industry. For example, PLT powered spacecraft could transit the 100 million km to Mars in less than a week." Several aerospace players have expressed intent to collaborate with the Bae Institute to further develop and integrate PLT into civilian, military, and commercial space systems.
The New York Times has decided to open up its online archives to the public. The Times will make available its archives from 1987 to the present without charge, as well as those from 1851 to 1922, which are in the public domain. There will be charges for some material from the period 1923 to 1986 (who knows why) and some will be free.
Sean Penn is making a movie of John Krakauer's book Into the Wild, a haunting account of a young man's idealistic, inspired retreat from society into the wilds of Alaska in 1992. I'm looking forward to the film very much, as I too read Krakauer's book twice, making a rather frightening connection with Alexander Supertramp as I found my own love of nature. I know several people who had the same experience.
My only hope is that the film conveys something of what it feels like to need the outdoors, the very real emotional condition that can only be settled by staggering beauty and original experience. Christopher McCandless wasn't a freak or a recluse. Yes, he went further out there than most of us, but people do the same thing on their own terms every day.
Let me first attempt to dispel the myth that you owe me a beer. A lot of people have said that the next time we meet, you should buy me a beer. Others have said that you should send me a six-pack of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale every month. But these rumors are really false.
A Bosnian couple are getting divorced after finding out they had been secretly chatting each other up online under fake names.
Sana Klaric, 27, and husband Adnan, 32, from Zenica, poured out their hearts to each other over their marriage troubles, and both felt they had found their real soul mate.
The couple met on an online chat forum while he was at work and she in an internet cafe, and started chatting under the names 'Sweetie' and 'Prince of Joy.'
They eventually decided to meet up - but there was no happy ending when they realised what had happened.
Just in case you were wondering (and I know youe were) what sorts of objects humankind has left on the moon, a handy list has been provided. Use it well, good people.
Of course, so do comments made by Bush when he was still governor of Texas: "Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is."
Tom Robbins, one of my favorite authors as a youth, is now writing excellent travel pieces for British publications. He's toned his writing style down a bit, probably much to the relief of his editors, but he's still got a lot of pluck. In fact, this article made me want to plan a roadtrip through Namibia.
Bush supporters say Mukasey, who was chief judge of the high-profile courthouse in Manhattan for six years, has impeccable credentials, is a strong, law-and-order jurist, especially on national security issues, and will restore confidence in the Justice Department.
This little game is very addictive. You implement technological advancements, which in turn affect how the "society" on the island develops. The goal is to maximize each technology to its fullest potential. It seems simplistic but it ain't.
If like me you've sometimes had trouble understanding Zippy the Pinhead comics yet you feel like there's some valuable thing/element/zoological paradigm you're missing, Zippy himself presents a quick 6-part crash course in Understanding Zippy.
I would have been a lot cooler in school if my parents had tricked out my bedroom like this. Every healthy child needs a fire pole to slide down in order to do his or her homework. Found in this uber-cool set of swingin' pads on flickr.
Oh man am I sore. Yesterday I competed in the Coosa River Challenge, a sort of very quasi-triathalon in the beautiful Coosa River environs. The race consisted of a three mile run, 9 miles of mountain biking, then a 7 mile kayak ride. There were also .5 to .8 transition runs from place to place, including a few "challenges" thrown in to make things interesting, like archery contests, trivia stations and mud pits. We also had to scale a cliff and then rappel down it, which I had never done before.
They haven't posted the times yet but I think it took me around 4 1/2 hours to complete. At the end we had to climb up and leap 20-25 feet off of a big concrete structure into the river, with prizes awarded for style and creativity. I gave my best aaiieeeeeeeeee but by that time I was busted and worn out. It was a great day, though. It was very hard but well organized and everyone had fun. Needless to say, I'm nursing a rather severe sunburn and sore quads today. I love it.
This is pretty cool. Wired has a review of a new program called ShrinkMyTunes, which they liked and should become popular quickly. For $40.00, this program reduces the size of your MP3, MP3pro and WAV files to almost a quarter of their original size, with minimal loss of sound quality. Audiophiles may cringe, but most of us who just want a lot of music on our new iPods will rejoice. You can buy the program here.
The Virgin Birth and Virgin Mary are, pardon the pun, pregnant with social symbolic significance in most, if not all, parts of the world. Whether you believe in them or not, they are solid social constructs, rehearsed endlessly in art, humour, everyday life, and language. And yet their birth is due to a relatively simple mistake in translation. The Old Testament talks about almah 'young woman,' not bethulah 'virgin.' However, the scholars in the 3rd century BC translated the Hebrew almah as parthenos in Greek. Thus the 'young woman' in Hebrew metamorphosed into a 'virgin' in Greek—and she has remained a virgin ever since in translations across the world. The notion of 'virgin birth' was born, thanks to a mistranslation.
"The job of the president is to think strategically so that you can accomplish big objectives. As opposed to playing mini-ball. You can't play mini-ball with the influence we have and expect there to be peace. You've gotta think, think BIG.
"The Iranian issue is the strategic threat right now facing a generation of Americans, because Iran is promoting an extreme form of religion that is competing with another extreme form of religion. Iran's a destabilizing force. And instability in that part of the world has deeply adverse consequences, like energy falling in the hands of extremist people that would use it to blackmail the West. And to couple all of that with a nuclear weapon, then you've got a dangerous situation. ...
"That's what I mean by strategic thought. I don't know how you learn that. I don't think there's a moment where that happened to me. I really don't. I know you're searching for it. I know it's difficult. I do know — y'know, how do you decide, how do you learn to decide things? When you make up your mind, and you stick by it — I don't know that there's a moment, Robert. I really — You either know how to do it or you don't."
-- George Bush, from the book Dead Certain by Robert Draper.
I realize that I have a great bias when it comes to reading, but I cannot understand how so many people can go a whole year without reading a book. There's not one book out there that strikes yer fancy? Not one? In the entire panoply of literature, there's not a single story or history or biography that you've been a little curious about and wanted to know more?
Jesus H. Christ. People, reading good books helps stem the tide of idiocy which daily washes over the world. Go learn something deep and meaningful and articulate. Please.
--> steps off of quasi-soapbox <--
If you need some assistance in developing your new reading habit, try Daily Lit, a service that sends you chapters of books regularly by email so you can read a little at a time. It'll probably be the best email you ever read.
Lately I've been feeling sort of like the fellow at left, and that will not do. You'll notice the little widget in the sidebar showing my new running schedule, which I hope to increase over the next few months. Yes, I'm very slow and out of shape right now. However, I have been inspired by a friend's recent achievements and have committed myself to getting my ass back in gear. The Coosa River Challenge and 12 Hours of Dauset should help get me going in September. Onward and upward, folks.
Some people can juggle three tennis balls for minutes on end without dropping them. Most people can’t. Some people can whistle a happy tune beautifully, but most people can’t. It is obvious, is it not, that whether you can juggle or whistle has nothing at all to do with whether you are a good, honest, loving person. If only it were equally obvious that those who can manage the intellectual gymnastics required to keep alive a conviction that God exists in the face of all the grounds for doubting it have no moral superiority at all over those who find this proposition frankly incredible! In fact, there is good reason to believe that the varieties of self-admonition and self-blinding that people have to indulge in to gird their creedal loins may actually cost them something substantial in the moral agency department: a debilitating willingness to profess solemnly in the utter absence of conviction, a well-entrenched habit of deflecting their attention from evidence that is crying out for consideration, and plenty of experience biting their tongues and saying nothing when others around them make assumptions that they know in their hearts to be false.
