"It is a fact today that one in ten thousand of us can make a technological breakthrough capable of supporting all the rest." - Buckminster Fuller, 1970 Two disclosures. First, I'm an egotist. I've worked really hard to get where I am and that has helped me, but my character is a proud one and I feel like I matter in the sense that my actions have far-reaching consequences, good or bad. I like to think I am a growing influence in the world of engineering, in Kansas City, and in the world. Second, my first engineering job after grad school was laying...
Wednesday, 29 August 2012
Monday, 27 August 2012
I'll just put this right here...I'd bet good money that this article is never mentioned by Andrew Sullivan.Wow, Sully took the bait:I remain of the view that this is best decided by the human being whose body is being permanently mutilated - before he becomes sexually active. But the religious and cultural traditions are too deep to be banned in a free society.I remain, as ever, completely fine with my parents decision to permanently mutilate m...
Thursday, 16 August 2012
NASA is asking the public to weigh in on their strategic vision and budget! AW YISS.My opinion of NASA's "strategic vision" and budget here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.Me saying nice things about NASA here, here and here.(Disclosure: I ranted against the Mars Science Laboratory here. My opinion on that has evolved.)TL;DR: NASA should:1. Pay theoretical physicists to exhaustively prove faster-than-light travel is impossible. Conversely, if a feasible method of FTL travel is hypothesized, aggressively research...
Wednesday, 8 August 2012
It's 5:58 AM. I am standing in my front yard, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, with my 4 month old puppy on a leash in front of me. Seconds ago, she was oscillating in front of the door, waiting for me to let her out.When we first get up in the morning, the combination of a good night's rest and a full bladder turned Niki into a 20 pound helicopter, spinning and gyrating so wildly that at times all four of her feet simultaneously leave the ground.Our...
Monday, 6 August 2012
Human ingenuity, realized: This is one of the first images taken by NASA's Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars the evening of Aug. 5 PDT (morning of Aug. 6 EDT). It was taken through a "fisheye" wide-angle lens on the left "eye" of a stereo pair of Hazard-Avoidance cameras on the left-rear side of the rover. The image is one-half of full resolution. The clear dust cover that protected the camera during landing has been sprung open. Part of the...
Friday, 3 August 2012
As of writing this, Facebook's share price is hovering around $20, about half of what it cost at the IPO. The problem many investors are having (explaining the subsequent drop in share price) is that Facebook's ability to generate revenue is questionable, and as their userbase plateaus in some areas...and is found to be fake in others...doubts arise about their value as a company.This morning I got a text from a mystery number. Clearly the person knew me, and was aware of the goings-on of my Facebook profile because the text referenced something...
By this time Monday, one of the most important events in space exploration will have occurred. Whether you are cognizant of it or not, the Mars Science Laboratory has been trekking through the empty blackness of space since this past November. What is the Mars Science Laboratory? Why, here's a fantastic video about it (just watch the first two minutes):This is obviously a complicated procedure. Because Mars' atmosphere is thin, simple parachute landing won't work. Because the Curiosity Rover is so heavy, it can't do the balloon landing like the...
Thursday, 2 August 2012
There's something in the face of an old dog, isn't there? An old wizened expression, as though the 10-20 years of its life were filled with experiences long to tell.But when we look at an old dog's face, we see the imminence of mortality looking back at us. Our own death, premature or a long ways off yet, stares right back at us through the hazy, cataract-filled eyes of an old dog.Our evolutionary process and that of dogs became intertwined tens...
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