Iron Man 3: Extremis and Ray Baughman's Carbon Nanotubes

By now the general consensus is that the third Iron Man movie, due out May 2013 (is it too early to camp out for the midnight showing?) will cover, in some form, the Extremis storyline from the Iron Man comic book circa 2005. What was Extremis? Carbon nanotubes. An injection of special carbon nanotubes "rewrote" the brain's internal map of the human body. The person injected then went into a coma, formed a cocoon of scar tissue, and emerged 2 or...

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Media Bias

While the media slobbers violently all over the Patraeus/Allen scandal, here's three questions to take into your Wednesday:1) Why were the names Paula Broadwell and Jill Kelley ever made public in the first place? These women are not guilty of a crime. The Grand Jury system exists (partially) to protect the anonymity of those loosely involved with a potential crime but should they be cleared of wrong-doing, their anonymity is supposed to remain intact. There are media vans parked 24/7 outside Paula Broadwell's house for no reason whatsoever.2)...

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Young Idealism Is Not Misguided, Ctd 2

I have to ask it: what would Robin Hanson tell a 25-year-old kid, who "had a vague inkling about how to make a difference but didn't know how to do it." Would he have empowered that young man to achieve every inch of his possibility, to embrace every chance for greatness, to throw his energy and intelligence at idealist causes?If that 25-year-old came into Hanson's office and said "I want to 'attach myself' to causes like helping kids get an education and helping people who are living in poverty to get decent jobs and work. I want to make sure...

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"World's Most Advanced"

First, watch this video. It's only 3 minutes long. Back? Okay let's get started.First, that thing looks awesome. Independently articulating fingers, carbon fiber shell, neat whirring noise as it articulates, battery integrated into design and not externally worn...everything about it looks sweet. Even the carbon black color gives it an almost sinister, technological appearance.But.I watched that video and waited for the magic moment when I'd be impressed....

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Young Idealism Is Not Misguided, Ctd

"You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are all part of the same compost pile." -Chuck PalahnuikHanson gratiously responds. And now that I know he is listening I just want to say I find him an incredible person and am a devoted and long-time reader. His article on Unfriendly AI led me to read Singularity Rising, which I enjoyed. Nevertheless (and probably because I am a fan and subsequently hold him to a high standard), I stand by what I wrote regarding his post. I appreciate...

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