September 15, 2023
A story must be more than merely a story. It must be an examination, of the human heart, of the mind, of the spirit. Of experience and existence. A simple recapitulation of one’s personal past or the delusional suffering of a dysfunctional suburban American family have no merit. Overcoming the reality we believe we live in, debunking fiction and elevating the truth, that is worthwhile.
August 12, 2022
Our search for alien life is getting serious. With better telescopes and a growing scientific consensus that we’re probably not alone in the universe, we’re beginning to look farther and wider across the vastness of space for evidence of extraterrestrials.
But it’s possible we’re looking for too few signs in too few places. Having evolved on Earth, surrounded by Earth life, we assume alien life would look and behave like terrestrial life.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/alien-hunters-need-to-start-rethinking-the-definition-of-life?
I agree that we are biased, simply based on the basics of what we understand as (carbon-based) life (i.e., ourselves).
And I agree — in principle — that scientists need to keep an open mind when looking for other life forms on exoplanets.
However, they also need to retain a sense of skepticism.
Continue Reading
February 1, 2021
OK, hands up who thinks this is a really super dumb and risky idea but isn’t terribly surprised by the super dumb and risky things Musk continually blurts out? 🤷♂️
October 25, 2019
Future moon settlers might benefit from oxygen extraction from lunar regolith as it can be used to create breathable air as well as a source for fuel. In addition, the newly found extraction method might also be useful for Mars colonization.
Regolith covers the Moon and Mars (and presumably many other potentially habitable rocky bodies).
Of course, the composition of regolith on the Moon differs from that of Mars.
But if the new method can extract sufficient quantities of both oxygen and hydrogen, there should be ample amounts for both human usage and rocket fuel.
(Yawn.) “Dry” science? Sure. But think of the (fictional) possibilities!
October 16, 2019
Youtuber smallstars has proposed a concept that he calls the Gravity Link Starship (GLS), a variation of SpaceX’s Starshipthat will be able to provide its own artificial gravity.
Hm, I guess we’re at the point where YouTubers have better ideas than NASA…
But who pays for this? is the several billion dollar question. Not just the construction of the “hub and truss” system, but the expense of getting it into space in the first place.
Seems like science fiction at this point. But still worth a read/look:
www.universetoday.com/143368/real-artificial-gravity-for-spacexs-starship/
January 23, 2019
He described the concept as a “stainless-steel sandwich” that can “bleed water…fuel” through tiny holes on its surface to keep it cool as it enters the Martian atmosphere at breakneck speeds.
Not sure, but I don’t think there are a lot of people who want to travel to Mars inside a sandwich…
www.inverse.com/article/52605-starship-spacex-elon-musk-stainless-steel
March 25, 2018
It’s been a few days now since the “big reveal” that a social science researcher sold information from 50,000,000 Facebook users to a third party company (which used said info for various campaign purposes, but that’s another topic for another blog….).
Somehow, we all managed to be surprised by this. What about our right to privacy? How dare our personal information be used without our permission!
How did we all get so naïve about technology and its control over us?
March 16, 2015
I like stats. There. I said it. I’m a stats geek.
This past Sunday, I was invited to give a presentation/workshop in Kyoto called “Basic Statistics for Language Teachers.” That’s what I do: educational statistics. Writing about statistics is usually not as interesting as writing fiction. I think that probably goes without saying.
But actually, the history of sports, and of baseball in particular, is exactly that: writing about statistics. Continue Reading
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