I am going to miss the amazing videos from Commander Chris Hadfield, the Canadian astronaut who streamed his odd missives from the International Space Station with an earthiness that was both hilarious and informative. Many of his videos are practical demonstrations about the reality of our physical bodies meeting a gravity-free environment like space. Watching these videos will change your perspective of gravity. Hadfield's experiments create a visceral understanding of the fact that everything we do from moving to eating and everything we experience around us is in a complex dance with gravity. Our very existence depends on gravity. What better way to show it than to wring out a wash cloth in space? Hadfield demonstrates crying in space: Chris carries out student experiment by wringing out a wash cloth in space then waxes philosphical: Chris talks about "space vision" and testing eyeballs in space: Hadfield talks to William Shatner AKA Captain James T. Kirk: … [Read more...] about Space Craziness with Astronaut Chris Hadfield
Simulation Theory: Is God a Computer Programmer?
Computers and the Internet have changed the way we conceive of the universe. Complex systems, algorithms, programming, pixels, data-mining, viral propagation and virtual realities are new additions to the vocabulary of modern thought. These concepts have migrated to books, films and TV and to the single most powerful way we create models of our universe, scientific hypothesis. Welcome to The Simulation Theory, because without computers, this theory couldn't exist. If you've seen The Matrix, you already know a lot about this theory. Neo is trapped in an extremely compelling artificial reality. He wakes up in the real world which is nowhere near as seductive or addictive as the illusory Matrix. The theory was first proposed by the futurist Hans Moravec (Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University) and was elaborated on in a paper by Professor Nick Bostrom (Oxford University) who theorized we could all be living in a simulation. But Bostrom doesn't stop there. He goes on to say it is likely we are already in a simulation being run by a “post human” … [Read more...] about Simulation Theory: Is God a Computer Programmer?
A Million Robot Army
"Whatever distinctly human qualities war calls upon—honor, courage, solidarity, cruelty, and so forth—it might be useful to stop thinking of war in exclusively human terms. After all, certain species of ants wage war and computers can simulate "wars" that play themselves out on-screen without any human involvement. More generally, then, we should define war as a self-replicating pattern of activity that may or may not require human participation— Barbara Ehrenreich I was watching TV pundit/editor of Mother Jones Magazine David Korn commenting on Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld's botched Iraq war when he said, "...it's almost like saying if we had an army of a million giant flying robots things would have turned out better. It's denying reality... it's all a giant experiment for them..." Those two ideas struck me; irresponsible, inexperienced leadership and a million robot army. A scary proposition, fast becoming a very real possibility. DARPA is slowly crafting robots around the art of war. What is DARPA? The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency . DARPA funds an … [Read more...] about A Million Robot Army
Giant Squid: The Kraken Revealed
Below the thunders of the upper deep; Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea, His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee About his shadowy sides: above him swell Huge sponges of millennial growth and height; And far away into the sickly light, From many a wondrous grot and secret cell Unnumbered and enormous polypi Winnow with giant arms the slumbering green. There hath he lain for ages and will lie Battening upon huge sea-worms in his sleep, Until the latter fire shall heat the deep; Then once by man and angels to be seen, In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die. — Alfred Lord Tennyson Remember those spooky artists renderings of sperm whales battling Giant Squids? Or the 19th century illustrations of boats being pulled down into the depths by tentacled arms? Well, it turns out, those stories were true. A crew of Scientists, funded by Discovery Channel and Japan's NHK TV, just filmed a bus sized Giant Squid in its natural habitat for the first time. As a writer, this intersection of mythology and … [Read more...] about Giant Squid: The Kraken Revealed