Majel Barrett Roddenberry has trekked her last star. Condolences to friends and family.
Category Archives: Technology and Society
105 Years
Top Ten Technology Predictions
Lousy ones, that is. I think we may be able to add this one to the list:
The Crew Exploration Vehicle, the associated Crew Launch Vehicle, and later the Heavy Lift Vehicle, will be the 21st century space equivalent of our interstate highways. This is the core infrastructure that will enable us to travel from the surface of the Earth to the Moon, Mars, and the near-Earth asteroids.
This kind of space travel is utter bilge.
[Via Geek Press]
A Potential Cancer Breakthrough
Have they figured out how to shut down metastasis? Let’s hope.
The Director’s Cut
When I wrote The Path Not Taken, over four years ago, for The New Atlantis, the original draft had to be cut to meet page-count requirements on the dead-tree edition (and it was also edited somewhat for style and content). I’ve decided to put the original, unedited draft on line for those interested, because it made some points that ended up on the cutting-room floor in the published piece, particularly regarding vehicle reliability.
It’s an even longer read now than the published one, but enjoy. Or not.
Remembering Arthur Kantrowitz
Some thoughts from Eric Drexler. I only met him a couple times, but he was an impressive man.
Life In The Twenty-First Century
Goodie. On Star has been working with law enforcement agencies to develop a system to slow cars down to five MPH in the event they’re stolen.
Gee, there’s no possible way for that kind of capability to be abused by law enforcement authorities.
A Misdiagnosis
I’m not sure what to say about this, except that I think that lack of time doesn’t adequately explain his inability to find a real woman.
Hornet Down?
I’m hearing that an FA-18 crashed into a neighborhood in San Diego, near Miramar (the former location of the Navy’s “Top Gun” school), with an ejected pilot. If so, that’s very unusual. Pilots usually do what they can to make sure that the plane doesn’t hurt anyone on the ground before ejecting (if they eject).
[Update a few minutes later]
For those without access to radio/television, here’s a live thread tracking it over at Free Republic. It doesn’t sound good–several houses are reported to be burning. Let’s hope that no one was home.
D’oh!
Here’s one for the nutty judges file. Depicted s3x with Simpsons characters is deemed child pr0n. I’m pretty sure that this wouldn’t stand up to a SCOTUS challenge, but it happened Down Under.