Category Archives: Technology and Society

Technology and Society

Making Our Own Leaves

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Here’s an interesting piece on breakthroughs in artificial photosynthesis. My biggest problem with it is that it talks about hydrogen as being “easy to store,” but it doesn’t describe in any way how this is done. Clearly, if you don’t have to carry it in a vehicle (as would be required for transport fuel) the job is a lot easier, but it’s still non trivial. If it’s simply for load leveling, you have a lot more options, but they still come down to three: hydrides, high-pressure gas, or liquid. The latter uses a lot of energy to chill it, and loses it in rewarming.

There is a picture of a notional system in a garage, but it shows a water tank, hydrogen tank, and oxygen tank, and the separated gases (or liquids?). The water tank looks like about half the volume of the separated elements. How realistic is this? What is going on? I’d expect more from an article in Technology Review.

History, Philosophy, Popular Culture, Science And Society, Space, Technology and Society

Living On Mars

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Some thoughts from Bob Zubrin, who apparently has a new book
out on the subject.

I have to say, though, that when he says:

It’s a common view that Columbus was just interested in finding a spice route to the Indies, and that was his sales pitch to the Spanish courts. But I actually believe that contrary to conventional history, Columbus was looking for unknown continents — he just couldn’t pitch it that way.

I’d be curious to know the basis for that belief, or if it’s just wishful thinking or projection. My reading of the history does not indicate that Columbus was averse to making a buck.

Economics, Political Commentary, Space, Space Science, Technology and Society

Lunar “Science”

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Rob Coppinger describes some potential scientific research that could be performed on the moon. As I note in comments over there (assuming that he approves it) he seems to be under the misapprehension that a lunar base (particularly a lunar base that will be as insanely expensive to build and support as NASA’s planned architecture would render it) can be justified on the basis of science return. It cannot.

I think that the root of the problem lies in his statement:

Back in August (how time flies!) I began to set out Hyperbola’s architecture for exploration…

Despite the name “Vision for Space Exploration,” this really isn’t about exploration (as I’ve also noted before). Exploration is just a means to an end. Even more, it’s not about pure science, or knowledge for knowledge’ sake. If we can’t come up with some compelling reasons for developing space technology (and more affordable means than Constellation as currently planned), it’s simply not going to happen.

Political Commentary, Space, Technology and Society, War Commentary

Ominous

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As Clark notes, this isn’t directly related to space transportation regulation, but you can see it coming:

The proposed regulation, titled the Large Aircraft Security Program, would require owners of those aircraft to obtain permission from TSA to operate their own personal aircraft every time they carry passengers. Additionally, all flight crews would be required to undergo fingerprinting and a background check, all passengers would have to be vetted against the government’s terrorist watch lists, and numerous security requirements would be imposed on airports serving these “large” aircraft. EAA adamantly opposes this regulation and urges all members to respond to TSA…

“…We thank the TSA for agreeing with the many industry group and EAA members’ requests for an extension, providing an additional two months to study and react to the proposal,” said Doug Macnair, EAA vice president of government relations. “This proposal would be an unprecedented restriction on the freedom of movement for private U.S. citizens. It would also, for the first time, require governmental review and authority before a person could operate his/her own personal transportation conveyance.

First they came after the private aircraft pilots, and I said nothing, because I wasn’t a private aircraft pilot.

Economics, Media Criticism, Philosophy, Technology and Society

Fishing for the Future

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…Soylent green. The miracle food of high-energy plankton gathered from the oceans of the world.

Soylent Green, 1973

The New York Times predicts that “if current fishing practices continue, the world’s major commercial stocks will collapse by 2048.” Their solution: lower energy content by eating sardines instead of feeding them to farm-raised salmon.

Mistaking energy content for price is a common mistake. Chew on this: organic lettuce is more expensive than a hamburger.

Wild fish will be eclipsed by farm-raised fish just as farm-raised beef has eclipsed free-range beef. Get used to it, perhaps by preparing to pay an extreme premium for free-range fish. Don’t expect the Chinese middle class to prefer wild cod once a year to farm-raised salmon once a month. Expect the coastal waters to be fenced into fish farms just as the Great Plains was fenced in during the 19th century.

It’s time to manage the pollution and reserve the wild fish parks upcurrent. This tide isn’t going to be turned back by pondering how the old days were until we’re eaten up.

Science And Society, Technology and Society

Better (And Longer) Living

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…through RNA interference:

In monkeys, a single injection of a drug to induce RNA interference against PCSK9 lowered levels of bad cholesterol by about 60 percent, an effect that lasted up to three weeks. Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, the biotechnology company that developed the drug, hopes to begin testing it in people next year.

The drug is a practical application of scientific discoveries that are showing that RNA, once considered a mere messenger boy for DNA, actually helps to run the show. The classic, protein-making genes are still there on the double helix, but RNA seems to play a powerful role in how genes function.

“This is potentially the biggest change in our understanding of biology since the discovery of the double helix,” said John S. Mattick, a professor of molecular biology at the University of Queensland in Australia.

Of course, as the article points out, there’s still a lot we don’t know, and there are likely to be unforeseen side effects until we understand how this all works much better. But this is a breakthrough in itself.

[Update a few minutes later]

Here’s an interesting article on how far genetics has come in the ninety-nine years since the word “gene” was coined.

[via Derbyshire, who has other thoughts]