Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Felix Baumgartner Makes History!
Atmosphere on the Moon
Characters in the Over the Edge series talk about landing on moons or uninhabitable planets for clandestine meetings. There's also discussion about mining in these places. Besides being super cold and totally inhospitable, what would it be like to land on our moon? Here's an interesting article about the atmosphere of our moon which makes for some lovely visual effects.
Atmosphere on the Moon
Moon Dust Fountains
Moon Dust Fountains
Monday, October 15, 2012
UFO's of Summer
One balmy night, during the summer of 2012, I decided to go outside and look at the stars. I often do this and like Pecos Bill, who felt that if he could see smoke from his neighbor's chimney the neighborhood was getting too crowded, I feel hemmed in by the flashing irrigation pivots that surround our house--two of which are located on our own farm. Some nights I feel like I'm on a dance floor with strobe lights blinking everywhere I look!
Light pollution has ruined the landscape!
It's probably due to vandalism, but a local business across the field from us has installed super-bright lights to glare on their equipment throughout the night. Then, there are the proliferation of yard lights all over the county! Lights, lights, lights everywhere you look interfering with the real spectacle of every night sky: stars!
I'd like to be on the County Commission long enough to make a law that all yard lights must be shielded so that the light points downward and that all center pivots must be light-less. These days pivots can receive an upgrade with an internet or cell phone link to the farmer's computer and/or phone to warn him his pivots have stopped putting out water. As if I ever really will run for the County Commission. It's just one of those idle dreams I have now and then, like owning a laser gun and shooting out all the lights and not getting caught.
While I was outside grumbling about light pollution and attempting to admire the stars I saw two UFO's.
The first UFO came from the south heading north. At first I thought it was a huge meteor. It looked like a brilliant, yellow-orange fireball, but it did not have a tail. I ran inside long enough to yell at my husband and my two youngest sons to come out and look. My husband joined me and we watched the thing gradually dip closer to the ground. I was ready to suggest we pile into our vehicle and drive to its likely crash site, when the thing arced upward into the clouds that obscured the sky in the north and was gone. We were discussing what we'd seen when we realized a second UFO approached from the south. It seemed a little closer and as if its trajectory was curving upward slightly. It seemed to slow, made a gentle turn to the east, then accelerated and was gone.
Here are the facts: With nothing up in the air beside the UFO's to compare sizes, we have no idea how large they were or how far away. (When Felix Baumgartner's balloon drifted over the New Mexico landscape a few days ago and we saw it from our church's parking lot, it looked large and perhaps not so very distant. But, his balloon was over 300 feet tall and already over 20,000 feet in the air by the time we saw it! And, it was then that I realized that when you see something in the air, unless you are very familiar with the object, you simply have no idea how large or small it really is.) Both UFO's resembled egg-shaped, burning somethings, like lava balls. I say egg-shaped because it gives an immediate picture of what we saw, but the UFO's were symmetrical, both sides like the fat end of the egg. They didn't have smoke trails or tails like comets or meteors. They were fast. And neither of the UFO's made a sound. They came from roughly the same direction as military helicopters sometimes take, but one went almost straight north, and the other one turned east which military helicopters around here don't do. Military helicopters come from the southwest and head northeast. Or, they come from the northeast and head southeast, like the time when our first Black president headed down to the oil fields near Malaga for a photo op.
Do we human beings have any really fast, silent, brilliant yellow-orange, squashed spherical ships? No? I didn't think so either. MUFON, the Mutual UFO Network, has posted reports of many sightings of similar yellow-orange, squashed spherical UFO's. And The Examiner has a photo. I'm posting the links below. I tried to get a photo, but the image I captured doesn't reveal anything. I've seen other UFO's here and there in New Mexico. Several years ago I saw a huge, white, cigar shaped UFO which I think was actually a silage bag caught in the wind. A silage bag is ten feet in diameter and this object was probably about 60 feet long. But I wonder, was it a silage bag? It seemed fatter than the ten feet in diameter measurement I know to be true of silage bags. It was flying along in the wind like a bullet, except hollow and full of air. Or solid and cigar shaped! I wish I had video! My brother and I used to see UFO's once in awhile when we were kids living near Clovis, New Mexico, about ten miles northeast of Cannon Air Force Base. Those might be explained as experimental aircraft. The one I remember the best looked like three lights in a triangular formation, two red lights on the bottom and a yellow one on top. It came up behind us as we walked toward the barn and skimmed about fifteen feet off the ground, roaring and booming. Gone in a flash. As normal kids growing up in the seventies we spend a lot of time outside. We knew what birds based out of Cannon, we'd seen them all, but nothing like those lights. I can explain away the other UFO's I've seen, but I can't explain the two UFO's I saw this summer!
I met a woman at a writer's conference who told a story about the time she went with her husband to have dinner at the neighbors' house. They finished their meal and went outside to enjoy their cocktails when a saucer shaped UFO stopped right over their house! She described her house as nestled in forest, on the other side of a tree filled gulley at the top of the rise. The UFO shown a light down on the house, dipped lower, then zipped away. Out of sight in a flash. The couple hurried home to find their children shaken and their dogs upset and their appliances malfunctioning. This lady writes historical romances set in the American west. She seemed very mild, even boring, but maybe she was feeling a little neglected. I don't know. It's the wildest UFO story I've heard except for my own.
Do aliens exist? I don't know. This I can say: There is a lot more we don't know about the universe than we do know. And any scientist who thinks he's got anything, even the smallest micro-organism all figured out is fooling himself!
Orange Sphere UFO's
Photo of Orange Sphere UFO
Light pollution has ruined the landscape!
It's probably due to vandalism, but a local business across the field from us has installed super-bright lights to glare on their equipment throughout the night. Then, there are the proliferation of yard lights all over the county! Lights, lights, lights everywhere you look interfering with the real spectacle of every night sky: stars!
I'd like to be on the County Commission long enough to make a law that all yard lights must be shielded so that the light points downward and that all center pivots must be light-less. These days pivots can receive an upgrade with an internet or cell phone link to the farmer's computer and/or phone to warn him his pivots have stopped putting out water. As if I ever really will run for the County Commission. It's just one of those idle dreams I have now and then, like owning a laser gun and shooting out all the lights and not getting caught.
While I was outside grumbling about light pollution and attempting to admire the stars I saw two UFO's.
The first UFO came from the south heading north. At first I thought it was a huge meteor. It looked like a brilliant, yellow-orange fireball, but it did not have a tail. I ran inside long enough to yell at my husband and my two youngest sons to come out and look. My husband joined me and we watched the thing gradually dip closer to the ground. I was ready to suggest we pile into our vehicle and drive to its likely crash site, when the thing arced upward into the clouds that obscured the sky in the north and was gone. We were discussing what we'd seen when we realized a second UFO approached from the south. It seemed a little closer and as if its trajectory was curving upward slightly. It seemed to slow, made a gentle turn to the east, then accelerated and was gone.
Here are the facts: With nothing up in the air beside the UFO's to compare sizes, we have no idea how large they were or how far away. (When Felix Baumgartner's balloon drifted over the New Mexico landscape a few days ago and we saw it from our church's parking lot, it looked large and perhaps not so very distant. But, his balloon was over 300 feet tall and already over 20,000 feet in the air by the time we saw it! And, it was then that I realized that when you see something in the air, unless you are very familiar with the object, you simply have no idea how large or small it really is.) Both UFO's resembled egg-shaped, burning somethings, like lava balls. I say egg-shaped because it gives an immediate picture of what we saw, but the UFO's were symmetrical, both sides like the fat end of the egg. They didn't have smoke trails or tails like comets or meteors. They were fast. And neither of the UFO's made a sound. They came from roughly the same direction as military helicopters sometimes take, but one went almost straight north, and the other one turned east which military helicopters around here don't do. Military helicopters come from the southwest and head northeast. Or, they come from the northeast and head southeast, like the time when our first Black president headed down to the oil fields near Malaga for a photo op.
Do we human beings have any really fast, silent, brilliant yellow-orange, squashed spherical ships? No? I didn't think so either. MUFON, the Mutual UFO Network, has posted reports of many sightings of similar yellow-orange, squashed spherical UFO's. And The Examiner has a photo. I'm posting the links below. I tried to get a photo, but the image I captured doesn't reveal anything. I've seen other UFO's here and there in New Mexico. Several years ago I saw a huge, white, cigar shaped UFO which I think was actually a silage bag caught in the wind. A silage bag is ten feet in diameter and this object was probably about 60 feet long. But I wonder, was it a silage bag? It seemed fatter than the ten feet in diameter measurement I know to be true of silage bags. It was flying along in the wind like a bullet, except hollow and full of air. Or solid and cigar shaped! I wish I had video! My brother and I used to see UFO's once in awhile when we were kids living near Clovis, New Mexico, about ten miles northeast of Cannon Air Force Base. Those might be explained as experimental aircraft. The one I remember the best looked like three lights in a triangular formation, two red lights on the bottom and a yellow one on top. It came up behind us as we walked toward the barn and skimmed about fifteen feet off the ground, roaring and booming. Gone in a flash. As normal kids growing up in the seventies we spend a lot of time outside. We knew what birds based out of Cannon, we'd seen them all, but nothing like those lights. I can explain away the other UFO's I've seen, but I can't explain the two UFO's I saw this summer!
I met a woman at a writer's conference who told a story about the time she went with her husband to have dinner at the neighbors' house. They finished their meal and went outside to enjoy their cocktails when a saucer shaped UFO stopped right over their house! She described her house as nestled in forest, on the other side of a tree filled gulley at the top of the rise. The UFO shown a light down on the house, dipped lower, then zipped away. Out of sight in a flash. The couple hurried home to find their children shaken and their dogs upset and their appliances malfunctioning. This lady writes historical romances set in the American west. She seemed very mild, even boring, but maybe she was feeling a little neglected. I don't know. It's the wildest UFO story I've heard except for my own.
 |
| MUFON website |
Orange Sphere UFO's
Photo of Orange Sphere UFO
Monday, July 30, 2012
Just for Fun: New Photos of the Apollo Moon Landing Sites
People have wondered if the flags astronauts left on the moon still stand. New photo evidence shows that they do indeed still stand. However, nobody knows, at present, whether the flags retain any of their color. Check out the stories online at these links:
Flags planted by Apollo astronauts still stand
Photos of the Apollo landing sites
 |
| NASA photo |
Photos of the Apollo landing sites
Monday, May 28, 2012
Paul McCartney's "My Valentine" featuring Johnny Depp & Natalie Portman
Characters in the Over the Edge series often sign and speak simultaneously. This video shows how lovely that can be.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Science of Over the Edge: Asteroid Mining
In the Over the Edge series asteroid mining is mentioned as an economic activity characters might engage in or have interaction with. Some ambitious folks are beginning to use advanced, emerging technology to make this a reality.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Divided Brains: The Science of Over the Edge
A primary theme of the Over the Edge series is the divided brain. Many of the primary characters are marsupial humanoids. Marsupials lack the corpus callosum which is the part of the brain which unifies the two hemispheres. Of course, we are are not marsupials, our right hemispheres do not have language and thus often end up ignored. This video delves into that quality:
Thursday, March 08, 2012
Hazards of Space Travel and Living on Other Planets: The Science of Over the Edge
NASA is working on the problem of safety for astronauts venturing to Mars and beyond.
Since 2009, a research orbiter had been circling the moon. Among other things, it is equipped with a plastic that mimics human skin. NASA studies hazards of radiation on space travelers.
They've created a robot that can explore that hostile planet once it arrives and be a test subject during its journey. Here's a video explaining the project: Curiosity: The Stunt Double
Curiosity has landed: Curiosity's First Photos ; NASA: Curiosity's Mission
Since 2009, a research orbiter had been circling the moon. Among other things, it is equipped with a plastic that mimics human skin. NASA studies hazards of radiation on space travelers.
They've created a robot that can explore that hostile planet once it arrives and be a test subject during its journey. Here's a video explaining the project: Curiosity: The Stunt Double
Curiosity has landed: Curiosity's First Photos ; NASA: Curiosity's Mission
 |
| NASA/Fox News photo |
Wednesday, March 07, 2012
Robo Eyes, Snooper Robos: The Science of Over the Edge
 |
| TED photo |
This is about a 12 minute video and worth the time.
Below are several links to sites discussing this technology:
"New York Times" slide show: "Drones Transform How America Fights Its Wars"
YouTube video: "Military Mosquito Robots Collecting DNA & Blood"
Thursday, January 05, 2012
Space Travel and Colonization of Planets: The Science of Over the Edge
Tim Cavanaugh's column in the Reason magazine's February 2012 issue discusses some of the problems facing serious space travel--that is leaving our cozy little neck of the solar system to venture to Mars or even set up more permanent camps on the Moon. He likes the idea of genetic engineering, that is, fixing humans to be more compatible with space or with life on Mars. He says, "...genetic engineering is the only way humanity can conquer Mars and the rest of the solar system..."
Well, given how poorly anybody has predicted what the future holds (Where's my flying car and my rocket back pack?), I don't think genetic engineering will end up being the wave space travel future.
However, he does point out the very real hurdles we squishy humans face. Anybody who leaves earth's protective magnetic field runs the risk of deadly solar flares and cosmic radiation. "Any crew dispatched on the 18-to-30-month mission to Mars will face highly elevated risks of cancer, tissue degradation, bone density loss, brain damage, pharmaceutical spoilage, and other health threats," Cavanaugh wrote. If a team made it to Mars without succumbing to some health threat or another, he's landing on a planet which has one-hundredth earth's atmosphere and no shielding from solar radiation whatsoever, which will now include reflected solar rays from this inhospitable planet's surface. And terraforming won't be easy, we have a hard time doing anything significant to our climate, despite what global warming believers say. Bulky spaceship shields are expensive. Mars doesn't look like a place that can pay for the trip: it seems to have no mineral value; no organic chemistry; no temperate regions; no energy sources and no real canals. The ice below the surface is about the only attractive feature Mars has going for it, in terms of a personal human visit.
Cavanaugh quotes Robert Zurbin, founder of Mars Society, "The real profit of the New World didn't come from a spice route to India, nor did it come from looting Aztec gold. It came from a new society and a new branch of humanity that built a democracy and invented the airplane. The value is going to come from people born on Mars. There is a reason that a frontier culture is connected to a culture of invention."
Spaceships in the Over the Edge series use gravitational and magnetic fields and huge interior plant gardens to help protect them from space hazards. Those who labor in the fledgling private space industry have the kind of frontier spirit needed to overcome obstacles. There was a time when longitude was the overwhelming puzzle that held seafarers back. Humans will advance into space through brain power--the ability to creatively invent new technology and create solutions. I'm voting for ordinary, unadulterated humans via private space industry to solve our space travel problems--provided government doesn't excessively intrude.
Well, given how poorly anybody has predicted what the future holds (Where's my flying car and my rocket back pack?), I don't think genetic engineering will end up being the wave space travel future.
However, he does point out the very real hurdles we squishy humans face. Anybody who leaves earth's protective magnetic field runs the risk of deadly solar flares and cosmic radiation. "Any crew dispatched on the 18-to-30-month mission to Mars will face highly elevated risks of cancer, tissue degradation, bone density loss, brain damage, pharmaceutical spoilage, and other health threats," Cavanaugh wrote. If a team made it to Mars without succumbing to some health threat or another, he's landing on a planet which has one-hundredth earth's atmosphere and no shielding from solar radiation whatsoever, which will now include reflected solar rays from this inhospitable planet's surface. And terraforming won't be easy, we have a hard time doing anything significant to our climate, despite what global warming believers say. Bulky spaceship shields are expensive. Mars doesn't look like a place that can pay for the trip: it seems to have no mineral value; no organic chemistry; no temperate regions; no energy sources and no real canals. The ice below the surface is about the only attractive feature Mars has going for it, in terms of a personal human visit.
Cavanaugh quotes Robert Zurbin, founder of Mars Society, "The real profit of the New World didn't come from a spice route to India, nor did it come from looting Aztec gold. It came from a new society and a new branch of humanity that built a democracy and invented the airplane. The value is going to come from people born on Mars. There is a reason that a frontier culture is connected to a culture of invention."
Spaceships in the Over the Edge series use gravitational and magnetic fields and huge interior plant gardens to help protect them from space hazards. Those who labor in the fledgling private space industry have the kind of frontier spirit needed to overcome obstacles. There was a time when longitude was the overwhelming puzzle that held seafarers back. Humans will advance into space through brain power--the ability to creatively invent new technology and create solutions. I'm voting for ordinary, unadulterated humans via private space industry to solve our space travel problems--provided government doesn't excessively intrude.
Mars ridge; photo credit: National Geographic
Monday, December 05, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Risk, Wisdom and Whining in the Space Age
I'm thrilled to live in New Mexico which has been in the forefront of many scientific advances. We're also a western state where the wild, wild west with all it's amazing Indian cultures; mythic gun fights and noble, heroic cowboys and settlers are part of the landscape.
I'm not so thrilled with what has happened to our national attitude toward space exploration, NASA and where our priorities should lie. It's incredibly short-sighted and narrow-minded to say that space exploration is a waste of money. Worse, it's a lie. The list of innovations and advances space exploration has brought to us is long and impressive.
New Mexico's former Governor Bill Richardson ran a corrupt administration marred by foul pay-to-play politics and spendthrift ways that left the state treasury in the hole. Not everything he did was bad, but not everyone agrees with everything he did "right." Breaks for the movie industry being one of the decisions people have argued about. Another is the space port. Spaceport America. The verdict is still out on that one, but I think in the long run, it's a wise investment. Innovation and risk taking are two of the pillars that lead to prosperity for all people, not just the people who have the cash to fund such things.
Space, or any kind of exploration for that matter, has always been a risky business. In the past, government has been good at taking on risky business. But lately, the zeitgeist of safety and security takes priority over all other concerns murdering the zeitgeist of innovation, risk taking and liberty. Safety and security is boring and stifling, which then generates a rebellious mood amongst youth who have been blinded to other options, so they launch futile protests against things and persons they don't understand. The safety and security mind-set leads to the regulation mentality that leads toward autocratic government and ends liberty. Forget risk taking. Persons who take risks are punished under autocratic systems, if they can obtain the where with all to even imagine taking any risks. Too much regulation which always includes reams of poorly written and poorly thought-out law by people ignorant of the fields they are trying to regulate stops innovation.
The last moon launch was canceled because the zeitgeist had shifted. It didn't matter that the money had already been spent, that if the launch didn't go through it would be wasted. Even though the way the money had been used was ostensibly the point, it really wasn't. The objective was change and power. While the zeitgeist that ruled during our quest for the moon may have had its problems, no zeitgeist of any era is perfect, I prefer it to the soft, whining zeitgeist that reigns now. The present ruling mood, an offspring of the one that shut down the last moon launch, has underlying it, not just ignorance, but an inherent lack of wisdom, which is worse than ignorance. These people don't understand where their food comes from; they don't understand what it takes to be free and they don't understand where prosperity comes from. For some unaccountable reason they seem to think prosperity is evil and that somehow, even though prosperity is evil, they will have pleasant lives without it. Too many have become a bunch of babies whining for their bottles.
Rather than taking risks in areas where it could do the culture good, the push is toward willful rejection of the familial, political and cultural structures that have been built over the course of 2000 years. Without a comprehensive understanding of why those systems, values, mores and methods were constructed in the first place, this course is not only stupid, but far more dangerous to the culture than the sorts of risks human beings used to take all the time, risks which governments so thoroughly strive to protect us from now. Casting off social restraint, tearing down the old ways and replacing them with disastrous new ones will make a society incapable of innovation and advancement. Few kids from broken homes or raised by almost exclusively by women alone become the sort of adults who generate innovation, scientific advancement and exploration. They have to spend their lives sorting through the basics of living--if they get that far. Reflecting the rebellious, underlying attitude all people gravitate toward, government breaks its own laws on a daily basis and practice arbitrary law enforcement according to some bureaucrat's whim further punishing innovators and risk takers. And, because so many of the people who are making the most noise, or rather, listened to so thoroughly by the press (and this shows the wisdom of the press), lack wisdom, they are inviting destruction upon themselves and the rest of us if we can't stop the slide into dependency, ignorance and poverty.
The spaceport in New Mexico is a step forward even in the midst of this era of whining, diapered babies. Someone had vision--Governor Richardson and Richard Branson and Burt Rutan and all those who've played a role in this adventure into space. This effort sends a huge message of hope which the press in their typically near-sighted way has largely overlooked. Diapered, whining babies have no big dreams, they have no grand vision. Their dreams are small and their vision is petty. The main things they seem to want are student loan forgiveness, expanded welfare, more months of unemployment, free healthcare and the collapse of capitalism, though they actually have no idea what results that collapse would entail for persons like themselves who don't know how to work, don't know how to farm and have no useful skills. Small dreams lead to small accomplishments, they can do nothing more.
Chaos seems to loom on the horizon. But in the midst of chaos is also great opportunity, therefore, anyone who has a great vision and big dreams may have to be more creative, but the chance for huge achievement is available. The spaceport and the sub-orbital ships that will be launched there are steps in that direction.
I'm not so thrilled with what has happened to our national attitude toward space exploration, NASA and where our priorities should lie. It's incredibly short-sighted and narrow-minded to say that space exploration is a waste of money. Worse, it's a lie. The list of innovations and advances space exploration has brought to us is long and impressive.
New Mexico's former Governor Bill Richardson ran a corrupt administration marred by foul pay-to-play politics and spendthrift ways that left the state treasury in the hole. Not everything he did was bad, but not everyone agrees with everything he did "right." Breaks for the movie industry being one of the decisions people have argued about. Another is the space port. Spaceport America. The verdict is still out on that one, but I think in the long run, it's a wise investment. Innovation and risk taking are two of the pillars that lead to prosperity for all people, not just the people who have the cash to fund such things.
Space, or any kind of exploration for that matter, has always been a risky business. In the past, government has been good at taking on risky business. But lately, the zeitgeist of safety and security takes priority over all other concerns murdering the zeitgeist of innovation, risk taking and liberty. Safety and security is boring and stifling, which then generates a rebellious mood amongst youth who have been blinded to other options, so they launch futile protests against things and persons they don't understand. The safety and security mind-set leads to the regulation mentality that leads toward autocratic government and ends liberty. Forget risk taking. Persons who take risks are punished under autocratic systems, if they can obtain the where with all to even imagine taking any risks. Too much regulation which always includes reams of poorly written and poorly thought-out law by people ignorant of the fields they are trying to regulate stops innovation.
The last moon launch was canceled because the zeitgeist had shifted. It didn't matter that the money had already been spent, that if the launch didn't go through it would be wasted. Even though the way the money had been used was ostensibly the point, it really wasn't. The objective was change and power. While the zeitgeist that ruled during our quest for the moon may have had its problems, no zeitgeist of any era is perfect, I prefer it to the soft, whining zeitgeist that reigns now. The present ruling mood, an offspring of the one that shut down the last moon launch, has underlying it, not just ignorance, but an inherent lack of wisdom, which is worse than ignorance. These people don't understand where their food comes from; they don't understand what it takes to be free and they don't understand where prosperity comes from. For some unaccountable reason they seem to think prosperity is evil and that somehow, even though prosperity is evil, they will have pleasant lives without it. Too many have become a bunch of babies whining for their bottles.
"Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law (God's Law)," Proverbs 29:18.
Hosea 4:6, "My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge."
Rather than taking risks in areas where it could do the culture good, the push is toward willful rejection of the familial, political and cultural structures that have been built over the course of 2000 years. Without a comprehensive understanding of why those systems, values, mores and methods were constructed in the first place, this course is not only stupid, but far more dangerous to the culture than the sorts of risks human beings used to take all the time, risks which governments so thoroughly strive to protect us from now. Casting off social restraint, tearing down the old ways and replacing them with disastrous new ones will make a society incapable of innovation and advancement. Few kids from broken homes or raised by almost exclusively by women alone become the sort of adults who generate innovation, scientific advancement and exploration. They have to spend their lives sorting through the basics of living--if they get that far. Reflecting the rebellious, underlying attitude all people gravitate toward, government breaks its own laws on a daily basis and practice arbitrary law enforcement according to some bureaucrat's whim further punishing innovators and risk takers. And, because so many of the people who are making the most noise, or rather, listened to so thoroughly by the press (and this shows the wisdom of the press), lack wisdom, they are inviting destruction upon themselves and the rest of us if we can't stop the slide into dependency, ignorance and poverty.
The spaceport in New Mexico is a step forward even in the midst of this era of whining, diapered babies. Someone had vision--Governor Richardson and Richard Branson and Burt Rutan and all those who've played a role in this adventure into space. This effort sends a huge message of hope which the press in their typically near-sighted way has largely overlooked. Diapered, whining babies have no big dreams, they have no grand vision. Their dreams are small and their vision is petty. The main things they seem to want are student loan forgiveness, expanded welfare, more months of unemployment, free healthcare and the collapse of capitalism, though they actually have no idea what results that collapse would entail for persons like themselves who don't know how to work, don't know how to farm and have no useful skills. Small dreams lead to small accomplishments, they can do nothing more.
Chaos seems to loom on the horizon. But in the midst of chaos is also great opportunity, therefore, anyone who has a great vision and big dreams may have to be more creative, but the chance for huge achievement is available. The spaceport and the sub-orbital ships that will be launched there are steps in that direction.
 |
| Spaceport America, photo credit: Virgin Galactic |
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Robots and Robot Aides: The Science of Over the Edge
Robots, robotic aides and/or bionics figure in Over the Edge, but they're in the background, like toasters or refrigerated air units: they're not missed until they're broken and not seen until they're necessary to the story. That's the way technology should be, actually, it shouldn't really be a character in a story (well, humanoid robots who think and have feelings may be the exception).
Probably the most dramatic bionic use found in Over the Edge is a character's ability to save to an electronic medium images captured by the eye, sounds heard by the ear and thoughts recorded and verbiage stored as text documents. No privacy if someone's got the access codes. Add the ability to access that saved information at any time from anywhere, total, literal recall, and the power to control a spaceship by thought command, a spaceship captain finds his ship an extension of his own being. This happens to a lesser extent when people drive. Experienced drivers naturally extend their concept of personal space and boundaries to include the vehicle they're driving. They become attuned to the normal rattles, clicks and rumbles of their healthy machine and take note when sounds change. Well, some of us do. Others of us don't pay that good attention, not even to our own bodies. But that's another subject.
The article posted below from National Geographic highlights how robots or robotic aides are already integrating into human life and what may lie in the future.
Bionics
Probably the most dramatic bionic use found in Over the Edge is a character's ability to save to an electronic medium images captured by the eye, sounds heard by the ear and thoughts recorded and verbiage stored as text documents. No privacy if someone's got the access codes. Add the ability to access that saved information at any time from anywhere, total, literal recall, and the power to control a spaceship by thought command, a spaceship captain finds his ship an extension of his own being. This happens to a lesser extent when people drive. Experienced drivers naturally extend their concept of personal space and boundaries to include the vehicle they're driving. They become attuned to the normal rattles, clicks and rumbles of their healthy machine and take note when sounds change. Well, some of us do. Others of us don't pay that good attention, not even to our own bodies. But that's another subject.
The article posted below from National Geographic highlights how robots or robotic aides are already integrating into human life and what may lie in the future.
Bionics
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Over the Edge Romance series: What Does A Guy's Car Say About Him?
Unlike most previous posts, this one is just for fun. The Over the Edge Sci Fi Romance series tell the stories of ordinary women who meet and (maybe) fall for men from space. While they're on planet earth the guys have got to have something to drive. What will they choose and what does a guy's vehicle choice say about him?
What Does a Guy's Car Say About Him?
What Does a Guy's Car Say About Him?
Thursday, July 07, 2011
What Would Spaceship Launches Really Look Like?: The Science of Over the Edge
This post is just for fun, although it does plug into the Science of Over the Edge features which appear here every so often. What does it look like when a missile is launched? Well, here's a photo:
This image is from a blog on the Discover web page titled: Awesomely Weird Expanding Halo of Light Seen from Hawaii This picture is a still taken from a video by Kanoa Withington. It shows the beginnings of an expanding halo--watch the video on the blog link posted above--probably created by a missile launching into space from California. Check out the blog post.
This next photo is also from the same blog, but you may have seen it awhile back, the weird spiral over Norway. Here's a still image of that:
This turned out to be an out-of-control rocket booster jetting into space. Video of that incident is posted below.
Google "weird spirals over Norway" for more videos.
Here are some more links from Discover magazine online about werid sightings:
Falcon UFOs
Great Balls of Fire Over Australia
Russian UFOs
So what would it look like if earth had a sure-enough space port where real spaceships going places distant and amazing launched? Maybe very much like these images--well, except for the out-of-control rocket, hopefully a person wouldn't see many of those.
This next photo is also from the same blog, but you may have seen it awhile back, the weird spiral over Norway. Here's a still image of that:
Google "weird spirals over Norway" for more videos.
Here are some more links from Discover magazine online about werid sightings:
Falcon UFOs
Great Balls of Fire Over Australia
Russian UFOs
So what would it look like if earth had a sure-enough space port where real spaceships going places distant and amazing launched? Maybe very much like these images--well, except for the out-of-control rocket, hopefully a person wouldn't see many of those.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Nanotechnology: The Science of Over the Edge
Nanotechnology is the technology of manipulating matter at the scale between the every day world--the big, visible stuff--and the world of the quantum--the teeny, tiny. "A nanometer is about the width of a strand of DNA," says Discover magazine, July/August, 2010, issue. Nanometer, abbreviated nm, is a name derived from the Greek word for midget, nano. Each nanometer is only three to five atoms wide, 40,000 times smaller than the width of the human hair. Nanoparticles contain tens of thousands of atoms and straddle the world of Newton and the world of quantum mechanics.But nanotechnology is not new.
Human beings have used nanotechnology in sunscreen and ink-jet printers. But medieval stained glass nanotechnologists have probably created the most amazingly beautiful nano-tech products to date: stained glass colored with gold. The medieval art of making stained glass reached its peak in the years between 1100 and 1500.
Most of what we know about medieval stained glass was recorded by a monk who called himself, Theophilus, in his book titled On Diverse Arts. He wrote that powdered metals such gold, copper and silver were used to color molten glass. Gold particles were simple spheres about 25 nanometers in diameter. At such a small size, gold no longer glitters. The beautiful red of stained glass was created when gold chloride, a compound of gold and chlorine, which was prepared by passing chlorine gas over gold powder, was mixed with molten glass turning gold into tiny spheres that sloshed in unison and absorbed blue and yellow light while allowing the longer wavelength, red, to shine in a rich ruby hue. To achieve a bright yellow hue, nanoparticles of silver were used. Change the size of the gold nanoparticles and a different color is achieved. With today's more sophisticated tools, nanotechnologists can make particles of many different shapes and sizes. Larger gold spheres create green and orange hues. Small silver ones make blue. Changing the size and shape of a gold or silver nanoparticle can produce every color of the spectrum.
In a New York Times article, titled, "Tiny is Beautiful: Translating 'Nano' Into Practical," Dr. Chad A. Mirkin, a director of Northwestern University's Institute for Nanotechnology, said "everything, regardless of what it is, has new properties" because of the changes made in quantum mechanical and thermodynamic properties at the nanometer scale. He added, this is "where a lot of the scientific interest is." Dr. A. Paul Alivisatos, a professor of chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, stated, "instead of changing composition, you can change size." Dr. Alivisatos, founding scientist of Quantum Dot Corporation, works with nanoparticles, called "quantum dots" made of semiconductors and gallium arsenide. The size and shape of the quantum dots can be manipulated to fluoresce specific colors. In a medical application, current dyes used to light up proteins fade quickly, but quantum dots could allow tracking of biological reactions in living cells for days.
Kenneth Chang, author of the New York Times article mentioned above, wrote, "Other applications of nanoparticles take advantage of the fact that more surface area is exposed when material is broken down to smaller sizes. For magnetic nanoparticles, the lack of blemishes produces magnetic fields remarkably strong considering the size of the particles. Nanoparticles are also so small that in most of them, the atoms line up in perfect crystals without a single blemish"
Dr. David F. Kelley, a professor at the University of California, Merced, is researching the chemical, optical and electronic properties of semiconductor nanoparticles and electron transfer reactions involving inorganic dyes. He's interested in nanoparticles because of their possible applications in regenerative photocells, photocatalysis and in electroluminescent devices. He seeks to come to understand size-dependent spectroscopy and photophysics on a nanoparticle level. This research may be applied to create solar cells that would allow electrons to hop more easily between particles due to the flawless structure possible on a nanoparticle scale.
Dr. Yi Lu, a chemistry professor at the University of Illinois. He uses DNA as a building block for nanoscale components. His primary areas of research include: DNA mediated assembly and growth of nanoparticles, directed nanoscale self-assembly on a DNA scaffold and reversible cell-specific drug delivery with Apatamer-functional lipsomes. He takes advantage of the color changes that occur at the nanoparticle level to create a test for hazardous levels of lead. DNA molecules attached to gold nanoparticles, tangle with other specially designed pieces of DNA to make clumps that appear blue. Lead causes the connecting DNA to fall apart cutting loose the gold nanoparticles and changing the color to red.
Dr. Mirkin uses gold nanoparticles as a connecting point to build disease sensors. He attaches a gold particle to an antibody and adds snippets of DNA that act as bar codes. This approach has produced a test for Alzheimer's disease by measuring minuscule amounts of a protein in spinal fluid associated with the disease. His company, Nanosphere Inc. is working to bring this technology to market.
Dr. Naomi J. Halas, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rice University, has invented a type of particle she's dubbed "nanoshells," which are hollow gold or silver spheres wrapped around a filling of silica.These may be used to treat cancer by applying the ability of nanoparticle-sized hollow shape to increase gold's efficiency in absorbing light energy. When these nanoshells are injected into a tumor and infrared light is shined on them, they heat up and kill the tumor. Researchers in Dr. Halas's lab have demonstrated nanoshells unique ability by inserting nanoshells into uncooked chicken parts and then shining a near infrared laser at the chicken. Since water does not absorb much infrared light, the light passes through most of the meat without having any effect, but the nanoshells heat up, cook the chicken, then start smoking and catch on fire. In actual treatment, lower intensity of light would be used to avoid cooking the patient. See also Dr. Halas's associate's site: Nanospectra and Nanomedicine Targets Cancer.
Shrinking medication to nanoparticle size will improve effectiveness. Altair Nanotechnologies of Reno has developed a possible drug for kidney patients: nanoparticles of lanthanum dioxycarbonate. This chemical binds to phosphate which builds up in failing kidneys and prevents it from entering tissue. A small amount with each meal can have a huge beneficial effect.
Discover magazine article by Nayanah Siva titled Smart Bandages Nurse Your Wounds reported Toby Jenkins and colleagues of the University of Bath in England, are working on self-medicating bandages that promise to keep serious wounds free of infection using nanocapsules that release antimicrobials when bacterial toxins appear in a wound. Harmful bacteria will also cause the dressing to change color alerting care takers that a problem exists. This could be especially helpful for burn victims. Nearly 50% of all burn-related deaths are caused by infection. This new technology will allow fewer bandages to be used which will reduce scarring and speed healing.
Siva writes, "Cell biologist Paul Durham and his team from Missouri State University are working on a multitasking bandage layered with antifungal, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory agents for use on a variety of wounds, including deep cuts and punctures. In the initial prototype, a battery-powered time-release mechanism will dispense the medications, but ultimately the researchers hope to incorporate chemical sensors that will trigger drug release in response to changes in the wound."
In a January, 2000, issue, Wendy Marston reported in Discover online Future Tech article sub titled: Can we interest you in a suit that banishes dirt, sweat, and germs, sir? nano-tech mills could completely change how clothing is made. David Forrest, president of the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing, says that nano-mills will create custom fabrics assembled atom by atom using contraptions the size of photocopy machines. "Raw materials such as nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen will be put into a desk-size unit which will rearrange the elements and control the trajectories of all the molecules" in order to fabricate the material. He also plans to incorporate sensors to detect rips and tears which will alert parmecium-size robotic crews to fix the holes by means of atomic manipulation. Gain a few pounds? Electro-mechanically controlled molecules in the fibers could change the shape of a garment with the touch of a button. Nano-manufactured clothing might even launder itself using nano-sized, micro-maids to remove dirt to a collection area where it will be picked up. "Robotic devices similar to mites could periodically scour the fabric surfaces," says Forrest. Mico-maids would also handle the rinse cycle. "It may be extraordinarily difficult to do this," he says, "but there's no scientific barrier."
Nanobots that clean spaceships, nano-drug-delivery systems and nano-manufactured textiles, clothing and facsimile copies of documents identical to the originals from the molecular level up are features of the Over the Edge science fiction series. In one scene a character uses a nano-heart attack to assassinate a criminal. Nanobots clean spaceships and check them for hazardous particles or micro-organisms and out-of-place insects, threads or buttons and report their findings to ship's captains.
Human beings have used nanotechnology in sunscreen and ink-jet printers. But medieval stained glass nanotechnologists have probably created the most amazingly beautiful nano-tech products to date: stained glass colored with gold. The medieval art of making stained glass reached its peak in the years between 1100 and 1500.
Most of what we know about medieval stained glass was recorded by a monk who called himself, Theophilus, in his book titled On Diverse Arts. He wrote that powdered metals such gold, copper and silver were used to color molten glass. Gold particles were simple spheres about 25 nanometers in diameter. At such a small size, gold no longer glitters. The beautiful red of stained glass was created when gold chloride, a compound of gold and chlorine, which was prepared by passing chlorine gas over gold powder, was mixed with molten glass turning gold into tiny spheres that sloshed in unison and absorbed blue and yellow light while allowing the longer wavelength, red, to shine in a rich ruby hue. To achieve a bright yellow hue, nanoparticles of silver were used. Change the size of the gold nanoparticles and a different color is achieved. With today's more sophisticated tools, nanotechnologists can make particles of many different shapes and sizes. Larger gold spheres create green and orange hues. Small silver ones make blue. Changing the size and shape of a gold or silver nanoparticle can produce every color of the spectrum.
In a New York Times article, titled, "Tiny is Beautiful: Translating 'Nano' Into Practical," Dr. Chad A. Mirkin, a director of Northwestern University's Institute for Nanotechnology, said "everything, regardless of what it is, has new properties" because of the changes made in quantum mechanical and thermodynamic properties at the nanometer scale. He added, this is "where a lot of the scientific interest is." Dr. A. Paul Alivisatos, a professor of chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, stated, "instead of changing composition, you can change size." Dr. Alivisatos, founding scientist of Quantum Dot Corporation, works with nanoparticles, called "quantum dots" made of semiconductors and gallium arsenide. The size and shape of the quantum dots can be manipulated to fluoresce specific colors. In a medical application, current dyes used to light up proteins fade quickly, but quantum dots could allow tracking of biological reactions in living cells for days.
Kenneth Chang, author of the New York Times article mentioned above, wrote, "Other applications of nanoparticles take advantage of the fact that more surface area is exposed when material is broken down to smaller sizes. For magnetic nanoparticles, the lack of blemishes produces magnetic fields remarkably strong considering the size of the particles. Nanoparticles are also so small that in most of them, the atoms line up in perfect crystals without a single blemish"
Dr. David F. Kelley, a professor at the University of California, Merced, is researching the chemical, optical and electronic properties of semiconductor nanoparticles and electron transfer reactions involving inorganic dyes. He's interested in nanoparticles because of their possible applications in regenerative photocells, photocatalysis and in electroluminescent devices. He seeks to come to understand size-dependent spectroscopy and photophysics on a nanoparticle level. This research may be applied to create solar cells that would allow electrons to hop more easily between particles due to the flawless structure possible on a nanoparticle scale.
Dr. Yi Lu, a chemistry professor at the University of Illinois. He uses DNA as a building block for nanoscale components. His primary areas of research include: DNA mediated assembly and growth of nanoparticles, directed nanoscale self-assembly on a DNA scaffold and reversible cell-specific drug delivery with Apatamer-functional lipsomes. He takes advantage of the color changes that occur at the nanoparticle level to create a test for hazardous levels of lead. DNA molecules attached to gold nanoparticles, tangle with other specially designed pieces of DNA to make clumps that appear blue. Lead causes the connecting DNA to fall apart cutting loose the gold nanoparticles and changing the color to red.
Dr. Mirkin uses gold nanoparticles as a connecting point to build disease sensors. He attaches a gold particle to an antibody and adds snippets of DNA that act as bar codes. This approach has produced a test for Alzheimer's disease by measuring minuscule amounts of a protein in spinal fluid associated with the disease. His company, Nanosphere Inc. is working to bring this technology to market.
Dr. Naomi J. Halas, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rice University, has invented a type of particle she's dubbed "nanoshells," which are hollow gold or silver spheres wrapped around a filling of silica.These may be used to treat cancer by applying the ability of nanoparticle-sized hollow shape to increase gold's efficiency in absorbing light energy. When these nanoshells are injected into a tumor and infrared light is shined on them, they heat up and kill the tumor. Researchers in Dr. Halas's lab have demonstrated nanoshells unique ability by inserting nanoshells into uncooked chicken parts and then shining a near infrared laser at the chicken. Since water does not absorb much infrared light, the light passes through most of the meat without having any effect, but the nanoshells heat up, cook the chicken, then start smoking and catch on fire. In actual treatment, lower intensity of light would be used to avoid cooking the patient. See also Dr. Halas's associate's site: Nanospectra and Nanomedicine Targets Cancer.
Shrinking medication to nanoparticle size will improve effectiveness. Altair Nanotechnologies of Reno has developed a possible drug for kidney patients: nanoparticles of lanthanum dioxycarbonate. This chemical binds to phosphate which builds up in failing kidneys and prevents it from entering tissue. A small amount with each meal can have a huge beneficial effect.
Discover magazine article by Nayanah Siva titled Smart Bandages Nurse Your Wounds reported Toby Jenkins and colleagues of the University of Bath in England, are working on self-medicating bandages that promise to keep serious wounds free of infection using nanocapsules that release antimicrobials when bacterial toxins appear in a wound. Harmful bacteria will also cause the dressing to change color alerting care takers that a problem exists. This could be especially helpful for burn victims. Nearly 50% of all burn-related deaths are caused by infection. This new technology will allow fewer bandages to be used which will reduce scarring and speed healing.
Siva writes, "Cell biologist Paul Durham and his team from Missouri State University are working on a multitasking bandage layered with antifungal, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory agents for use on a variety of wounds, including deep cuts and punctures. In the initial prototype, a battery-powered time-release mechanism will dispense the medications, but ultimately the researchers hope to incorporate chemical sensors that will trigger drug release in response to changes in the wound."
In a January, 2000, issue, Wendy Marston reported in Discover online Future Tech article sub titled: Can we interest you in a suit that banishes dirt, sweat, and germs, sir? nano-tech mills could completely change how clothing is made. David Forrest, president of the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing, says that nano-mills will create custom fabrics assembled atom by atom using contraptions the size of photocopy machines. "Raw materials such as nitrogen, carbon and hydrogen will be put into a desk-size unit which will rearrange the elements and control the trajectories of all the molecules" in order to fabricate the material. He also plans to incorporate sensors to detect rips and tears which will alert parmecium-size robotic crews to fix the holes by means of atomic manipulation. Gain a few pounds? Electro-mechanically controlled molecules in the fibers could change the shape of a garment with the touch of a button. Nano-manufactured clothing might even launder itself using nano-sized, micro-maids to remove dirt to a collection area where it will be picked up. "Robotic devices similar to mites could periodically scour the fabric surfaces," says Forrest. Mico-maids would also handle the rinse cycle. "It may be extraordinarily difficult to do this," he says, "but there's no scientific barrier."
Nanobots that clean spaceships, nano-drug-delivery systems and nano-manufactured textiles, clothing and facsimile copies of documents identical to the originals from the molecular level up are features of the Over the Edge science fiction series. In one scene a character uses a nano-heart attack to assassinate a criminal. Nanobots clean spaceships and check them for hazardous particles or micro-organisms and out-of-place insects, threads or buttons and report their findings to ship's captains.
Sunday, June 05, 2011
Thought Controlled Vehicles: The Science of Over the Edge
Captain Reeser Peland controls his space ship using his mind. He can do this while either in the ship or while on a planet's surface. German innovators have developed a mind controlled car. Of course, the assumption is such a car is not safe for normal driving, and maybe it isn't, but typically we humans always vastly underestimate each other and ourselves. The answer is to expect more from one another, not less.
Watch: German engineers test drive mind control car
Watch: German engineers test drive mind control car
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Flying Cars: The Science of Over the Edge
The "Transition" flying car by Terrafugia isn't a hover model, but it both flies to the airport and trundles down the interstate back home to your private garage. For only $194,000 you can own one of these beauties. The vehicle is only a two seater, so you won't be taking the kids along any time soon, but it could be a great date car! Just think... leave your home in the boonies and head off to Chicago for a show, drive to the show, enjoy yourself and head back home afterwards...sounds pretty cool. And maybe a lot cheaper than other alternatives.
In Over the Edge characters gad about in hover cars which have mechanisms within them that repel or attract to gravity depending on whether the driver wants to go up into the sky or come back down to the ground. Since we don't really understand gravity at all, this type of car is a long way off. But, it's great to know that a flying car is finally within reach for us earth bound mortals.
Terrafugia Makers of Transition the Flying Car
Photo credit: Terrafugia
Terrafugia Makers of Transition the Flying Car
Photo credit: Terrafugia
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Kim Peek: Extraordinary Memory; No Corpus Callosum
Kim Peek, who died December 19, 2009, was the extraordinary fellow upon whom the savant character in the movie Rain Man was based. He was a man born without a corpus callosum--the same brain structure all marsupials lack.
Kim Peek was born on November 11, 1951, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Doctors discovered a funny, baseball-sized blister on the back of his enlarged head. He was a sluggish infant and he cried a lot. By the age of 9 months doctors expected he would be mentally and physically impaired for life and recommended the parents institutionalize him. They declined. From the beginning, his head was about 30% larger than normal. His head was so heavy he couldn't even hold it up until his body grew big enough to support it at about the age of four.
By the age of 16 months, Kim had taught himself to read. When he consulted a dictionary to define the word "confidential," his parents realized he could read newspapers," Telegraph.co.uk obituaries. Kim memorized the entire Bible by the age of seven.
His parents tried to give him a normal upbringing, but Kim was expelled from school for disruptive behavior. Schools of the day had no special education teachers to help him. His father hired retired teachers to educate him at home. He finished the high school curriculum by the age of 14. His mother looked after him until his parents' divorce, then the task fell to his father.
Kim was unable to brush his teeth, dress himself, cook food or shave without help. Yet, Kim memorized the complete works of Shakespeare and every volume of the Reader's Digest condensed books available to him. "He used telephone directories for exercises in mental arithmetic, adding each column of seven-digit numbers together in his head until he reached figures in the trillions," Telegraph.co.uk obituary (link posted above).
Barry Morrow, author of the script that went on to become the movie, Rain Man, met Kim at a retarded persons convention in Arlington, Texas, in 1984. He spent four hours with Kim. He asked Fran, Kim's father, if he realized that Kim had memorized every postal code, area code and road number in the United States. He urged Fran to introduce Kim to the public. Fran ignored the request fearing Kim would become a freak show.
Dustin Hoffman spent six hours with Kim and copied Kim's rapid monotone, rocking motions and child-like emotions to create the Raymond Babbitt character in the movie. Morrow wanted Kim to visit a casino to see how he would count the cards, but Kim refused on grounds that it was unethical.
Morrow received an academy award for his script and gave Kim the Oscar. The statue became his most prized possession. He took it everywhere.
Because of the film, Kim finally received the high school diploma he had previously been denied. The film opened other doors too. Because of the respect he received for his abilities from these persons outside his family, he ended his reclusive lifestyle, made many friends and ventured out into the world. Fran took Kim on a series of speaking engagements where he amazed and dazzled audiences. Father and son emphasized the principle that each person has some kind of ability which others lack. Their motto: "Recognizing and respecting differences in others, and treating everyone like you want them to treat you, will help make our world a better place for everyone. Care... be your best. You don't have to be handicapped to be different. Everyone is different!" Fran certainly did his best to embody that motto, striving to equip Kim to achieve all he could.
Kim could read a page of a book, front and back simultaneously, one page with each eye, regardless of whether the book was upside down or sideways, in 8 to 10 seconds. He remembered 98% of everything he read. He was interested in fifteen different areas, a few of those were: world and American history, sports, movies, geography, actors and actresses, the Bible, church history, literature, Shakespeare and classical music. Besides postal codes, area codes, etc., Kim also memorized the maps included in phone books and could provide travel directions within any major city in the U.S. He could identify hundreds of classical compositions, tell when and where each composition was composed and first performed, give the composer's name and biographical details; he could even discuss formal and tonal components of the music. Kim never became set in his ways. He began learning to play piano in 2002. With this new skill, he could play many of the multitudes of pieces he'd memorized earlier and discuss the different properties of each piece.
Unlike most savants, Kim understood what he memorized, though he often had trouble with abstract or conceptual thinking. Scientific American Mind describes an incident when Fran asked Kim to lower his voice in a restaurant. Kim scooted lower in his chair so that his voice box would be lower. Other times he proved ingenious. In one talk he was asked about Lincoln's Gettysbug Address. He answered, "Will's house, 227 North West Front Street, but he stayed there only one night--he gave the speech the next day." He didn't intend the answer as a joke, but when the questioner laughed, he saw the humor and recycled the joke at future events. Once Kim attended a Shakespeare festival sponsored by a philanthropist whose laryngitis threatened to silence him. The man's initials were O.C. Kim quipped, "O.C., can you say?" Another time, exhibiting his lightning ability to access the vast information stored in his head, "...an interviewer offered that he had been born on March 31, 1956, Peek noted, in less than a second, that it was a Saturday on Easter weekend," Scientific American Mind, June/July 2006, page 52.
The technical name for the blister Kim suffered as an infant is encephalocele. An encephalocele is when the neural tube fails to close. A baby can have one of these anywhere on his head. It is usually filled with fluid, but can contain brain matter. Fortunately for Kim Peek, his encephalocele was on the back of his head and it resolved itself. But there were other abnormalities. Kim had a malformed cerebellum and lacked a corpus callosum.
Some people born without a corpus callosum, called "agenesis of the corpus callosum," are able to function normally. Others suffer problems with co-ordination; inability to name colors without first associating the color with an object; inability to read facial expressions; problems with abstract reasoning and humor...some are savants.
"It would seem that those born without a corpus callosum somehow develop back channels of communication between the hemispheres. Perhaps the resulting structures allow the two hemispheres to function, in certain respects, as one giant hemisphere, putting normally separate functions under the same roof," Scientific American Mind, June/July 2006, page 52. The brain hemispheres of persons whose corpus callosum is cut during adulthood begin to work almost independently of each other--commonly called "split brain" syndrome.
Sometimes savant abilities appear after damage to the left hemisphere. A theory on why this happens is the idea that the right hemisphere develops new skills and sometimes recruits from the left brain's tissue for tasks it previously didn't undertake. Another theory is that the left hemisphere exerts a kind of tyranny over the right hemisphere. Once the right hemisphere is released from this domination, it can achieve great things. (See January 24th, 2007, post titled, "Darn Domineering Left Brains and Subversive Right Brains..." on this blog)
For more check out: Savant Syndrome: Island of Genius
Over the Edge dabbles in various aspects of what it might be like to lack a corpus callosum. The characters are not savants as Kim Peek was, just as not all persons who lack a corpus callosum are savants, but they share characteristics with him and with persons who develop split brain syndrome as adults. As marsupial humanoids, they have the ability to read material as Kim Peek did, each eye reading independently of the other. However, in Over the Edge, each brain hemisphere is given its own language, the left hemisphere an abstract symbol alphabet and the right hemisphere a hieroglyphic based language. In the story, characters' brain hemispheres operate in harmony until some conflict occurs--then battle begins. Characters of Over the Edge also lead double lives, in effect, giving part of their time to allow one hemisphere to shine more brilliantly than the other and vice versa. In the story, these times are called "half times."
Understanding how the brain works, how the mind works, how the spirit functions within the brain it is given, are themes of Over the Edge.
If the image below does not fully load on your computer screen, click on it and a new window will open where you can see it in its entirety.
Kim Peek was born on November 11, 1951, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Doctors discovered a funny, baseball-sized blister on the back of his enlarged head. He was a sluggish infant and he cried a lot. By the age of 9 months doctors expected he would be mentally and physically impaired for life and recommended the parents institutionalize him. They declined. From the beginning, his head was about 30% larger than normal. His head was so heavy he couldn't even hold it up until his body grew big enough to support it at about the age of four.
By the age of 16 months, Kim had taught himself to read. When he consulted a dictionary to define the word "confidential," his parents realized he could read newspapers," Telegraph.co.uk obituaries. Kim memorized the entire Bible by the age of seven.
His parents tried to give him a normal upbringing, but Kim was expelled from school for disruptive behavior. Schools of the day had no special education teachers to help him. His father hired retired teachers to educate him at home. He finished the high school curriculum by the age of 14. His mother looked after him until his parents' divorce, then the task fell to his father.
Kim was unable to brush his teeth, dress himself, cook food or shave without help. Yet, Kim memorized the complete works of Shakespeare and every volume of the Reader's Digest condensed books available to him. "He used telephone directories for exercises in mental arithmetic, adding each column of seven-digit numbers together in his head until he reached figures in the trillions," Telegraph.co.uk obituary (link posted above).
Barry Morrow, author of the script that went on to become the movie, Rain Man, met Kim at a retarded persons convention in Arlington, Texas, in 1984. He spent four hours with Kim. He asked Fran, Kim's father, if he realized that Kim had memorized every postal code, area code and road number in the United States. He urged Fran to introduce Kim to the public. Fran ignored the request fearing Kim would become a freak show.
Dustin Hoffman spent six hours with Kim and copied Kim's rapid monotone, rocking motions and child-like emotions to create the Raymond Babbitt character in the movie. Morrow wanted Kim to visit a casino to see how he would count the cards, but Kim refused on grounds that it was unethical.
Morrow received an academy award for his script and gave Kim the Oscar. The statue became his most prized possession. He took it everywhere.
Because of the film, Kim finally received the high school diploma he had previously been denied. The film opened other doors too. Because of the respect he received for his abilities from these persons outside his family, he ended his reclusive lifestyle, made many friends and ventured out into the world. Fran took Kim on a series of speaking engagements where he amazed and dazzled audiences. Father and son emphasized the principle that each person has some kind of ability which others lack. Their motto: "Recognizing and respecting differences in others, and treating everyone like you want them to treat you, will help make our world a better place for everyone. Care... be your best. You don't have to be handicapped to be different. Everyone is different!" Fran certainly did his best to embody that motto, striving to equip Kim to achieve all he could.
Kim could read a page of a book, front and back simultaneously, one page with each eye, regardless of whether the book was upside down or sideways, in 8 to 10 seconds. He remembered 98% of everything he read. He was interested in fifteen different areas, a few of those were: world and American history, sports, movies, geography, actors and actresses, the Bible, church history, literature, Shakespeare and classical music. Besides postal codes, area codes, etc., Kim also memorized the maps included in phone books and could provide travel directions within any major city in the U.S. He could identify hundreds of classical compositions, tell when and where each composition was composed and first performed, give the composer's name and biographical details; he could even discuss formal and tonal components of the music. Kim never became set in his ways. He began learning to play piano in 2002. With this new skill, he could play many of the multitudes of pieces he'd memorized earlier and discuss the different properties of each piece.
Unlike most savants, Kim understood what he memorized, though he often had trouble with abstract or conceptual thinking. Scientific American Mind describes an incident when Fran asked Kim to lower his voice in a restaurant. Kim scooted lower in his chair so that his voice box would be lower. Other times he proved ingenious. In one talk he was asked about Lincoln's Gettysbug Address. He answered, "Will's house, 227 North West Front Street, but he stayed there only one night--he gave the speech the next day." He didn't intend the answer as a joke, but when the questioner laughed, he saw the humor and recycled the joke at future events. Once Kim attended a Shakespeare festival sponsored by a philanthropist whose laryngitis threatened to silence him. The man's initials were O.C. Kim quipped, "O.C., can you say?" Another time, exhibiting his lightning ability to access the vast information stored in his head, "...an interviewer offered that he had been born on March 31, 1956, Peek noted, in less than a second, that it was a Saturday on Easter weekend," Scientific American Mind, June/July 2006, page 52.
The technical name for the blister Kim suffered as an infant is encephalocele. An encephalocele is when the neural tube fails to close. A baby can have one of these anywhere on his head. It is usually filled with fluid, but can contain brain matter. Fortunately for Kim Peek, his encephalocele was on the back of his head and it resolved itself. But there were other abnormalities. Kim had a malformed cerebellum and lacked a corpus callosum.
Some people born without a corpus callosum, called "agenesis of the corpus callosum," are able to function normally. Others suffer problems with co-ordination; inability to name colors without first associating the color with an object; inability to read facial expressions; problems with abstract reasoning and humor...some are savants.
"It would seem that those born without a corpus callosum somehow develop back channels of communication between the hemispheres. Perhaps the resulting structures allow the two hemispheres to function, in certain respects, as one giant hemisphere, putting normally separate functions under the same roof," Scientific American Mind, June/July 2006, page 52. The brain hemispheres of persons whose corpus callosum is cut during adulthood begin to work almost independently of each other--commonly called "split brain" syndrome.
Sometimes savant abilities appear after damage to the left hemisphere. A theory on why this happens is the idea that the right hemisphere develops new skills and sometimes recruits from the left brain's tissue for tasks it previously didn't undertake. Another theory is that the left hemisphere exerts a kind of tyranny over the right hemisphere. Once the right hemisphere is released from this domination, it can achieve great things. (See January 24th, 2007, post titled, "Darn Domineering Left Brains and Subversive Right Brains..." on this blog)
For more check out: Savant Syndrome: Island of Genius
Over the Edge dabbles in various aspects of what it might be like to lack a corpus callosum. The characters are not savants as Kim Peek was, just as not all persons who lack a corpus callosum are savants, but they share characteristics with him and with persons who develop split brain syndrome as adults. As marsupial humanoids, they have the ability to read material as Kim Peek did, each eye reading independently of the other. However, in Over the Edge, each brain hemisphere is given its own language, the left hemisphere an abstract symbol alphabet and the right hemisphere a hieroglyphic based language. In the story, characters' brain hemispheres operate in harmony until some conflict occurs--then battle begins. Characters of Over the Edge also lead double lives, in effect, giving part of their time to allow one hemisphere to shine more brilliantly than the other and vice versa. In the story, these times are called "half times."
Understanding how the brain works, how the mind works, how the spirit functions within the brain it is given, are themes of Over the Edge.
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