Japan Testing Fusion Laser

In an initiative that could redefine space safety, the Japanese-based startup EX-Fusion plans to test a ground-based fusion laser system to “capture, remove/, or push out” objects operating in Earth’s orbit.

In a statement announcing a partnership with the Australian company EOS Space Systems, EX-Fusion said they aim to use ground-based laser systems to address the mounting problem of space debris, a growing concern for global space agencies and satellite operators.   READ MORE...

Horse Girl

 

A War with China

What would that look like and how would it happen?

A war with China could possibly happen if China invades Taiwan...  the USA has pledged to defend Taiwan were it to be invaded...  either we back up our threat or we are seen as globally weak.

If China invaded Taiwan and the USA either declared war or pledged immediate military aid, what would China do?

Send missiles into:  Japan, Philippians, and South Korea.  They would do this before the USA had a chance to mobilize troops, aircrafts, or naval vessels.

Domestically, China invasion of Taiwan would cut off the chip supply for computers to the USA since most of our chips come from there.

Second, China would engage in a cyber war on all the social media platforms in the USA, sending out misinformation and creating distrust.  This would further divide an already divided USA.

War in the South China Sea would not be easy for the USA since it is on the other side of the world, and the logistics of moving our military to that area would take a little bit of time.  China could mobilize their entire military to immediately overwhelm what few troops and assets we have in that area.

The USA would be at a disadvantage immediately even though our military is more powerful.

Our military is not strong enough to completely destroy China, so they could attack again.

Meanwhile the US economy is in a state of CHAOS and there are no guarantees that our GLOBAL FRIENDS would help us out.

 

Hungry Rabbit

 

Ukraine Building FOUR Nuclear Reactors

KYIV, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Ukraine expects to start construction work on four new nuclear power reactors this summer or autumn, Energy Minister German Galushchenko told Reuters on Thursday, as the country seeks to compensate for lost energy capacity due to the war with Russia.

Two of the units - which include reactors and related equipment - will be based on Russian-made equipment that Ukraine wants to import from Bulgaria, while the other two will use Western technology from power equipment maker Westinghouse.   READ MORE...

Credence Clearwater Revival

 

Texas Versus the Federal Government

 

Next Generation of Hydrogen Engines

Hydrogen-based technology is not only setting standards on the racetrack and in the automotive industry in general, it is also present in other areas of human activity where diesel and gasoline internal combustion engines have dominated for decades, such as the construction industry. This is the case of the B6.7H hydrogen engine developed by Cummins, which will be unveiled at the Intermat exhibition in Paris from April 24 to 27 this year.

Intermat is an international trade show that showcases, among other things, the latest advances in technological solutions for the construction industry. Cummins will use this platform to showcase this new engine, which can seamlessly replace diesel and gasoline engines currently used in a variety of construction equipment.

Cummins New Hydrogen Engine
This new design of the B6.7 engine has a displacement of 15 liters and can operate on a variety of clean fuels such as biodiesel, hydrogen and natural gas. One of its great advantages is that it requires no adaptations and can be easily connected to the equipment and accessories that work with conventional engines: cooling system, transmission and hydraulic system. On the other hand, its maintenance is no more demanding than that of a traditional diesel engine.  READ MORE...

Somewhat Political

 

Obeying the Law

How often do you think Americans obey the LAW?

• Stealing stuff from motel rooms...
• Stealing office supplies from work...
• Driving faster than the posted speed limits...
• Not telling the truth on their income taxes...
• Not paying court ordered alimony...
• Not honoring a verbal contract...
• Sharing trade secrets with competitors...
• Trying to bribe a police officer...
• Smoking marijuana in a state where it is not legal...
• Buying illegal drugs like cocaine/heroin...
• Lying to an officer of the court...

I am sure there are several more items that I have not listed or have overlooked but you get the point I am trying to make, don't you?

We CLAIM to be a nation of laws and yet obeying these laws is the last thing on our minds.

Why do I mention this?

Because we are complaining about illegal immigrants breaking the law to come into this country when American citizens break the law all the time.

I've heard people tell me that our laws are there to be broken...  and we hope that we don't get caught.

When you get right down to it, America is no better or worse than any other country in the world....  our problem is that we want the rest of the world to think that we are better.

 

Legs

 

Technologies to Wach

From protein engineering and 3D printing to detection of deepfake media, here are seven areas of technology that Nature will be watching in the year ahead.

Deep learning for protein design
Two decades ago, David Baker at the University of Washington in Seattle and his colleagues achieved a landmark feat: they used computational tools to design an entirely new protein from scratch. ‘Top7’ folded as predicted, but it was inert: it performed no meaningful biological functions. Today, de novo protein design has matured into a practical tool for generating made-to-order enzymes and other proteins. “It’s hugely empowering,” says Neil King, a biochemist at the University of Washington who collaborates with Baker’s team to design protein-based vaccines and vehicles for drug delivery. “Things that were impossible a year and a half ago — now you just do it.”  READ MORE...

Dear Mr. Fantasy

 

Bartender VS Psyhiatrist

Ever since I was a child I've always had a fear of someone under my bed at night. 

So I went to a shrink and told him: "I've got problems, every time I go to bed I think there's somebody under it. I'm scared. I think I'm going crazy."

"Just put yourself in my hands for one year," said the shrink. "Come talk to me three times a week and we should be able to get rid of those fears."

"How much do you charge?"

"One hundred fifty dollars per visit," replied the doctor.

"I'll sleep on it," I said.

Six months later the doctor met me on the street, he asked: “Why didn't you come to see me about those fears you were having?”

"Well, $150 a visit, three times a week for a year, is $23,400.00. A bartender cured me for $10.00. I was so happy to have saved all that money that I went and bought a new pickup truck."

With a bit of an attitude he said: "Is that so? And how, may I ask, did a bartender cure you?"

"He told me to cut the legs off the bed. Ain't nobody there now."

It's always better to get a second opinion.

American TV Series

 If you are like me, there is very little to watch on television these days regardless of whether you have cable, dish, or something else like ROKU...  While there are movies to watch, once you have watched all the good one, the only other ones that are available are 15-20+ years old.

Every once in a while, you run into a series that is about 5 years old that aired on a network, that you missed or while you were watching something else.  One of those series, ROGUE, is what I am watching now; it's your basic cops and robbers' series with the FBI, DEA, and CIA thrown in here and there to make it appear all inclusive.

Now, this particular series is 4 seasons long and each series has over 12 episodes or more.  One advantage about watching an old series is that you can watch several episodes in a row and don't have to wait a week for the next episode to be released.

The reason I am watching this series is that it is fairly well acted, and the plot is nicely developed with all kinds of twists and turns. Like all American movies or TV Series, there is a lot of SEX...  SEX...  SEX...

But what gets me more than anything else is the fact that EVERYONE CURSES...  males, females, old, young...  it does not matter but the cuss words come flying hot and heavy. I suppose that is to make it appear authentic but in REALITY, not everyone cusses.

Another issue that I find particularly disturbing and annoying is that if all of the main characters are not drinking whiskey at all hours of the day and night, then they are drinking wine...  which I find does not really fit the stereotype of all cops and robbers.

AND...  not only is there lots of drinking all the time, both cops and robbers drink and then get into their cars and drive...  GRANTED, there are some adults that are no smarter than teenagers, but everyone is not that stupid and irresponsible.

Maybe the writer of the novel on which this series is based, included this in his novel to make males and females seem tough and macho, or maybe this is just the Hollywood writers that are hoping to draw a large crowd with sex, nudity, alcohol, and profanity.

When I see a show like this it makes me think that this does not mirror reality at all.

Somewhat Political

 

Largest Deep-Sea Coral Reef

The East Coast of the United States is known for its miles of gorgeous beaches, but now something beneath the surface has been discovered that makes it even more of a jewel.

Thanks to 3D imagery, scientists have mapped the largest coral reef deep in the ocean, stretching hundreds of miles off the U.S. Atlantic coast.

The reef extends more than 300 miles from Florida to South Carolina, marking the total area nearly three times the size of Yellowstone National Park. Maps of the reef were recently published in the journal "Geomatics" by nonprofit Ocean Exploration Trust oceanographer Derek Sowers and other scientists, including several at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).     READ MORE...

Turn, Turn, Turn

 

Experts Making Our Climate Policy

This does not surprise me the least bit. It is now become fashionable to talk about global warming and those that voice points of view are seldom
thoroughly questioned.


While the data on global warming and the effects on weather are irrefutable at this point, I am still skeptical about the villain being CO2. It is 0.4%
of the atmosphere and even though there is clear evidence to show that it does act as a blanket for heat, I cannot find any experimental/empirical
data that shows that 0.4% can do the damage that it does. 

The experiments that I was able to dig up were all done in atmospheric conditions where CO2 was 100% of the experimental atmospheric chamber. That proves that it's a blanket but doesn't prove that 0.4% will kill you. If you do experiment on rats and feed them 100% salt, they die.


I also have problems with the way CO2 was hung as the culprit. It seems to me that they looked for atmospheric conditions to explain the increases in
temperature and the only thing they could find was the increase in CO2, express in parts per million [that's' small]. From that, they deduced that CO2 is the culprit. What if it's something else we are still ignorant about?  This could be Man at his arrogant best..."all I know is truth and I know it all". And they set the world on a path to spend gobs of money trying to get alternative energy forms as the savior.


Now, I'm not a global warming denier and I do believe that alternative energy is worth perusing [but with balance]. But the questions I would raise
are:

1. Should we be accepting that global warming is beyond our control and spend more money providing a solution to protect vulnerable areas . A good example of this would be to figure out how to protect countries like Holland and Singapore for being drowned.

2 . In the same vein, should we be looking at how the agricultural map is changing and how to redesign the agricultural map. This could protect us from high food prices in the rich countries and famine in the poor countries.

3. We should be educating the public on the role of increased population. It is clear we cannot support 8 billion people. Anyone who's been to a decent Business School should have learned the difference between cause and effect. All the culprits like CO2 increases from industry, cars, housing, agriculture and deforestation are all effects. NOT CAUSES!

The cause is the population increase from 1 billion people in 1900 to 8 billion people today! While you cannot mandate people to have fewer children, you can educate people and let them make their own decisions. This in combination with the rising price of raising children may do the trick. 

In Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan, birth rates have fallen 0.8, 1.1, and 1.3 respectively. These numbers are basically affected by the price of kids but it does show that we are capable of reining in the old urge to reproduce ourselves.

And here is my greatest fear. If we are wrong, charging down a single unproven course of action while neglecting others could spell disaster. But do we care? No because it is our great grandkids, not us, who will face the music. And I have never met them so.......

Death Penalty

Aside from the religious argument that man should not take another man's life, is there justification for the DEATH PENALTY?

A 32-year-old woman, was high on marijuana and stabbed her boyfriend 108 times and was sentenced to community service, put on probation and served no JAIL TIME...

Is this JUSTICE?

A 32-year-old man was driving drunk (way above the legal limit), hit another car, killed the occupants, was out on bail and left the state.  Six months later, he was caught, sentenced to life without parole.

Is this JUSTICE?

Do we, as human beings, have the RIGHT OF REVENGE?

Not from a personal standpoint but from a judicial standpoint...  yes, we do.

However, in order to exercise that right, we have to hire an attorney and not just any attorney but one that has a reputation for winning.  Otherwise, we have wasted our money.

The District Attorney can file those charges for us and prosecute on our behalf but are they as CLEVER as defense attorneys?

Still, once the person is convicted, do we have the right to take their life because they took the life of someone else?

Killing them will not bring back the person they killed...  it is PURE REVENGE at that point...  and justice has nothing to do with it.

If we put these killers in jail for the rest of their lives, instead of taking their life, we have to pay for that through our taxes...  not to mention the fact that prisons will soon become over-crowded, and we will have to build new ones...  more taxpayer money.,.

What kind of a person are we, who seeks revenge on another for an act of murder?

Are we any better than they are?