The 80's did see a sharp and drastic decline in our auto industry, not just due to our Japanese counter-parts but assembly and fabrication of U.S. cars in other countries not Japan. We need to get our gov't on board to start a new American industry to replace some of our out-going tech industry....*biodiesel*.
If our economy is going to eventually suffer the loss of the technology superiority that has kept our standard of living so high compared to the rest of the world, then let's make control of cheaper and better fuel be our way back up again.
Innovation and creativity are still highly valued, and easier to do in America than in weak democracies and communist strongholds.
In 'Prey' the nanobots themselves run amok, but in 'The 8th Day' by John Case, the Gray Goo is itself the weapon when in the control of someone intent on Earth's annhilation.
It too was a great read, very hard to put down, but wasn't as much about the technology as 'Prey' was. Just two of Michael Crichton's earlier works, 'Andromeda Strain' (published in 1969, about the gov't accidentally releasing pathogens they were going to use in biological weapons) and 'Jurassic Park' (published in 1990, about taking the genetic material of petrified dinosaur blood to recreate them in modern day), seemed like the furthest stretches of reality. Yet as we now know, Mr. Crichton wasn't too far off the mark, that some of his imaginings DO become real to some extent. Let's hope that Mr. Crichton and Mr. Case's imaginings for nanotech are more benign in reality!
Until yesterday, most airline hijacking incidents were confrontational with the hijackers making demands and, when met, would release the passengers and crew. Now that we have witnessed the potential of suicide terrorists, we need to come up with a better way to protect all people in the sky...I say wire the door, floor, whatever for shock/stun/electrocution if a hijacker breaks in.
The pilot or co-pilot could just hit a little panic button like a bank teller. This would activate an instant door that would be inpenetrable by bullets, activate the floor to electrocute or stun whoever is standing there at that moment, and it would also reset the transponder to show an emergency situation. Once activated, the door would not open and the transponder would not be able to reset until the plane was back on the ground and the airline or FAA gave a ground worker the code to disable the emergency function. If it was a false alarm, oh well, it would be the price paid for safety. And if it was a real situation, then the plane could be escorted by military jets to safe ground or be shot down.
If you were on a plane taken by terrorists, would you rather the military just shoot it down than have the terrorists fly it into a building and kill 20 or 30 thousand people? I'd hold up a sign telling the F-16 to "FIRE, PLEASE".
I am a 29 year old woman who recently attended her 10 year high school reunion. To those of you still stuck in high school's nightmarish society: there is light at the end of the tunnel. It was with great satisfaction that I walked into that reunion, only to see that no one had changed, except my group. I was the only girl in my school into Electronics and although I wasn't completely branded an outsider (girls typically weren't subjected to the same cruelties as our male counterparts), I certainly didn't fit with the cheerleader types. But we realized that for us to be even moderately happy, other like-minded individuals such as myself needed to seek each other out and gain the strength and security of _belonging_. I know from personal experience the pain of ostracism and the almost desperate urge to feel a part of something, anything! Even when kids say they don't want to belong to a group of friends, they know that it's a lie. If you believe in evolution (which I do) humans are a social species, evolved through generations of supportive relationships. It's natural to want to be with other people. And it's natural to feel pain when they hurt you.
But take heart! Trust in yourself that even though the oppressors of your individuality don't at this time see its incredible value, others will. And they will see it when it matters: in the real world. High school is not the end all, be all of life. It just feels like it right now because you are young, impressionable, and still finding yourself. The truly worthy people in this world though, are the ones who are continually finding themselves. It's the jocks, cheerleaders, and preppies who have said that this is who they are and always will be who are going to find the real world impossible to contribute to. And isn't that the key to our lives? The reason why we're here in the first place? To contribute? If you have something to give, give it. And to those who can't see its value? Go back to high school!
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The 80's did see a sharp and drastic decline in our auto industry, not just due to our Japanese counter-parts but assembly and fabrication of U.S. cars in other countries not Japan. We need to get our gov't on board to start a new American industry to replace some of our out-going tech industry....*biodiesel*.
If our economy is going to eventually suffer the loss of the technology superiority that has kept our standard of living so high compared to the rest of the world, then let's make control of cheaper and better fuel be our way back up again.
Innovation and creativity are still highly valued, and easier to do in America than in weak democracies and communist strongholds.
In 'Prey' the nanobots themselves run amok, but in 'The 8th Day' by John Case, the Gray Goo is itself the weapon when in the control of someone intent on Earth's annhilation.
It too was a great read, very hard to put down, but wasn't as much about the technology as 'Prey' was. Just two of Michael Crichton's earlier works, 'Andromeda Strain' (published in 1969, about the gov't accidentally releasing pathogens they were going to use in biological weapons) and 'Jurassic Park' (published in 1990, about taking the genetic material of petrified dinosaur blood to recreate them in modern day), seemed like the furthest stretches of reality. Yet as we now know, Mr. Crichton wasn't too far off the mark, that some of his imaginings DO become real to some extent. Let's hope that Mr. Crichton and Mr. Case's imaginings for nanotech are more benign in reality!
Until yesterday, most airline hijacking incidents were confrontational with the hijackers making demands and, when met, would release the passengers and crew. Now that we have witnessed the potential of suicide terrorists, we need to come up with a better way to protect all people in the sky...I say wire the door, floor, whatever for shock/stun/electrocution if a hijacker breaks in.
The pilot or co-pilot could just hit a little panic button like a bank teller. This would activate an instant door that would be inpenetrable by bullets, activate the floor to electrocute or stun whoever is standing there at that moment, and it would also reset the transponder to show an emergency situation. Once activated, the door would not open and the transponder would not be able to reset until the plane was back on the ground and the airline or FAA gave a ground worker the code to disable the emergency function. If it was a false alarm, oh well, it would be the price paid for safety. And if it was a real situation, then the plane could be escorted by military jets to safe ground or be shot down.
If you were on a plane taken by terrorists, would you rather the military just shoot it down than have the terrorists fly it into a building and kill 20 or 30 thousand people? I'd hold up a sign telling the F-16 to "FIRE, PLEASE".
I am a 29 year old woman who recently attended her 10 year high school reunion. To those of you still stuck in high school's nightmarish society: there is light at the end of the tunnel. It was with great satisfaction that I walked into that reunion, only to see that no one had changed, except my group. I was the only girl in my school into Electronics and although I wasn't completely branded an outsider (girls typically weren't subjected to the same cruelties as our male counterparts), I certainly didn't fit with the cheerleader types. But we realized that for us to be even moderately happy, other like-minded individuals such as myself needed to seek each other out and gain the strength and security of _belonging_. I know from personal experience the pain of ostracism and the almost desperate urge to feel a part of something, anything! Even when kids say they don't want to belong to a group of friends, they know that it's a lie. If you believe in evolution (which I do) humans are a social species, evolved through generations of supportive relationships. It's natural to want to be with other people. And it's natural to feel pain when they hurt you.
But take heart! Trust in yourself that even though the oppressors of your individuality don't at this time see its incredible value, others will. And they will see it when it matters: in the real world. High school is not the end all, be all of life. It just feels like it right now because you are young, impressionable, and still finding yourself. The truly worthy people in this world though, are the ones who are continually finding themselves. It's the jocks, cheerleaders, and preppies who have said that this is who they are and always will be who are going to find the real world impossible to contribute to. And isn't that the key to our lives? The reason why we're here in the first place? To contribute? If you have something to give, give it. And to those who can't see its value? Go back to high school!