Random Musings of an Ethnic Artist

In his famous Lectures on Physics, Richard Feynman presented this interesting speculation:

“If, in some cataclysm, all of scientific knowledge were to be destroyed, and only one sentence passed on to the next generations of creatures, what statement would contain the most information in the fewest words? I believe it is the atomic hypothesis (or the atomic fact, or whatever you wish to call it) that all things are made of atoms—little particles that move around in perpetual motion, attracting each other when they are a little distance apart, but repelling upon being squeezed into one another. In that one sentence, you will see, there is an enormous amount of information about the world, if just a little imagination and thinking are applied.”

Fascinated by Feynman’s question, Seed put a similar one to a number of leading thinkers: “Imagine—much as Feynman asked his audience—that in a mission to change everyone’s thinking about the world, you can take only one lesson from your field as a guide. In a single statement, what would it be?”
Here are their answers…

Scientists are surprised to discover that previous notions about the edge of our solar system were simply wrong - they weren’t imaginative enough!
It seems these magnetic Bubbles are a million miles wide - about the same size as the distance between the Earth and the Sun.
A truly amazing new development which defines how our solar system is interacting with the rest of the galaxy!! 

Today medicine is a BUSINESS rather than an ART. 
Managed Care is the doctor’s timeclock. What the doctor serves the patient is monitored by spreadsheets and bottom lines. And how could practitioners feel good… excited about their service if they are just like the everyday deliverer of services. As ART has become computerized/digitized… so has the other arts & sciences.
We do not lack brilliance in Society - it is simply enslaved to those who desire self-interested profiteering over everything else in the world. 
Is that not the realm of The dEVIL? 

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STORY: The children of Minamisoma City, Japan are living amid high levels of radiation and toxic rain after the meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Will the children be evacuated as some experts advise, or will they stay where they are inside the 30 km zone and head back to school as the government has ordered?

This trailer is part 4 of 4 of “In the Radiation Zone: the Children of Minamisoma”, a behind-the-scenes look at what happened during the filming of the feature documentary “Killing the Darlings of Minamisoma”. 

An excellent look at the current state of life here in our collective world - here is a sample from the post - “While fiscal stimulus under present circumstances doesn’t address the deep issue, it does point toward a deep solution. Stimulus can create jobs doing things that don’t bring a positive return on capital — such things as intensive recycling, restoring wetlands, cleaning up toxic waste, caring for the indigent sick, teaching people to garden, beautifying the urban environment, holding free music and arts festivals, and so on. Happily, these are the things we want and need more of, as opposed to more sprawling suburbs, electronic billboards, coal mines, trash incinerators, nuclear weapons, and plastic bags. When economists speak of (on the Left) increasing demand or (on the Right) increasing productive investment to stimulate growth, aren’t they essentially calling for even more of the things of which we already have enough? Today, every sign of a recovery in housing starts is celebrated as great economic news — all at a time when, in the United States, 19 million housing units stand vacant!”

Because many employees are single and cook only on weekends, the boxes are designed to be small, 2 pounds of seafood or less. The price is $20 to $26 per week.

“At most, there will be a 48-hour window between the time the fish is caught and when it gets into your hands here,” says Olivia Wu, a Google executive chef and former Chronicle food writer, who spearheaded this CSF. “This is as fresh as you can get besides going to the dock to buy it yourself.”

The seafood varieties, all of which will be sustainable and locally caught in season, will include salmon, black cod, halibut, Pacific flounder, lingcod and more obscure varieties such as chili pepper rock cod, which is not usually found in markets.

CRAZY !! This system utilizes your current smartphone (an iPhone is used in the prototype), and maps the touchscreen to the palm of your hand. You then simply touch your palm wherever you would normally tap on the screen. Your phone reacts to the input as though you were touching it yourself, allowing you to answer calls (via speakerphone) and even utilize apps.

“I’m not perfect, and I wish I could say there was never any doubt in my mind. We knew we had to give it back, but it doesn’t mean I didn’t think about our car in need of repairs, how we would love to adopt a child and aren’t able to do that right now, or fix up our outdated house that we just bought,” Ferrin said. “But the money wasn’t ours to keep and I don’t believe you get a chance very often to do something radically honest, to do something ridiculously awesome for someone else and that is a lesson I hope to teach to my children.”

Read the whole story….

China has suspended approval for new nuclear power stations following the accident at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi plant.

It will also carry out checks at existing reactors and those under construction.

China is currently building 27 new reactors - about 40% of the total number being built around the world.

The news comes as China grows increasingly worried about the nuclear accident in Japan.

The decision to temporarily halt approval for nuclear plants came at a meeting of China’s State Council, or Cabinet, chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao.

“We will temporarily suspend approval for nuclear power projects, including those that have already begun preliminary work, before nuclear safety regulations are approved,” read a statement from the State Council.

“Safety is our top priority in developing nuclear power plants.”

The amber fossil — housed in the Berlin Natural History Museum — is a member of a living genus of the Huntsman spiders (Sparassidae), a group of often large, active, free-living spiders that are hardly ever trapped in amber. (See the haunting  3-d animation!)

This is a true Time-traveler!