Mars vs Doonesbury

Surprisingly thought-provoking Sunday comic from Gary Trudeau, the beloved author of the 40+ year strip, who, along with Charles Shultz, ranks as the only artist to be regularly published with vintage re-runs while being listed as "On vacation" during most weekdays. He's that good and that entertaining and an American treasure.

This Sunday's comic features the now mature and wizened Uncle Zonk, sharing a doob with his young college-age nephew, who asks if he thinks humans will ever make it to Mars. And his surprisingly pragmatic answer: "I hope not." Zonker goes on to explain that the tech required to sustain humans on the round-trip flight and keep them from harm's way will cost billions and would be a catastrophic disaster if something went wrong. Interesting response, especially in light of the catastrophes dotting the US in this most volatile September ever. 

Robots, he explains, could do the job, likely better than humans, and at a far cheaper cost. Interesting debate. Trudeau nails the premise masterfully, ending, as he always does on a side joke, this time about fixing any in-space problem with duct tape. But leaves the discussion to us.

So let's do a quick review. We're on the precipice of a spectacular technological future (just wait 'til Apple unveils its new iphone this week) that may well be dominated by AI. Along with mechanical technology that changes our whole notion so revolutionary, it changes our very sense of purpose over the next hundred years. And it well may make sense to send sentient beings to Mars and beyond to explore and gather data, just as we've been doing with satellite launches for the past 57 years.

But nothing is going to stop the progression of events that lead to human space exploration because it's simply what we as a species are programmed to do: To inquire, examine, risk and reach out. The economics of human missions to Mars are something to be reckoned with. But every administration has been, and continues to be, on board with making it happen. The logistics will require years more of development, study, testing and preparation and will undoubtedly include the use of robotics and robots to smooth the way (at least until they wake up enough to demand their OWN set of rights).

But we're goin', folks. 

Money, time, fires, quakes and hurricanes be damned. We are so goin'.

Can't hardly wait.

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This Sci Fi Weather

In 2004, the movie “Day After Tomorrow” depicted a freak weather system that inundates Earth with Armageddon-style weather, from tidal waves engulfing New York City to a permafrost that kills billions, while survivors hunker down awaiting a thaw. Cool CG, including your basic mob panic and flying trucks in a debris storm you needed to jump out of the way from in order to survive.

This was, among other things, a warning fable about global warming and the trouble we’d be in for if we didn’t pay attention and do something now. They even included, a computer forecast of the continental-sized storm weather pattern forming on a globe scale that would do the number.

See any resemblance to what’s happening in the Caribbean today?

The "Day After Tomorrow" hurricane map

 September’s real thing

Spooky. As I write this, Irma is making landfall on US soil and no doubt will be a horrendous event affecting millions of people. But hopefully, the future will bring change that helps to regulate or even eliminate the worst natural disasters.

One such solution has been proposed  by a group of serious science geeks based on a detailed plan to build thousands of giant floating plastic donuts -- enormous plastic rings made up of thousands of discarded automobile tires -- that would be strategically anchored in the Caribbean. As they floated on the surface, the water that washed over them would be gradually pushed down by its own weight through long hanging plastic tubes to exit in colder deeper water, exchanging the surface water with colder water from below the floats.

Done en mass, this could theoretically cool the surface temperature of the ocean enough to mitigate or entirely prevent the formation of the kinds of high pressure systems that typically turn into hurricanes, ridding us of this incredibly dangerous and repetitive disaster process.  (more about it here)

Preposterous? Welcome to my daily world of scifi wonder, where magic is the stuff of greater dreams.

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