I'll have to see if I can get that to run reasonable well with a shitty satellite connection. Shouldn't be to bad, if they let me load up at least some of the show, otherwise it's going to be obnoxious if I can't and Hughesnet decides to run slow during the time I pick to watch it. I'd also need to figure out how much bandwidth is being used. Sometimes I can manage with one or two streams during the day, if the bandwidth usage isn't too high, but if it's too high, I'm stuck waiting till to 2am to stream it.
syndalisGetting ClassyOn the WallRegistered User, Loves Apple Productsregular
So the end of that most recent episode...
where he goes on about the next calendar year? How we could have all our shit fixed in less than a second, and start full colonization beyond our planet in the minute(s) following, though we wouldn't be this species any more, but a new one with more of our strengths and less of our failings?
It was a broad message of "we can work this all out, and look at what we could become if/when we do," and it was a message of stunning unity of humanity towards common goals.
It was like all of my optimism and hopes bottled into a singular message, and while I am sad that I will never get to see where we are truly going, the fact that a man with his kind of background and knowledge shares a similar vision of a potential (albeit highly optimistic) future was comforting in a big way.
SW-4158-3990-6116
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
where he goes on about the next calendar year? How we could have all our shit fixed in less than a second, and start full colonization beyond our planet in the minute(s) following, though we wouldn't be this species any more, but a new one with more of our strengths and less of our failings?
It was a broad message of "we can work this all out, and look at what we could become if/when we do," and it was a message of stunning unity of humanity towards common goals.
It was like all of my optimism and hopes bottled into a singular message, and while I am sad that I will never get to see where we are truly going, the fact that a man with his kind of background and knowledge shares a similar vision of a potential (albeit highly optimistic) future was comforting in a big way.
where he goes on about the next calendar year? How we could have all our shit fixed in less than a second, and start full colonization beyond our planet in the minute(s) following, though we wouldn't be this species any more, but a new one with more of our strengths and less of our failings?
It was a broad message of "we can work this all out, and look at what we could become if/when we do," and it was a message of stunning unity of humanity towards common goals.
It was like all of my optimism and hopes bottled into a singular message, and while I am sad that I will never get to see where we are truly going, the fact that a man with his kind of background and knowledge shares a similar vision of a potential (albeit highly optimistic) future was comforting in a big way.
...Does anybody actually think that this is a realistic outlook, given all that we (so far) know about how humans seem to operate on a large scale? We have hands & big brains, but we're short sighted and dominated by instinct - there is no serious effort at all in the west to produce energy from any source other than fossil fuel. We seem to be primarily interested in finance, violence & supernatural bullshit; leadership is most often given to those whose aims are profiteering & ideological purification.
Whatever our last winter is, I can't imagine it being anywhere other than here, with most of the population begging for salvation from a God that doesn't exist.
With Love and Courage
+3
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syndalisGetting ClassyOn the WallRegistered User, Loves Apple Productsregular
where he goes on about the next calendar year? How we could have all our shit fixed in less than a second, and start full colonization beyond our planet in the minute(s) following, though we wouldn't be this species any more, but a new one with more of our strengths and less of our failings?
It was a broad message of "we can work this all out, and look at what we could become if/when we do," and it was a message of stunning unity of humanity towards common goals.
It was like all of my optimism and hopes bottled into a singular message, and while I am sad that I will never get to see where we are truly going, the fact that a man with his kind of background and knowledge shares a similar vision of a potential (albeit highly optimistic) future was comforting in a big way.
...Does anybody actually think that this is a realistic outlook, given all that we (so far) know about how humans seem to operate on a large scale? We have hands & big brains, but we're short sighted and dominated by instinct - there is no serious effort at all in the west to produce energy from any source other than fossil fuel. We seem to be primarily interested in finance, violence & supernatural bullshit; leadership is most often given to those whose aims are profiteering & ideological purification.
Whatever our last winter is, I can't imagine it being anywhere other than here, with most of the population begging for salvation from a God that doesn't exist.
There very well may be a gulf between what can happen and what will happen, sure.
It doesn't mean I can't hope for the brighter day, and I am so glad that there is stuff on television telling people that it is possible and something to aim for, as opposed to superficial "who stays on the island" lowest common denominator pandering bullshit.
We need ten more shows like Cosmos. We need society to think knowledge is cool again. And I am going to watch this show on air every night it airs, and tell friends and family to watch it, and just hope against hope that a bunch of kids see this and start caring about things that are both cool and important.
SW-4158-3990-6116
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
where he goes on about the next calendar year? How we could have all our shit fixed in less than a second, and start full colonization beyond our planet in the minute(s) following, though we wouldn't be this species any more, but a new one with more of our strengths and less of our failings?
It was a broad message of "we can work this all out, and look at what we could become if/when we do," and it was a message of stunning unity of humanity towards common goals.
It was like all of my optimism and hopes bottled into a singular message, and while I am sad that I will never get to see where we are truly going, the fact that a man with his kind of background and knowledge shares a similar vision of a potential (albeit highly optimistic) future was comforting in a big way.
...Does anybody actually think that this is a realistic outlook, given all that we (so far) know about how humans seem to operate on a large scale? We have hands & big brains, but we're short sighted and dominated by instinct - there is no serious effort at all in the west to produce energy from any source other than fossil fuel. We seem to be primarily interested in finance, violence & supernatural bullshit; leadership is most often given to those whose aims are profiteering & ideological purification.
Whatever our last winter is, I can't imagine it being anywhere other than here, with most of the population begging for salvation from a God that doesn't exist.
There very well may be a gulf between what can happen and what will happen, sure.
It doesn't mean I can't hope for the brighter day, and I am so glad that there is stuff on television telling people that it is possible and something to aim for, as opposed to superficial "who stays on the island" lowest common denominator pandering bullshit.
We need ten more shows like Cosmos. We need society to think knowledge is cool again. And I am going to watch this show on air every night it airs, and tell friends and family to watch it, and just hope against hope that a bunch of kids see this and start caring about things that are both cool and important.
So the kiddo seems to really like the show. But then sometimes her interest wanes and she's in the room with it on, half paying attention. Also some of the concepts are too big for her (or me for that matter). Although there are some that she grasps so quickly it surprises me. The mind of a child is magic or something. All this to say that my pride swells crazy levels as we watch this together. I didn't realize the show would be opposed. I talked to my parents and the younger brothers (High School age) this weekend after watching the show, and my daughter mentioned it, because it was a thing we did. We spend the next few minutes with them trying to basically ask what belief structure it had. At first I didn't understand the questions, or their relevance. Then it slowly dawned on me that they think it is a show trying to further a different religion. One that stands against their own. It isn't a show trying to teach those things that they learn about in school, or teach about (Step-Mom is a teacher) to them. Its another shot in a battle over who has the raddest god. I don't think they'll be watching it, even though they totally should.
Next I'll try and get my wife to watch the second episode from start to finish. Maybe.
where he goes on about the next calendar year? How we could have all our shit fixed in less than a second, and start full colonization beyond our planet in the minute(s) following, though we wouldn't be this species any more, but a new one with more of our strengths and less of our failings?
It was a broad message of "we can work this all out, and look at what we could become if/when we do," and it was a message of stunning unity of humanity towards common goals.
It was like all of my optimism and hopes bottled into a singular message, and while I am sad that I will never get to see where we are truly going, the fact that a man with his kind of background and knowledge shares a similar vision of a potential (albeit highly optimistic) future was comforting in a big way.
...Does anybody actually think that this is a realistic outlook, given all that we (so far) know about how humans seem to operate on a large scale? We have hands & big brains, but we're short sighted and dominated by instinct - there is no serious effort at all in the west to produce energy from any source other than fossil fuel. We seem to be primarily interested in finance, violence & supernatural bullshit; leadership is most often given to those whose aims are profiteering & ideological purification.
Whatever our last winter is, I can't imagine it being anywhere other than here, with most of the population begging for salvation from a God that doesn't exist.
One second on the cosmic calendar is almost as long as humanity has existed, and longer than modern science has existed. The idea that in that time we will be more connected than ever before, more capable of understanding each other as human beings, and being able to work across the globe on projects as easily as when we stand next to each other, is not a huge leap of the imagination.
+5
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Just_Bri_ThanksSeething with ragefrom a handbasket.Registered User, ClubPAregular
where he goes on about the next calendar year? How we could have all our shit fixed in less than a second, and start full colonization beyond our planet in the minute(s) following, though we wouldn't be this species any more, but a new one with more of our strengths and less of our failings?
It was a broad message of "we can work this all out, and look at what we could become if/when we do," and it was a message of stunning unity of humanity towards common goals.
It was like all of my optimism and hopes bottled into a singular message, and while I am sad that I will never get to see where we are truly going, the fact that a man with his kind of background and knowledge shares a similar vision of a potential (albeit highly optimistic) future was comforting in a big way.
...Does anybody actually think that this is a realistic outlook, given all that we (so far) know about how humans seem to operate on a large scale? We have hands & big brains, but we're short sighted and dominated by instinct - there is no serious effort at all in the west to produce energy from any source other than fossil fuel. We seem to be primarily interested in finance, violence & supernatural bullshit; leadership is most often given to those whose aims are profiteering & ideological purification.
Whatever our last winter is, I can't imagine it being anywhere other than here, with most of the population begging for salvation from a God that doesn't exist.
There very well may be a gulf between what can happen and what will happen, sure.
It doesn't mean I can't hope for the brighter day, and I am so glad that there is stuff on television telling people that it is possible and something to aim for, as opposed to superficial "who stays on the island" lowest common denominator pandering bullshit.
We need ten more shows like Cosmos. We need society to think knowledge is cool again. And I am going to watch this show on air every night it airs, and tell friends and family to watch it, and just hope against hope that a bunch of kids see this and start caring about things that are both cool and important.
So the kiddo seems to really like the show. But then sometimes her interest wanes and she's in the room with it on, half paying attention. Also some of the concepts are too big for her (or me for that matter). Although there are some that she grasps so quickly it surprises me. The mind of a child is magic or something. All this to say that my pride swells crazy levels as we watch this together. I didn't realize the show would be opposed. I talked to my parents and the younger brothers (High School age) this weekend after watching the show, and my daughter mentioned it, because it was a thing we did. We spend the next few minutes with them trying to basically ask what belief structure it had. At first I didn't understand the questions, or their relevance. Then it slowly dawned on me that they think it is a show trying to further a different religion. One that stands against their own. It isn't a show trying to teach those things that they learn about in school, or teach about (Step-Mom is a teacher) to them. Its another shot in a battle over who has the raddest god. I don't think they'll be watching it, even though they totally should.
Next I'll try and get my wife to watch the second episode from start to finish. Maybe.
This is what it is teaching:
...and when you are done with that; take a folding
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
My parents have been out most of the day but they came back home when the episode was about a third of the way through. My dad was using his computer in the room that I was watching the show in and he was piping it every few minutes about it all being fraudulent and a theory and basically complaining about "those damn environmentalists would send us back to the stone age if they thought it would save the world."
So who's buying the DVD/BR next week? I'm waffling between going with a DVD I can play on anything in the house or the Blu-Ray that'll only play on my computer after I've spend a day or two ripping it.
My parents have been out most of the day but they came back home when the episode was about a third of the way through. My dad was using his computer in the room that I was watching the show in and he was piping it every few minutes about it all being fraudulent and a theory and basically complaining about "those damn environmentalists would send us back to the stone age if they thought it would save the world."
He's not wrong. I'd happily advocate for going back to the stone age if that's what the solution climate change was.
Conversations like the one this episode of Cosmos brings-up frustrate me:
Why the Hell don't we just build the damn solar & wind collectors? Seriously: it's a large scale project, but it's not even an especially technically challenging one. We already have the photovoltaic & turbine technology we need - we just need to hire a body of people to actually set them up & hire some manufacturing firms to build them. Why aren't our states interested in this? It would almost certainly be an economic boon, since you're hiring such a large workforce for the projects, it would leave you with an incredible physical legacy to look back on, it would work in concert with contemporary fossil fuels for so long that, realistically, their business wouldn't suffer (although their stock values probably would, because lol market speculation) in the short term. It would even end all of 'environmentalist whining' that Conservatives find so insufferable.
We are we sitting on our hands? I just don't get it. I'd go and start building turbines myself if I had the resources / land / knowledge base to do it.
If the effort was made, it wouldn't even take very long to build what we need to take the burden of power generation off of fossil fuels.
Because you don't understand what motivates American conservatives. It's not any ideology it's "what would really fucking piss off liberals."
But why don't the Democrats have a plan laid out for this? Even up here, the primary leftward parties (Bloc, Liberals, NDP) do not have any groundwork paved for large scale solar or wind. The only people pursuing it are private organizations, basically with small scale proof of concept operations.
Politicians talk about 'emissions standards', but never about actually building new power infrastructure.
Because you don't understand what motivates American conservatives. It's not any ideology it's "what would really fucking piss off liberals."
But why don't the Democrats have a plan laid out for this? Even up here, the primary leftward parties (Bloc, Liberals, NDP) do not have any groundwork paved for large scale solar or wind. The only people pursuing it are private organizations, basically with small scale proof of concept operations.
Politicians talk about 'emissions standards', but never about actually building new power infrastructure.
The last time we tried an senile actor won the election and all the money dried up.
Really, it's just too long term a project to work if everyone isn't on board.
Because you don't understand what motivates American conservatives. It's not any ideology it's "what would really fucking piss off liberals."
But why don't the Democrats have a plan laid out for this? Even up here, the primary leftward parties (Bloc, Liberals, NDP) do not have any groundwork paved for large scale solar or wind. The only people pursuing it are private organizations, basically with small scale proof of concept operations.
Politicians talk about 'emissions standards', but never about actually building new power infrastructure.
Have you ever heard this President talk? He talks about this shit ALL THE TIME.
Also not for nothing, and I know Germany does pretty well with solar, but how well would that work in Canuckistan? Wind obviously could do well in the prairie provinces though.
Self-righteousness is incompatible with coalition building.
Because you don't understand what motivates American conservatives. It's not any ideology it's "what would really fucking piss off liberals."
But why don't the Democrats have a plan laid out for this? Even up here, the primary leftward parties (Bloc, Liberals, NDP) do not have any groundwork paved for large scale solar or wind. The only people pursuing it are private organizations, basically with small scale proof of concept operations.
Politicians talk about 'emissions standards', but never about actually building new power infrastructure.
Have you ever heard this President talk? He talks about this shit ALL THE TIME.
Also not for nothing, and I know Germany does pretty well with solar, but how well would that work in Canuckistan? Wind obviously could do well in the prairie provinces though.
Offshore solar & wind would work extremely well on either coast, and arguably solar would also work quite well around the Great Lakes.
Conversations like the one this episode of Cosmos brings-up frustrate me:
Why the Hell don't we just build the damn solar & wind collectors? Seriously: it's a large scale project, but it's not even an especially technically challenging one. We already have the photovoltaic & turbine technology we need - we just need to hire a body of people to actually set them up & hire some manufacturing firms to build them. Why aren't our states interested in this? It would almost certainly be an economic boon, since you're hiring such a large workforce for the projects, it would leave you with an incredible physical legacy to look back on, it would work in concert with contemporary fossil fuels for so long that, realistically, their business wouldn't suffer (although their stock values probably would, because lol market speculation) in the short term. It would even end all of 'environmentalist whining' that Conservatives find so insufferable.
We are we sitting on our hands? I just don't get it. I'd go and start building turbines myself if I had the resources / land / knowledge base to do it.
If the effort was made, it wouldn't even take very long to build what we need to take the burden of power generation off of fossil fuels.
Same reason why people buy lottery tickets rather than putting the money in the bank. People really aren't conditioned to think in the long term.
Conversations like the one this episode of Cosmos brings-up frustrate me:
Why the Hell don't we just build the damn solar & wind collectors? Seriously: it's a large scale project, but it's not even an especially technically challenging one. We already have the photovoltaic & turbine technology we need - we just need to hire a body of people to actually set them up & hire some manufacturing firms to build them. Why aren't our states interested in this? It would almost certainly be an economic boon, since you're hiring such a large workforce for the projects, it would leave you with an incredible physical legacy to look back on, it would work in concert with contemporary fossil fuels for so long that, realistically, their business wouldn't suffer (although their stock values probably would, because lol market speculation) in the short term. It would even end all of 'environmentalist whining' that Conservatives find so insufferable.
We are we sitting on our hands? I just don't get it. I'd go and start building turbines myself if I had the resources / land / knowledge base to do it.
If the effort was made, it wouldn't even take very long to build what we need to take the burden of power generation off of fossil fuels.
Answered your own question right there.
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staalkontrolGamer For LifeUnited KingdomRegistered Usernew member
This should be obligatory for all school children. To think you can get through 13 years of school without being exposed to this is just sad.
There's also the NIMBY stuff, where people might want the turbines and solar panels, but not if it blocks their view of the coast, or the mountains, or the fields, or the.... you get the idea.
It is too bad they didn't talk about Carter's push for conserving energy and renewable energy sources. Or Reagan's complete reversal of those efforts and his incredibly petty act of taking down the solar panels Carter put up on the White House (which are now in museums, including one piece that's in China).
Conversations like the one this episode of Cosmos brings-up frustrate me:
Why the Hell don't we just build the damn solar & wind collectors? Seriously: it's a large scale project, but it's not even an especially technically challenging one. We already have the photovoltaic & turbine technology we need - we just need to hire a body of people to actually set them up & hire some manufacturing firms to build them. Why aren't our states interested in this? It would almost certainly be an economic boon, since you're hiring such a large workforce for the projects, it would leave you with an incredible physical legacy to look back on, it would work in concert with contemporary fossil fuels for so long that, realistically, their business wouldn't suffer (although their stock values probably would, because lol market speculation) in the short term. It would even end all of 'environmentalist whining' that Conservatives find so insufferable.
We are we sitting on our hands? I just don't get it. I'd go and start building turbines myself if I had the resources / land / knowledge base to do it.
If the effort was made, it wouldn't even take very long to build what we need to take the burden of power generation off of fossil fuels.
It's not efficient enough to use everywhere in the US. Wind and Solar energy require pretty specific circumstances to be useable, and even then they use up tons of land and resources. Landlocked areas with little rain are good places for solar farms, but the biggest energy consuming cities of the US live on the coast.
Conversations like the one this episode of Cosmos brings-up frustrate me:
Why the Hell don't we just build the damn solar & wind collectors? Seriously: it's a large scale project, but it's not even an especially technically challenging one. We already have the photovoltaic & turbine technology we need - we just need to hire a body of people to actually set them up & hire some manufacturing firms to build them. Why aren't our states interested in this? It would almost certainly be an economic boon, since you're hiring such a large workforce for the projects, it would leave you with an incredible physical legacy to look back on, it would work in concert with contemporary fossil fuels for so long that, realistically, their business wouldn't suffer (although their stock values probably would, because lol market speculation) in the short term. It would even end all of 'environmentalist whining' that Conservatives find so insufferable.
We are we sitting on our hands? I just don't get it. I'd go and start building turbines myself if I had the resources / land / knowledge base to do it.
If the effort was made, it wouldn't even take very long to build what we need to take the burden of power generation off of fossil fuels.
It's not efficient enough to use everywhere in the US. Wind and Solar energy require pretty specific circumstances to be useable, and even then they use up tons of land and resources. Landlocked areas with little rain are good places for solar farms, but the biggest energy consuming cities of the US live on the coast.
So, um, off-shore turbines and solar collectors? Plus tidal power collectors? I'm just thinking aloud hear.
+1
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frenetic_ferretwildest weaselEast Coast is Best CoastRegistered Userregular
Conversations like the one this episode of Cosmos brings-up frustrate me:
Why the Hell don't we just build the damn solar & wind collectors? Seriously: it's a large scale project, but it's not even an especially technically challenging one. We already have the photovoltaic & turbine technology we need - we just need to hire a body of people to actually set them up & hire some manufacturing firms to build them. Why aren't our states interested in this? It would almost certainly be an economic boon, since you're hiring such a large workforce for the projects, it would leave you with an incredible physical legacy to look back on, it would work in concert with contemporary fossil fuels for so long that, realistically, their business wouldn't suffer (although their stock values probably would, because lol market speculation) in the short term. It would even end all of 'environmentalist whining' that Conservatives find so insufferable.
We are we sitting on our hands? I just don't get it. I'd go and start building turbines myself if I had the resources / land / knowledge base to do it.
If the effort was made, it wouldn't even take very long to build what we need to take the burden of power generation off of fossil fuels.
It's not efficient enough to use everywhere in the US. Wind and Solar energy require pretty specific circumstances to be useable, and even then they use up tons of land and resources. Landlocked areas with little rain are good places for solar farms, but the biggest energy consuming cities of the US live on the coast.
So, um, off-shore turbines and solar collectors? Plus tidal power collectors? I'm just thinking aloud hear.
The issue is that we need nuclear. One of the reasons were so screwed with climate change is that sure, there's a good part of the country that "denies" it exists. But a lot of that has to do with people concerned over stuff like the global power situation with the petrodollar, and the fact that several US states would see their economy utterly destroyed by a halt to extraction. It's selfish, but there's some logic to it. However many of the people that feel really strongly against climate change simply don't give a rats ass what the consequences of solving environmental issues are. The two views are very much anthropocentric vs ecocentric. Many on the ecocentric side are right about global warming, but their complete unwillingness to use nuclear power and fear mongering about it. So on the one hand we have people so concerned about the current global economic power order or their own states fiscal survival they're utterly unwilling to even talk about the problem, and on the other hand you have people so dead against anything that isn't 100% a magic fairy dust solution they refuse to allow the one solution we could have been using since the 70's, nuclear.
The first step to solving our problem is the leaders of the left and the right taking their most activist and vocal members on this issue out behind the barn and shooting them in the head, but of course our politicians lack the balls do that. Which means get some suntan lotion and a surfboard.
Our weekly family viewings of Cosmos have been a brief, but sacred family tradition. I'm not a religious person (any more, I was raised fundamentalist Christian), but there is something about the awe and wonder that this show stirs in my being. It makes me downright melancholy that there is only one episode left.
Conversations like the one this episode of Cosmos brings-up frustrate me:
Why the Hell don't we just build the damn solar & wind collectors? Seriously: it's a large scale project, but it's not even an especially technically challenging one. We already have the photovoltaic & turbine technology we need - we just need to hire a body of people to actually set them up & hire some manufacturing firms to build them. Why aren't our states interested in this? It would almost certainly be an economic boon, since you're hiring such a large workforce for the projects, it would leave you with an incredible physical legacy to look back on, it would work in concert with contemporary fossil fuels for so long that, realistically, their business wouldn't suffer (although their stock values probably would, because lol market speculation) in the short term. It would even end all of 'environmentalist whining' that Conservatives find so insufferable.
We are we sitting on our hands? I just don't get it. I'd go and start building turbines myself if I had the resources / land / knowledge base to do it.
If the effort was made, it wouldn't even take very long to build what we need to take the burden of power generation off of fossil fuels.
It's not efficient enough to use everywhere in the US. Wind and Solar energy require pretty specific circumstances to be useable, and even then they use up tons of land and resources. Landlocked areas with little rain are good places for solar farms, but the biggest energy consuming cities of the US live on the coast.
So, um, off-shore turbines and solar collectors? Plus tidal power collectors? I'm just thinking aloud hear.
The issue is that we need nuclear. One of the reasons were so screwed with climate change is that sure, there's a good part of the country that "denies" it exists. But a lot of that has to do with people concerned over stuff like the global power situation with the petrodollar, and the fact that several US states would see their economy utterly destroyed by a halt to extraction. It's selfish, but there's some logic to it. However many of the people that feel really strongly against climate change simply don't give a rats ass what the consequences of solving environmental issues are. The two views are very much anthropocentric vs ecocentric. Many on the ecocentric side are right about global warming, but their complete unwillingness to use nuclear power and fear mongering about it. So on the one hand we have people so concerned about the current global economic power order or their own states fiscal survival they're utterly unwilling to even talk about the problem, and on the other hand you have people so dead against anything that isn't 100% a magic fairy dust solution they refuse to allow the one solution we could have been using since the 70's, nuclear.
The first step to solving our problem is the leaders of the left and the right taking their most activist and vocal members on this issue out behind the barn and shooting them in the head, but of course our politicians lack the balls do that. Which means get some suntan lotion and a surfboard.
Of course it would super help with this process if old nuc plants weren't being run far past their designed lives and honking up great gobs of radioactivity every few years.
But yeah now would not be too soon to start laying down a shit ton of new generation nuclear reactors. In fact it would be a great time to begin.
The Ship of the Imagination makes a final journey to explore one of the biggest mysteries of the universe: dark energy. Meet one of science's greatest unsung heroes, Fritz Zwicky, whose prediction of supernovas paved the way for our larger understanding of dark energy, the unknown force in the universe that overwhelms gravity on the grandest scale. On our final voyage, discover the romantic message embedded in Voyager's Interstellar Golden Record and contemplate the spiritual experience of life on Earth as our cosmic journey concludes with Carl Sagan's unforgettable meditation, The Pale Blue Dot.
I KNEW they'd end the season with Pale Blue Dot. Prepare for dem feels.
Posts
Heck, check out the entire run of Nova Science Now that Dr Tyson did.
battletag: Millin#1360
Nice chart to figure out how honest a news source is.
Oh great now I have to watch it again
Thanks a lot, Jragghen
Never.
I'm sure of it
a... almost positive
where he goes on about the next calendar year? How we could have all our shit fixed in less than a second, and start full colonization beyond our planet in the minute(s) following, though we wouldn't be this species any more, but a new one with more of our strengths and less of our failings?
It was a broad message of "we can work this all out, and look at what we could become if/when we do," and it was a message of stunning unity of humanity towards common goals.
It was like all of my optimism and hopes bottled into a singular message, and while I am sad that I will never get to see where we are truly going, the fact that a man with his kind of background and knowledge shares a similar vision of a potential (albeit highly optimistic) future was comforting in a big way.
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
Battlenet ID: MildC#11186 - If I'm in the game, send me an invite at anytime and I'll play.
That whole last segment is straight up a nod to Sagan and Cosmos: A personal voyage:
God, I love the original version just as much.
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
...Does anybody actually think that this is a realistic outlook, given all that we (so far) know about how humans seem to operate on a large scale? We have hands & big brains, but we're short sighted and dominated by instinct - there is no serious effort at all in the west to produce energy from any source other than fossil fuel. We seem to be primarily interested in finance, violence & supernatural bullshit; leadership is most often given to those whose aims are profiteering & ideological purification.
Whatever our last winter is, I can't imagine it being anywhere other than here, with most of the population begging for salvation from a God that doesn't exist.
There very well may be a gulf between what can happen and what will happen, sure.
It doesn't mean I can't hope for the brighter day, and I am so glad that there is stuff on television telling people that it is possible and something to aim for, as opposed to superficial "who stays on the island" lowest common denominator pandering bullshit.
We need ten more shows like Cosmos. We need society to think knowledge is cool again. And I am going to watch this show on air every night it airs, and tell friends and family to watch it, and just hope against hope that a bunch of kids see this and start caring about things that are both cool and important.
Let's play Mario Kart or something...
So the kiddo seems to really like the show. But then sometimes her interest wanes and she's in the room with it on, half paying attention. Also some of the concepts are too big for her (or me for that matter). Although there are some that she grasps so quickly it surprises me. The mind of a child is magic or something. All this to say that my pride swells crazy levels as we watch this together. I didn't realize the show would be opposed. I talked to my parents and the younger brothers (High School age) this weekend after watching the show, and my daughter mentioned it, because it was a thing we did. We spend the next few minutes with them trying to basically ask what belief structure it had. At first I didn't understand the questions, or their relevance. Then it slowly dawned on me that they think it is a show trying to further a different religion. One that stands against their own. It isn't a show trying to teach those things that they learn about in school, or teach about (Step-Mom is a teacher) to them. Its another shot in a battle over who has the raddest god. I don't think they'll be watching it, even though they totally should.
Next I'll try and get my wife to watch the second episode from start to finish. Maybe.
One second on the cosmic calendar is almost as long as humanity has existed, and longer than modern science has existed. The idea that in that time we will be more connected than ever before, more capable of understanding each other as human beings, and being able to work across the globe on projects as easily as when we stand next to each other, is not a huge leap of the imagination.
This is what it is teaching:
chair to Creation and then suplex the Void.
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
He's not wrong. I'd happily advocate for going back to the stone age if that's what the solution climate change was.
Fortunately, that's not the solution.
Why the Hell don't we just build the damn solar & wind collectors? Seriously: it's a large scale project, but it's not even an especially technically challenging one. We already have the photovoltaic & turbine technology we need - we just need to hire a body of people to actually set them up & hire some manufacturing firms to build them. Why aren't our states interested in this? It would almost certainly be an economic boon, since you're hiring such a large workforce for the projects, it would leave you with an incredible physical legacy to look back on, it would work in concert with contemporary fossil fuels for so long that, realistically, their business wouldn't suffer (although their stock values probably would, because lol market speculation) in the short term. It would even end all of 'environmentalist whining' that Conservatives find so insufferable.
We are we sitting on our hands? I just don't get it. I'd go and start building turbines myself if I had the resources / land / knowledge base to do it.
If the effort was made, it wouldn't even take very long to build what we need to take the burden of power generation off of fossil fuels.
But why don't the Democrats have a plan laid out for this? Even up here, the primary leftward parties (Bloc, Liberals, NDP) do not have any groundwork paved for large scale solar or wind. The only people pursuing it are private organizations, basically with small scale proof of concept operations.
Politicians talk about 'emissions standards', but never about actually building new power infrastructure.
Really, it's just too long term a project to work if everyone isn't on board.
Have you ever heard this President talk? He talks about this shit ALL THE TIME.
Also not for nothing, and I know Germany does pretty well with solar, but how well would that work in Canuckistan? Wind obviously could do well in the prairie provinces though.
Offshore solar & wind would work extremely well on either coast, and arguably solar would also work quite well around the Great Lakes.
Same reason why people buy lottery tickets rather than putting the money in the bank. People really aren't conditioned to think in the long term.
Answered your own question right there.
Speaking of which, I'm a little disappointed that nuclear wasn't even mentioned in he episode as another alternative.
It's not efficient enough to use everywhere in the US. Wind and Solar energy require pretty specific circumstances to be useable, and even then they use up tons of land and resources. Landlocked areas with little rain are good places for solar farms, but the biggest energy consuming cities of the US live on the coast.
So, um, off-shore turbines and solar collectors? Plus tidal power collectors? I'm just thinking aloud hear.
The issue is that we need nuclear. One of the reasons were so screwed with climate change is that sure, there's a good part of the country that "denies" it exists. But a lot of that has to do with people concerned over stuff like the global power situation with the petrodollar, and the fact that several US states would see their economy utterly destroyed by a halt to extraction. It's selfish, but there's some logic to it. However many of the people that feel really strongly against climate change simply don't give a rats ass what the consequences of solving environmental issues are. The two views are very much anthropocentric vs ecocentric. Many on the ecocentric side are right about global warming, but their complete unwillingness to use nuclear power and fear mongering about it. So on the one hand we have people so concerned about the current global economic power order or their own states fiscal survival they're utterly unwilling to even talk about the problem, and on the other hand you have people so dead against anything that isn't 100% a magic fairy dust solution they refuse to allow the one solution we could have been using since the 70's, nuclear.
The first step to solving our problem is the leaders of the left and the right taking their most activist and vocal members on this issue out behind the barn and shooting them in the head, but of course our politicians lack the balls do that. Which means get some suntan lotion and a surfboard.
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Of course it would super help with this process if old nuc plants weren't being run far past their designed lives and honking up great gobs of radioactivity every few years.
But yeah now would not be too soon to start laying down a shit ton of new generation nuclear reactors. In fact it would be a great time to begin.
Switch: 6200-8149-0919 / Wii U: maximumzero / 3DS: 0860-3352-3335 / eBay Shop
The Ship of the Imagination makes a final journey to explore one of the biggest mysteries of the universe: dark energy. Meet one of science's greatest unsung heroes, Fritz Zwicky, whose prediction of supernovas paved the way for our larger understanding of dark energy, the unknown force in the universe that overwhelms gravity on the grandest scale. On our final voyage, discover the romantic message embedded in Voyager's Interstellar Golden Record and contemplate the spiritual experience of life on Earth as our cosmic journey concludes with Carl Sagan's unforgettable meditation, The Pale Blue Dot.
I KNEW they'd end the season with Pale Blue Dot. Prepare for dem feels.