Type 0

No this is not a typo . In science fiction and those persons who are interested in the future, rate the level of civilization  that exists around them by the use of resources.

A type 3 civilization is very, very, advanced. It uses the resources and energy that spans an entire galaxy. When you consider that a galaxy contains on the order of 100, 000, 000 stars this is quite an accomplishment.

A type 2 civilization uses the energy and resources of an entire solar system. This means using the raw materials from asteroids and uninhabited planets to serve the needs of the needs of those that have life. It also means using all of the solar energy that is poured out daily by our sun. Though not as advanced as the previous one it is still a high order of civilization.

A type 1 uses some of the solar power the sun gives freely every single pico-second  and all of the resources of an entire planet for the benefit and  betterment  of every single member of the species that inhabit that planet. This would take a great deal of co-operation to accomplish. A high order of social and economic development would have had to occur before this civilization would be brought about.

This brings us to our civilization. A group of separate nation states, using fossil fuels , polluting our environment, killing each other. Our social progress is primitive at best and this problem is compounded by the inefficient use  of energy, resources  and most important of all people. I believe that makes us a type 0 civilization.

Complian 1

Complian 1

This is what I sound like complaining. My first attempt at adding sound works well up to a point!!

What Happened 2012 ???

Another New Year, and we celebrated it so loudly and with such enthusiasm. Strange, in a world divided by politics, religion, economics, we should as a species , all look forward to a new year. I watched as each major nation welcomed 2012 with a great deal of noisy fireworks.

I look forward to the future with hope because there is no other way to look ahead. Granted I hope to to do better and hope the best for my world. Sadly though I know I will make  a great personal effort I feel the world as a whole will lag behind. As such I will measure our progress on how well we do.

Have we achieved meaningful world peace ?? If not now , when ?? Though there has been positive moves the animosity level has not decreased. One very telling point is why China was not invited to participate in the International Space Station. I have been monitoring , with interest their many successes in this area. They seem intent on building their own space station and we shall see that the next humans on the moon will be Chinese.

The genome was mapped a few years ago, yet where is the cure for cancer ??. Where are all those cheap and wonderful treatments that were promised ?? Now I know that it takes years of very hard research and development to come up with this stuff but I have not heard a peep lately.

Why is it in the twenty-first century we are still using so much oil?? Where are all those wonder fuels that give us plentiful energy without slowly killing the environment ??  We have 'clean' energy via nuclear power but where do you bury , safely all that radio-active waste?? Using fossil fuels will make us fossils eventually!

Last October the seventh billion person was born. When I was a young lad there were about 3.7  billion humans on earth. In my lifetime, spanning many decades I have witnessed it double. I firmly believe that even with 7 billion people, there are enough resources and ability to give every single person food, a decent education and a home to live in with dignity. However the distribution of the existing resources is very upside down.

Have we figured out what human consciousness is ???  I know form reading this letter you may think that humans are not intelligent but even I have to admit there are signs of it appearing from time to time. However it seems that as one philosopher stated, the hard problem does not have any solutions yet. Research continues and has increased over the past few years and hopefully results will ensue.

To end this long winded commentary I ask where is my robot ?? I am thrilled about the amount of interest, research and progress that has been made. A lot of it in North America is funded by the military and this is a cause for concern. There is so much work being done that it is hard to keep track of the latest developments. I am engaged in this most fascinating work. However I have yet to see a conscious, fully functioning robot leave any of our labs just yet.

As in all things all we can do is hope !!!

Google Prize !!!!!

Though it did not make the front pages,  or the middle pages, or even the back pages, the race to place a robot on the moon is still on!!! Oh yes there are many governments pursuing this worthwhile effort and these I applaud. However I am referring about the individual, non-government efforts that are hoping to win the prize so generously offered by Google. I was so excited to learn about this that I walked around and told that would listen and some of those that did not want to listen how wonderful it was that this was happening. A few must have thought I was touched by the very moon those people were aiming for in their plans.

However I am still very excited about this endeavour and I am saddened that I lack the resources to send a robot to the moon. The building of the robot is not the hard part. The real hard part is getting the fuel and the rocket and the launching it. After this the problems compound. Once it is launched you must be able to track the trajectory of the robot rocket. Since the earth, sun and moon are constantly in motion relative to each other there must be a way of attitude and course adjustment. Then there is the problem of communicating over the vast distance from the surface of the earth to the surface of the moon. I would like the robots to be autonomous but everything that will place this precious cargo in one piece may not be. Then on  the moon the robot has to traverse the surface and send pictures back to eager humans!!

This would be an accomplishment and a half and I wonder if the world will take any notice. I feel that the world has its priorities upside down. To me the use of robots heralds a safer and better world. We make our world from what choices we make and the paths we follow. So it seems that I will continue to jump up and down and tell those that think I am a bit touched and exclaim to the world that this is something to shout about !!!!

Lunokhod the Russian Moon Rover

Recently I became aware of some fascinating pictures of the Russian robot rover on the moon. It was launched as the answer to the Apollo 11 moon landing. It was discovered by a Canadian astronomer with data from a recent Lunar Orbiter. He found that it holds the distance record of over thirty-five kilometers traversing on the moon and now is seen beside a crater. The pictures are literally out of this world and it takes your breath away to see the tracks it made in the lunar dust all those decades ago.

Now as I look at these pictures  I wonder about the lagging space programs in the world. All going in their own directions. I think in this twenty-first century we should put our differences aside and work together. In this way we could share the high initial cost of going into space. To set things up is going to be very expensive. However as a species we can certainly afford it. We should back to the moon with the plan of setting up a permanent moon base and from there explore the planets. The moon has less gravity and we could launch ship after ship with less energy use.

Now the crews of these ships should be robotic at first, second and of course third. Robots are perfect for space. They do not need life support  and can be built for specific missions to specific planets. Also they can be built to last for decades. What wonders will we see??  What secrets will we learn ?? As we learn  these secrets the whole world can share equally. World wide interest will cause the governments to keep up the expense. We cannot afford not to do this. Hopefully we could set up a World Space Administration.  We should go into space with specific timetables and goals. We should also have a vision of the future. The great potential of space can be realized if we work as one species. What happens to one affects us all since we share the same biosphere, at least for the near term.

Sleep well loyal, hard working robot !!

I just found a new, well old video in Russian about these robots. They are filmed on Earth with some lively music. To a robot builder the movements of the robot are like a well orchestrated ballet . I hope you enjoy it as much as I love to watch this type of robot in action !

Alloting Words

Shakespeare once wrote in one of his plays, " That a rose by any other name would smell just a sweet."  In another he penned the following words, " How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child." Even common day to day activities were stated with eloquence. Marc Anthony wished that the people gathered after the murder of Julius Caesar would listen to him. He entreats them with these words, " Friends, Romans ,countrymen lend me your ears !!!" I have remembered these over the years because they are beautiful and crafted with intelligence and genuine warmth.

As I sat in a coffee shop I penned more words surrounded by talk. Most of it unintelligible and distant enough that it did not intrude on my own thoughts. When I walked down the street  I saw and heard people conversing on their cell phones. On the computer there are so, so, so many sites, forums, chat-rooms and blogs that it is at times overwhelming.

I wonder how many words are spoken or written or typed in a single day by all the humans on this planet. Could you actually count such things accurately??  I know  I have like most humans, said words that I wish I could take back. However once something is uttered it is impossible to unsay, not write it. This is the result of engaging the mouth before engaging the brain .

I listened to a talk show host on the radio many years ago and he coined a phrase that has stayed with me. He said we should be allotted so many words a day. When the number of words spoken or written were reached we would have to stop. Hopefully this would give us time to think twice or thrice before we pen or say words that would add nothing of substance or value.  I realize that something like this concept would be almost impossible to suggest , let alone implement. I just found it intriguing!!!

Just the Moon Please !!

What happened here??? Where are those moon bases?? Where are the moon colonies.?? They used to say that people that were a bit touched were lunatics. We are crazy if we do not exploit our nearest celestial neighbour.  We just got there and then we abandoned our grand vision. The first nation to land a man on the moon seems to be seized with an overwhelming lethargy .

However other nations are now beginning to land  robots,  and  hope to land man back on the moon. The nation that can accomplish that will be on the rise and be able to exploit that tremendous potential. They can extract and use the frozen water on the moon's surface. They can construct manufacturing plants. If they have a grand vision, build spaceships from material found on the surface and launch them with less effort and energy due to the lower gravity.

I am glad we have not given up on the dream of returning to the moon. It will mean changing the train going there but it is important to remember that we are all the same species and the man must be back on the moon for the sake of our  future as a race.

                                                   Apollo 15 Moon Rover on surface.