January 30, 2009

Trapped on Earth

Source: XKCD

Sometimes I wonder if in a few million years some advanced alien race will show up at Earth. They had long ago filtered out all of the radio noise in the galaxy, narrowed down the planets likely to hold life, and finally set out to explore the galaxy.
As they neared our star system they would do some scans and find that the third planet from the sun had a good atmosphere, a warm climate that could support liquid water, and even - to their joy - it was surrounded by thousands of tiny bits of metal; manmade satellites.

They would try to hail us, but would receive no reply. They would come closer to our planet and notice a few man-made objects on Mars. Their stomachs [or whatever they have] would twist with excitement at their realization that we too had the power to leave our planet and travel in space.

They would reach earth and scan it. They would only find primitive cities, barbaric savages, and derelict automated machines trying desperately to fulfill their futile mission. These humanoid barbaric savages couldn't be the ones who built the satellites and the man-made objects on mars could they? Something must have happened to them. Who was that once proud race that once beamed messages into space and sent robots all throughout their star system?

I wonder if the human race will really amount to anything other than a fascinating line of rubble in the fossil record. We refuse to seek out alternative sources of energy, we are so territorial that we kill our own species, and people are even suggesting we should abandon sending people into space altogether.

We are overcrowding this planet, we're killing much of the life on it, and no one seems to be getting it through their thick skull that this is the only planet that we have. That's it. We fuck it up and we're dead. There is no escape hatch, no reset switch, no backup planet we can jump to.

We have to work hard to leave this planet and colonize other worlds. We should be treating other planets the way we treat other continents: take it over and breed like mad.

January 23, 2009

also, this:

fun quiz for myspace profile and blog

I wish more women knew that about me. Unfortunately that bit about "Rare to Find" seems to be prevailing right now.

January 6, 2009

Life Will Find a Way


I drew this in my Basic Design class today during the lecture about how different macs are from windows. I already knew the differences so I loaded up photoshop and played with my tablet.

Someday I hope we really do clone some extinct animal. Scientists are getting closer and closer to being able to easily* clone a mammoth. However now the biggest hurdle seems to be coming up with a good enough reason to clone them. Besides studying them, there doesn't really seem to be a point.

In my nanowrimo novel, the colony on Mars has become a haven for genetic experiments that aren't allowed on Earth. The people of Mars needed a hardy animal that could survive in the harsh cold environment of Mars, be domesticated, and provide a lot of meat. They decided to bring back the Woolly Mammoth [with a few tweaks so it was better suited for the environment], and soon mammoth meat became the staple of Martian cuisine.

I think reviving Mammoths would be beneficial to the entire world. They could survive in harsh cold environments where little else grows [like Northern Canada, Alaska, or Russia] and would provide a lot of meat. They could stimulate the economy in those cold regions, provide food for the starving people of the Earth, and provide a great deal of wool. I'm sure they could probably be milked too.

Hell, we ate them into extinction too. They must taste pretty good.

*as easy as cloning an animal anyway.

January 1, 2009

New Years Predictions

Edit: Novah did one too.

Time for some new year's predictions :D

January
Obama will be sworn in. By the end of the month Republicans will already be blaming the country's problems on him.

February
Springlike weather will arrive early this year.

March
School shooting results in a federal ban on ammunition.

April
Steve Jobs will finally admit that he has declining health and may not live much longer.

May
Religious extremists bomb abortion clinics.

June
Scientists warn of drought and the hottest summer in recorded history.
Summer starts off with a "bang".

July
The LHC will be delayed due to another malfunction.
Some countries withdraw their support.

August
Severe drought will cause food and water shortages around the world.
Many die.

September
More threats of terrorism coming from some surprising sources.

October
A kid is killed in Alaska for dressing as a polar bear for Halloween.

November
Christmas decorations are put up near the beginning of the month instead of waiting until after Thanksgiving.
Even more "Black-Friday" violence that no one seems to react to.

December
Smaller holiday season this year with the economy still tanking downward.
No New Year's glasses are sold because no one can figure out where the eyes will go.