Kevin Lepton

Tsunamis versus Rogue Waves – Future Security

Mar 152011

Japan’s recent earthquake, tsunami and ongoing nuclear meltdowns got me to thinking if Man will ever conquer Mother Nature? It also got me to thinking which is more powerful, a tsunami or a rogue wave? If the two were to clash would they cancel each other out?

My tendency is to think they would be like two ships passing in the night barely noticing each other. Rogue waves, as in the movie “Perfect Storm” tend to be far from shore. A tsunami, on the other hand, can also travel far from shore as witnessed in Northern California from the recent 9.0 Japanese quake.

But, and this is a big but (to go along with my own big butt that consumed too many calories on a late night binge on chicken nuggets last night – but I digest) the advice given for boaters at least is that if a tsunami is coming then take your vessel 3 miles out to sea away from shore. For rogue waves, the closer to shore you are the safer you and your ship are. At least this is the conventional wisdom. Not that I’m into convention or wisdom.

So, the point I’m trying to make and doing a bad job in getting quickly to it is will there come a time when Man can overcome Mother Nature using science and technology. For instance here are some things I’ve thought about in regard to future technology to deal with catastrophic natural events:

1. Pre-emptive strikes of explosives along volcanic plates to ease the pressure.

2. Use of laser beams along fault lines for the same purposes.

3. Instant early warning systems tied into our cell phones, laptops, PCs. There must be an app for that? Or perhaps there will be.

4. In the future, say 50 or so years from now, there may be flying cars, buses, or even buildings for high level emergency evacuations.

5. Having lived near the Mississippi River for a while I know that some houses are built on stilts to deal with occasional floods. Perhaps in the future, hydraulic stilts on future homes would be an option to deal with flooding, tsunamis and even the shaking from 9.0 and above earthquakes.

Waves

These are just a few ideas I came up with off the top of my head. I regularly put a mirror above my head to see small light bulbs going off and “word ideas” coming and going like drops of water in a hot frying pan. So, if you have an idea for how we can try to protect ourselves better from Mother Nature in the future using technology, then leave a comment. As for me, I’m going back to my mirror since I think I see a bald spot and there may just be a few new ideas ready to pop.

Cool Future Technology Stories of the Week

Emerging Technology Comments Off

Mar 112011

Here are a few cool future technology stories that I’ve squirreled away (using real life squirrel plus a ferret) in the event that you my esteemed guest would also like to read them.

So be amazed, be enthrawled and be anything but benign (or ten) when it comes to this future tech that is right square in your peripheral vision.

Star Trek Tractor Beam Is Not Science Fiction Anymore

Another piece of Star Trek technology has become a reality. Captain Kirk would instantly recognize new blueprints developed by a team of Chinese scientists as plans for a tractor beam.

The proposed device hasn’t yet been built. But a similar one conceived by an American physicist was tested last year. Each device would fulfill the science fiction dream of reeling in objects using light — though neither could move anything bigger than a bacterium, much less a starship.

Traveling Wave Reactor Recycles Uranium Waste and Creates Energy

Any new business venture gains a little bit of clout when Bill Gates gets on board. Washington-based company TerraPower is developing a new form of nuclear power, and their efforts have attracted the investment of the billionaire Microsoft founder. The experimental nuclear technology that TerraPower is pursuing, called the traveling wave reactor, was first proposed in the 1950s, but has seen little in the way of research or development in the decades since.

Anti Laser Beams – Say What

Physicists have built the world’s first device that can cancel out a laser beam – a so-called anti-laser. The device, created by a team from Yale University, is capable of absorbing an incoming laser beam entirely.

Lunar X Prize Contest Teams Announced

Twenty-nine privately funded teams have thrown their hats in the ring, contest organizers announced Feb. 17, and entries are closed. The teams represent 17 nations spanning four continents, and the competitors range from non-profits to university consortia to billion-dollar businesses.

Google publishes facial recognition patent, could use social network photos

If you are out in public, you are fair game, but how would you like it if a stranger took your picture and then ran a search to find out your name, online aliases and all the information about you via that image? We are very nearly there with automatic face-recognition technology and social media aggregation.

NASA’S Chandra Finds Superfluid in Neutron Star’s Core

NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has discovered the first direct evidence for a superfluid, a bizarre, friction-free state of matter, at the core of a neutron star. Superfluids created in laboratories on Earth exhibit remarkable properties, such as the ability to climb upward and escape airtight containers. The finding has important implications for understanding nuclear interactions in matter at the highest known densities.

Rossi Cold Fusion 18-Hour Test Success

Future Energy 1 Response »

Mar 092011

For those who think that cold fusion is the energy source of the future you’ll be heartened by the news that pioneering engineer and inventor Andrea Rossi ran an 18-hour test of his cold fusion device successfully without any mishaps.

Many people believe that future cold fusion will run everything from large scale power plants to personal power plants, cars, space craft and even small electronic devices. The emerging technology behind creating and containing cold fusion has been in the works for years.

Now, however, Andrea Rossi ran a successful test using warm water, 0.4 grams of hydrogen, nickel powder and some super secret (pinkie shake and decoder ring) catalysts.

According to NYTeknik, “The ‘energy catalyzer’, demonstrated to invited scientific observers in January, is producing heat by an unknown reaction. The device’s reactor is loaded with nickel powder in the presence of secret catalysts, and pressurized with hydrogen. When the device is ‘ignited’ by the application of heat through an electrical resistance, a reaction emitting about 10 kilowatts of heat output starts. Rossi’s hypothesis is that the energy derives from a nuclear reaction in which a nickel nucleus captures a proton (the hydrogen nucleus of) to form copper. This could be regarded as’cold fusion’.”

Rossi brought up the idea that there was some sort of fraud going on behind this event. He basically said that at the end of his career he has nothing to gain by using smoke and mirrors to get the desired results.

This may just be the cold fusion breakthrough scientists have been seeking for years. If Jimmy Durante were alive today he may just say, “Cold fusion? Hot-cha-cha-cha-cha!”

Older Entries Newer Entries