Tony Training

Tony: pay attention! This is what happens when you only take advice from men. Do not let this happen to you!

Gonna Find Him?

Yes, as I approach my millionth credit on the http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/ project, looking for ET, I wonder about the plausibility of actually achieving success in the search. And then I see this little commentary on the net:

A discussion of the potential for extrasolar life-bearing planets would be incomplete without reference to the Drake Equation. Gene Roddenberry utilized it three years after Drake came up with it, to legitimize the story potential of his TV series idea. Desilu productions bought his spiel, and Star Trek was born. I am such a geek.

Though the future of Star Trek is now being questioned, Drake proved that the idea of there being life-bearing planets is a mathematical probability. Mathematically they do exist. Isaac Asimov determined mathematically in his work Extraterrestrial Civilizations that it’s not a question of yes or no. At the most conservative estimates there’s a bare minimum of thirty civilizations out there as advanced or more advanced than ourselves, as you are reading these words.

The question isn’t a yes or no question. The question is where. Since this galaxy is so big, you have a better chance finding one needle hidden somewhere in all the haystacks that currently exist on this planet. AND the universe is expanding, so we’re moving further and further away from other stars, making it even less plausible we’ll ever run into one of those thirty civilizations before either they or we exterminate ourselves. So try finding that needle in one of many haystacks as all those haystacks are driving away from you.

This kinda puts a damper on Roddenberry’s vision of such a wealth of neato story ideas. Even with warp drive, you’d be hard pressed to find one populated extrasolar planet per week. You have better odds accidently landing on an uncharted island hidden from the real world by unknown forces and containing a bunch of crazy people who like oatmeal.

Culture Clash

You’ve got to wonder if this picture of a female member of the Mursi tribe in Southern Ethiopia is staged. I mean… nobody really accessorizes an AK47 with an iPod!

McCain Doesn’t Explode, He Implodes

Lord knows how long this will stay up:

The field of suitable Presidential candidates narrows. Can McCain any longer be considered a credible candidate? Probably not.