Category: Uncategorized

Return to the Moon

Return to the Moon is the aim of the latest American project to venture into space. It’s an ambitious attempt to get to the Moon and eventually to establish a base on its surface. 

For fans of the British TV series Space 1999 it’s a possible realisation of Moon base Alpha. Although the reality is likely to be rather more modest in size. As far as we know there’s no aliens to repel or possibility of being spun into the empty void of space.

Setting up camp on a Moon, with no atmosphere and much less gravitational pull than Earth, is not for the faint hearted. Just the act of landing on it without crashing into it takes considerable skill. I remember early computer games based on a simple lunar lander. Block graphics written in BASIC floating across the screen.

Look as hard as you can, there are no signs of cows jumping this morning. That nursery rhyme is to be left on the shelf. If the Moon bound astronauts should see a cow on their mission, then I’m sure that it’s more a case of something they ate rather than a bovine space traveller.

This space mission should take humans further away from our home planet than any human has travelled. Hopefully this will happen as per the script. It seems strange that it has taken until 2026 to mark this great achievement.

Makes me think of the HHGTTG and the reference to humans being so lazy that they can’t be bothered to travel to their closest star. Afterall the plans for the demolition of the Earth have been sitting there for all to see for eons.

In fictional space travel terms this mission to the Moon is baby steps. A hop to our constant satellite. Both an opportunity to admire it close and look back at the Earth. To look back to see the whole Earth. Not a single boundary fence or line on a map. Not a palace or bunker.

Passing over the dark side of the Moon has been done before. Immortalised by Pink Floyd, the dark side is a unique place that few have seen with their own eyes. Yes, a spacecraft has landed there but there remains something spooky about the face that’s turned away from us.

One thing is for sure. Should they succeed, these 21st century astronauts can report back to US President Trump. They can finally confirm that the Moon is not made of green cheese. Rumours may persist amongst the flat earthers. Conspiracy theories do the rounds on a regular basis. Modern popular culture hasn’t embraced the green cheese theory – yet.

Return to the Moon is a grand ambition. Not a lot of practical benefits to be gained in the short-term. This is more a venture for the long-term. If we are to become a spacefaring race, then these are steps that must be taken.

Uncertain Times

What do you do when faced with abusive and disruptive behaviour? For the most part, it’s common to have an emotional response and an idealistic one. That’s not the way situations play out, in reality. We do not live in a world of superheroes where a baddy is reformed and order is restored. Well, not always.

World affairs are full of tragic circumstances. Full of volatility too. One moment paise goes to a friend and the next minute insults are thrown like confetti. There’s a rhythm to this backwards and forwards stream of words. It’s plagued with inconsistency and simple error.

Let’s say a disruptive colleague is ranting and raving about the rights and wrongs of the day’s news. It’s great to say – just tell him to take a walk. Clam down and engage brain. In the idea situation there’s some form of accountability. All actions have a consequence.

Here we are. There’s a crisis on the doorstep. A war is raging and it’s only just begun. Setting light an oil rich part of the globe has ramifications everywhere.

Putting aside the fact that history has given us plenty of warnings about situations like this one. Continuing to be dependent upon sources of fossil fuel is not sustainable. However, we look at it, eventually this elixir of the modern world will run out. In the meantime, the foolishness of increasing the amount of CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere is proven.

Here in Europe, a clear divide is growing. Historically, fair trade, the rule of law and common defence goals have marked out the relationship between Europe and the US. In international institutions the two have a long record of supporting each other. Common interests run through the thread of affairs like the words in a stick of rock[1].

Donald Trump’s second term as President of the US is proving to be a massive test to that long thread. Interests are diverging. Diverging not between the people of Europe and the US but between their political leaders.

So, let’s remember that political leaders are like fireflies. They go through several stages during their careers. The last one is most often marked by failure. One witty guy said that the adage that political careers end in failure needs to be changed. In fact, all political careers end in the publication of memoirs. Often saying – I was right all the time. With Trump it’s as if he (or his ghost writer) is writing his memoirs as he goes.

It’s abundantly clear, for the next couple of years, Europe and the US are going to travel different paths. As ever, the UK must choose or end up straddling a wide gulf. With Europe the tenants of fair trade, the rule of law and common defence goals still stand.

One day, in the not-too-distant future, I will be a septuagenarian. I hope that the passing of years has enabled me to accrue some wisdom. I’m determined not to succumb to disruptive and unruly incoherence. Even if I do, I hope that I’m not in a position of power that encourages those around be to become sycophantic.

Democratic processes do have a way of punishing political failure. They need to kick-in.

[1] https://brightonbitesback.com/a-history-of-brighton-rock-candy/

A Rational Perspective

I do not have superstitions. I have never had superstitions. I deplore superstitions.

My avoiding walking under ladders of unknown quality is merely a matter of judiciously applied risk assessment. Thus, I have never been hit on the head by a stray tin of paint.

Considering the number 13 as unusual and embowed with certain qualities is merely an association with past encounters with the number 13. Especially on my birthday (13th).

Years of observations prove to me that black cats are particularly perceptive and animals of great wisdom. Thus, such a cat crossing my path is a pleasurable happenstance.

If I see two magpies, it’s only natural to consider this as a celebration of the joys of nature. Empathy with a lonely magpie can be a rational response to my hope that they will find a mate.

Clouds with silver linings are merely a positive meteorological phenomenon that suggests, at any time of year, bright warm sunshine is only moments away.

It would be entirely ridiculous to assert that superstitions have any validity. Ah!

Dreams

Dreams are weird. For a start I often wake-up knowing that I’ve had a dream only to ponder on what it was about. It’s as if an erase function was pressed the moment the sunlight starts to beam through the curtains. As if my mobile’s alarm triggers a mental dustbin to empty.

Now, if I do wake-up from a dream in the night, I try to remember to scribble a note. Naturally, that’s merely a case of putting down a couple of words, not a full-page story. Interestingly that note can be surprisingly useful in restoring a glimpse of what I was dreaming.

I’m not going to get into the interpretation of dreams[1]. I don’t think they are a kind of prophecy. Literature is full of that notion. To me it must be that complex jumble of stimulus that has accumulated slowly being sorted, either filed or discarded. That’s not an analogy with a conventional computer. I think we have a powerful desire to take masses of information and make sense of it. That means wrapping a story around a lot of disparate stuff.

Dreams are weird. That’s because they have parts that make everyday sense and parts that live purely in the imagination. Boundaries and simple cause and effect don’t have to conform to waking reality. Imaginary worlds can be way of the charts.

Here’s goes. Fragments of what I remember go like so. It’s a clean room, like in a large semiconductor manufacture. White coats and white walls. Workbenches and sophisticated equipment laboratory style. Serious looking people.

Groups in different rooms. Could be in entirely different places. All working on making some kind of super chip [Have I been reading too many articles on quantum computing and alike?]. Could be a scene from a classic 007 movie where the villain invited their competitors to their secret hidden laboratory.

The last image was curious. A group of scientific people standing around staring intensely at a device (chip) sitting on a bench knowing that its performance has beaten all the opposition. Left the competition in the dust. Lots of questions being asked. This was not a hostile or nightmarish dream. This solid grey device looked like the base of a ceramic butter dish.

Even stranger the heatsink that rose up from the structure was shaped as a miniature model of the Roman forum[2] in Rome. It was as if the designers were so cocky they wanted to play a joke on their competitors. Me being one of them.

I don’t think there’s much mileage in sensemaking of this morning recollection. A dream about an imaginary future happening isn’t a kind of prediction. Perhaps it’s a chunking together fiction, facts and fantasy. However, it’s possible that some kind of breakthrough technology is sitting on a cleanroom bench somewhere. Where are the modern-day oracles when we need them.

[1] https://www.freud.org.uk/schools/resources/the-interpretation-of-dreams/

[2] https://www.rome.net/roman-forum

Think

To un-invent would be to un-think. Although, there are numerous mechanism and ways of doing business that it would be fantastic to get rid of it’s not so easy to tell us to stop thinking. If it can be conceived of, for good or ill, it will be conceived of. Since we didn’t write the laws of nature then what come out of their application was intended by a greater power, if there is such a power in the universe. Putting this aside, if I had the undiluted power to un-invent something it would processes, means and mechanisms that enable and encourage stupidity.

Technology and Visual Perception

As the winter sun rose this morning, I focused my binoculars on a distant silhouette of a bird. We inherited these bird watching binoculars from my father-in-law. With a times 30 magnification this majestic black waterbird was easy to see.

A tall trunk of a dead tree rises above the riverbank. It’s a perch where the Cormorant[1] sits in the early morning sunshine. I’d guess it’s a regular post fishing ritual. We sometime see him or her perfectly balanced with their wings outstretched. Two Jackdaws were sitting below this larger bird. It was clear the Cormorant was none to happy to have their company.

In our kitchen, as the radio burbled away, what struck me was the importance of distant vison. Looking out to see what’s on the horizon. As the sun illuminated the treeline. Leafless trees outlined against a blue sky. I hasten to add that this clear morning is more the exception than the rule over the last couple of weeks.

Because the Cormorant is an excellent fisher this is a good sign for the health of the river. The River Lambourn is a chalk stream that passes west to east at the boundary of the field adjoining our house. Fortunately, the river is far enough away for winter flooding not to be a problem. We have the benefit of seeing Berkshire’s riverbank wildlife as it makes its way quite oblivious to us watching it.

What a contrast. My eyes are now focused on a computer screen that is no more than a couple of feet away from me. If I was using my mobile phone or tablet, I’d be even closer to an electronic screen. I can see a nice picture of a typical Cormorant on my screen. It’s informative but no substitute for the real thing. A real individual.

Let’s make an assertion. Since 2006, the ratio of a person’s time spent looking at a close by screen as opposed to a distant image has dramatically changed. I’ve used that datum as it’s a convenient one related to the abundant mobile phone of any make and kind. I wonder what this has done for our visual perception capabilities. Will there come a time when looking for objects at a distance is a less than familiar experience.

It’s fascinating to see that the Boy Scouts still have an aircraft recognition list. The expectation that a young person looks up and spots a distant silhouette in the sky and can recognise it. Takes me back to the simplest childhood game of all. “I spy with my little eye, something beginning with A”. Looking heavenward at a fast-moving outline and shouting “Aircraft”.

Will these abilities diminish? Afterall it would be so much easier to let a phones’ camera and a suitable App do the work. Point and tap. Would that lead to people recognising more aircraft or birds or less? The jury is out on what our tech is doing to us. There are a lot of questions worth asking. Particularly when it comes to visual perception. Matching pictures and names are one thing. Looking at a distance in real-time and doing the same with confidence, that’s another.

[1] https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/cormorant

Heartfelt Season’s Greetings

Season’s Greetings

May this time be one of joyful reflection and happy moments with friends and family.

Down time, for those who can, to remember that there are greater things in Heaven and Earth than the frantic News cycle. It’s not to forget those in troubled and difficult circumstances but to wish for them better times are ahead. To hope that the coming days reflect the best of us.

For all those farmers who, in wind and rain, continue to care for their crops and animals.

For all those engineers, pilots and controllers who continue to ensure that it’s safe to fly.

For all those medics and emergency workers who are ready to act when disaster strikes.

Even for dedicated politicians, planners and administrators working to improve lives.

Wishing you winter cheer and the warmth of an embrace over this festive season.

Pitfalls of Messaging

Listening to a Government minister bleat on the radio this morning, I do wonder how they ever became a person of influence. It’s as if the elevation to Westminster has wiped all their political sensibilities and replaced brain cells with wet putty.

The general theme is that this UK Labour Government has got to get its act together. It seems obvious to say. However, as they plod on talking of aims and ambitions the trend of public opinion is shifting against them with potentially dire consequences. The sad reality is that this Labour team has only been in power for a little over a year. Although they are really struggling, in our heart of hearts, most of us know that they are nowhere near as pathetically appalling as the past Conservative rabble of May, Johnson and Truss.

Here’s something that I don’t thinks works. It’s trying to scare supporters, and the public by saying repeatedly that if we don’t win you over the evil ones will grab power. In this case it’s the spectre of the Reform party extremists. It’s not a return of the Conservatives. They are going down their own freshly dug rabbit hole never to be seen again.

It’s almost to admit that – we (Labour) are pathetic but those who could come next are even more pathetic and dreadful with it. That approach doesn’t win an argument. Maybe it does scare a cohort of political activities to deliver one or two more leaflets. It doesn’t make, as was once said, the man or woman on the Clapham omnibus feel any better.

To me this morning’s Labour minister sounds like they are saying: sod it, this is harder than I thought it would be, but don’t you dare blame me. If you do blame me then monsters will devour the land and there will never be another chance to make the world a better place.

Let’s just say, for good measure there are no Elysian fields where every day the British tabloid newspapers sing the praise of a Labour government. Where cuddly commentators heap praise on Government’s achievements. Where opposition politicians have nothing to say because they are stunned into silence. Contentment sweeps across the land.

For me one of Labour’s most stupid lines is that there are certain subjects that can’t be mentioned or at least mentioned as if something was going to be done. That these subjects merely fuel the opposition and although we (Labour) may have strong feelings about these subjects we must be silent and non-committal.

Talking about Brexit for more than a minute, and the harm that it has done the country, is too dangerous. It’s like giving the Reform party dog a bone. As if right-wing extremists wouldn’t do what they do regardless of any bones, thrown or otherwise. They will do what they do.

The Labour party comes across as with the same caution that they had in the run-up to the last UK General Election. It has been described as carrying a valuable Ming vase. So scared of dropping this metaphoric vase that extreme caution dictates every move. Constantly looking over their shoulder anticipating an avalanche that might consume any possible success. A kind of neurotic sterility that’s as attractive as grey paint on a grey wall on a grey day.

There was a time when I joked about former UK Prime Minister (PM) John Major’s attempts at regain public support. His wooden soap box in the streets. His slogan – back to basics. He was living under a shadow. Maybe his timing was poor. Maybe for each political idea there’s a time and place.

That standing and talking honestly on a tatty soap box, that human touch is perhaps what the current PM needs. Can he do it?

Memorable Encounters

Daily writing prompt
Who is the most famous or infamous person you have ever met?
View all responses

This simple question is open to interpretation. When I say I’ve met someone, it’s that of being in the same place as that person and not necessarily having a long in-depth conversation with them over lunch. I’ll not mention any politicians, notable or otherwise.

I did sit next to Tom Selleck, the actor, on an internal flight in the US. I think it might have been a connection with Delta airlines. It was back in the mid-1990s. I do think I remember that we both said “yes” to the bag of nuts the cabin crew were offering. It was basic rations.

In 2010, I did meet Captain Eric Moody. Following the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland. Now, I wonder if you know his story. “All Four Engines Have Failed” is probably one of the most compelling descriptions of surviving imminent peril that modern civil aviation has to offer. The title eludes to the most serious of incidents. Flying through volcanic ash that’s exactly what happened to the engines of a Boeing 747 in 1982. Through calm and diligent actions Captain Moody and his crew got everyone home safely. It’s quite a story.

Sun up to sun down

Daily writing prompt
What’s your #1 priority tomorrow?
View all responses

It’s to the author of a question like this one I’d ask – did you give this more than a second’s thought? A picosecond maybe. The priority tomorrow is the same as the priority today. That’s simply to get from today to tomorrow. Tomorrow it will be to get to the day after tomorrow. Long may that daily sequence continue. Inevitable this will come to an end one day. My hope is that I’ve got at least seven thousand more days to go. Seven thousand more sunsets. Seven thousand more sunrises. Free to write a lot more nonsense.