Innovations And Technologies That Can Change The World

In the summer of 2009, I shared some ideas, which made their way to the CEO of helium, that I felt could help improve the site and the business model of helium. Some time after that, helium began making some changes in the direction of where I felt it had to go and others in the opposite direction.  Over the last year or so, helium has abandoned several initiatives, including marketplace, I felt were in the wrong direction while pursuing watered down versions of my concepts.  Not only has helium neglected to pay me a single penny for my concepts, which I never explicitly gave them permission to use while I noticed helium was sold a few months ago, they kept me out of the development process and failed to give me any sort of recognition, probably for legal reasons.  Given helium is a nonpr

Today was the final mission for the space shuttle program.  I regret not having the oppotunity to see one take off.  Perhaps, its replace will be even more spectacular, if we have a full fledged manned space program in the future.  I guess all things eventually fade away, sooner or later.

As Sony’s Playstation Network continued to be shuttered over several weeks to address security issues, US defense contractors like Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, and L-3 among others have been compromised by cyber attacks. In addition, the gmail accounts of high level government officials were recently breached by Chinese hackers while the PBS website was outright hijacked by unauthorized users, ironically, in retaliation for openly criticizing the pro-transparency website Wikileaks.  These and other incidents clearly demonstrate 2011 is shaping up to be a very active year for cyber crime.  Committed by a wide variety of individuals and organization for just as diverse reasons, these types of invasions are a growing problem for a world unprepared to deal with such assaults. 

The int

There are a number of unfortunate consequences stemming from the nuclear crisis surrounding the Fukushima nuclear power plant.  The faults behind this crisis are the same as the 2010 BP Gulf Coast oil spill, the 2008 flood of 500 million gallons of coal byproducts in Tennessee and far too many other energy related disasters.  As such, the greatest tragedy is that yet another industry has failed to prepare for known and avoidable hazards, because they were improbable.  Not only has this disaster endangered the health and lives of untold numbers of individuals, it may well have undermined a much needed energy source as our global civilization rapidly eclipses our ability to meet growing energy needs.  

Following the Chernobyl and Three Mile Island meltdowns, the United States, as well as

Quantum computing is the Mount Everest of the information technology revolution.  What approach succeeds will almost assuredly utilize optical components.  With the limits of traditional electronics threatening to halt progress, alternatives, such as optical computing, will be needed in the not so distant future.  One major hurdle for the development of such optical systems has been the need to convert between optical and electronic signals.  Because time spent converting optical data into an electronic format takes longer than simply using the traditional medium, the concept is impractical in many respects.  On the other hand, an almost paradoxical concept known as slow light offers a way around this barrier with a very practical solution.

It is a fundamental law of the universe that l

The Great Japanese Earthquake of 2011 is one more crisis in a series of historic disasters that have so far defined the third millennium.  Although uncommon to see so much emotion from this often stoic culture, the unfolding tragedy reveals the strength of the Japanese People.  Facing the aftermath of a terrifying 9.0 magnitude quake, a supercharged tsunami, and a potential nuclear threat comparable to Chernobyl, even Japan will need help from the International Community for some time, yet they will recover.  The tragedy caused much damage with a death toll in the ten thousands, but the pain could have been worse while there are lessons we must learn from this experience.

The Earthquake was so powerful it literally pushed the Honshū Island eight feet away from Asia.  Having lasted almo

Numbers do not offer us wisdom.  Numbers are extremely valuable tools, because they allow us to better understand the specifics of issues; however, relying too heavily on statistics and other quantitative data can distort the reality behind important issues.  Aside from human bias, i.e. people cherry-picking facts and interpreting the data at hand to fit our views, statistics generally describe only a very narrow element of a particular issue while they can only be applied in limited situations.  To boot, there are often times when the available research cannot directly answer our questions or has yet to ask the right questions.  This means we must always use numbers as part of a broader approach to problem solving.

All people collect facts, including numbers and personal experiences, t

On Wednesday, 9th of March, 2010, the space shuttle Discovery completed its final mission.  With its retirement, so nearly the end of NASA’s shuttle program.  Unfortunately, this also means the US will soon lack the capacity to send people into space.  With the NASA Administration having been so distracted by a fantasy Mars mission, which requires a more realistic approach involving novel technologies, coupled with a failure to embrace a technology, versus solely mission, oriented agenda, the future does not look so bright for the pride of American aviation, especially on the heals of a failed rocket launch for the second time in two years.  On the other hand, reorganization does take time while private entrepreneurs are finally making it into space, or least low orbit.   Although NASA ma