Category Archives: Science

Colorado, Environment, Fort Collins, Science, Space

MUSINGS FOR FRIDAY 31ST, JANUARY 2020

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“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?” Robert Browning

“It is a terrible mistake to think that the future is somewhere off in a distance time. It is here – in embryo. We are creating it right now, with the decisions we make about the environment, with the attitude we take toward space exploration, with the education we are giving our children. Everything!!” Gene Roddenberry

“Nobody knows what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.” Robert Goddard

When a place gets crowded enough to require ID’s, social collapse is not far away. It is time to go elsewhere. The best thing about space travel is that it made it possible to go elsewhere. Robert A. Heinlein

“Doing a task is usually easy. Thinking about a task makes it hard.” Ajahn Brahm

HEY!! I AM LOOKING AT YOU!! THAT’S WHO!! LOLOLOLOLOL

Well it’s the start of a new year!! And wow!! Where has the time gone?? Funny, as I have gotten older it has sped up. Or that is what it seems like. When I was in my 20s and 30s it just dragged by, but now that I am much closer to 60 than 50, the perception of time jumping forward seems almost palpable. I know that it is all perception, but still where has it gone? Oh well. If you find it let me know. Lol

This picture was taken on November 3rd, 2019 at around 5pm. It is only about a mile from my house. I was just running along and truly the old quote of being in the right place at the right time? Well this was an example. It is looking West by South West, across a golf course in Fort Collins.

So I was thinking what do I talk about for the first month of the new year? That was a good question. And I had to ask it several times over and over, again and again. I mean I usually talk about Marvin, or some book I read, or sometimes current events. And those are all good, and I will talk about them. After all it is what is going on in my immediate life. But this time I want to start out with something that is a little more intangible for most of us. I want to start out with something I think will be a game changer for humanity. And once I lay it out, you will probably be skeptical. But as a species, we need to be able to pull this off. OK, here it goes. As a species, we need to figure out a way to get out of earth’s gravity well without having to use chemical rockets all the time. To be able to lift large amounts of mass into orbit without riding a “Roman Candle” so to speak every time we do it. If this is not a reality in the near future, then the next best thing is what Elon Musk is doing with reusable rockets. I know what you are thinking (what have you been smoking in Colorado) and I would not blame you. But we need to be able to do this sooner rather than later. The survival of “us” – HUMANS – depends upon it. If you keep reading I will explain my madness.

This picture was taken November 15th, 2019. I was looking West across one of the River Bend Ponds. Late afternoon about 5pm in Fort Collins.

Elon Musk has the right idea about getting a million people to Mars. Around the middle of this month he made a series of tweets about getting 1000s of star ships to Mars by 2050. That is a huge claim and I really hope that he can pull it off, but I am skeptical. In order to colonize another planet in our solar system we have to be able to get a huge amount (megatons) of material in orbit. Especially if we are going to send 100s, 1000s and then 10s of thousands of people to Mars every year. Using a reusable rocket is a great idea but I am not sure if this can be scaled up to the degree needed. In my personal opinion the game change will be the development of an AG drive (Anti-gravity Drive). I do believe Musk will get us there initial, but not to the degree that he claims. By the way – if you know how or have a working model of an AG drive, please let Elon, or NASA know. I am sure it would be greatly appreciated. Lol

This picture was taken November 28th, 2019. Here I am looking West across one of Fort Collins Parks. It was about 4pm in this picture.

Now at this point you might be asking yourself why do we need to do this? Has Ed lost his mind? And the answers to these are yes and no. Right now the world population is at 7.8 billion and will continue to grow. The current estimate is 10 billion by 2057. (37 years from now) But I believe it will happen sooner rather than later. All it will take is one or two advances in health care that leads to a decrease in infant and mother mortality, and /or a break through in longevity research. And you also need to consider all the money that is being spent on curing cancer and heart disease. Not a matter of IF but WHEN will it happen. I know I sound like someone that might be arguing against these advances in medical treatment and care, but I am not. I think they will be great!! After all, who wants to die of Cancer or lose their child to preventable disease? Right?! But it is going to create a bottle neck in population growth vs available resources on earth. Imagine a balloon (the earth) that is being filled with air (people). At some point it will over fill and….. We all know what happens when a balloon gets too full. We need a relief value. And “space exploration and settlement” on a large scale is the answer.

A interesting web site to check out on population is called worldometer. Here is the link: https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/#growthrate

This picture was taken December 10th, 2019. It is looking from a trail in Horsetooth Mountain Park called Tower Road. In this shot I was looking east at the rising moon. The city in the background is Fort Collins. It was about 5pm in this picture.

The 10 billion number is coming and it is not going to take 37 years to get there. So why does this really become a much more significant issue now as opposed to 50 years ago? Well for one, we did not have 7.8 billion people on earth. Two, health care was not at the level it is now. Three, Global Warming and increasing CO2 levels had only been talked about in small scientific circles. And CO2 was not at the concentration it is now (over 400 ppm). As the planet warms and some areas become more inhospitable to human habitation, the balloon gets smaller but the volume of air continues to increase and the proverbial “pop” is just around the corner. In my personal opinion we have already reached the point of no return with global warming. It is not a matter of if this will happen, we are already there and it is happening right now. What we need to be doing is looking at how we are going to survive the coming decades as a species living on a very crowded and much warmer planet.

This picture was taken December 24th, 2019 at about 5pm looking west. The picture is from the lake/pond in my neighborhood.

One of the things I see happening is that the United Nations or something like it becoming a much more powerful world governing body. As countries are over-whelmed with over population and environmental degradation and all of their associated ills (starvation, disease, poverty, violence, etc…) the world will need a central governing body. A United Nations on Steroids with a powerful Military / Police force that can step in any where in the world (and I mean anywhere – all first world countries included) as needed to bring order and more importantly Food, Water, Medicine, etc…

This picture was taken December 26th, 2019 from Horsetooth Mountain Park. Here I was looking South East toward Denver at about 4pm. Beautiful afternoon.

The concept of an all powerful “World Government” has been around for a long time. And depending on how you look at it and what your situation is, this will be the “Godsend” for some. Millions will be saved that would have otherwise died. But on the flip side there will be those that do not want meddling by any kind of central authority. Think “Super Libertarians”. They will fight it and I have no doubt, to the death if needed. Maybe this is how world/global civilizations end. After all, where are all the aliens from space? They get to a certain point in development and if they have not achieved sustained large scale space travel then they die. Their planets are over populated, resources all minded out. And in desperation they turn to draconian governmental and religious “myth” leaders that promise a way out of the debacle. When things continue to fail, they rationalize and rationalize their continue belief in this false path, turning away from the very science and technology that could save them. The end result is total societal collapse and the extinction of the “insert name of species/race here” as we know it.

This picture was taken on December 31st, 2019. It is looking east, along a section of the Poudre River at about 4pm.

I know this all sounds terribly depressing and it is. Most of us have no control in the world. We have no way to change what happens to us. The only control we have is how we respond to it. As the population booms and the earth shrinks, the potential of societal collapse becomes much more likely. One way out is the exploration and colonization of space on a large scale. So call your Congressman or Woman and let them know how important this is to humanity. Support NASA, support Musk, support Branson, support Bezos. Well we probably already support Bezos too much through Amazon. But seriously, even if it is just words of encouragement. Give them your support. And one last thing – support Science. It is the lone candle in the darkness that can be religious belief. And the only true path to getting out.

Well that is about it my friends. I hope you have had a great start to the new year. See you next month and in the mean time, “May you live long and prosper.” Adios amigos!!

Dogs, Environment, Science, Space

MUSINGS FOR SUNDAY 21ST, JULY 2019

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“This is one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” -Neil Armstrong

“The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but mankind cannot stay in the cradle forever.” -Konstantin Tsiolkovosky

“Nobody knows what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.” -Robert Goddard

Wow it has been a month since I last posted. Time just got away from me and one thing led to another and before I knew it…. Well, lets just say that a month has passed. And in truthfulness, I think that I needed time to recharge. The last four weeks have been pretty good. Although I pushed myself a little too hard and did not get enough sleep back during the first part of July which led to a summer cold. This took about 4 to 5 days to get over which translated into no heavy running or biking for about 8 to 9 days to help in recovery. That is one thing I have found out as I have gotten older is that it takes a lot longer to recover than it did when I was 25. This forced rest from doing heavy exercise was hard. I really wanted to get out and push it but that would not have been good. Thankfully I am feeling better now. And things are back to normal so to speak for me. Oh well you live and learn and sometimes you get to repeat those mistakes of the past. Lol.

Astronaut Edward H. White II, pilot on the Gemini-Titan 4 spaceflight, is shown during his egress from the spacecraft. His face is covered by a shaded visor to protect him from the unfiltered rays of the sun. White became the first American astronaut to walk in space. He remained outside the spacecraft for 21 minutes during the third revolution of the Gemini-4 mission. He wears a specially designed spacesuit for the extravehicular activity (EVA). In his right hand, he carries a Hand-Held Self-Maneuvering Unit (HHSMU) with which he controlled his movements while in space. He was attached to the spacecraft by a 25-feet umbilical line and a 23-feet tether line, both wrapped together with gold tape to form one cord. He wears an emergency oxygen supply chest pack. Courtesy of NASA.

In this blog I wanted to briefly talk a little bit about space and what it might mean for humanity if we really tried as a global community for a more permanent presence in space. Also July 20th, 2019 was the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission and the first human to step foot on the moon. Unreal to think it has been 50 years. I was 7 years old at the time and watched the event on TV. Both of my parents in attendance. All of us glued to the TV set watching in awe. When this occurred, hand held calculators as we know them today did not exist, cell phones did not exist, the internet did not exist as it does today, and the modern day computer was still just a dream.

AS11-40-5874 (20 July 1969) — Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot of the first lunar landing mission, poses for a photograph beside the deployed United States flag during Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA) on the lunar surface. The Lunar Module (LM) is on the left, and the footprints of the astronauts are clearly visible in the soil of the moon. Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, commander, took this picture with a 70mm Hasselblad lunar surface camera. While astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin descended in the LM the “Eagle” to explore the Sea of Tranquility region of the moon, astronaut Michael Collins, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) “Columbia” in lunar orbit. Courtesy of NASA

A few years later, I remember reading and listening to my dad talk about Skylab. I believe it was launched in 1973. And how we all thought that by this time there would be all kinds of futuristic space stations, moon and mars bases, and much easier access to space than riding the “Roman Candle” as my father liked to call it. But life moved on and I forgot all about space. Then, about the time I was in College, I remember being in a world history class and the professor was watching a live feed of the launch of the first Space Shuttle. This I believe was in 1981 and it was the Columbia. For the life of me I do not remember the professors name but I do remember him saying after the successful launch “This changes everything.” And it seemed to for a while but then like Skylab it faded. If I remember right, the launches did become more common place (135 total), but the only time the Space Shuttle seemed to make really big news, unfortunately, was when there was an accident. The last shuttle flight was Atlantis, July 8th, 2011.

Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-50) launched into history carrying crew of seven and its payload was comprised of the US Microgravity Laboratory 1 (USML-1).The USML-1 was one of NASA’s missions dedicated to scientific investigations in a microgravity environment inside the Spacelab module. Investigations aboard the USML-1 included: materials science, fluid dynamics, biotechnology (crystal growth), and combustion science. Managed by Marshall Space Flight Center, the STS-50 mission was plarned for a 13-day duration, the mission ended with 14 days in space, the longest Shuttle mission to date. Courtesy of NASA

With the shuttle flights came the ISS (International Space Station), completed between 1998 and 2011. It has been continuously occupied since November 2nd, 2000. 230 individuals from 18 different countries have visited it, with the crew size usually being 3 to 6 people at any given time. It has severed as a great platform for research into how human health is affected by micro-gravity. They have also done research in product design, robotics, and botany as a few other examples. This is just a very brief over view of the ISS. If you want to learn more, the web site “space.com” has a more comprehensive review of the ISS. You can find it at this link: https://www.space.com/16748-international-space-station.html

iss059e016574 (April 8, 2019) — Expedition 59 Flight Engineer David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency takes a quick self portrait while working outside the International Space Station. In a six and a half hour spacewalk, Saint-Jacques and NASA astronaut Anne McClain successfully established a redundant path of power to the Canadian-built robotic arm, known as Canadarm2, and installed cables to provide for more expansive wireless communications coverage outside the orbital complex, as well as for enhanced hardwired computer network capability. The duo also relocated an adapter plate from the first spacewalk in preparation for future battery upgrade operations. Courtesy of NASA

Now fast forward a little and you have a lot of new private “space companies” – Space X is the one that I think most people are familiar with due to the fact it has been successful with cargo launches and cutting down the cost of said launches by creating reusable first stage boosters. I am always amazed when I see those rockets re-landing on the pad. Like something out of a science fiction movie. Crazy. When I say that there are a lot of space companies, there really are. Check out this listing on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_private_spaceflight_companies

So cool!!

Now with all this advancement you would think that we are on the fast track to becoming a space-fairing species, but here is the rub, in order to do this, we need to drastically increase our presence in space with significantly more hardware and humans. Much, much more than what is involved with the current ISS. I would go even as far as to say that our very existence as a species depends upon it. There is an old argument that we need to spend less money in space and more of it here on earth. It is as false now as it was years ago when I first heard it. Let me explain.

Nothing in life truly changes until there is a change in technology. Whether it be good or bad. Humans have always been good at procreation and technology has only helped to make us the most prodigious species on earth. Some estimate that we will be at the 10 billion mark by 2050. But I think it will happen sooner than that. The earth is a finite system and overpopulating it will only lead to our eventual extinction. The more money you spend here on earth will only increase our procreation and at some point there will never be enough “money, space, and resources” for all of us. Our only option, besides culling the herd, is to get off the planet. And in a big way.

World population in 30 years. Somewhere around 10 billion but I think we will hit this mark much sooner. All it would take would be a slight improvement in life expectancy (billions of research dollars are being used for this) and or improvement in general health care around the world in third world countries (this has been going for quit sometime now).

So how do we do this? Some have thought that building “Planetary Surface Settlements,” think moon or mars bases, would be the way to go. While others have said that the best way to do this is with “Settlements in Orbit,” think very large space station design. Both design ideas have their advantages and disadvantages. I personally believe that the Orbital Space Station is the cheapest and the easiest idea with today’s technology. Besides saving the world, you could harness sunlight for power and use it back on earth. No pesky atmosphere to get in the way.

But the thought that gets me really excited with orbital settlements is the idea that you could use them as a means to mine asteroids. A learning and jumping off point for deep space. The technology that would be developed to keep people healthy in orbital space stations would be easily adapted for deep space. The orbital stations could also be used as construction facilities for the ships that would take human into deep space. I firmly believe we have to make “space” profitable. Otherwise the altruistic notions of pursuing space for only scientific knowledge… Well, we are a greedy bunch and that idea will only take you so far.

The only flies in the ointment to me is how do you get out of the gravity well of earth without using large “Roman Candles” and what to do about “Micro-Gravity.” NASA has figured out how to do a lot of things in micro-gravity, but problems still remain due to the weak link – the human body. We are not evolved to live in MG long term. But what if there was a better way to manipulate gravity in general? What if you could lift very heavy and massive objects into space without a lot of effort?

If you could, a lot of issues would become much, much more easy to solve. Imagine being able to create a floating space station the size of a small city in space. You could add all the radiation and micrometeorite shielding that you could possibility need to protect equipment and the human occupants. Spin a large structure and you create artificial gravity. Now MG would not be a problem.

So many possibilities open up if you can easily get out of earths gravity well. I am not really sure if anyone is working on this but I would like to believe that there are some. For right now it appears that Elon Musk and SpaceX will be the “go to” company if you want to get into space relatively cheaply. You still have to ride a Roman Candle, and it will still cost millions of dollars but now thanks to their company it is not as many millions.

So thinking about this and organizing my thoughts. I have come to realize that if we want to save the human species (it is not save the planet – it will go on with or without us), then we need to be able to create one thing and one thing only in the next 10 years. A way to cheaply and safely get out of earth’s gravity well with the ability to life heavy, massive objects into space. Another words we need to be able to manipulate gravity in general. The movie “Interstellar” used this very idea as a main theme. By the way if you have not seen it, it is a good one to rent. You can find it on Amazon Prime: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=movie+interstellar&hvadid=78340254007781&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&tag=mh0b-20&ref=pd_sl_73fyd8nqi4_e

Well I could go on and on about this but I think I will save further thoughts about space for later posts. There is too much to cover with one blog post for a subject of this importance. I firmly believe that the survival of humanity is dependent on whether we become a true space faring society or not.

Marvin and Janet at the Canine Learning Academy, Thursday 18th, July 2019. He is 5 and 1/2 months old in this picture and just shy of 70 lbs.

I want to post a picture of Marin at dog school. He is doing pretty good so far in his first dog obedience class. We had to resort to the “gentle leader” for a training tool. He is going to be a big and powerful dog and we really wanted to get a quick start on his “rambunctious adolescent behavior.” Lol.

Well this is about it for me on this post. Hopefully I will have more trail porn pictures for you in the next one. Take care my friends and I hope to see you out there, whether it be on the trail, bike path or just hanging out and enjoying the beautiful Colorado landscape. Adios amigos!!

Dogs, Exercise, Psychology, Religion, Science, Sociology

MUSINGS FOR SUNDAY 7TH, APRIL 2019

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“Science is different to all the other systems of thought… because you don’t need faith in it, you can check that it works.” Brian Cox

“Life has no meaning. Each of us has meaning and we bring it to life. It is a waste to be asking the question when you are the answer.” Joseph Campbell

“Big History studies the history of everything, offering a way of making sense of our world and our role within it.” David Christian

Dang what can I say, it has been another great 2 weeks and I cannot complain too much! I always laugh at that. Truly, living here in Fort Collins and being healthy enough to do the things that I do. Wow!! There are so many circumstances, situations, decisions, people, etc.. that I am grateful for. As I have gotten older, it has become readily apparent that things could have gone a much different path in so many ways. I think that a lot has to do with just plain dumb luck. Being in the right place at the right time. Of course some things could have gone better. There are times we all wish we could have done something different, or handled a situation a little better. But right now, at this moment, things are pretty awesome.

This picture was taken Wednesday 27th, March 2019. It is looking North across Horsetooth Lake. Here you can see clouds building in due to an approaching spring storm. It was a beautiful afternoon of trail running. The temps were in the 50 to 60 range.

Came across an article the other day called “Why we need a modern origin story today.” This article was written by David Christian. He is the guy that has become notable for pushing and teaching the discipline called “Big History.” And I have to say that this was the first time I have ever really looked at the concept. I mean history is history right? I know that it is open to interpretation and all, but still what is the difference between “Regular History” and the concept of “Big History.” So I dived into it and found that it looks at a much broader picture of things. It starts at the Big Bang and goes forward. It explores all of our history and not just the last 5000 years. It is a blending of a multitude of different fields, physics, geology, chemistry, astronomy, biology, psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc…. I mean you could pretty much say it is a history of everything, but on a much grander time scale. Big History focus on the Universe and how humanity fits into this framework and the not the other way around.

This picture was taken Thursday 28th, March 2019. Here I am looking North from the top of Horsetooth Mountain Park. Again another beautiful day. The only fly in the ointment was the air quality. It could have been a little better. The winds were from the east and there is a lot of oil and gas development in Weld County, over 20 thousand well heads. Combine this with the sheer volume of transportation traffic and it does degrade the air quality quite a bit. Compare this picture with the above picture that was taken the day before. The dullness in the bottom one was due to front range smog.

I have the firm belief that Big History is what needs to be taught in schools. And one way I see doing this is by changing our “Origin Story.” We need a modern one. There has been so much knowledge gained in the twentieth century that there is an increasing need to see and teach how it all fits together. Thinking about when some of the current religions were laid down a few things become readily apparent. Foremost in my mind, we really did not know that much about the world around us and almost nothing about the Universe out past earth. That has changed and will continue to do so at an every expanding rate. Don’t believe me. Just start following Physics.org. https://phys.org/ Heck you don’t even have to read the articles. Just follow it and see how much stuff comes out each day, each week. Unreal the rate of learning/change going on in the world today. There is no way the “old religions” can keep up. Thinking that they can is hubris on all our parts. There is an old saying that as our tools change, so does our reality. And let me tell you, our tools have changed.

This picture was taken Friday 29th, March 2019. Again, wow!! What a difference a day makes. The storm dumped some much needed moisture, but was short lived. Most of the snow was gone by mid-morning the next day. This picture is looking east from a deck over the garage of our house.

So to put this all together, to deal with the increasing complexity of the world, we need a modern origin story. A way to help people and especially young people get a sense of what their position is in the grander scheme of things when it comes to humanity and our place in the Universe. Doesn’t that sound strange, “Our place in the Universe” and not the other way around? The time for the “Egocentric View” is past. We need an origin story that is “science based” and not one that is still, please excuse the expression, “magical zoo boat thinking.” Does this mean we need to throw everything out with the old religions? I for one don’t think so. I believe that just like any good parable or story, there are some great things to be learned in the old mythologies. After all they have been modified over thousands of years to help explain human nature and behavior. There is no reason to reinvent the wheel to teach the same thing. The question becomes, why not incorporate some of this hard earned knowledge into a Science Base Origin story?

This picture was taken on Monday 29th, March 2019. What a beautiful day. Fantastic air quality along the Front Range of Colorado. Here I am looking North, by North East from atop Authors Rock in Lory State Park.

Let’s face it. Are Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhist, etc… ever going to get together on a consistent basis around the proverbial campfire, holding hands and singing Kumbaya? Really?! I think that most of you will agree with me that it might happen every now and then but on a consistent basis? Hell, look at all the death and destruction just in the Muslim world over Islam. You could say the same about Christianity and the other religions at different times. As the world becomes more and more complex, as science advances forward, the only way I can see humanity surviving is by working together and the first step in doing this is creating a Modern Science Based Origin Story. And teaching Big History is the first step. We need, for lack of a better phrase, a Universal Belief System, that is based in Scientific fact, that is changeable as new data is obtained and analyzed. So that people from around the world, in very different cultures, will be able to connect, cooperate and strive toward the betterment of humanity. Instead of subjugating and killing each other over frivolous, make-believe superstitions.

This picture was taken on Wednesday 3rd, April 2019. Here I am looking West by North West from an Open Space in Fort Collins called Prospect Ponds. Truly just a beautiful afternoon. Enough wind in the area to keep the air fresh, but not too much to make it chilly.

Wow! I just reread this and I am amazed how strongly I believe in this view?! What is that about?? So enough! I know that I might have offended a few that are very religious, but that was not my intent. I just want you to question the status quo.

Please do a Google and YouTube search if you are interested about the concept of Big History. I think you will find it is well worth your time and effort.

This picture was taken on Sunday 28th, March 2019. A soon to be new family member!! No, no I am talking about the puppy and not Janet. LOL I am thinking that we are going to be a little extra busy in the next couple of weeks.

Time to post a puppy picture!! It was taken at Balto Farms near Boulder. They breed King Shepherds among other things. Check them out at: https://www.7957farm.com/ or https://www.7957farm.com/kings and you can find them on Facebook at Colorado King Shepherds.

Looks like the ski season is going to be extended this year thanks to mother nature. And that is a very good thing. Hope to see you out there, either on the ski slope or running on the trails. Take care my friends. And if your trail running, watch for snakes and cats. It is the season. Adios!!

Artificial Intelligence, Book Review, Exercise, Science, Trail Running

MUSINGS FOR SUNDAY 24TH, MARCH 2019

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With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon. In all those stories where there’s the guy with the pentagram and the holy water, it’s like, yeah, he’s sure he can control the demon. Didn’t work out. – Elon Musk

Everything that civilization has to offer is a product of human intelligence; we cannot predict what we might achieve when this intelligence is magnified by the tools that AI may provide, but the eradication of war, disease, and poverty would be high on anyone’s list. Success in creating AI would be the biggest event in human history. Unfortunately, it might also be the last. – Steven Hawking

With the increasingly important role of intelligent machines in all phases of our lives–military, medical, economic and financial, political–it is odd to keep reading articles with titles such as Whatever Happened to Artificial Intelligence? This is a phenomenon that Turing had predicted: that machine intelligence would become so pervasive, so comfortable, and so well integrated into our information-based economy that people would fail even to notice it. – Ray Kurzweil

This picture was taken on Tuesday 12th, March 2019. Here I am at the top or close to the top of Horsetooth Mt. park looking West. In the background you can just make out Meeker and Longs Peak. Longs sits at 14,000 feet. The day was very warm, as an approaching storm was moving into the state.

Well it has been a good 2 weeks. I was under the weather a little bit for the start of it but I am feeling better now. I divide my workout/running sections into 3 week intervals and the last interval I finished with about 138 miles ( 46 miles/week). Which might not sound like a lot to those of you that are running gods. For me, I might have pushed it just a little bit. To add to this, I missed my usual amount of sleep and being older it does not take much to create illness. My wife Janet reminds me of this a lot and it is probably a good thing that she does!! Lol

This picture was taken the very next day, Wednesday 13th, March 2019, and again not to hit an old cliche’ too much, “What a difference a day makes!!” Dang, I cannot imagine what it must have been like for the early settlers on the plains. You have this fantastic weather for a day or two and get lulled into a false sense of security. Then Kaboom! Snow and wind with no modern day warning. We were lucky in Fort Collins, we did not get the high winds and drifts that the Eastern Plains did. This view is from our front door.

I am between books at the moment, so no new book review this week. But I would like to reiterate my thoughts on AI. I really do think this is coming, rather sooner than later. I am pretty sure it will be the “General AI” that everyone is hoping for or fearing depending on your point of view. And by general I mean, something that thinks and reacts, for good or bad, as a human would. The current AI we have now is something a little less dramatic and world changing. Such as your smart phone, semi-autonomous cars and trucks, social media feeds like FB, personal data assistants like Siri and Alexa, entertainment such as video games and Netflix. The list could go on and on. It is already used in thousands of applications everyday and most of the time we are not even aware of it. I guess in some sense this technology has been world changing. But the difference to me is that you could decide to not use a lot of it and it would not make that much difference in your life. At least not at this time. So I don’t worry about it too much. Another name for this kind of AI is machine learning. The type of AI that I am concerned with is true “General AI.” Or if it helps to understand it better, something that is conscious or sentient AI. This would be a game changer and will make everything else seem like child’s play. Will it happen? Good question. I think yes. It will happen and sooner rather than later.

This picture was taken the next day after the storm, Thursday 14th, March 2019. And it shows again what I think is the best thing about the Front Range of Colorado. Even though the temp was in the high 20s, a lot of snow had already melted. This picture is looking West towards the mountains and the lake is Lake Sherwood in our neighbor.

I draw this conclusion from recent material that I have read, and from an old video on an AI conference from a few years ago, around 2015. It was taking place in Taiwan or it might have been Hong Kong. It was a round table discussion of some of the movers and shakers in AI at the time from around the world. I cannot remember their names, but they were from the tech industry and different universities. The one I remember best was a guy from Carnegie Mellon University. The talk was pretty lively around the table about when general AI might arise or even if it would. There was a lot of disagreement, some saying its way off in the future and some saying in the next 10 to 20 years and some saying no, it would never come to be. This guy interrupts everyone and says: “What you all have to remember is that there are “100s of thousands” of young people in the U.S. alone working on this very problem.” That single statement stopped everyone in their tracks for a moment. It just hung there in the air. Incredible. All I could think was, this is like the “Manhattan Project.”

This picture was taken on Sunday 17th, March 2019, looking West, across a local golf course, next to the Power-line Trail in Fort Collins. Just another beautiful Colorado Sunset.

Remember that the Manhattan Project was a secret research and development program to create the first atomic bomb. And it employed a 100,000 plus individuals to pull it off. It was a race with Germany at the time. They were ahead of us in R&D prior to the start of the project in 1939. Lucky for us and the rest of the world. We came in first. I believe that we are in another race. And this time it is to build the first “General AI.” At this point, my guess is that the USA, European Union, China and Russia are all neck and neck at the moment, with hundreds and hundreds of thousands of individuals all working on it from multi different countries.

This picture was taken Thursday 21st, March 2019. What a beautiful day it was in Fort Collins. Sixty degrees, very mild wind and clean air. Wow!! You don’t get too many of these with all three ingredients like this. Air quality being the number one reason why. Just beautiful. This picture was taken on the East side of Horsetooth reservoir looking North. The lake is low at this time of year, in another month or two there will be about 20 to 30 feet of water where I am standing.

This gives me pause and it should you too. It took fewer individuals to build the first atomic bomb than is currently working on AI. We are not in a world war like we were in 1940, but I do believe the stakes are just as high. Ask yourself: “How do you want this to happen?” Do you want a benevolent AI, that helps humanity to the next level of existence or one that is used to wipe out a countries neighbor, or one that is the all watching eye of a totalitarian state? In a worst case scenario it see us as inconsequential and decides to eliminate humanity altogether. I know you are probably like me wondering what you can you do about it? Another good question. The first thing is to educate yourself. And a good place to start is with one of the books that I last reviewed. It is well worth the read and Tegmark elegantly and convincingly puts into words why we should be concerned and what we can do to help make a difference. You can find the book on Amazon: h

Well that is enough of my soapbox for this blog post. I could go on and on for a while longer, but I think you get the zest. Please if you get the change to read the above book and I usually don’t recommend a book twice, read it. You don’t have to be an Astrophysicists to understand it.

This picture was taken last week on or around Wednesday, March 20th. Five weeks old and getting bigger!! Just waiting to meet the parents of this pup to make the final decision.

What an interesting two weeks with weather on the Front Range of Colorado, from beautiful warm days and cold nights, to a full blow blizzard. Spring is here in Colorado!! Lol. I hope that this blog post finds all of you in the best of health. Maybe I will see you out there on the trails or ski slope!! Adios my friends.

Artificial Intelligence, Book Review, Colorado, Dogs, Exercise, Fort Collins, Genetics, Science, Trail Running

MUSINGS FOR SUNDAY 24TH, FEBRUARY 2019

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“If an AI possessed any one of these skills—social abilities, technological development, economic ability—at a superhuman level, it is quite likely that it would quickly come to dominate our world in one way or another. And as we’ve seen, if it ever developed these abilities to the human level, then it would likely soon develop them to a superhuman level. So we can assume that if even one of these skills gets programmed into a computer, then our world will come to be dominated by AIs or AI-empowered humans.”
― Stuart Armstrong, Smarter Than Us: The Rise of Machine Intelligence

“A powerful AI system tasked with ensuring your safety might imprison you at home. If you asked for happiness, it might hook you up to a life support and ceaselessly stimulate your brain’s pleasure centers. If you don’t provide the AI with a very big library of preferred behaviors or an ironclad means for it to deduce what behavior you prefer, you’ll be stuck with whatever it comes up with. And since it’s a highly complex system, you may never understand it well enough to make sure you’ve got it right.”
― James Barrat, Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era

“Why give a robot an order to obey orders—why aren’t the original orders enough? Why command a robot not to do harm—wouldn’t it be easier never to command it to do harm in the first place? Does the universe contain a mysterious force pulling entities toward malevolence, so that a positronic brain must be programmed to withstand it? Do intelligent beings inevitably develop an attitude problem? Now that computers really have become smarter and more powerful, the anxiety has waned. Today’s ubiquitous, networked computers have an unprecedented ability to do mischief should they ever go to the bad. But the only mayhem comes from unpredictable chaos or from human malice in the form of viruses. We no longer worry about electronic serial killers or subversive silicon cabals because we are beginning to appreciate that malevolence—like vision, motor coordination, and common sense—does not come free with computation but has to be programmed in. Aggression, like every other part of human behavior we take for granted, is a challenging engineering problem!”
― Steven Pinker, How the Mind Works

This picture was taken on Sunday the 10th of February, looking North. It was a cold evening and air quality was just on the edge of the acceptable range. Not much air movement due to no wind. You can just make out some of the brown cloud that plagues the Front Range of Colorado. It does make for a beautiful sunset. LOL. Still a nice run during the afternoon. Saw a couple of healthy looking Coyotes on this trail run. I am guessing that they have been feeding on the plethora of rabbits in the area.

Well it has been a great two weeks I think. The weather has been cold and snowy, off and on here on the Front Range, but not enough to really make much of a difference with running. The snow in the mountains has been wonderful and the best part, it has continued to come down. I have gotten in a couple of days of skiing and both of those days were great. Excellent conditions compared to last year.

This picture was taken on Thursday 14th, February 2019 while walking with Janet. We have heard owls in this area quit a bit, but had not seen one this close up. It was pretty cool to say the least to see the bird hooting. The whole body was involved in producing the hoot. It was easy to identify the species on this one. A Great Horned Owl. LOL. Looking at this picture now, I can see why the Native Americans and early settlers made up stories about these birds. It does look a little creepy. Again, a cold afternoon walk but the bike path was clear of ice and snow and with some wind, the air quality levels were much better.

As some may know we lost our white German Shepherd Neige, back last August. She had Degenerative Myelopathy. A genetically inherited malady that is a progressive, incurable disease of the spinal cord in dogs. Similar to ALS in humans. To say that we were heart broken would be an understatement. But as they say, time heals all wounds. So we have started to look again for a dog. I think that we are going to stick with the German Shepherd breed. But it has been hard to say the least. We have owned four Shepherds in the last 30 years and they have all suffered some form of the most common genetic aliments of the breed. Neige lived to be 12 years old and was definitely enough dog for two people. Meaning that we had not really looked at what is out there in the market place for a while.

Neige in better times. Doing what she loved to do. This picture was taken about a year ago, last March 2018. Thinking back, wondering if I was in a hurry that day? Could I have thrown her the stick a few more times knowing what I know now…. Time is a lot shorter than you ever realize…. Always loved and never forgotten….

So I have been doing a little bit of “dog” research and my conclusions, “It is all about genetic testing.” First if you buy from a breeder – then you need genetic testing of the parents to rule out some of the common genetic ailments. Otherwise it is just a game of roulette, no matter what the breeder tells you. And if you decided to get one from the humane society or shelter of your choice – then you need to do some, you guessed it, genetic testing. A little more difficult to do when the dog is from the shelter. But possible, just not convenient. I found it interesting that some of the shelters are now starting to do this on their own. They have found that it makes some dogs much more adoptable to know the breed mixes in the dog and (for an added cost) if they are susceptible to certain common genetic diseases. If you think about how much time, effort, and money you put into a family pet. Not to mention, they truly become part of your family. And in some cases a very significant part of your life. I think it makes sense to go a step further in the selection process and do the genetic testing. Especially now that the technology to do this is available and has come down significantly in price. For me, it just makes sense to do it. I know that this will be a little controversial with a few people and that is OK. I hope it generates some good discussion and consideration the next time you look for a dog. A good recent article on this subject is from WIRED magazine: https://www.wired.com/story/dog-dna-kits-reviewed/?mbid=email_onsiteshare

This picture was taken Saturday 16th, February 2019, looking North West in the late afternoon. I have to say it was a beautiful sunset. Cold, in the teens, with a little wind. In Colorado we get what is know as “standing wave clouds” and this is an example. They can make for great sunset pictures. The colors do not last for long but can be quit intense for a few minutes.

Now on a totally different note, I have started to listen to a new audio book called “Life 3.0 – Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence” by Max Tegmark. I am not very far into it yet but it really has gotten me thinking about A.I. and what that means for the future of humanity. Tegmark is a is a Swedish-American physicist and cosmologist. He is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the scientific director of the Foundational Questions Institute. I have read a previous book from him called “Our Mathematical Universe.” I am only a few chapters into the new book but I am already feeling that the true game changer for Humanity, good or bad, may be the development of an Advanced A.I. It might not even need to be “sentient” as in human terms to be this game changer.

You can find the book on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/Life-3-0-Being-Artificial-Intelligence/dp/B0742JQF31/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1550651814&sr=8-1&keywords=life+3.0+being+human+in+the+age+of+artificial+intelligence

We are becoming so complex as a society, billions and billions of people on the planet. There are some estimates that we will reach the 10 billion mark by 2030. With this many people we will have become, a true global community on a scale never known in human history, with all our usual human wants and needs. Resource allocation will not be something that can be left to chance. Housing, work, travel, food, medical care, security, energy, clean air/water, education, news, entertainment, social media, solitude, etc… will all have to be coordinated to a degree that we have never seen as a species. Second and Third world countries will continue to want to move up the ladder of prosperity and have all the things that you and I now take for granted. Just thinking about that, gives me chills. It will be a daunting task….. How will all this “complexity” be managed and coordinated? What “algorithm” will be sophisticated enough to help us deal with it all? My belief and others is that this increasing complexity of a burgeoning human population will give rise to a super intelligent A.I. Not a matter of if, but when. The big question that comes with this, is how do we want it to occur and who to manage it. Do we want society to become an Orwellian/Kafkaesque Dystopia? Big brother always watching, judging, today’s freedoms severely curtailed? Or the filling out of forms, after forms, after forms, after forms, in order to just buy a car, get married, go on a simple vacation, or even just traveling across state lines? Is there a better way?

Personally I don’t think this will take 100 years. I would not be surprised if it happened in the next 20.

A.I. or more importantly,the people that control A.I. will have the ability to push society to change, but will it be in the right directions. To give us more freedoms, to give us better and/or cheaper housing, work, travel, food, medical care, security, energy, clean air/water, education, news, etc… and advances in technology that makes today’s tech seem like rubbing two sticks together to make fire. This is what Tegmark talks about in his new book with the hope that he can get people from all walks of life involved in the discussion of A.I. His belief is that this will be one of, if not the “Monumental” question of the 21st century. I have not totally finished reading it yet but from what I have read so far, I felt it was important to put a partial review out. I highly recommend the book.

This picture was taken Saturday 23rd, February 2019. What a beautiful Colorado day! Sunny, cold but not too cold. Temp about 32 degrees F in the parking lot, and best of all there was some wind. So most of the brown cloud was gone. This picture was taken in Horsetooth Mountain Park looking South to South East. That horizon is at least 50 miles from where I am standing. Someday as we move away from fossil fuels, this might be the norm again and not just the exception.

Well I think that I am about done for this Blog post. I hope the last two weeks have been great for you dear reader. Remember your comments are always welcome. Take care and maybe I will see you out there on the trail or the ski slope. Adios amigos!!

Book Review, Colorado, Exercise, Fort Collins, Psychology, Religion, Science, Skiing, Sociology, Trail Running

MUSINGS FOR SUNDAY 10TH, FEBRUARY 2019

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“When complexity makes knowledge difficult to attain, we are organisms that substitutes knowledge with beliefs.”

“The uneven rate of change between biology and complexity causes a gap to occur.”

“We become susceptible to manipulation and ideology and follow false prophets.”

“Public policy becomes shaped by irrational beliefs, rather than knowledge of fact.”

Rebecca Costa

This picture was taken on Monday 28th of January 2019, the open space in question is between Fort Collins and Loveland. It is called Coyote Ridge Open Space. A very nice trail with few visitors for a Monday. On the weekend it can get pretty busy due to the fact that it is a connector trail for longer distances. The afternoon in question was beautiful with temps right at 30 degrees and a slight breeze.

Well it has been another two weeks and I am going to say here that life is pretty good at the moment. Got some skiing in and that is a very good thing. I think it had been over a month since I last went. Not sure what that was about but it happens. The trail running the last couple of weeks has been fantastic here in Fort Collins. It has been cold but not like Midwest Cold. Wow! We have not seen temperatures like that in a very long time. There is some thought that this is related to Global Warming. I know that it does not seem that way but when you start looking at the science, some of the dots start to connect. I guess in the end, time will tell as the research continues. One of the things to remember is that weather and climate are two different things even though they are related.

Another picture from Monday the 28th of January 2019. The sun was out and just starting to set. It was in full force on this rock ridge. It really brought out the colors in the rock. Totally different from the picture above. Same area but a different open space called Rim Rock Ridge. Both are right next to each other.

I am reading a new book that is called the Watchman’s Rattle by Rebecca Costa. I became interested in her when I watched a TED talk by her. It has to do with Societal Collapse. It actually came out in 2012 and I believe that this is her first book. A more recent book by Rebecca is called On the Verge. I did not get this one because it is not on Audio book and I am way behind on regular reading. But I plan to in the future. In her first book, she comes up with some interesting ideas about what happens to a society when technology out paces the ability of the residents to keep up. I think the book is much more relevant now than it was back in 2012. In particular this last election with the Evangelical Christians, Flat Earthers, Anti-Vaccination people, Anti – global Warming individuals, the lets “Bring dirty coal” back people, and the list could go on and on. She makes the case that as complexity makes knowledge more difficult to attain, or as my wife likes to say “Overwhelming”, we as humans start to substitute knowledge with beliefs. And she makes the argument that this is what has happened to ancient societies that collapsed like the Mayans, the Romans, etc…

This book can be found on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Watchmans-Rattle-Radical-Theory-Collapse/dp/1593156863/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?crid=VMGYGGUY98ZQ&keywords=watchmans+rattle&qid=1549827324&s=gateway&sprefix=watchmans+r%2Caps%2C180&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

Costa is a Sociology-biologist. She based a lot of her research on Dr. Richard Dawkins 1976 book “The Selfish Gene.” In her book she uses the term Super-memes which are any widely accepted information, thoughts, feelings or behaviors. And she feels that they have the capacity to compete with each other just like genes do in Darwin’s theory of natural selection. Another words they compete in a sense to become accepted in our minds and our society whether they are true or not. There is an actually study of memes, called Memetics. Check it out on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memetics

I had no idea. Costa calls them “super-memes” when they get to a point that they block us from the very solutions we seek to all the complexity we see in the world. Another name that she uses for this blocking is “Gridlock.” It occurs or you can know that it is occurring when there is opposition across the board to any meaningful solution to a major problem. Thinking about this, the first thing that comes to my mind is “Gun Control.” It is a complex issue and you see a lot of “irrational opposition” to any attempt at fixing the system. It is as if people are more comfortable rejecting remedies rather than advocating solutions.

This picture was taken on Thursday, January 31st. I just loved the shape of this huge cottonwood tree. The weather was warm enough for me to ride my bike on Thursday, above 50 degrees for me. This picture was take on the Boyd Lake Trail.

Another example of this blocking, I think, is in Health Care. Again, before the attempted and partial repeal of what has become known as “Obama Care,” I heard from individuals on both sides of the fence. Some that hated it, because their premiums went up and others that loved it because they could now actually get insurance on their preexisting conditions. But with the current congress and president, it has become gridlocked. It will be interesting to see after the next elections if anything is concretely done or just a kind of band-aid fix. Again nothing really going anywhere. One size that fits some but not others, back to a mish-mash of plans that really don’t address the issues or cover people adequately.

This picture was taken on Thursday, February 7th. It was at the Loveland Ski Area which sits right at the Eisenhower Tunnel off of Interstate 70. It was a beautiful, sunny day. Much warmer (25 degrees) than when I left Fort Collins (12 degrees) that morning. There was a little bit of wind but that did not really show up in force until later in the afternoon. Most of the terrain for the ski area sits at around 11,000 feet.

I could go on about her book but I think I will leave it for now. I do recommend it. Remember it was written in 2012 and some predictions in the book she got right and a few she got wrong; somethings did get fixed and some are still broken. I think if I had read the book back in 2012, I would not have appreciated it as much as I do now. Interesting to say the least.

On a similar note, I had a interesting, short FB exchange with a family relative on whether something she was posting on FB was true or not. When another friend of hers called her out on it and showed her where a fact checking service said it was false. She went off about how the “fact checking service” was wrong. And that the “fact checking service” was infiltrated by “liberals” and that was why she could not trust them. I was kind of dumbfounded for a moment. This is an educated woman that used to teach school to kids. I could see it…., if it had come from one of my uneducated or partially educated “hillbilly like” relatives. But no this was from an educated one. Oh well what can you say to that… Obviously I won’t be spending the holidays with her…. Lololololol.

This picture was taken taken Wednesday 30th, January 2019. It was at the trail head to Reservoir Ridge Natural Area in Fort Collins. I had just finished a trail run and the sunset was just stunning to say the least. This is my favorite picture of the last two weeks.

Before I finish here, I would like to pass on a quote by the author Neil Gaiman. I came across it several years ago and I wrote it down just because it seemed a little strange to me at the time. This was a few years before the 2016 election. I did not really understand it then, but I think I do now. So it is important to share it with you, especially if you decide to read Costa’s book or you are like me trying to make sense of the “craziness” that has griped our country.

“Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and adventures are shadow truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes and forgotten.” Neil Gaiman

Well that its for this couple of weeks. Take care, be safe out there fellow trail runners. Always be looking for that “Special Cat.”

Adios amigos!!

Colorado, Environment, Exercise, Fort Collins, Science

MUSINGS FOR SUNDAY, JANUARY 13th, 2019

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“Only when the last tree has died and the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.” Cree Indian Proverb

“Earth provides enough to satisy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.” Mahatma Gandi

“It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment.” Ansel Adams

Well it has been a great last two to three weeks here for me on the Front Range. Just got to love Colorado. I don’t do a lot of skiing over the Holidays and the first week or two of January. For me the crowd size is just a little too large. But living here in Fort Collins you usually get some sunny days and while it can be cold, it is not so cold usually, that you can’t get out.

Bald Eagle in an area that I frequently run or walk. This area is home to many, many hawks and owls. This is the first year I have actually seen a Bald Eagle in this open space. The next day there were two, so maybe they will become a nesting pair and will frequent the area for many more seasons!? This photo was take December 29th, 2019.

I started the first Blog Post of the year on an environmental note. One of my degrees from College is in Environmental Science and Wildlife Biology. One of the comments I have heard over the years when I tell people this, “Oh your an environmentalist.” I have always found this statement interesting. The idea that because I have a degree in said field makes me an environmentalist and you not? When I have questioned people about this they seem a little supprised until I explain further. The truth of the matter we are all environmentalist. We breath the same air, we all drink the same water, eat the same food so to speak. We all currently live on planet earth. And because of this we are all environmentalist. We all have a vested interest in what happens on earth and to future generations.

Beautiful sunset in Fort Collins are common. Lots of color. I don’t think the photograph does it justice. On the surface this seems like a good thing but not always so. Some of the color is due to smog and particulate matter in the atmosphere. So while you might get this incredible sunset it is a sign of problem that the Front Range has been dealing with for over 50 years. It has gotten to the point that I check air quality everyday before doing an outdoor activity. And it is year round. Most of the pollution problems we have in Colorado are due to oil and gas extraction and vechicle polution. Metro Denver was ranked 8th in the nation for worst air quality and Fort Collins was ranked in at 10th. This was by the American Lung Association in 2016. This photo was take December 30th, 2018.

My personnel opinion is that we all have to take a vested interests in the environment. Even if you are working two jobs, trying to feed the kids, pay the rent, etc… There is always something you can do, even on a small scale, something as simple as not using that plastic straw, recycling as much as you can whenever possible, paying attention to how you use water, using your own cloth bags at the grocery store, turning off lights when not in use (one that I am terrible at), decreasing the number of trips that you drive, etc… And a really big one and some would say, easy – How You Vote. We are lucky here in Fort Collins with the mail in ballots, extremely convenient.

I used to hate riding my bike in the wind but I have come to love it. As long as it is not too windy. The wind helps to circulate the atmosphere here on the Front Range, which translates into much cleaner air to breath. This picture show a good example. The day before, that “blue sky” you see was not so blue, there was a yellow haze to it. On the day that I took the picture, there was a light breeze pushing the smog out. The picture was taken Thursday, January 3rd.

Of course the big oil and gas people will spend millions of dollars to spread misleading information about how dangerous oil and gas emissions actually are. And of course they talk about the loss of jobs if more environmental rules are put into place. The reality is that most of the oil and gas job are temporary in the area that they are being done. Once the drilling has been done, the lines caped, the pipes laid, the tanks installed, etc… you either move to the next energy boom or you find a different job. So I have to ask myself, at what cost do we expose thousands of individuals to cancer causing chemicals for a temporary job? Not to mention that this does not help stop the warming of the climate and all the associated problems this will bring. Its hard when change comes. None of us really like change, but it comes anyways. At some point, there will be no oil and gas jobs? Then what? When you have drilled the earth dry, then what? When some smart individual or team of individuals invents a better alternative that is more environmental friendly and the demand of fossil fuel drops? Then what? Because it will happen, just like it did to the horse and buggy people, telephone operators, gas station attendants, mall operators, big box stores, etc…. Technology marches forward. Science marches forward. So why destroy the environment, expose people to known carcinogens, for really what amounts to short term profits at best?

This picture was taken from Horsetooth Mountain Park on a windy day. If it had been the day before, the view would not have been as clear as it was this day. This was the first true trail run for me this new year. Here in Fort Collins we are lucky to have two great trail running areas behind Fort Collins, Lory State Park and Horsetooth Mountain Park. Between the two parks, which butt up to each other, you can easily get in a 10 to 20 mile run or mountain bike ride if you wish. This picture was taken Monday January 7th.

Another area of the environment that I would like to touch on is about what we eat, especially in first world countries. This really does touch on the environment and the health of the individual. It has been known for a while now that a diet high in animal protein and processed foods can lead to a higher incidence of cancer and heart disease in the general population. There are multi books out there written by MD’s and food researchers that talk about this very thing. But there is also a link to the environment with cows. They require a lot of resources compared to other forms of meat production. Some estimates put this at 10 times the number that other sources of protein require, such as chickens and pigs. So there are good health reasons not to eat as much beef and animal protein in general and a great environmental reason not to eat as much beef. I call my self the 95% vegan, I still like a really good Cheese Berger every once in a while. For me that might mean once per month as opposed to several times per week. I still like a nice piece of Salmon every once in a great while and a little ice cream/yogurt every now and then. The rest of my diet is all plant based. No processed food as much as possible. There are some researchers that believe if we could get America’s population to switch to a healthier way of eating that in a 10 to 20 year span we would eliminate most of our health care cost, not to mention what this might mean for the environment.

Another beautiful Colorado Sunset in Fort Collins. I was looking across one of the ponds off the Poudre Bike trail. Still frozen. This picture was taken on Tuesday, January 8th.

I think that it is probably time to get off of my environmental soap box. I hope that it has given you some food for thought. I believe the only way to fix the current issues and head future ones off before they become a problem is for each of us to do our parts. Stay informed. Learn about the current scientific thinking on the issues from reliable sources. Not Fox News or the church. In the next elections don’t be swayed by big oil and gas or whatever “industry” trying to decrease its environmental regulations. Vote. If I had a dime, as the old saying goes, for every time I have heard the saying: “If you don’t have your health, you have nothing.” So true. Remember genetics loads the gun and only you or the environment can pull the trigger…..

Beautiful bike ride on a warmer January afternoon in Fort Collins. The temp was about 50 degrees at this point in the ride. The picture was take at the northern end of the Poudre River Trail. I have always loved the bridge work over the river in this section. I think that it has a very sculptural feel to it. The picture was taken Thursday, January 10th.

Well, that is about it for me with this post. May you have a happy and healthier 2019. Hope to see you out there on the trails or ski slopes. Take care my friends!! Adios!!

Exercise, genetics, Science, Skiing

MUSINGS FOR FRIDAY 14th, DECEMBER 2018

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I hope that it has been a good week for everyone!!  The thing I would like to talk about in this blog is one that I really think will be a game changer in current and ongoing human evolution.  It starts with  the news out of China a few weeks ago.  A researcher there has genetically modified two human babies prior to fertilization to prevent both from becoming HIV positive because one parent has HIV. This sounds like a rather simple issue but it is huge….  Sounds great on the surface, but what does it really mean?  The researcher modified the germ-line, another words, before conception, at the sperm and egg level.   And the way that I understand it, these two babies will carry this modification for the rest of their lives and will be able to pass it along to their offspring, who will pass it along to their offspring, who will….  So, the picture becomes a true, possible permanent change in the human genome. These two kids will look like us, but have never existed in the history of humans.  Let me say this again, their genomes, have never existed in the history of humans, until now.  That in and of itself is pretty amazing but it gets better.

Could an x-men scenario become a reality!!

CRISPR (clustered regularly inter spaced short palindromic repeats)– the gene editing technique that allowed the “precision” to do this can be applied to all kinds of conditions and diseases caused by your genetics.  Now imagine you are planning a family and you want a child to be stronger, have denser bones, or to run faster, for example.  Well…. The genes to edit for this are all known.  See the You Tube video link for an explanation:    https://youtu.be/uaNHUTIbqdo

If you have the money and political clout, who is going to stop you?  Who is going to stop you from permanently altering the human genome for your own child’s benefit or your countries benefit?  And when your child grows up and has kids, what will these passed along alterations, potentially change in the next child, etc.….  If you are wondering like I was about this, take a look at some Science Fiction on the subject.  You might have seen a few of these already but here is a short list of some of my favorites.  Remember that every technological change that has occurred in our world was once just Science Fiction.

Great movie about the manipulation of genetics and how it creates the haves and the have nots.  Well worth the rental!  
Fantastic TV series on genetics and the potentials for good or bad with Cloning.  A five-season series that is well worth the rental!
A book series (three books) created by Nancy Kress about what can happen for good or bad, when you mess with the human Genome. One of my favorites.

There are many,many more examples in popular culture (movies, TV, books, magazines) of stories about the good and bad of genetic modification. My point in writing to you dear reader about this is that sometimes the things that truly change the world are what seem on the surface small.  They make little waves and are soon pushed aside in the noise of everyday life.  I believe the events that happened in China about 9 months ago, present today as twin new born girls, are one of those things. Life on this planet as we know it has changed, it might not be readily apparent yet, but it has. I used to think that the next big evolution inhumanity would be a machine interface of some kind, but now I am not so sure.  It might still be part of the picture but “genetics” will play an immense role.  And of course, this could be looked at as good or bad.  It will really depend on other forces that have the potential to drive it.  As a recent example, there is a push by the Religious Right to end research on fetal stem cells.  Some of this research has to do with curing HIV. If you limit this area of research, then a real-life example is what I just talked about.  Since the Chinese Genetics researcher has shown that he can prevent the transmission of HIV, how many others will take this approach, because fetal Stem Cells are out of reach?  What will be the consequences??  Are we ready for the changes coming to our world??   

Could a “Super Solider” be part of our future. A new/old idea – rebirth of the “Warrior Cast.”
Back Country Skiing at Cameron Pass!!

Well I have to say that the last couple of weeks have been good!!  The skiing has been great and I really cannot complain. I guess if I did though, the only fly in the ointment is that I have to work a little bit and take a class or two?! What is that about??  Oh well, I do have to work at the day job in order to pay the bills and keep doing what I want and love to do.  And let me say it again the skiing has been great!!  I love Colorado, where else can you get in skiing at two or three different resorts and disciplines in the same day?!  Really there are not too many places on earth that would allow that kind of access just due to the logistic of time and travel.  And if that was not enough, to come home, back to Fort Collins, and the next day do a fantastic bike ride or trail run?!  So cool. Now of course it does not always happen that way due to weather or having to work but these past few weeks it has been…. Just fantastic!!

A question that I get a lot, is why don’t I play golf?  And the answer I give is “I don’t have time.” Between all the other outdoor activities that I like to do, the problem becomes one of just not having enough time. I feel this is a good problem to have. One of the best decisions I ever made was to leave Texas and move to Colorado.  There are a lot of good people down there in Texas, but just not the opportunity.  Especially for the outdoors.  Teddy Roosevelt became president a little too late to help with land preservation in the state of Texas. 

A-Basin early in the AM on Tuesday, November 27th, getting ready for a Randonee Race!!  11F degrees in the parking lot!!

Loveland ski area at the Eisenhower Tunnel looking North, same day as the above picture, but in the afternoon.  You can just make out I70 at the bottom!!
Riding on the Spring Creek trail in Fort Collins Wednesday afternoon, November 28th.  Love riding this bike!!  Trek Cross Country 29er with lockable shocks so that you can ride bike trail or dirt!!
Contemplating a long bike or trail run, beautiful afternoon weather, Saturday 8th,December 2018. I went with the run!
Snowshoe trip at Montgomery Pass, Monday December 10th, lots and lots of snow!!

Well that is going to be about it for me this week.  Need to get back out there and do some more skiing. Hope your weekend is a great one. Remember your commits and questions are always welcome.  Take care my friends and see you “Out There!!”

Book Review, Exercise, Science, Skiing

MUSINGS FOR SATURDAY 24TH, NOVEMBER 2018

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Damn it has been a fantastic week!!  And that is the truth of the matter.  Hope everyone had a great Turkey Day.  I had to work but that was OK.  Someone has got to do it?  Right?  Oh well sometimes you are off and sometimes you have to work.  And this Turkey Day it was my turn to work.

I started reading a new book by Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Avis Lang called “Accessory to War.”  So far it seems like a pretty good book on the alliance between science and the military.  It is one of those things you don’t really think about to start, but when someone points it out, it is almost like an “aha moment.”  My first experience with this idea came in college years ago.  The book actually brings back memories of Art History when we studied about Leonardo Da Vinci.  Artists at the time needed people to employ them, a “patron” so to speak, and one of the ways to do that was to design and build “war machines”, “castle fortifications”, etc.… all for protection or conquest.  Leonardo was employed in 1487 for this very reason by the Duke of Milan.  At the time Italy was made up of a collection of City States that were constantly at war with each other and if you had the ability to design and build these types of implements, then you were very employable.  I am guessing that you could go back since time immortal and find evidence of alliances like this.  Again, I am not that far into the book but it seems pretty good for now.  I will let you know if I change my mind.  You can find the book at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Accessory-War-Unspoken-Alliance-Astrophysics/dp/0393064441/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1542701177&sr=8-1&keywords=accessory+to+war

The afternoons the last few days have been beautiful here on the Front Range of Colorado.  Very nice weather for running and some beautiful sunsets to boot.  The four pictures below were all taken on the same afternoon/evening but at different times.  Looking at them again I am amazed how the light changed over the course of about 30 to 45 minutes.

FIRST PICTURE – LOOKING WEST.

SECOND PICTURE – LOOKING WEST.

THIRD PICTURE – LOOKING WEST.

FOURTH PICTURE – MOON RISE – LOOKING EAST.

Well… You might be wondering why I posted the quotes from different scientists?  The reason is I really believe that if we as a nation want to make “America Great Again” – this is where the focus needs to be.  As problems of our planet and society become more and more convoluted.  We need better solutions for all of us living together.  I would say that this is so important in the next 20 years that we need to make all College Level Scientific degrees free for anybody who wants one.  And if you get into one area of study and want to change then you can do it without any repercussions.  I believe America will be behind most of the developed world within the next few years if we don’t make this switch.  My personnel opinion is that all education needs to be high caliber with minimal cost.  So that even someone in a single parent household can go to school.  All schools should be merit based, not dependent on how much money you have or can pay.  Truly, putting all politics aside, if you want to help this country continue to be a world leader then you need to offer free college for Science Majors (all science majors, master’s programs, PhD programs) – pull the money you need out of the military budget.  I mean it is going to benefit them in the long run anyway.   Or tax all churches and religious organizations, put the money into science education.  Prayers do not cure you of your antibiotic resistance staph infection, only the next generation of antibiotics will.  We need to continue to move away from the comforting “make believe” of religion and put more effort into hard science.  Our future, our children’s future, humanities future depends upon it.

Science is the key to our future.  Especially if you want to avoid the massive problems that occur when major calamities strike, natural and man-made.  We are in a very interconnected world that is becoming more connected every day.  Whether we like it or not, we are a “global community.”  Let me say that again, we are a global community.  And to manage something as big as an entire global community takes a whole new understanding and level of science. As a nation we can continue to be a part of this or we can allow the world to pass us on and be eventually “told” by the rest of the world what to do and how to do it.  I believe it is in our best interest to be part of the later…..

Well that is going to be about it for me this week.  Cross country skiing is getting really good at the moment, much better than last year.  I was at Snow Mountain Ranch in Grand Country earlier in the week and the snow was great.  This time last year I could have been mountain biking on the same trails.  It is snowing in the mountains this weekend, so the skiing next week should be fantastic!!    I hope to see you out there on the trails or at the ski slope.  Take care my friends and may you have a great weekend!!