Robert Zubrin (advisor to the Holland 'MarsOne' scheme) reckons a manned Mars mission could be done for $US 6 billion (see 'The Case For Mars') using existing technology . He points out that the use of in-situ resources (utilizing local Martian resources as much as possible rather than transporting it from earth) substantially drops costs, and after the first mission is out of the way, costs start to fall.
Plans for a British space-port have short-listed 8 sites, of which 6 are in Scotland: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jul/15/uk-spaceport-project-launched-tourism-science
Could a modern version of something like the Darian scheme actually work for Scotland today? The Scottish parliament could set up a new organization for 'The Martian scheme' and Scots could sign up for shares in Mars colonization and receive spiffy blue jumpsuits - this could turn out to be a popular new Scottish movement!
Gentlemen, I want to raise a glass and declare: 'To Mars!'
]]>Maybe they're slightly less enamoured of overconsumption of alcohol, or more aware of the risks of uncontrolled psychoactive compounds. Maybe the ones you see are students at an expensive university, aware that the days of taking student costs for granted are past...
Or just maybe they're more aware of pervasive photography and more careful to have their fun just out of sight. You know, like we did (although I have a friend who took her pocket camera everywhere, and as a result has a shoebox full of blackmail-grade photographs from our student days).
I haven't noticed any notable successes on the part of the Fun Police (or for that matter the Ministry for the Popagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice) over the last few decades. The Fashion Police have had a few big wins, mind you :)
David@99 - like you, we had our kids in our late thirties (my wife had her fortieth birthday while pregnant). I hadn't anticipated that infantry training would prove so useful - all those skills of sleeping, eating, washing when you can (because you don't know when you'll next get the chance), catnapping absolutely anywhere, taking your "kit" absolutely everywhere, or being shaken awake by someone who points out it's your turn, they're off to sleep now.
Now, a decade on, it's school and impending puberty we worry about. I just hope in another five, I don't have to pull out the "how to persuade the nice policeman that your soldiers are just inoffensive drunks, and the Sergeant Major is about to make their existence truly miserable" skills. Infantry command as a relevant parenting skill, discuss...
]]>As for things to write on tombstones, what about "you're next!"
]]>I'm now in my late 40s, and the chronic pain everyone describes is indeed there, but it's just like a less intense version of what I've been used to for almost all of my life is simply more distributed now. Nothing I can't cope with -- nothing I haven't been coping with for over 30 years.
I wonder if that's part of why I get more cheerful as I age.
(It's not all good, though. Didn't need glasses or have my first cavity until around the age of 40, and now I've got presbyopia and fillings. Still not used to those changes yet.)
]]>You'll appreciate this. My wife works for a major US airline. Over 15 years of that in a reservations call center with lots of time dealing with baggage calls.
Several times a week they'd field a call from someone saying their flight was delayed and all their diapers and baby food was in their checked luggage and what was she going to do for them. The unspoken thought was to revoke their license to be a parent. I mean how could you have a baby and get through the first few months and not learn to have over your shoulder 5 or more diapers, food for at least 1/2 a day if not more. TWO complete changes of clothes. For the baby. A spare shirt or two for you. Towels, wipes, small trash bags, etc... And so on.
And yet people would check EVERYTHING into their luggage and not carry on any of it. Unbelievable.
As to your comment about sleeping anywhere anytime. Totally. Plus the ability to out of bed up at 4 AM, change a diaper, go back to bed, and never really wake up such that you literally have no memory of the night's events except for the debris pile the next morning.
]]>The classic example is that almost everybody has more than the average (for your species) number of legs.
And happy birthday, Charlie!
]]>Although ignoring Rule 2 tends to increase your dickishness. You'll live a much happier life if you try not to be an mean or annoying dick to the people around you.
]]>"Soon be your turn to find out."
]]>revoke their license to be a parent.
If only...
A lot of places, you have to have a license to keep a dog, but all you need are functioning genitalia to be a parent.
]]>Suggestions? Right now, I'm thinking about something like a miniature Clock of the Long Now, but bronze (or perhaps aluminum) plaques that had some cool science laser etched into them are a close second. Perhaps the cladists' Tree of Life? Or an etching of an astronaut on the moon, Earth rising behind him?
After all, tombstones only last a few thousand years if you're lucky. Hiding something profound in the grave as a deep future time capsule might be a lot more fun. Or, if you don't have a cool gravesite, cache it somewhere.
]]>