INNOVATION: What stands in humanity’s way to live on Mars or elsewhere

Tuesday, March 18, 2025

https://radiofarside.substack.com/p/the-gingers

The Gingers   —   “Martians” sounds so retro
Radio Far Side
Mar 09, 2025

*** begin quote ***

Donald Trump’s recent address to the joint session of Congress (emphasis on “joint” and “con”), while entertaining at times, offered no real updates on anything of substance. He’s a showman, and it was a show, which the Democrats unwittingly participated in. However, like no-alcohol beer, it was all bubbles and no buzz.

Trump made one quick reference to his administration’s ambitions in space that got the old brain juice flowing. His exact statement was, “We are going to lead humanity into space and plant the American flag on the planet Mars, and even far beyond.”

*** and ***

Here’s just some of them:

  •     Spacecraft Reliability & Transport
  •     Radiation Protection
  •     Life Support Systems
  •     Habitat Construction
  •     Energy Generation Storage
  •     Communications Delay
  •     Autonomous Operations
  •     Resource Utilization
  •     Medical Capabilities
  •     Extreme Cold
  •     Thin Atmosphere
  •     Low Gravity
  •     Toxic Soil & Dust
  •     Global Dust Storms
  •     Lack of Liquid Water
  •     Planetary Protection

*** and ***

Here’s just some of the changes they would undergo:

  •     Lower Bone Density & Muscle Mass
  •     Taller, Leaner Bodies
  •     Altered Cardiovascular System
  •     Radiation Resistance
  •     Oxygen Adaptations 
  •     Increased Isolation Resilience
  •     Cognitive Divergence from Earth
  •     Different Circadian Rhythms 
  •     Martian Identity & Independence
  •     New Social Structures
  •     Technology-Driven Lifestyle
  •     New Ethical & Legal Systems 
  •     Speciation Possibility
  •     Reduced Immune Function
  •     Vision Changes

*** end quote ***

“People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.” George Bernard Shaw

That’s the first time I’ve see a comprehensive list of the “technical” and “human” problems that need to be overcome.

May not happen in my lifetime, but it will in someone’s.

As an afficiando of Sci Fi, especially Heinlein, I believe it can be done.

I remember JFK promising a man on the moon.  Impossible some said.  

“Everything is theoretically impossible, until it is done.” — Robert A. Heinlein

—30—

Leave a Comment » | INNOVATION | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

MEME: “… the poor of today can afford the things that affluent of yesterday could only dream about” — Thomas Sowell

Monday, March 17, 2025

[JR: Stunningly simple statement about human progress.]

—30—

Leave a Comment » | MEME | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

BITCOIN: Why does the USA want or need a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve

Monday, March 17, 2025

https://manage.kmail-lists.com/subscriptions/web-view?a=RLfipm&c=01HZQZ7P4XRM5XQMEEP6TE2D8R&k=236623793f7051989702ab4333096b92&m=01JNS8CVYW45M6PSCAY7A9XXER&r=01JNSDHS6WQ76EWT97ZNJZBNPB

March 07, 2025 | Block Height 879,567
Bitcoin Price Live | Bitcoin Magazine Pro
Hey Bitcoiner!

Check out today’s top Bitcoin news stories:

BREAKING: 🇺🇸 President Trump signs executive order officially creating a #Bitcoin Strategic Reserve.

JUST IN: 🇺🇸 The White House calls Bitcoin “digital gold” and says “there is a strategic advantage to being among the first nations to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.”

JUST IN: 🇺🇸 President Trump’s Crypto Czar David Sacks said “We’ve decided that Bitcoin is scarce, it’s valuable, and that is strategic for the United States to hold on to this as a long-term reserve asset.”

JUST IN: 🇺🇸 Coinbase CEO says, “I expect many of the G20 to follow” the USA in establishing Strategic #Bitcoin Reserve

# – # – # – # – # 

Dear Usual Suspects:

I’m not sure why the USA or any Gooferment need a “strategic bitcoin reserve” (SBR)? I know I’m only fat old white guy retired injineer who’s a poor old senior citizen on a fixed income and not an Ekky-non-o-mist. I can understand an “oil reserve” like Biden drained, a strategic uranium reserve, or hell even a wildlife preserve. But crypto? If you have any insight I’d appreciate you sharing. To me, since the number of bitcoins is fixed, it can’t be inflated like fiat currencies. And there are several (good imho) understandable use cases: international transfers, wealth carried in the form of a twelve word wallet, wealth preservation in face of inflation, distributed commerce that can’t b e prevented by any Gooferment, and my favorite avoiding / evading estate taxes (i.e., the keys just disappear like the Lost Dutchman’s Mine). None of these seem to fit a Gooferment purpose.  

All an SBR will do is further restrict the supply of bitcoins available in the free market which will drive up the price. Since a bitcoin is infinitely divisible into smaller quantities it really doesn’t affect any of the use cases mentioned. And, unlike a gold or silver coin, you don’t have the problem of “making change” for a purchase.

Of all the Gooferment boondoggles of waste, fraud, and abuse, this seems the least harmful. After all, it won’t disappear like the gold in Fort Knox. Gotta love that indelible blockchain.

Anyway, I just thought I’d share some thoughts and see what anyone else thinks. Even if they really don’t care.

Remember “not your key; not your coin”!

—30—

Leave a Comment » | BITCOIN | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

RANT: Politicians!

Sunday, March 16, 2025

O

—30—

Leave a Comment » | ADHOC | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

HEALTHCARE: EVERYONE needs a Patient Advocate

Sunday, March 16, 2025

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14470923/pennsylvania-mom-dad-son-rare-disease-gunnar-woodring.html

How mom and dad’s quick-thinking actions helped save son’s life from rare disease
By JAMES GORDON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
Published: 20:35 EST, 6 March 2025 | Updated: 20:42 EST, 6 March 2025 

*** begin quote ***

The parents of a five-year-old boy from Pennsylvania are being praised for making the quick-thinking decision to return to hospital, despite being recently discharged.  

Gunnar Woodring was known to be a bright and lively child until early January when his health suddenly took a terrifying turn for the worse. 

Initially diagnosed with influenza, his condition rapidly deteriorated, alarming his mother, Katie Woodring.

‘I said, Gunnar, are you having a hard time breathing? And he nodded yes. And I said to my husband, I know we were just discharged, but we need to go back to the emergency room,’ Katie said. 

Her maternal instincts proving to be lifesaving.

*** and ***

Doctors credit Gunnar’s survival to his parents’ quick actions and their refusal to ignore their instincts.

‘Had they not recognized that this was more than just the flu, more than just a mild viral illness. 

‘They knew very early on that this child was quite ill and they did what great parents do: they advocated, and they said there’s something not right, so they saved their child’s life,’ Dr. Frank Maffei, Chair of Pediatrics and Chief of Pediatric Critical Care at Janet Weis Children’s Hospital, said.

*** end quote ***

EVERYONE needs a Patient Advocate. 

Not just a little child.  The patient is not is a position to see and hear everything that’s going on.  

As a PiA (Patient Advocate aka Giant Pain In The <synonym for donkey>) for my sainted wife, I keep my own chart and logs.  I documented every interaction that happened in the hospital.  And, I don’t take no <synonym for excrement> when the SHIF and she’s going into shock (low blood sugar) or coma (high blood sugar),  I understand that the nursing staff can’t stand by 24/7, but I could.  Once went 30 hours without a break during one tough interval. 

I often thought I should have written a book about advocating for your patient.  (Like the time I called the local Fire Department when there was an on-oxygen patient sneaking smokes in an overcrowded temporary ward in an old conference room. The Fire Chief personally thanked me after he shutdown the ER from accepting new patients.  The head of the hospital wasn’t as happy when she visited my wife the day after.  Like I cared.  Frau asked me if I did it; I proudly said “sure did and I’d do it faster next time.”  Never had the chance or need.)  I found that the “head docs” never were upset or rude to me when I put in my “advice”.  Their lesser team members were not as cordial.  I’d seen a “head doc” have a heated hallway conversation with a “little doc” on more tha one occasion.  Funny how much you can see when you are only focus on “your patient”.

I had all sorts of tricks to ingratiate myself to the staff (i.e., all ways thank and compliment the cleaning staff; box of donuts for the night nurses; never ask for a service I could do myself; never try to “help” the patient use the ladies room unless the nurse needed help).  You have to strictly observe the boundaries.  Remember you’re there to watch, record, and report.  Not get in the way.  The staff should barely know you are there.  Remembering their names is easy when you write them all down.

Laugh!  I could have take better notes if I had court reporter training.  But I used some self-generated forms that helped a lot.

Bottom line:  TL;DR. Always trust your instincts; docs and teams make mistakes.

—30—

Leave a Comment » | Healthcare | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

CORRUPTION: Must be a really small lab to fit in a Post Office Box

Saturday, March 15, 2025

https://www.thefocalpoints.com/p/is-arpa-h-really-a-giant-biden-biotech?publication_id=1119676&post_id=158552758&isFreemail=true&r=3snn7d&triedRedirect=true

Is ARPA-H Really a Giant Biden Biotech Slush Fund?
Dr. McCullough with Liz MacDonald on Fox Business The Evening Edit
Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH
Mar 07, 2025

*** begin quote ***

Senator Joni Ernst wrote Robert F. Kennedy a concerning letter about one ARPA-H check for $28 M to Vaccine Company, Inc, operating out of a PO Box in Maryland. Ernst’s cursory investigation revealed Vaccine Company, Inc, is brand new, has no physical plant or address, and yet received a generous $24M payment from ARPA-H. Ernst points out that ARPA-H received an additional $1.5B from the Biden administration in 2022.

*** end quote ***

Certainly seems suspect.

1.5B$?

Must be a really small lab to fit in a Post Office Box.

Where’s the new FBI?   The POB had to be paid for.  Follow the money and hand out immunity to the “little people” until you get to “the brains”.

Jail is too good for grifters.

—30—

Leave a Comment » | CORRUPTION | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

HEALTHCARE: BiVACOR’s Total Artificial Heart keeps heart failure patients alive until a donor heart is available

Friday, March 14, 2025

FROM 1440 https://join1440.com/

*** begin quote ***

Heart of Steel Titanium

An Australian man in his 40s lived for a record 105 days with a titanium heart before receiving a donor heart transplant March 6. Though five patients in the US had previously been implanted with BiVACOR’s Total Artificial Heart, he is the first to be discharged from the hospital with the device and has the longest survival period between implantation and transplantation.

The device uses magnetic levitation technology—like that used in high-speed trains—to suspend a single moving part, a rotor, which pumps blood through the body. An external system controls the device, adjusting blood flow based on the patient’s activity. Experts say it could be a solution for heart failure patients awaiting transplants and may become a permanent option for those ineligible for transplants due to age or other conditions, though further testing is required.

Approximately 6.7 million Americans over age 20 have heart failure, and around 4,600 heart transplants were performed in 2024. The US Food and Drug Administration has approved expanding the trial to include 15 more participants. 

*** end quote ***

Now that is a real boon to people whose heart is on its way to failure.  And death.

Soon maybe they won’t need donors or pigs.

Amazing.

—30—

Leave a Comment » | Healthcare | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

ENCOURAGING: Demonstration project shows improved yields, diversified crops, and boosted incomes

Friday, March 14, 2025

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/degraded-lands-transformed-into-productive-farms-with-science-we-can-create-wonders/

Degraded Lands Transformed into Productive Farms: With Science, We Can Create Wonders
By Andy Corbley – Mar 3, 202

*** begin quote ***

In a degraded and semi-arid farming area in India, simple science-driven changes to the landscape have colored the horizon, and a village’s fortunes, with green.

In the Latur district in the central western state of Maharashtra, 40 years of erratic rainfall, groundwater depletion, soil erosion, and crop failures have impoverished the local people.

In the village of Matephal, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) launched a project in 2023 that aimed at addressing these challenges through integrated landscape management and climate-smart farming practices.

*** and ***

“This ICRISAT project improved yields, diversified crops, and boosted incomes. It also spared women from walking over a kilometer for drinking water, now available in the village for people and animals,” said Mr. Govind Hinge of Matephal village.

*** end quote ***

Pretty amazing results.  Went from “dirt poor” with no water to abundant water and good soil.  

Unfortunately, the author doesn’t itemize the capital investment that went into creating this miracle.  While obviously significant, far beyond what a poor village could afford, one wonders what the ROI would be?  For example, the 30 tons of fish harvested might be a source of capital.  A 13 foot rise in the water table might be economically exploitable.  The extra acreage that become productive might be a source of capital to be used.

I wonder if the world’s engineering schools could be an educational resource?  Imagine instead of funding football teams with expansive coaches, Universities could complete for whose intervention produces the most results.  Funny?  No fill the stadium with two equally sized plots and see which produced the best tomatoes.  Yeah, now that is exciting. 

Listen to the 4 minute video and see if you’re not as impressed as I am. 

Interesting to me is that this intervention made a permanent positive change in peoples’ lives.

# – # – # – # – # 

Note: I learned that a hectare (symbol: ha) is a unit of area that is accepted in the International System of Units (SI). It is primarily used to measure land area. One hectare is equal to 10,000 square meters and is equivalent to approximately 2.471 acres.

Leave a Comment » | ENCOURAGING | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

INSPIRATIONAL: Maybe we should change the incentives?

Thursday, March 13, 2025

Found on XTwitter

Image

# – # – # – # – # 

Seems like a great idea!

As a gun owning pro-life pro-choice little L libertarian, I really objected when Gooferment bureaucrats made a big deal out of adoptions by “those people” (i.e., gay, lesbian, single parent).  I’d rather see those children adopted into a loving home than stuck in the “system”.  

https://reinkefaceslife.com/2018/05/05/kansas-oklahoma-approve-religious-veto-on-lgbt-adoptions/

If they are truly so concerned, then schedule follow up visits and such.

But the “system” is no place for children.

—30—

Leave a Comment » | INSPIRATIONAL | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

AI: Used AI to Beat Amazon’s Brutal Technical Interview

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

A Student Used AI to Beat Amazon’s Brutal Technical Interview. He Got an Offer and Someone Tattled to His University

https://gizmodo.com/a-student-used-ai-to-beat-amazons-brutal-technical-interview-he-got-an-offer-and-someone-tattled-to-his-university-2000571562

  • Roy Lee built an AI system that bypasses FAANG’s brutal technical interviews and says that the work of most programmers will be obsolete in two years.

By Matthew Gault Published March 4, 2025 

*** begin quote ***

Lee recorded his entire technical interview with Amazon and posted the whole thing, uncut, on YouTube. Then they made him an offer. He rejected it. For Lee, the point was proving that Interview Coder worked, not passing a technical interview and landing a position.

*** end quote ***

# – # – # – # – # 

Good for him.  Ethical shmethical.  Columbia is probably just pissed that they lost their market for over-priced computer science grads.  AMAZON just got embarrassed on YouTube.

​Looks like we old programmers got ours and got out before the robot uprising?

Wonder if AI does FORTRAN and COBOL?

I think my 360 Assembler experience is still unique. Too many ways to hide the methods in registers and absolute / relative addressing.  And no English language for AI to analyze.

Laugh!

P.S., The Gooferment and Big Banks still use COBOL.  Too much invested in it and too hard to recode.  I did a FORTRAN retrieval for one oil company that manage to misplace the FORTRAN source code for their refinery control code.  So there should still be work for us fat old white guy retired injineer who’s a poor old senior citizen on a fixed income to “save the day” as Mighty Mouse would say.

—30—

Leave a Comment » | AI | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »