Posted by: Jim in Mars on
May 02, 2008
The Boston Globe has an interesting article about Percival Lowell, "The man who invented Mars." Ok, so Mars existed before Lowell ever peered through his telescope. But, the 19th Century Boston native contributed greatly to the public perception of the Red Planet. Lowell was obsessed with proving that there was intelligent life on Mars and was a great popularizer of his ideas, much to the dismay of the rest of the scientific community. His ideas and their future incarnations in Science Fiction carries influence into the modern world and NASA's history of Mars probes.
Worth the read:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2008/04/27/the_man_who_invented_mars/?page=full
Posted by: Jim in Mars on
May 01, 2008
While looking for life by 'following the water' strategy NASA reported this week that it has found what appears to be the indication of Dry Hot Springs on Mars. As a follow up to my last post this is an invitation to the obvious. If it once had water and perhaps life there is an even more compelling reason why an overall goal of 'Greening Mars' makes sense. To recreate a life sustaining system on a planetary scale is a goal well worth our capabilities. As stated in my previous post this project can do for our civilization what the Pyramids did for Egypt. It can define us and help us to regain our sense of creating value.
Posted by: Jim in Philosophy, Painting on
Apr 20, 2008
Tiepolo, the great painter of ceilings, had ideas that point the way for others of us in our pursuit of great paintings. Here are some of them.
Creating a world beyond common experience
Vaghezza - a subtle beauty
Great Spectacles unfolding in light
vast aerial spaces
Grandiosity, compositional richness
A labrynth of images
To Paint a World
Create great spaces!
Show the mind far more things than it hoped to see
These are just some of the ideas that I use to get started when
composing a new painting. I think they help to go beyond the normal
boundaries of my everyday thought processes and the patterns of
rendering that are comfortable to my ego.
Posted by: Jim in Pyramids, Mystery, Engineering, Egypt on
Apr 17, 2008
Not too long ago a program on Nova spotlighted a successful attempt to reconstruct a modern day pyramid near the great pyramids on the Giza Plateau. Over a several week(3) period, using the same methods they thought were used in the construcion of the Giza Pyramids, they were successful in building a pyramid of 186 stones(same size as the smallest in the Great Pyramid)that was 20 feet high. I decided to compare the performance on this new pyramid with the Great Pyramid to see how long using the methods of the new pyramid builders it would take them to construct the great pyramid. Here is what I found out.
Assumptions
New Pyramid Construction(actual)
44 workmen
186 stones
3 weeks
Great Pyramid
2.4 million stones
Problem
Solve the equation for identifying the number of workmen
and time required to build the great pyramid at the same performance
rate as the new pyramid.
Performance Solution Equation - Time
186/3 = 2.4M/X
X = 38,710 weeks or 744 years
What this says is that at the same performance rate of 3 weeks to dress and lay 186 blocks how many years would it take to build a pyramid with 2.4 milllion. (Note: This does not take intoconsideration the additional complexifying aspects of scaled logistics and coordination or size.) It also suggests that that at
the same productivity ratio that it would have taken 567,742 workmen to achieve the same result on the larger pyramid over 744 years.
While these are straight line projections, and are simplfied, they do point to a potential missing element in the puzzle faced with the problem of discovering the design, processes, tools and manpower used in the construction of the Giza Pyramids.
Except for the simplified approach, if I have made any mistake in the
math let me know.
Posted by: Jim in Pyramids, Mystery, Engineering, Egypt on
Apr 17, 2008
How many blocks per hour would the builders of the Great Pyramid have had to lay if it was built in 20 years?
Assumptions
20 years
365 days a year
no days off
2.4M blocks
1. 8 hour work day = 41 per hour
2. 10 hour work day = 32.9 per hour
3. 12 hour work day = 27.4 per hour
If this is true then we need to know what strategies they utilized to be this productive! This is the BIG STORY because if they were this productive then we have lost all touch with the concept of personal and work group productivity. (Note: Remember the smallest block is estimated to weigh 2.5 tons.)
Please let me know if the math is wrong!
Posted by: Jim in Philosophy, Painting on
Apr 16, 2008
C.S.Lewis tells us that if we are on the wrong track that the quickest and most successful way forward to is to go back to the beginning and start over. I think that this holds true for most artists who are seeking what has been called the 'Innocence of the Eye'. The idea is to see again as if for the first time without prejudice or conditioned thoughts and processes. It is these processes that we painters have to avoid if we are to see and depict something that is more truthful and less ordinary. It is also one of the most difficult objectives before us.
I know that my greatest temptation is to resort to known or previously successful pathways to construction of the paintings and depiction of the subjects or ideas. While this often leads to 'nice' or 'good' paintings they always seem to fall short of the original vision that I had before execution. They seem to get watered down the further I go into the painting as I seek not to render from the heart of the vision but from the pattern of the intellect.
I have found that the best way for me to avoid this is not to spend too much time (if any) in the laying out of the painting on the watercolor paper. I now try to go directly(as directly as possbile!) from the vision to painting process. I have found that a drawing with any detail tends to 'contain' and 'restrain' the vision. I therefore try to launch directly into the painting process on the blank paper with only the vision in my mind before me. This is a similar process to one that I have developed for the use of my consulting clients in the development of new creative approaches to solving probelms and developing new opportunties. The interesting thing to me is the way that I feel when I am in this process as opposed to the more traditional one. In the new process I feel free, open and energized. It is exiting and reminds me more of when I was finger painting in grade school. Maybe this is the best way to become innocent again!
Posted by: Jim in Pyramids, Mars on
Apr 15, 2008
A recent article in Cosmos discussed the greening of mars. If we are looking for something of great value and magnitude that would get the world excited again about space it is just such a project. If we can green a planet perhaps we can learn enough to save and recover our own. For a world focused on 'industrialized consumptive destruction' this project, as a master project of a world wide Space Program, could turn the tide in thinking about priorities. Today we seem to think that it is a zero sum game. We either industrialize or we go green. (Or we pay lip service to going green!). I think it is not an either or proposition. We need a new capitalism and outlook that is not a competition between these two camps(business and Environmentalists) but rather a new and higher performing value centered approach that is a win/ win. A project like the greening of Mars should be promoted as it may represent to us(the world) today what the pyramids meant to the Egyptian civilization. It is something big enough and grand enough to fit what the human civilization is capable of achieving.
Posted by: Jim in NASA, Mars on
Mar 27, 2008
A recent article in Cosmos Magazine related the importance of a trip to Mars in the not too distant future. As they remarked NASA is working toward it but not on a plan that would see man set foot in the red planet in the next ten years. It further went on the suggest that the Mars Direct Plan, suggested by Zubrin, would provides some ideas on how to get their sooner. While it does I think it overlooks the obvious and that is the space ship that is already in orbit(and paid for!). As mentioned in other posts I suggest that we consider using the ISS as the way to jump start out interplanetary journey's.
Posted by: Jim in NASA, Military on
Mar 20, 2008
A recent article in Scientific American posed the threats to the world from the military use of space. I had just read another article in Foreign Affairs regarding the race to claim all or part of the Arctic. To me both of these situations have at their core the same faulty thinking. It comes from our human natur and it revolves around the age old strategies of 'Finite Thinking' and 'King of the Mountain'.
The thought that 'I must have more because I know that all resources are limited and I have to have the bigger share'is finite thinking. What history has taught is that this hoarding mentality will come back to haunt the hoarder. We need quite the opposite strategy and so does the world. We need to see that we get more and the world works better when we learn how to create more and share it in service to all. We succeed because we do not think in limited terms. With infinite thinking we all end up with more.
'King of the Mountain', or the high ground strategy proposed by military strategists over the world, is not appropriate for our next movements into space. Since we have run out of the high ground on earth we now move to space.(Little boys shooting down satellites to show off their prowess.) Where to from there? This is the question that needs to be asked. The civilized countries of the world need to see that this is the key question. The movement to ever higher ground over the centuries has just postponed our addressing this key question. That is why we can't get out of this endless(since the beginning of time) cycle of war caused by our greed, fear and military strategies from the animal kingdom.
In both cases the human race is operating in a way that is insane. To continue to follow flawed strategies and repeat the horrors of war is not the course that a mentally sound society follows. As human beings our greatest capacity(the one that seperates us from the rest of the creatures) is that of reasoning and creativity. We need to use these to see space and the artic as opportunties to develop a new way of moving forward more peacefully as a global civilization and not independent nationalistic bullies(with only the players in the role changing from historical period to historical period).
The arctic and outer space are both regions that have extreme conditions and are sensitive to incurrison by man. We must tread lightly and with respect. These are regions that should not be owned or annexed but rather appreciated for their inherent potential to help us understand ourselves.
One way of moving forward in Space and the Artic is to use the ISS as the International Post for going forward in outer space and the Artic. It lies between the two and should give us a constant perspective on our interdependent relationships here on earth. It seems to be in a perfect position to allow us to work together to add as much value for everyone in the world. Why not expand the ISS mission and its member countries? Why not use the ISS(since it is already in orbit and is in need of a mission) as both a launch pad and possbily a interplanetray space vehicle? This has been suggested before and ignored. In the end we must not allow space to be used as the new high ground for flawed finite thinking. It must become the place where once and for all the human race changed its course for the greater good.
Posted by: Jim in Science, Extra Terrestrial Life on
Mar 19, 2008
An astronomy group this week found evidence of Methane and Water on a Planetary Gas giant some 60+ light years from earth. While they were excited to be able to detect such evidence they reported that it is a gas giant planet and as such could not harbor life. I disagree. Look at the evidence of life living in high extreme environments found on earth in recent years. One would have to at least stay open to the fact that life may exist(perhaps even in other forms) in harsh environments. I further speculate that life may not care about the environment but may rather adapt or alter its matrix(form) in order to exist in any enviroment. It may be that prolific. The existence of conscious life is another matter but it may be that we are not sensitive enough to detect consciousness which may also be as prolifc as life itself.
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