M. Thomas Apple's Blog, page 53
November 7, 2019
Exoskeletons in the house! Sorry, no mechas (yet)
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The “Every Muscle Suit” has a lot going for it. Weighing just 3.8 kilograms (2.2 pounds), the pneumatic artificial muscle suit is powerful enough to generate up to 25.5 kilogram-force and effectively relieves pressure on users’ backs when performing activities like heavy lifting.
And no batteries. That’s right: it uses air pressure only. Sells for the low low price of ¥149,600 (US$1,380)!
Well, OK, it’s not cheap. But compared to the robots used in heavy industries, this one’s close to affordable. And you can even test-run at the Bic Camera store in Shinjuku, Tokyo.
No mention of mounted laser rifles yet, though. Sorry.
Maybe V. 2.1?
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November 1, 2019
Here There Be Witches — i.e., Strong Women
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The Witching Hour and Hallowe’en have come and past, but there’s still time to think about family history…since, of course, it does involve witches. And ghosts.
We have two witches and one ghost in the family tree, on my mother’s side (my father’s side has pirates, kidnapped settlers, and Captains who start intercontinental wars, but more on that in another post). The witches, of course, were caught up in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and 1693. Otherwise known as the Salem Witch Paranoia. Victims of insecure white men. So what’s new?
My mother’s maiden name was Langworthy, which goes back to the mid-17th century New England (and obviously before that, to England, probably Devonshire). Through the Langworthy line, she was directly related to the Twiss/Twist and West families, all of whom lived in the Massachusetts Bay colony. (So, yes, we’re partly of Mayflower stock. But more on that in another post about indentured servants).
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Our most famous witch ancestor is Susannah (North) Martin/Martyn, one of the only “witches” of Salem whose trial record exists. (Although technically she lived outside of Salem, in Salisbury, close to local Native American Pennacook tribe). Susannah is my mother’s 8x great-grandmother, through the Martin-Peasley-Twiss-Langworthy line.
A mother of eight and one of the first white settlers of the northern Boston area, Susannah was reviled by jealous, sexually repressed men in her community for being stubborn, outspoken, and for refusing to allow others to steal her inheritance. Her husband George, a local blacksmith turned town official, had supported her and even sued his neighbors for slander when she was accused twice of witchcraft. Obviously, others in the community simply couldn’t stand the fact that the wife of a blacksmith had a strong will and was treated like an equal by her husband.
But after her husband died, and she became a widow, her fate was sealed. Known as “Goody” Martin, Susannah showed open contempt for the Puritan “fathers” in her third, and final, trial. The “Reverend” Cotton Mathers witnessed the proceedings and wrote about it extensively, calling her an “impudent, Scurrilous, wicked” creature.
In one famous witch trial scene, reproduced to some degree in the movie The Crucible (which focuses on the accuser Abigail Williams and doesn’t even mention Susannah), Susannah laughed, called the accusations foolish, and otherwise behaved more or less like most women in my family’s history:
“[Magistrate] (to the afflicted girls): Do you know this Woman?
[Abigail Williams]: It is Goody Martin. She hath hurt me often.
Others by fits were hindered from speaking. Eliz: Hubbard said she hath not been hurt by her. John Indian said he hath not seen her Mercy Lewes pointed to her & fell into a little fit. Ann Putman threw her Glove in a fit at her. The examinant laught.
[Magistrate] (To Martin): What do you laugh at it?
[Martin]: Well I may at such folly.
[Magistrate]: Is this folly? The hurt of these persons.
[Martin]: I never hurt man woman or child.
[Mercy Lewes]: She hath hurt me a great many times, & pulls me down.
Then Martin laughed again.
…
[Magistrate] (To Martin): What do you say to this?
[Martin]: I have no hand in Witchcraft.
[Magistrate]: What did you do? Did not you give your consent?
[Martin]: No, never in my life.
[Magistrate]: What ails this people?
[Martin]: I do not know.
[Magistrate]: But w’t do you think?
[Martin]: I do not desire to spend my judgm’t upon it.
[Magistrate]: Do not you think they are Bewitcht?
[Martin]: No. I do not think they are.
She was hung on July 19, 1692, together with several other women, including another relative of ours, Rebecca Nurse.
Her house no longer stands. In its place, there rests a stone with an engraving: “An honest, hardworking Christian woman. Accused as a witch…a martyr of superstition.”
Susannah Martin was finally exonerated, officially, on Hallowe’en 2001 — a mere 309 years after her hanging.
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As historian Lynn Stuart Paramore writes, “In patriarchal societies — including our own — post-reproductive women have often been scapegoated as threats and burdens.” And they continue to be accused, scapegoated, and branded as “witches” in many countries such as India, Nigeria…and, of course, the good ole U S of A.
And as for the ghost in the family tree?
Well…let’s hold off on that local Glens Falls, New York, story for a little while yet…
October 25, 2019
The exciting world of regolith oxygen extraction
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Future moon settlers might benefit from oxygen extraction from lunar regolith as it can be used to create breathable air as well as a source for fuel. In addition, the newly found extraction method might also be useful for Mars colonization.
Regolith covers the Moon and Mars (and presumably many other potentially habitable rocky bodies).
Of course, the composition of regolith on the Moon differs from that of Mars.
But if the new method can extract sufficient quantities of both oxygen and hydrogen, there should be ample amounts for both human usage and rocket fuel.
(Yawn.) “Dry” science? Sure. But think of the (fictional) possibilities!
October 22, 2019
The Halloween “Shat-Attack”
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It had been rumored for decades that the mask the killer Michael Myers wore in the Halloween films was in fact based on Shatner’s face. Not just his face, but specifically a Captain Kirk death mask created for Star Trek. As it turns out, the anecdote is very true.
October 18, 2019
Richard Branson, Star Trek: Enterprise Called. They Want their Uniforms Back
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Actually, when I first read the real article title, I thought it said “space underwear.”
Under armour. Private space wear.
Seriously, is he getting ready for Space Reality TV or what?
hypebeast.com/2019/10/virgin-galactic-under-armour-private-astronauts-spacewear-news
October 16, 2019
Have Gravity Link Spaceship, Will Travel?
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Youtuber smallstars has proposed a concept that he calls the Gravity Link Starship (GLS), a variation of SpaceX’s that will be able to provide its own artificial gravity.
Hm, I guess we’re at the point where YouTubers have better ideas than NASA…
But who pays for this? is the several billion dollar question. Not just the construction of the “hub and truss” system, but the expense of getting it into space in the first place.
Seems like science fiction at this point. But still worth a read/look:
www.universetoday.com/143368/real-artificial-gravity-for-spacexs-starship/
October 15, 2019
“We already found life on Mars!” Um. Sorry, no, you didn’t.
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“What is the evidence against the possibility of life on Mars?” Levin wrote. “The astonishing fact is that there is none.”
Uh, no, sorry. That’s an illogical fallacy called “begging the question.”
Often phrased like this: “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”
Or, as a friend once joked, “Just because you haven’t found any aliens doesn’t mean there aren’t any!”
Well, yeah, but that doesn’t prove anything except that we just don’t know.
See, science doesn’t work like that. It demands skepticism, careful theorizing based on positive evidence.
And replication.
If findings can’t be independently confirmed and reproduced by an outside observer, then the evidence isn’t strong enough.
Sorry. No smoking gun. Yet.
(Believe me, if scientists knew that Mars had life, we’d hear about it ad infinitum. Carl Sagan put it best: Scientists are terrible at keeping secrets.)
October 13, 2019
Factories…In…Space…
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“Once you’ve exploited the solar system, there’s nowhere left to go.”
Frankly, the idea that we puny humans could ever even begin to damage the solar system is laughable.
What would be more worrisome is who – or what – would be doing the work. Why hire people if you could make robots to do the work for you?
October 12, 2019
Humans Have a ‘Salamander-Like’ Ability to Regenerate Damaged Body Parts, Study Finds
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Paging Dr. Connors! Dr. Kurt Con….
Our bodies have retained the capacity to repair injured or overworked cartilage in our joints, says new research published today in Science Advances. Remarkably, the mechanics of this healing process are practically the same as what’s used by amphibians and other animals to regenerate lost limbs…
Oh.
Um.
Nevermind. It was a cool idea, anyways…
— Read on gizmodo.com/humans-have-a-salamander-like-ability-to-regenerate-d-1838909848
October 10, 2019
Space Hopper Go!
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I have a vehicle in my novel called a “Hopper.”
Damn you, Musk! Must you steal ALL my ideas??
www.syfy.com/syfywire/amazing-video-spacex-starhopper-test-hop-to-a-height-of-150-meters
