Scott Ott looks away from the Doomscrolling and discovers a universe of astonishing inventions and fantastic breakthroughs and also there seems to be a nasty bug going around the Right Angle crew.
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September 6, 2026
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‘Future Shock’ by Alvin Toffler. Real science is changing things fast…and faster. When it exceeds fastest we may be in trouble, if Star Trek is an indication…
I read that in high school.
Then we realize that the light we see from the galaxies began before Christ was born.
To echo Paul D with another example: On Aug 16, 1858 Pres. James Buchanan exchanged telegraph greetings with Queen Victoria. He was in the US and she was in the UK. This marked the first transatlantic telegraph, instantly connecting two continents that had previously not been able to communicate faster than a ship could sail. (H/T Eric Florack – PJ Media) Someone made the decision to lay that cable to improve communications. I am sure that there were plenty of people saying what a waste of resources it was at the time. 160 years later Elon Musk was putting satellites… Read more »
Gentlemen, while I quite agree that the acceleration of the accumulation of information and knowledge is seemingly exponential here in our time and the wonders beyond imagining are currently afoot without a doubt. I find myself in agreement with Paul D. however, in that as far as change in the world around us as perceived by the average person will likely never be as great as that experienced by my grandparents. They quite literally went from the horse and buggy to the moon in their lifespan. From weeks for a letter or newspaper to get from source to their door… Read more »
As I look forward to new discoveries about our universe, I recognize that some ideas will take a hit: Science fiction stories. Isaac Asimov once wrote an article lamenting how so many early science fiction stories had been ruined by new discoveries. He used the example of great stories about civilizations on Venus before we learned that the atmospheric pressure is 90 x Earth’s, the surface temperature is 900º F. and it’s largely sulfuric acid. But there will be new stories and discoveries. Thanks Gentlemen!
I think earlier times have given an even stronger sense of “What a time to be alive!” The pictures of galaxies that Scott mentions are impressive, but they aren’t something that we didn’t know was out there and we don’t really feel them as affecting our individual lives. I compare those things to conversations I’ve had with my wife’s great aunt, who was born on a farm in the 1880’s. She saw a rural, horse-drawn world develop into Eiffel Tower skyscrapers, automobiles, airplanes, factories, radio, television, painless dentistry (not to mention a couple world wars and advances in farm equipment.)… Read more »
Watching this was a great way to start my Monday morning! The three of you bring valuable perspectives to me and to your broad audience. Keep rolling on……….
Where space is concerned, I’m an “Eeyore.” “A million black holes” = inevitable disintegration into nothingness (or worse!). Space travel = 99.876% chance of mission failure (a pinhole-sized piece of debris perforating the shell of the craft and you lose your atmosphere, as an easy example). Unusual tracks on the moon and Mars = Monster trucks competitions from when we were there last iteration of civilization 11,000 years ago before God took his great “white board” and had all traces of us erased.
I could go on…
By your “Eeyore” logic considering that your odds of dying are 100% you might as well not make the effort to get out of bed in the morning. Ain’t nobody getting out of this alive so why bother? We have very different views of life. I’ve been in serious mortal peril quite a few times. A few of those times were just “stuff happens” but many I actually entered into willingly and knowingly I don’t know how your life has gone but I’d be willing to bet that I’ve been closer to sudden violent death more often than you have… Read more »
Like you say, we’re all gonna die anyway. I would beg to go on that 99.876% mission.
Something that “out of nowhere” “catches in the back of the throat” is usually laryngopharyngeal reflux, acids that come up from the stomach. Alcohol can potentiate it.
I read your comment before I saw the episode and with the alcohol comment thought that Steve would be coughing.
Well, he was first, so at least I was partially right.😉