robotdraftsman

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Rolls-Royce Phantom V Electric, 2020 (1961), by Lunaz. An electric restomod by Lunaz, the specialist creator of electric classic cars. Production will be limited to 30 Phantoms and Silver Clouds in a range of body styles, including four-door limousine, two-door coupé and drop head coupé. Rolls-Royce cars converted by Lunaz are powered by the firm’s proprietary electric powertrain with a 120 kWh battery pack, ensuring range of over 300 miles. Pricing for a Rolls-Royce Phantom by Lunaz starts at £500,000 (not including local taxes).

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yikes, looks like something got into my account and started posting ads. Sorry about that. Maybe I should log in more often, if at least to make sure nothing else sneaks into my account...

Anyhow, have some pictures from today’s local adventure:

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“Don’t you think so, too?”

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some of y'all: science has more evidencial support than religion, and it is the more reliable and believable truth. in the ancient contest between empiricial science and religion, modern achievements have declared science as more accurate and the better source of truth.

the truth: Scientific empiricism and religion aim to understand different kinds of truths, and they have never truly been at odds. Science gives the mechanical explanation of the world. Religion gives a philosophical explanation. Both are inexorably intertwined, but each have their own realm of study. In the last 3000 years, men of science have typically also been men of religion. Much of modern science today relies upon the accomplishments and theories of men who were religious. Further, if you devote serious time to the study of either the sciences OR religions and philosophy, you will discover that there are very few discrepancies and they actually correspond to one another. The real problem comes when science attempts to make a philosophical observation, or when religion attempts to make a mechanical observation. Religion’s role is not to explain how clouds form, how cells function, or how light travels. Science’s role is not to explain the meaning of life, whether or not God exists, and what morality is. All in all, each are good and legitimate areas of study.

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From A Journey in Other Worlds by John Jacob Astor, 1894.

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Illustration by Erich Fuchs from the 1969 children’s book Hier Apollo, which chronicled the voyage of Apollo 11. Released in English as Journey to the Moon.

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Memes are the eternal language of the people

Judge magazine, 1921

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Warning: the post that follows is a “thinking out loud about my life and things like that” post

Y’all, looks like I’m almost done with my bachelor’s. What do I do??

I graduate in the fall (taking one last course over the summer), but what happens next?

Do I go and get a diploma in aircraft maintenance?

Or learn how to use chainsaws and climbing gear and such and become a utility arborist or something?

Do nothing and slowly turn into a pile of mush?

Actually become a full-time writer?

Basically the only certainty is that I definitely do want to get a master’s. Dunno exactly in what, though, or where.

The idea of studying abroad is kind of tasty, if a bit daunting. Not going to go into the pros and cons now, because I’m feeling lazy. I actually found some things in Russia that look totally amazing but I have a sneaking sensation that I’m not going to be allowed to go there xD

Otherwise there’s plenty of choice here in Canada. Nice places nearby and far away.

But what do I study?? I’m looking in the general direction of the earth/environmental sciences. Or planetary science in general. I feel like I’m pretty done with physics. I kind of don’t want to take another quantum mechanics course again. I think the things I enjoyed the most were the applied aspects; using physics for things, like explaining Europa’s magnetic field using (actually really simple) electrodynamics. Also computer modelling.

Based on my current experience, computer modelling-related things would probably be the easiest to which to transition - easier than, say, geophysics or ecology (where I’d have a host of topics on which to get up to speed), but those things seem so gosh-darn interesting, especially with the field work. And I really need to expand my knowledge to areas outside of just physics.

I don’t think I’d want to spend my working life sitting in front of a computer all day (although that would be a great way to sneak some writing into my workday...). Computer modelling will, pretty much be just that. But it does carry some level of satisfaction; making code work is a heavenly sensation.

But in the end, I’d don’t want to end up working for an oil company (or some other entity that is, morally, a hot, sticky pile of decomposing garbage) or some corporation about whose products I couldn’t care less. The idea is that wherever I work, I do worthwhile stuff. Academia isn’t a terrible place for that, but as far as that goes, I’d better make sure I’d be down for the lifestyle.

So...yeah. Going to wrap this up before I go on a tangent about how drastically my literary tastes have changed over the last year and how that is probably a reflection of, or possibly even caused by or a cause of the evolution of my worldview and life and career goals and such.

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Drone captures breathtaking footage inside the worlds largest cave.

Can you see the tiny people in the photo? This cave is so big it has its own climate.

Check it out: http://bit.ly/1I2gxIC

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It’s tornado season. Here’s a train being blown over by a tornado.

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When things get tough

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