Well, it’s raining hard in Redwood Valley, and looks to keep it up for some time. We’ve had a few brief spells of wet this fall, but the current “atmospheric wave” coming off the central Pacific is set to bring the first sustained relief from record low stream flows in a couple years. So, taking my cue from el Niño, I’ll exercise the better part of valor and stay off the road till, literally, the dust is fully settled. Thus provided with the opportunity for reflection, an idea that has been gestating in the depths for some time has popped to the surface of the unquiet pool that is one’s mind.

Cycling provides ample opportunity (and oxygen) for the mind to roam. Over the miles, the autonomic nervous system’s autopilot function kicks in, tending to the mundane business of locomotion, and consciousness is free to surf the waves of endorphins and elevated blood flows to parts far and wide. Unfortunately, physics has an irritating habit of bursting the thought balloon. Nothing like a flat tire to reaffirm the supremacy of friction over intention, and roadside repair, repair in general, begs the question for the dedicated cyclist “Wouldn’t it be great if I could figure out a way to make this pay for itself?”.

On a physical and philosophical level, the personal payback far outweighs the cost, however unlikely this may seem. On the financial level though, the more you ride, the more you wear stuff out, the more your habit costs in ducats, dinar or dollars. But, setup back from the strictly personal and look at cycling, running or walking as practical means of daily transportation. Expand the cost/benefit analysis from the individual to the context of society at large. According to the World Wildlife Organization

“Bicycling instead of driving will eliminate 20 pounds of personal carbon emissions for every gallon of gasoline an individual avoids using.”

How this exact figure was arrived at is not clear, but taking it at face value then, an individual cyclist’s annual carbon offset value in dollars per year could be calculated. According to the US DOT,

“The average combined MPG for all US cars and light trucks on the road today is 19.8 MPG”.

My GPS says I currently ride about 3K mi/yr, so, if I were driving a fleet average vehicle, I’d be burning about 3k mi/yr/19.8MPG = 151 gal/yr * 20lb/gal = 3030 lb of carbon/ yr. An interesting study published by EcoBusinessLinks shows a very wide range of prices offered by an ever growing array of brokers. For example, one of the best prices currently available in the US (from the offset provider’s standpoint is 29/metric ton.

Carbon Offset Provider	Price (US$/Metric ton CO2)	Non-profit	Projects Types	Project Choice	Offset Types	Product Certification/ Verification* (Links see below table)
Bonneville Environmental Foundation USA	$29.00	Yes	Renewables	No	Home, Air, Business, Event	Green-e Climate Certified

Being an optimist then, my 3030 lbs (1.374 am tons) would be valued at $38.85/yr, or 1.3 cents/mile, enough to buy 1 good tire. There are any number of ways to quibble with the derivation above, but it’s the first time I’ve seen this figure calculated, so it a least provides a point of departure for discussion. I’ve been riding for almost 40 years with no subsidy, and will continue without one. But the object of this exercise is, as noted above, to look at cycling in a larger frame. There are considerations beyond just carbon offset value. In that 40 years of riding, I’ve been to the hospital twice (both times as the result of a cycling accident). I’ve never needed to visit a doctor for anything but routine checkups, my vital signs are consistent with a very healthy 30 year old and, at 55, I take no medications and can anticipate needing none for the foreseeable future, as long as I continue riding.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Reminds Drivers and Bicyclists to Share the Road During Bicycle Safety Month

As more people take to the roads on their bikes, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood asks both drivers and cyclists to help reduce the number of cyclist fatalities. In 2007, 698 cyclists were killed in America. Everyone needs to pay attention when using America’s roads, whether they’re walking, biking or driving, LaHood said.

More and more Americans are taking up cycling, including a dramatic increase in bicycling by baby boomers. Whether they’re riding for fun, exercise, or to save on gas, more baby boomers are riding bicycles, according to the latest National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) statistics. Unfortunately, this aging trend can also be found in NHTSA’s latest fatality statistics. For the tenth straight year, the average age of persons killed on bicycles has increased. Research shows that in 1997 the average age of a person killed in a bicycle crash was 31; in 2007 it increased to over 40.”

So, perhaps I can reasonably expect to end my cycling career in an abrupt fashion, thus saving the VA and Medicare significant expense. I am my own “Death Panel”, much to the relief of any number of folks, no doubt. It could then be argued that the (hopefully) immanent health care reform legislation should reasonably take the health care cost savings represented by an active lifestyle into account when allotting subsidies and calculating rates. A comprehensive program to evaluate the societal costs and benefits of lifestyle choices in general and recurrent vigorous physical activity specifically could go some way toward encouraging these behaviors, reducing medical costs and transportation infrastructure, ultimately benefiting the individual, society at large and the global environment as a whole.

Last night on the call-in show on our local public radio station, an irate caller asked “why should I be forced to pay increased insurance rates to cover people who smoke and engage in extreme sports?”. A good question I think, as long as the lifestyle can of worms is fully opened up. If I were of the same mind set, I could just as easily ask ‘why should I be forced to subsidize the health costs of people who never walk further than from the La-Z-Boy to the refrigerator, whose most highly developed muscle is their remote control/gameboy finger and whose diet consists largely of highly processed food-like substances?”. I’m totally willing to go there but let’s do it not on the basis of quantifiable outcomes like blood pressure, resting heart rate, actual medical expenditures (including psychiatric), stress indices and the like.

Just saying.

Popularity: 29% [?]

Mmmmmm………..Matsutake!!!!
Tricholoma Matsutake or Japanese Pine Mushroom	California "Matsutake"; Tricholoma magnivelare ...or not?
The picture at left shows a typical sample of the “true ” Tricholoma Matsutake as distinct from our local pacific northwest variety, referred to below as Tricholoma magnivelare even though the western “Matsutake” have been shown through genetic studies to be a distinct population and so are misnamed as either Matsutake or Magnivelare. Visually, as opposed to the “true” strain native to Asia, North Africa, Europe and northeastern North America, the pacific northwest variety (shown at right) is initially quite pale versus the brown of the Asian variety. But, academic debates aside, when it comes to mushroom hunting, its all about field identification, and odor is one of the strongest indicators, specifically a strong, distinctive spicy funk, like Ethiopian food and dirty laundry, its been said. Despite the off-putting description, this is one of the most highly prized mushrooms in Japan and elsewhere, with a culinary stature approaching that of the more familiar European truffle tuber melanosporum, and for much the same reason as musk is the base note of many fine perfumes, the strong distinctive scent, and in this case, flavor blend almost magically with the sharper notes of ginger, onion and miso traditionally used in Japanese preparations, and I can highly recommended it as a superior compliment to wild game.
The American Matsutake: Tricholoma magnivelare by Michael Kuo The American matsutake grows primarily under conifers in northern and montane North America. When young it is white, but it soon begins to develop brownish discolorations. It features a prominent partial veil which covers the young gills and later forms a sheathlike covering on the lower stem, with the upper edge flaring outward to form a ring. The gills are crowded and attached to the stem, sometimes by a notch, but do not run down it. The spore print is white. The odor of the matsutake is its most distinctive–and hard to characterize–feature. “Spicy but a little bit foul” is what comes to my mind, though I like “a provocative compromise between ‘red hots’ and dirty socks” (Arora, 1986, p. 191). The matsutake taste is as distinctive as the odor: “an incredible and complex flavor you won’t ever forget–even though you won’t be able to adequately describe it to anyone” (Volk, 2000). Description: Ecology: Mycorrhizal, primarily with conifers (jack pine in northeastern North America; lodgepole pine in the Rocky Mountains; Pinus teocote and other pines in Mexico’s high-elevation pine-oak forests; and pines and other conifers Pacific Northwest and California) but also found in tanoak and madrone forests on the West Coast; growing scattered or gregariously; northern and montane North America; summer, fall, and (in warmer climates) winter. Cap: 5-20 cm; convex becoming broadly convex or nearly flat; dry or a little sticky; white at first; soon with brownish discolorations and pressed-down fibers; the margin rolled under when young. Gills: Attached to the stem, sometimes by means of a notch; crowded; white, developing brown or reddish brown stains and spots with age. Stem: 4-15 cm long; up to 5 cm thick; more or less equal, or with a slightly tapered base (but not with a long, rooting base); white above the ring, colored like the cap below; partial veil white and thick, collapsing to form a sheath around the lower stem and a prominent flaring ring at the top edge of the sheath. Flesh: White; firm; not changing on exposure. Odor and Taste: Taste spicy; odor fragrant and distinctive (see comments above). Spore Print: White. I’ve collected these in northwest Oregon and the literature indicates the only important difference between here in northwest California and there is in terms of habitat with tanoak and madrone in addition to the conifer zones it is found in further north. We have reliable reports of abundant Matsutake in our mapped sites up at Leonard Lake Reserve, where time will tell the truth of this spot’s reputation as a plentiful producer. And, technicalities aside Matsutake is considered ” edible and choice”, music to a mushroom hunters ears. While there are several species that closely resemble it ,specifically” Tricholoma caligatum (with a browner cap, hardwood habitat, and mild or mealy odor), Catathelasma imperiale (with gills that run down the stem, a double ring, and a tapering stem that roots deeply in the soil), and  Russula brevipes (too many differences to list) “none are toxic, and the identifying characteristics are sufficiently unambiguous that a careful picker, with an experienced guide for quality assurance there is virtually no danger of poisoning. Allergic reactions are a different matter, and in some people are made worse by drinking alcohol and eating new species of wild mushrooms. Anyone with food sensitivities needs to be their own best friend when it comes to sampling, or not sampling new foods. Book your own California wild mushroom foray

More More »

Popularity: 100% [?]

Scanning PhysOrg.com today I came across several interesting stories on one of my favorite topics; Clean Energy. Of particular interest to cyclists and bike packers is the following;

Toshiba launches portable fuel-cell for mobiles

October 22nd, 2009

Enlarge

For people fed up with their mobile telephone or iPod batteries running out, Japan’s Toshiba Corp. announced Thursday the launch of a portable fuel-cell that can power up digital gadgets on the move.

With an injection of methanol, the fuel-cell generates electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen to recharge mobile digital electronic devices via a USB cable.

The high-tech giant, which sees a bright future for fuel cells, said battery exhaustion had become a “major concern” due to the rising power consumption of mobile electronic devices. Read the whole article here.

With the object of having uninterrupted access to communications, internet included, from remote locations over extended periods of time, some sort of rugged, portable, lightweight energy generation technology is a requirement for powering cellular/satellite modems, portable computers, telephones and GPS devices. Essentially we’re talking about liveblogging from the wilderness, virtual tourism, real time scientific field documentation and range management. Previous to the Toshiba device described here the only realistic technology  portable solar panels which suffer from low power densities and high costs per watt. The present cost of $326 plus proprietary fuel cartridges leaves something to be desired, but as competition and  economies of scale come into play prices should fall, and the relatively high power densities, low volume, mechanical simplicity and zero carbom operation make this a nearly ideal bike packing power source.

A few hopeful developments in transportation and generation are good news for those of us who believe that clean power is the most important issue of our time;

Largest solar panel plant in US rises in Fla.

(AP) — Greg Bove steps into his pickup truck and drives down a sandy path to where the future of Florida’s renewable energy plans begin: Acres of open land filled with solar panels that will soon power thousands …

Ultracapacitors Make City Buses Cheaper, Greener

Japanese car makers out to electrify Tokyo show

Move over hybrids — the biggest buzz at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show looks set to come from electric cars as the dream of affordable zero-emission vehicles moves closer to reality.

Lighter, cheaper, LED light bulbs are starting to enter the marketplace

And finally, what I’ve been saying for years (so they MUST be right);

Shifting the world to 100 percent clean, renewable energy as early as 2030 — here are the numbers

Most of the technology needed to shift the world from fossil fuel to clean, renewable energy already exists. Implementing that technology requires overcoming obstacles in planning and politics, but doing so …

But, on the not so good news front;

Hong Kong air pollution equals record high

Poll: US belief in global warming is cooling

• 
  

  Killer algae a key player in mass extinctions

  Algae, not asteroids, were the key to the end of the dinosaurs, say two Clemson University researchers. Geologist James W. Castle and ecotoxicologist John H. Rodgers have published findings that toxin producing …

• 
  

  Study: Evolutionary past may determine how we choose leaders

  So, algae could kill us, pollution is increasing, fewer people believe we have a problem, we’re choosing our leaders based on ancient unconcious perceptions, and to top it off;

  Why antidepressants don’t work for so many

  There is no pharmaceutical cure for what ails us. Oy vey! Which does not stop folks from trying;

  

  Four percent of adults worldwide using cannabis: Lancet

  Nearly four percent of adults around the world use cannabis, even though the drug raises many major health concerns, according to a paper published in The Lancet on Friday.

  That probably explains this; (PhysOrg.com) — Over the past few decades, the idea that our universe could be one of many alternate universes within a giant multiverse has grown from a sci-fi fantasy into a legitimate theoretical possibility. …

  

  Modern men are wimps, according to new book

  But all is not lost, YOU could be one of the lucky few to seal themselves up in a government funded bubble for 520 days;

  

  Volunteers wanted for simulated 520-day Mars mission

  And that’s a wrap on Science and Energy for Saturday, October 22, 2009. Abandon hope all ye who enter here, or not.

Popularity: 21% [?]

Fuel cells are one of the crucial links in the hoped for hydrogen economy, Hydrogen is an energy storage medium, a fuel, like gasoline it’s chemical energy must be converted to work by some means. In the case of a combustion engine, as we all know, fuel is combined with atmospheric oxygen and burned at high temperature, producing heat and exhaust gasses, the exhaust gasses we’re suffocating the world with. By contrast, a fuel cell oxidizes fuel, the cleanest being pure hydrogen and converts it directly to electricity and water at relatively low temperatures. In it’s simplest terms, to quote Wikipedia

Fuel cell

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A fuel cell is an electrochemical conversion device. It produces electricity from fuel (on the anode side) and an oxidant (on the cathode side), which react in the presence of an electrolyte. The reactants flow into the cell, and the reaction products flow out of it, while the electrolyte remains within it. Fuel cells can operate virtually continuously as long as the necessary flows are maintained.

Fuel cells are different from electrochemical cell batteries in that they consume reactant from an external source, which must be replenished^[1] – a thermodynamically open system. By contrast, batteries store electrical energy chemically and hence represent a thermodynamically closed system.

Many combinations of fuels and oxidants are possible. A hydrogen fuel cell uses hydrogen as its fuel and oxygen (usually from air) as its oxidant. Other fuels include hydrocarbons and alcohols. Other oxidants include chlorine and chlorine dioxide.^[2]

Another distinct advantage of fuel cells over conventional internal combustion engines is mechanical simplicity; virtually no moving parts. Add the near carbon neutral operation to this and the advantages over current motor tech is compelling, to say the least. Funny how the choices societies and individuals make may have profound unanticipated consequences. The first fuel cell was demonstrated a842. Again, from Wikipedia;

The principle of the fuel cell was discovered by German scientist Christian Friedrich Schönbein in 1838 and published in one of the scientific magazines of the time.^[16] Based on this work, the first fuel cell was demonstrated by Welsh scientist and barrister Sir William Robert Grove in the February 1839 edition of the Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science^[17] and later sketched, in 1842, in the same journal.^[18] The fuel cell he made used similar materials to today’s phosphoric-acid fuel cell.

The ready sources of petroleum extracted for transportation fuel first in the US probably doomed both the fuel cell and electric transportation, too bad for us and our grandchildren, but now as always necessity is the proverbial mother of invention (no, Frank Zappa stole the term). And so below We present a short summary of current developments from fuel cell world. More »

Popularity: 26% [?]

In our continuing effort to provide our readers with access to ongoing scientific advances in green energy related technologies, the following is a compilation of reports regarding recent developments specifically in battery-related technologies. Cheaper, more reliable, higher power density, novel materials and new markets are the forces driving research now and there’s a LOT going on.

Batteries are particularly relevant to green energy as a replacement for more carbon-intensive power storage technologies like hydrocarbon fuels. Whether you believe the sky is blue or green, it is what it is, whether you believe global warming is real or not, it is what it is, and it is having and will continue to have increasingly profound impacts on every person on the planet until we finally kick our collective smoking habit; fossil fuels. This small summary of research and development clearly shows that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it may not be all that far away.

Where your gas tank is now, in five or ten years there will be something like this.

Panasonic Develops High Energy Lithium-ion Battery Module with High Reliability

Panasonic Corp. has developed a 1.5 kWh battery module from 18650-type (18 mm in diameter x 65 mm in length) lithium-ion battery cells, which are widely used in laptop computers, to provide energy storage …

Follow the money.

Panasonic, Sanyo win EU takeover approval

(AP) — Panasonic Corp. and Sanyo Electric Co. must sell off a European plant that makes batteries to win EU antitrust approval for the $9 billion deal creating one of the world’s biggest electronics makers, the EU said …

Watch out for explosions, as above, tech can come back to bite you in the ass.

EU warns it will recall iPhones if labs show faulty

The European Union’s consumer czar warned on Monday that iPhones would be taken off the market if national authorities find manufacturing faults lie behind mystery screen explosions.

Here’s an “emergent application”, one that is the consequence of unanticipated synergies between seemingly unrelated parts. More »

Popularity: 30% [?]

The information herein has been gleaned from a number of sources around the Net with links provided at the end f the article. The author is NOT a physician and is not attempting to prescribe or recommend medical treatment, but merely to inform fellow endurance athletes of a significant risk to their health resulting from the otherwise beneficial consequences of regular vigorous physical activity, and to summarize the literature on treatment and prevention.

DVT or Deep Vein Thrombosis, also referred to as “Economy class syndrome” results from the pooling and coagulation (thrombosis) of blood in the deep veins of the calf, thigh and occasionally the abdomen due to lack of motion and/or constriction of the blood flow to these areas. The immediate symptoms include some or all of the following; pain, swelling, discoloration of the painful area and, when in the leg, distended veins in the foot or leg. The longer term pathologies include possible permanent damage to the smaller veins from lack of circulation resulting in phlebitis and/or cellulitis. Worst of all is the possibility that the thrombosis or clot can become mobile and lodge in the lungs causing pulmonary embolism (PE), chest pain, coughing up blood and potentially, death. If a clot gets lodged in the brain, this can cause stroke or cerebral embolism and a clot in the heart can cause heart failure.

Various studies show that endurance athletes, with their low resting heart rates, large leg muscles and tenancy to dehydration are especially vulnerable to DVT, up to 85% more likely to suffer DVT than non-athletes under certain circumstances. Since endurance athletes tend to become dehydrated more often and more severely than the sedentary population, and dehydration causes the blood to thicken and coagulate more readily, attention to hydration is even more important than just for the obvious and better known reasons of managing electrolyte imbalance and exhaustion. More »

Popularity: 75% [?]

What does one have to do with the other, you ask? Well, I live in northern California not far from the San Andreas fault and so anything affecting that fault, and earthquake science are interesting. As a cyclist, my chosen form of exercise is likely to be strongly affected by any major activity on the San Andreas, what with rock slides, road subsidence, widespread chaos and disaster. So for me anyway, the two subjects have some concordance. In that light I roccomend the following two stories;

San Andreas Affected By 2004 Sumatran Quake;

Largest Quakes Can Weaken Fault Zones

Worldwide

(SienceDaily)

ScienceDaily (Sep. 30, 2009) — U.S. seismologists have found evidence that the massive 2004 earthquake that triggered killer tsunamis throughout theIndian Ocean weakened at least a portion of California’s famed San Andreas Fault. The results, which appear this week in the journal Nature, suggest that the Earth’s largest earthquakes can weaken fault zones worldwide and may trigger periods of increased global seismic activity.

Reuters – A resident does a handstand during a morning exercise session at the Temple of Sun Park in Beijing September …

CHICAGO – Even in the “oldest old,” a little physical activity goes a long way, extending life by at least a few years for people in their mid- to late 80s, Israeli researchers found.

The three-year survival rate was about three times higher for active 85-year-olds compared with those who were inactive. Getting less than four hours of exercise weekly was considered inactive; more than that was active.

The results “clearly support the continued encouragement of physical activity, even among the oldest old. Indeed, it seems that it is never too late to start,” the researchers wrote in Monday’s Archives of Internal Medicine, which published the study.

They noted that exercise reaped benefits even for previously sedentary 85-year-olds; their three-year survival rate was double that of inactive 85-year-olds.

Oldsters didn’t have to be super-athletes to live longer; walking at least four hours weekly counted, even if it was just in 15-minute strolls a few times daily.

“As little as four hours a week was as beneficial as more vigorous or prolonged activity,” said study author Dr. Jeremy Jacobs, a geriatric specialist at Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem.

Read the source article

Though I’ve been accused of having a birth certificate written in cuneiform on clay tablets, I’m not yet among the “oldest old”. But I’m pretty damn springy at 55, and my although I’ve paid mucho dinero for health insurance over the years, my sole demand on those services has been for routine checkups and a single traumatic impact (bike wreck) many years ago. Until now. Courtesy of “socialized medicine” (i.e. the VA) I’m having the consequences of a long  history in the sun, mostly cycling but also skiing in the Alps for Uncle Sam, removed from my skin in the form of a couple benign basal cell carcinomas (the best kind) and a couple actinic keratoses scraped from the balding crown of my head. But, by virtue of regular vigorous exercise over those years, I’ve saved my various insurers potentially MILLIONS, not having made claims on their resources for any or all of teh various disease of inactivity like high blood pressure, diabetes, back pain etc., etc… More »

Popularity: 27% [?]

Emerald Empire Adventures is excited to announce the
1st annual Mushrooms and Mountain Bikes Adventures

at Leonard Lake Reserve for the fall season of 2009, a Winter Weekend Special Adventure

$165/person, all inclusive; food, lodging, guides and transportation from Redwood Valley included.

Saturday and Sunday throughout the season (October -??? depending on the rains)

Mushroom Pickers are TOUGH; we hunt with just a knife and a paintbrush!

The creek crossing very rarely rains out and becomes impassible so, as every mushroom picker knows, the forest can be wet and the trails muddy, be prepared!Email treasures@emeraldempireadventures.com, comment below or call us at 707-367-3299 or book on-line to reserve your spot now. We can accommodate groups of from five to forty and there’s a ten percent discount for groups of ten or more. Check us out on the web at http://www.emeraldempireadventures.com/

We depart Base Camp at 9001 C North State Street in Redwood Valery and after a 1o mile climb up to Leaonard Lake (for those who wish), we’ll take an hour to settle you into your guest house, whichever of the five classic craftsman style, fully equipped units best fits the group. We’ll have a light lunch and dinner will be started after we go out on our first picking expedition into the old growth redwood on pastures of plenty (Mushroom Gods willing), where no one has picked in man a year, if ever.After a long afternoon tramping the hills and picking, we will return to the lake houses with your bounty where our chef will incorporate it into dinner and pair it all with some carefully chosen local vintages for your dining pleasure. It will all be ready after you’ve changed out of those soggy togs, and we can swap stories around the fire after the meal, till the sandman calls you away.You’ll wake up Sunday morning to the smell of coffee and a hearty country style breakfast to warm you up for the Leonard Lake mountain bike loop, 3.5 miles of up and down (see map and profile below), ’round the lake through more untouched picking grounds than you can shake a mushroom brush at. There will be a vehicle for those who’d rather not ride, those 3 and half miles could easily take 6 hours to pick through and the truck makes it easy to pick for your freezer of dehydrator and not have to lug the whole booty bag back to the cabin! A picnic lunch will be served along the way and warming beverages will be provided.At the end of the day, we’ll load up you and your gear in our bus and bring you back to you car, booty and all. The true hard-core cyclists can ride back down that 10 mile hill they climbed on Saturday, and accommodations will be made for those who don’t want to ride at all.

Email treasures@emeraldempireadventures.com, comment below or call us at 707-367-3299 or book on-line to reserve your spot now. We can accommodate groups of from five to forty and there’s a ten percent discount for groups of ten or more. More »

Popularity: 78% [?]

As things stand today, NASA is an agency without a mission. The ISS is scheduled for de-orbit in 2015, STS is going oblivion, the Orion project is underfunded and adrift, along with the agency as a whole, and American space policy in general. My modest proposal follows;

1. There is a common misconception that the trade-off between manned and robotic “missions” is a zero sum game, money spent on one is money take form the other. The real problem is timing. I propose that the eventual colonization of the entire solar system is a manifest good, but a very long term goal. We send people after the robots have built habitation and industry from local materials. The key to this “robots first” strategy is to create so-called bootstrapping facilities, or a minimal manufacturing and materials processing suite capable of acquiring, transporting and processing local raw materials into a variety of products including, most importantly, copies of itself. A few machines could build a few more, then many more, then whatever you wanted them to build, like habitats, solar collectors and even vessels. This is referred to as the Von Neuman Machine, a self replicating, programmable construct, and there is extensive literature regarding such (to date) hypothetical systems.
NASA should focus its mission on not simply going places to come back, but on going places to stay. Current technology is fully capable of realizing working Von Neuman machine complexes, given the leadership and funding, and a clear inspiring reason to do so.

2. Even more basic to the mission of building a sustainable, efficient bridge to space, is to leave the rockets to the Russians, Chinese and Indians, and focus research on advanced propulsion and launch systems with the goal being to reduce the cost of getting a pound in orbit by a factor of 100-1000. Rail-guns are a pretty mature technology and suitable for dense, inert payloads and the most tantalizing possibility is, without a doubt, the Space Elevator More »

Popularity: 25% [?]

I’m cross-posting this directly from the Mendo Community BB Yahoo group because I think y’all should know. The location is Emandal Ranch where I had the absolutely BEST PIZZA EVER last year, made with fresh heirloom tomatoes from their own garden and prepared by a beaming bevy of Chef Bettys in the very impressive outdoor beehive pizza oven. I give this place 5 thumbs up and the event gets five stars. Be there and be square. Original post follows, and the location is shown on the map at the bottom of the page. If you’re coming in from out of town, I’ll be posting a route map as well and you can download the GPX file for your own navigation device by clicking the link below the map. The road is pretty, ah, challenging in spots so be prepared for a long bumpy drive, but I can guarantee you’ll not be disappointed.

On Saturday evening, October 10, Emandal will be hosting the 3rd
almost annual Willits Cowboy Poetry Gathering. This time, dinner
will be served at 6pm, on the Pizza Deck at Emandal. Kashaya Adams,
of “Kashaya’s Pizza” fame, will be heading up the team of amazing
chefs who will be serving up some exquisite culinary delights.

At 7:30, the concert begins…. in the old barn built in 1917 by Al
Byrnes, the “Al” part of “Em” and “Al.” The Emandal Chorale will
start the show, followed by Dave Stamey and Susan Parker.
Reservations ($30 for dinner and show) are essential, and still
available by calling Tamara Adams (459-9252) or emailing
cowboypoetry@emandal.com

“We like to think of this music as a celebration of shared heritage,
an appreciation of the West as both a place, and a state of mind.”
Driving directions starting at Hwy 101 and Commercial St. in Willits

Willits to Emandal

Dave Stamey has been bucked off and stomped by many horses. He has
been stepped on by mules and dragged around branding pens by cattle
of many sizes. He’s ridden in the rain, in the snow, in the rain
some more, in pretty nasty heat, and in feedlot pens where the air
was thick and decidedly fragrant. He’s even wrangled dudes.

He is an entertainer now, and makes his living inflicting himself
upon innocent people at music festivals, agricultural banquets and
backyard barbecues. He finds he prefers this. He has been voted
Entertainer of the Year, Male Performer of the Year and Songwriter
of the Year by the Western Music Association, and Male Vocalist of
the Year by the Academy of Western Artists.

Dave Stamey is one of the best Western songwriters alive today. His
melodies blend perfectly with his lyrics to the point where you can
almost feel the wind against your face and smell the soft scent of
the sage. He never fails to engage his audience and take them on a
rewarding journey through the panorama of the West.”

–Mike Fleming, Director, Santa Clarita, CA Cowboy Festival

Born with a cowboy soul, Susan Parker grew up with a love for horses,
cowboys, rodeos, and all things Western. She rode stick ponies and
played with plastic horses while her friends played with dolls.

Susan began writing contemporary poetry and prose in 1995. Her
passion for cowboy poetry was sparked in 2003, after attending the
Monterey Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival. It burst into full flame
shortly thereafter.

Intrigued by pioneering women of the West, Susan has become a student
of their writings: “I hear their voices as they pour out loneliness
and frustration onto the page. Their courage and determination beg me
to share their work, to appreciate the freedoms I enjoy as a result
of their perseverance and sacrifice.”

Susan resides in Benicia, California.

Popularity: 22% [?]