Indiana in perspective

It would take a lifetime to describe Indiana and even just NE Indiana where I live.  However, I came across this little article that shows some of it and I am ashamed to say I have been to less than half of the places.  So on the road with CWM: A Quick Tour Of Indiana.  Yes, the link is legitimate and takes you to a tour of Indiana’s natural resources and it opens in a new tab so so this blog stays open.  Try it but before your do here is a preview. My favorite lake in the summer – Lake Michigan.  This was our sailing grounds for many years and had many a fine cruises of a month duration.

Maybe I am not so brilliant

Ok, just when I think i am pretty smart or was really smart in my 30’s, along comes some really amazing things that make you re-think your own brilliance.  For example, neural dust device or how about Synthetic Biology.  All this technology is so amazing and  mind boggling that at times I wish I was thirty again.

Synthetic biology is a highly interdisciplinary field, which combines biology, chemistry and physics with engineering. Its goal is to design molecular factories and synthetic cells with novel properties or functions for applications in healthcare, industry, or biological and medical research. Such artificial systems are in the nanometer scale and are built by combining and assembling existing, synthetic or engineered building blocks (e.g., proteins). Molecular systems have wide application ranges, e.g., for chemical compound synthesis, waste disposal, energy supply and medical diagnosis or treatment.

Berkeley engineers have built the first dust-sized, wireless sensors that can be implanted in the body, bringing closer the day when a Fitbit-like device could monitor internal nerves, muscles or organs in real time. Wireless, batteryless implantable sensors could improve brain control of prosthetics, avoiding wires that go through the skull. (UC Berkeley video by Roxanne Makasdjian and Stephen McNally) Because these batteryless sensors could also be used to stimulate nerves and muscles, the technology also opens the door to “electroceuticals” to treat disorders such as epilepsy or to stimulate the immune system or tamp down inflammation.

All this makes me wish I was working again – almost.

My Brilliant Ideas

I have been studying DNA lately and am now reading the book “The Seven Daughter of Eve” by Bryan Sykes.The way he presents things is so clear and easy to read. The complexity of the process but the simplicity of the concept have made clear to me how to reconcile my strong belief in Science and an even stronger belief in the religious aspects. But why does this clarity always happen at 0430?

I think there is a reason – your mind distills the days perplexing tasks and gives you the answer.  Many times in my life I have had a complex task to perform left over from the day before.  In a stroke of genius, the next morning I have an answer that seems so obvious I wonder why I did not think of it before.  One of those Test Answers:  If you know most of the answers the test was easy but if you did not then the test was hard.

Ok, Moore later I think.

Allstar Node 43584

My second Allstar node is on the air and sounds good – incoming and outgoing – so all that remains now is for me to add the wireless interface software for connecting to my hotspot.  When finished I can talk anywhere in the world on my ham radio walkie talkie.  It does not seem too difficult but it really is a challenge to accomplish.  Even now I am tweeking the node.