Creative Capitalism

After reading a blog called The American Scene, I found a wonderful new site called Creative Capitalism. The site has an impressive list contributors, including Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. The site is a public display of a "private" conversation between prominent economists and investors with the eventual goal of making the whole thing into a book. The conversation starts with a speech that Mr. Gates gave to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, which can be found here. The really neat part is that anyone with something interesting to say can contribute to the site and (if the comment is really well-written) to book.

Clear for Takeoff

I was feeling pretty gloomy the last few days- oil over $140/barrel, the DOW having its worst June since 1930, et cetera, but then I read a nice little article on MSN this morning about some new aircraft from a company call Pipistrel. They're developing two new gliders that can take off under their own power using small electric motors and, depending on the pilot, can fly up to 1000 miles in one day!

The article also mentions a great organization called the CAFE Foundation dedicated to encouraging the development of quiet, small, and fuel efficient/independent personal aircraft. Pipistrel has won several of CAFE's awards for its two gliders and spoke this year at their Electric Aircraft Symposium. They have a lot of the presentations and whitepapers up on the website for download.

Stuff like this is really encouraging. I'm always glad to see people taking the oil situation seriously, and I encourage everyone to check it out

Grounded?

Last week the aviation industry met in Washington, D.C. to discuss emissions, alternate fuels, et cetera at the Eco-Aviation Conference. There was a lot of talk about where fuel for jet engines is going to come from- tar sands, coconut oil, or even algae. All of these "alternative" sources of jet fuel still have the same problem as regular sources for jet fuel: they pollute.

The biofuel alternatives for jet fuel are similar to the biofuel alternatives for gasoline, in that they're not 1:1 replacements. This means that they do not solve either of the two main problems alternative fuels: oil replacement and pollution.

While arguments could be made either way for which problem is the more urgent, I feel that finding an alternative to oil is the most pressing. Why? Because our way of life requires the rapid transfer of people across the globe, and unless something can be found soon that can take over for oil, we'll be out of luck when trying to go overseas. Our other modes of transportation are comparatively simple to find alternatives for, from hydrogen or solar in cars, to nuclear on ships, to an electrical grid for trains. When the last oil well runs dry, will mankind be grounded once again?

Lets hope not. I'm going to keep following news on alternative methods of flight and continue to post about it.

Ice On Mars

For anyone who's not been following the Mars Phoenix Lander on twitter, here are the three messages it sent last night:

8:16pm EST
Are you ready to celebrate? Well, get ready: We have ICE!!!!! Yes, ICE, *WATER ICE* on Mars! w00t!!! Best day ever!!

8:24pm EST
Whoohoo! Was keeping my eye on some chunks of bright stuff & they disappeared! Subliminated![sic] So it can't be salt, it's ice: http://is.gd/lFa

9:32pm EST
Kudos go to the science and engineering teams that sent me here. Great choice of spots. The cool news is here too at www.nasa.gov/phoenix

This is simply amazing. Not only because water has been discovered on Mars, but that the news broke over twitter. Not CNN, not the New York Times, not Fox, not ANY of the "mainstream media". Twitter. Amazing.

Thoughts on a Legitimate Corporatocracy

Corporation - a body formed and authorized by law to act as a single person although constituted by one or more persons and legally endowed with various rights and duties including the capacity of succession

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 11th Edition

Corporations are legally a single person which are required to "live" (i.e. have an office or headquarters) in a specific location or state. So why don't they have the right to vote?

Now, I know that's a radical concept, but hear me out. Right now, corporations are allowed to lobby only. This can lead to bribes or their more legal but still morally reprehensible cousins. There are different ways to deal with lobbyists, Britain does not allow political television ads, which greatly cuts down the need to campaign contributions, which cuts down the effectiveness of lobbyists. But, since corporations are already a legal entity, why not give them the right to vote? Or their own house in Congress?

Corporations are simply social and legal constructs, very similar to a state, province, or nation. They are motivated by profit to provide goods and services that benefit us, the public. Why do they not have a say in issues that affect them?

I'm not a lawyer or a politician, and I don't pretend to be familiar with every repercussion this could have, I'm simply throwing the idea out there for discussion. What do you think?

Troops

So with all the campaign talk about when the United States should leave Iraq, if the US should leave Iraq, under what conditions, et cetera, something very important has been overlooked: it's not up to the US at all.

If troops are to stay in Iraq, it must be by the grace of Prime Minister al-Maliki. At the moment, it looks like talks to extend the stay of US troops is breaking down, and may be required to withdraw by UN law at the end of the year. Will this get any play in the upcoming presidential debates, or more coverage in the mainstream media? Let's hope so...

Constants are Changing

Yesterday General Motors Corporation made a big announcement: it's shutting down four production facilities across North America which produce some of its trucks and SUVs over the next few years. GM is also "undertaking a strategic review of the Hummer brand to determine its fit within the GM portfolio".

The reasoning is obvious: consumers can no longer afford to drive gas-guzzling vehicles. This announcement is just the next step in our conversion to a green economy. Where might the next steps come from?

A recent report from CHOICE, an Australian consumers group, reported recently that the PS3 and Xbox 360 game consoles and plasma screen TVs use more electricity than many big appliances, such as refrigerators. The "next" generation of consoles will have to keep this in mind as energy costs will continue to rise. There are two ways that I can see this happening. The first would be to make a console on the same horsepower level as the Wii, which ranked low in the CHOICE report. The second would be to greatly improve the efficiency of all the chips and their usage during use and standby mode. Which path is chosen depends largely on whether Sony and Microsoft consider their consoles "successes" when compared to the Wii.

With airlines now charging for extra luggage on flights, jet fuel prices nearly doubling since last year alone, and a recent story on American Public Media's Marketplace suggesting that one plane trip to Hawaii (calculated in fuel used per person) uses more fuel as the average driver uses in a year, I think the airline industry is due for a refit. But public transit or railways obviously cannot reach places like Hawaii. I don't see any alternatives in the near future, barring some breakthrough in teleportation technology, as hydrogen powered planes are in their infancy and airships/blimps are relegated to Super Bowl duty. I would love to see new development in either of these technologies, if not for the sheer romantic value of propeller aircraft and massive floating airships.

There are lots of other industries that will have to change soon to cope with our new world. Send any stories you may find to me and I'll write about the interesting ones :)