The Mind of a George

A caveman saw another walking up a steep incline on some round rocks, and just as his cave compadre stepped on one stone it rolled out from under him. This simultaneously elicited an uproariously hysterical laugh and helped invent the wheel at the same time. You'll get it in a minute.

What you are reading this instant is an extension of my mind. As a matter of fact, everything we see that has been created by man is an extension of the human mind. It is more than amazing to me that what is created in our brains comes from slightly less than random electro-chemical exchanges. We often use words like, "it just popped into my head" or "I just had the most curious thought". Do thoughts really just pop in to peoples heads? I have an inkling, a slight instinctual notion, this happens more often than we'd like to admit. Could it be what we call genius is nothing more than an accident of molecular biology? The greatest realizations of the human mind in all of history, however, were most likely not a matter of pure chance. That's why I used the phrase "slightly less than random" earlier. There most certainly is intention. Perhaps the one thought that spawned the rest of the invention all started out as someone's eyes snapping open at 3:57 AM, and a "Wouldn't it be great if..."

Wouldn't it be great if donuts came with jelly inside? Wouldn't it be great if the cure for malaria was found? Wouldn't it be great if I could share my thoughts with people all over the world, quickly and inexpensively? Wouldn't it be great if people asked themselves, "wouldn't it be great if..." more often.

Being able to share these thoughts with all of you (whoever you are), has helped me become a better writer, for one and for two, it's helped me learn how to better order my thoughts. I judge my own mind to be one of those odd brains that's a mix of analytical, and creative, with an ADD moderator between the two. There is a constant battle going on. The creative side is constantly coming up with ways to solve for "X", and the analytical side is tearing down the creations next door. Perhaps the best way to achieve a balance is to let them fight it out when I'm not around. For the most part that is when I'm sleeping. Some problems seem to be too big for me to solve, so I table them and let that other 90% of my brain I supposedly don't use deal with it. It reminds me of the poor cobbler who goes to sleep, and durning the night a bunch of elves show up to hammer out a couple dozen pair of shoes. What is really interesting is that those elves don't let me know when they've finished so I can sell the shoes. It is usually someone else who triggers the thought and I get hit with the "Aha!". That "aha moment" comes when suddenly all the pieces of the puzzle fall in to place and a picture becomes clear. It happens when study and experiment reveals the sought after answer, and sometimes it happens just walking down the street.

Take Einstein for instance. Did he just wake up one morning or in the middle of the night and say "Mass moving at the speed of light squared is equal to energy"? I'm doubtful, but even so, I'm sure there were parts of special or general relativity were derived from sudden and unexpected realizations. And then there's the conundrum of unifying quantum physics and general relativity. He struggled with than one for many years, and never came up with the answer. Wouldn't it be great if someone could finally figure that one out. It might make teleportation like on Star Trek possible. That would be so cool. One minute you're standing looking at the inversion outside your window in Boise, Idaho and the next you're on the edge of a volcano in Costa Rica, tri-corder giving mysterious readings. See what I mean about the ADD. Anyway, my point is human brains are strange and beautiful things. The most amazing stuff comes out of them; sometimes by accident.

What is your "Wouldn't it be great if..." and what does to take to get to that "Aha"?

Close the Door!

How many times has someone yelled at you to close the door? How many times have you yelled at your kids to close the door?

I recently met a man who has a very helpful occupation. He tests your house to see how well it's keeping in the heat when it's cold outside, or how well it's keeping in the cold when it's hot outside. His name is Lee Cotten and he is the owner of Idaho Thermal Imaging. He has a device that he uses to scan your home for heat-leaks in the winter, or cool air leaks in the summer. On his website you can see pictures of the trouble spots most homes have for heat transfer. You'll be amazed at some of these pictures. 

Better yet, lee has effective solutions for sealing out the cold (or conversely sealing in the cool air in summer). Sure comes in handy in Idaho for thosetimes when the heater (or AC) seems to be kicking on all the time. 

Those of you with older homes that have wood-burning fireplaces typically lose the amount of heat equivalent to leaving a window open 365 days a year. Or almost like leaving the door open year round, imagine the yelling? Lee has a range of services to keep you warm in winter and cool in the summer. Both of those prospects are nice, but what is really great about Lee is that he'll keep your heating dollars from leaking out of your wallet as well. "Stay warm and save money" Sounds pretty cool to me. 

Detecting Quantum Phenomena

How do you detect the effects of quantum mechanics? Start with a metric ton of aluminum and make it very cold...

Just what are the effects of quantum mechanics?, you ask and it's an interesting question. To discuss it we have to rouse Schrodinger's Cat, a thought experiment that has a cat in a sealed box with some uranium. Uranium decays and releases deadly radiation. Once the radiation is detected a vial of poison is smashed inside the box releasing a gas and killing the cat. However, the cat can be said to be alive and dead at the same time until we open the box to see if the uranium has decayed or not. 

It is an experiment designed to show that we cannot know the out come of a random event without making an observation, and therefore the determination  of the outcome is dependent on it being observed. Were you around to hear that tree fall? This is called the Copenhagen Interpretation. Even Einstein had a lot of trouble with this. Either the cat is dead, or the cat is still alive, it can't be both at once right? 

Many in the world believe the way to observe matter existing in two places or states at the same time is to catch it in the act. In order to do this one needs to make matter so cold that the vibration of its sub atomic particles nearly stops, slowing it down so that one can see it in both states at the same time. Some researchers in Podova, Italy (A bit South and West of Venice) have cooled that block of aluminum alloy (weighing a metric ton) to within a few millionths of a degree of absolute zero. They are trying to detect waves of gravity from far off cosmic events, such as the collision of two of black holes. Because the aluminum rings like a bell at the slightest touch, it is thought that the vibration from a quantum event, like the decay of an isotope, could be detected as it evolves from one state to another. If this proves out, it could help us better understand the arena of the very small and it's relationship to the arena of the very large--the one in which we live. 

Here's the article if you want to get into the technicalities of it. Even though you are much warmer, it might make your head ring trying to think about it.