Tech Talk, and something made news that I have been angered about for 3 decades.

Okay, gentle reader. Today I found out that Facebook is the new king of the valley.

I have been on facebook, but have never clicked on any ads..of course having AdBlockPlus with facebook silliness settings set on kill means I don't see many ads. FB now has a larger market cap than IBM. That's laughable. Facebook remains the shallowest of big things on the 'Net. That will likely only get worse. Google+ would be cool if Sergey and Larry didn't want your soul, but whilst I have an account, I only use it to make pretentious comments about Youtube vids.

Can we talk about Twitter? I still do not get it. Sure, it has morphed some since the days of your-world-in-140-characters-or-less, but Twitter remains startlingly inane.

In non-news, The sixth mass extinction event has made a headline. I have been on this since I was an undergrad in the early years of the 1980s. "Anthropocene defaunation" is the latest label, but is hardly inclusive. What about flora? Photosynthetic plants are the most vital bigger things that aide in the biosphere's ability to maintain homeostasis. I haven't forgotten about algae.. you guys are plants too. Hopefully, this issue gets big play. Given humankind's long and sordid record of sweeping the really important stuff under immovable carpets, I will not be holding my breath.

Theplanet is still warming at an accelerating rate. Warmest quarter in history just came to an end, and July is shaping up to be a scorcher as well. El Nino's biggest effect may be next year, but given record highs of sea surface temps., this year is not going to be a picnic. I have a lot more that ittitates me, but my Dr. tells to rest my eyes, and "keep taking those drops." Next appt. is for 08.12.2014. I am hoping for good news. I have done all that I can do.

Mars? Really?

Mars or Bust! NASA wants to go to Mars.

I suppose that's a lovely thing to wish for, but we should really start undoing the damage to Terra before we--as humans--go afield and screw up another planet.I support nearly all scientific endeavors, but this seems really small.Okay, let us put aside the absolute wisdom regarding sending a manned mission to the red planet. I really do not like sociology, even when it concerns science. What kind of technical issues are there? There are really only two. Adequate propulsion and life support.I am not a rocket scientist..and rocket scientists aren't particle physicists ;)

It appears that NASA is eyeing Solar Electric Propulsion to move masses to the red planet. Strangely, Wikipedia has a much better treatment on the subject.

My big issue with this technology is the cost/benefit ratio. It will not be cheap to do. The reason for this is quite basic. Ion engines don't give you escape velocity energy levels. So, at present we are looking at bog standard chemically propelled initial stages, and then a transition to more advanced forms of propulsion. Not cheap. That will not get funded in the current(pardon the obvious pun) climate(another zing!).

What about life support?

This isn't your standard technical set of issues. It is more a managing humans over long periods issue where technology will be brought to bear. Will gaming be part of the equation? How about sex? I am certain NASA will want their astronauts to arrive in fine fettle. Just how does one insure mental stability as well as physical fitness over great times and distances?

We simply do not know. Are nootropic chemicals part of the answer? What about psychedelics? There are lots of unknowns, and no animal models with which to guide us. People put in isolation over much shorter time frames have not fared very well. Although the Russians claimed to have had success in attempting to model a likely environment. I would go batty.

No Mars, please. Let us clean up this rock first.