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Author Archives: The Narrator
Gravity Didn’t Turn Off (and sadly, neither did the internet)
I recently met up with a friend for lunch to catch up. He mocked me. “It didn’t fail,” he said, struggling to contain himself. “What didn’t fail?” I asked. “Gravity. It didn’t turn off.” Then he laughed uncontrollably. This was … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Science
Tagged Albert Einstein, August 12, conspiracy theory, Erwin Schrödinger, general relativity, geodesic, gravity, Isaac Newton, Max Planck, Niels Bohr, Philipp von Jolly, physics, relativity, Richard Feynman, science, spacetime, Werner Heisenberg, Wolfgang Pauli
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The Future We Have Yet to Build
I like science fiction, but not all of it. A great deal of science fiction is little more than technological window dressing wrapped around a familiar story. Somebody gets a spaceship, somebody else gets a laser gun, somebody discovers a … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Philosophy, Society
Tagged Alexander Belyaev, Arthur C Clarke, Dune, entertainment, Eragon, Fermat’s Last Theorem, future, Gene Roddenberry, Harry Potter, Isaac Asimov, Jules Verne, Robert A Heinlein, science, science fiction, space opera, Star Trek, Star Wars, technology, The Last Starfighter, The Lord of the Rings
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The One Percent Civilization: Why You Don’t Have to Be a Genius to Change the World
A while back, I wrote about the daughter of a friend who reached an extraordinary milestone in her musical education. It was a story about talent, hard work, risk and the terrifying decision to pursue something difficult when there is … Continue reading
Posted in Education
Tagged Albert Einstein, career, civilization, education, entrepreneur, excellence, fame, Gerry Spence, lawyer, Marie Curie, motivation, music, Nobel Prize, quarterback, red carpet, rockstar, STEM, success, Taylor Swift
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Take the Extra Minute Before You Go Batty
It’s that time of the year. International Bat Night is August 29 to 30, 2026. Caves have everything Halloween has taught us to love. Darkness. Mystery. Bats. And the possibility that something unearthly is lurking just around the corner. Okay, … Continue reading
Posted in Adventure, Holidays, Search and Rescue
Tagged bats, cave savety, caves, caving, conservation, International Bat Night, National Speleological Society, NSS, outdoor safety, preventative SAR, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, search and rescue, spelunking, TakeTheExtraMinute, White Nose Syndrome
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Paleolithic Software and Molecular Magic: The Biohacks of 2126
In response to my A Second Look at Life Expectancy: What the 1918 Flu Tells Us About the COVID-19 Pandemic, I received a fascinating question: “The 1918 flu had no ICU, no mRNA platform, not even a flu shot. We … Continue reading
Posted in Science
Tagged 1918, 2020, 2126, biohack, biology, COVID-19, epidemic, flu, future, history, immunology, immunotherapy, influenza, longevity, medicine, mRNA, pathogen, psychology, science, Spanish Flu, vaccination, virology, virus
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My Social Security Day: We Know the Cliff Is Coming, So Why are We Still Arguing About the Guardrail?
August 14, 2026, is the 91st anniversary of Social Security. On August 14, 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law. It was an ambitious idea for its time to create a national system that would … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Leadership, Society
Tagged AARP, Alan Greenspan, August 14, COLA, Consumer Price Index, Disability Insurance, Franklin D. Roosevelt, My Social Security Day, OASI, Old Age and Survivors Insurance, payroll taxes, pension, retirement, Ronald Reagan, Social Security, taxes, Tip O’Neill
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The Power Plant That Comes to You: Why Small Modular Reactors Could Change Everything
When we think about electricity, we tend to think in one direction. Power plants stay put. Electricity travels. For more than a century, that’s how we’ve built civilization. We construct enormous coal plants, hydroelectric dams, natural gas stations, wind farms, … Continue reading
Posted in Economy, Energy, Technology
Tagged coal, electricity, energy, HALEU, nuclear energy, Power as a Service, power grid, power plant, small modular reactors, SMR, uranium
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The Retirement Problem: What Happens When You Don’t Have to Die?
Recently, we waded into the deep end of the genetic pool to talk about extreme human longevity. We looked at how medical engineering is steadily rewriting the limits of human life, and what happens to a finite planet when humans … Continue reading
Posted in Science, Society
Tagged compound interest, compounding, death, economy, employment, generational wealth, immortality, longevity, retirement, science, Social Security, wealth
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The High-Altitude Hangover: When Hype Meets the Weighing Machine
A coworker of mine is furious at Elon Musk. It isn’t about electric cars, social media algorithms or controversial tweets. It’s about space. It’s been about six weeks since SpaceX went public. The IPO was priced at $135 per share. … Continue reading