Every time I have heard Elon Musk talk about journeys to and colonization of Mars by human beings, I had to wonder. Here we are on a small, blue planet at the edge of the Milky Way galaxy in space beyond comprehension.
I wondered whether deep space exploration by humans is really realistic. Then I came across a book by Dennis Meredith called, “Earthbound”. From reading it, I have concluded deep space trips by humans requiring months or years to complete are not going to happen. We, human beings, are children of the Earth and are tied to our planet except for near Earth orbiting or trips to our own moon.
I want to quote from the last chapter of the Meredith book. He writes, “As this book has revealed, deep space is an invariable killer. Whether the lethal source be radiation, weightlessness, disease, or the trauma of isolation, humans cannot exist for any length of time beyond the sheltering environment of Earth orbit.”
He write further, “Nor is exploring deep space economically feasible. It is just not worth the massive expense of building the elaborate infrastructure of human deep-space travel and exploration.”
We have already seen the negative health effects on astronauts even from lengthy stays on the International Space Station in relatively close Earth orbit. These are minuscule when compared to what would be experienced in year long or more trips at extreme distances from our home planet.
So, what is the answer. It is clear. We have already sent probes and landers to distance places. The Voyager I and II space probes still function decades after launch as they have sailed into interstellar space. And we have already sent landers and rovers to the moon and Mars and even to one comet.
Humans, people, require oxygen to breathe, water intake, a rather narrow temperature range in which to live, nourishment for life biological processes, handling of human waste products, spacial orientation for mental health, and much more. Human bodies are biological, living beings based largely upon a very limited number of chemical substances: Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, and Potassium plus a few more minor others.
Robots and other electronic devices require none of this. The only requirement is a power supply like the sun’s radiant energy or, perhaps, nuclear energy or solar energy generally. Humans are capable of developing very sophisticated silicon based robots that require only an outside energy source.
So, we need to get out of our ego and recognize our limits. As stated, we are deeply rooted in our home. We are children of the Earth from which we cannot venture far. We should put our efforts into the development of AI and robots to send into space exploration with communications back to Earth about what is found. This we can do and have already taken early and pretty complex steps in this direction…. And it won’t break the bank.
Carl Sagan, an astronomer from our past, described Earth as the Pale Blue Planet floating in space. It is our home that we need to preserve and cherish.
Water, Water, Water!
Dear (Kokomo Tribune) Editor:
We the people of Kokomo, Indiana (www.wethepeoplekokomo.com) are concerned that some groups are using propaganda to try to make us think that we have “ample” water in our county. There have been two newspaper articles (Kokomo Tribune) in the past few months citing the same Indiana Finance Authority studies. The March 15th article states, “A state water plan would be used in similar fashion to a municipal comprehensive plan, with collected data being used to make decisions about how Indiana’s water resources are tapped.”
The reason we are concerned about any of our officials saying we have plenty of water is because we do NOT. Period. Howard County is not drinking water rich — even from the IFA studies which, according to several analysts, is a flawed study. Currently, 60% of Kokomo City water comes from the Wildcat Creek. Indiana American Water would not be using that source IF there was abundant ground water available. This is very important because the water needed for the Electric battery projects here in Kokomo are huge (3 million gallons per day) and has to be extremely pure — even exceeding drinking water needs.
The flaws in the IFA requested studies are major because they don’t separate out drinking water from what is called “brown” water. Sure you can clean up any water, but it becomes EXPENSIVE. The better the source water, the less expensive the clean up. Our suggestions to the city are to require major water hogs to recycle and pay more per unit will help with how much the rest of us have to pay for our water usage.
Never take water for granted. It is invaluable. Never take clean water for granted. It is a HUGE blessing. Indiana is blessed to have this natural resource in abundance, but that does not mean there is “ample’ water for pet projects that could destroy this natural resource forever.
Mr. Mike Day has done an extraordinary job of evaluating the IFA studies and here are his three key statements:
- A reduction of non-consumptive water withdrawals provides ZERO justification for water grabs (redistributions) or regional planning.
- A reduction of water at the tail of a river provides ZERO justification for water grabs (redistributions) up stream.
- A reduction of brown surface water provides ZERO justification for taking pure ground drinking water.
Lots more to discuss about all this. Please ask our officials about what companies they are giving tax abatements to and why and if these companies are protecting our (water) resources rather than sucking them dry.
Very Sincerely,
We the People Kokomo
Small Nukes
The February 24th editorial in the Tribune from the Anderson Herald Bulletin that knocks small scale nuclear power is both short sighted and in instances inaccurate. The writer suggests why would Hoosiers want the “bane of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl in our backyard, when technologies for wind and solar power are much cheaper, more stable and less dangerous?”
Of course, no one wants a Three Mile Island or Chernobyl anywhere. Both were large scale nuclear power plants. The Three Mile Island incident in 1979 was pretty minor in scope. The American Nuclear Society concluded that average local radiation exposure was equivalent to a chest X-ray and maximum local exposure equivalent to less than a year’s background radiation. In short, the amount of radiation released into the atmosphere was too small to result in discernible direct health effects to the population in the vicinity of the plant.
The Chernobyl accident in 1986 is another matter. From the very beginning, experts knew of design flaws and risks of this Russian designed plant. The results were catastrophic with consequences still ongoing. This one is way off base for any comparison.
However, neither of these incidents has anything to do with small scale nuclear power plants. It behooves us to explore what possibilities there may be with such plants. Think about it. The United States Navy has submarines and air craft carriers powered for years by small scale nuclear power plants. I cannot think of a single adverse incident reported from any. So, engineers do have significant experience with small scale design.
Yes, nuclear technology does need to be advanced, but turning ones back on possibilities is not wise. Already we have been told that electric power generation in the United States is lacking and will become even more so with large data centers coming, electric vehicles, and manufacturing moving back to the United States…. and the decommissioning of coal plants.
One of the major advantages of nuclear power generation over both wind and solar generation is that it is full time. Wind depends upon unpredictable wind. Solar depends upon unpredictable sun and even then only half the time. Users of electricity cannot bank on erratic energy sources. Full time availability is essential. Oh… and wind and solar are not cheaper and surely not more stable.
For historical accuracy, Indiana’s Marble Hill nuclear plant (a large scale plant) construction began in 1977 and was terminated in 1984. It never got close to operation and that was about 45 years or so ago. Nuclear technology has advanced since then.
So, small scale nuclear generation of electricity may be the way of the future. It must be explored.
A New Day: MAHA
You know, there are days and there are days. Today, I deeply believe has been one blessed day for the United States of America. We have witnessed the swearing in of Robert F. Kennedy Jr to be the Secretary of Human and Health Services (HHS) for all of us.
Kennedy has dedicated his life to the betterment of our environment and the health of all people in our country. He has pointed out time and time again that as a country we are sick and getting sicker with every day that passes. He strongly believes it is all connected to our food supply (Big Food) and to Big Pharma and Big Agriculture. I could not agree more.
Ever since my encounter with Rachael Carson’s book, Silent Spring, in the very early 1970’s, I have done whatever was in my power to help address environmental issues. This was first when the CEO/Publisher of the Kokomo Tribune, then as a biological scientist at Purdue working on graduate level research. That was a long time ago and much has happened since. The advent of genetic engineering of crops and the use of very toxic poisons in agriculture has only gotten worse. It continues to grow.
And in our food supply, the use of all sorts of chemicals in food is rampant. It seems the food production companies don’t really given a damn about our health. They want us addicted to whatever they produce.
And we see the push for more and more pharmaceuticals about every minute we watch television. The advertising is all over the place. I hope you have been listening to the possible side effects of everything promoted. As a scientist, I have from the very beginning been very skeptical of the mRNA vaccines that never were properly tested for effect and safety.
So, we now have a Secretary of Health and Human Services that is going to take a look at it all… and make drastic changes. This is really Bobby’s way of lifting us all up. He has said that every day for the past 20 years he has gotten out of bed, gotten on his knees, and prayed for God to bring him a way to make change. He has said God brought him President Donald Trump. Trump and Kennedy have joined in a mission to Make America Healthy Again.
When I saw him being sworn in, I have to admit it brought tears to my eyes. We all need to be very grateful. Thank God.
US AG & Poisons
We have heard frequently the complaint from President Donald Trump that other countries will not buy or permit in U.S. agriculture products. I think there is a darned good reason why they will not.
Generally speaking, our agriculture products are tainted with poisons (pesticides) of all kinds. These poisons follow the products into human food supplies. The best example of this is the use of glyphosate (RoundUp) on corn and soy beans and on other crops that have been genetically engineered to tolerate that poison. There is strong evidence glyphosate causes cancer.
But that is not all. Weeds are now showing adaptation to glyphosate, so higher and higher doses of it are applied to crops to kill weeds. And Dicamba is being added as well; a more toxic and dangerous poison. The cycle continues with more toxic chemicals added all the time. This is just one example of many.
The only way for the consumer to avoid the pesticides in their food is to purchase only “Organic” products. Yes, they are more expensive, but is one’s health worth it in the long run?
We have a chance now to clean things up. Robert F Kennedy Jr will become the next Secretary of Human and Health Services. He is a strong advocate for getting harmful chemicals out of our food supply. He will tackle big Pharma, big Agriculture, and big Food. Hopefully, he will have cooperation from the new Director of the EPA, Lee Zeldin, and the new Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, to clean up the food supply.
Things must change. We are the sickest society on the planet…and getting sicker… and spend the most money on health care than any of the developed nations.
President Trump needs to get the message. He can complain all he wants about other countries keeping our agriculture products out, but until we take serious and significant action to clean up our own act, that will continue to be the case. To date, we have capitulated to Big Agriculture and Big Food. That must end. The era of poisons must end.
As long ago as 1962, Rachael Carson in her book, “Silent Spring”, tried to warn us. That was 63 years ago! It is long past time to wake up.
Let Wind Blow & Sun Shine?
The headline in the article in the Kokomo Tribune on December 14th said, “Facing looming energy shortage, Indiana utilities slowly adopt battery storage”. In October 2024, the Kokomo Planning Board turned down a application from Spearmint Energy to build a battery storage system station on approximately 25 acres of now farm land near the intersection of Lincoln and Goyer Roads. Spearmint Energy said they would reapply in six months.
Citizens objected. The “No” vote was 9-0. The Tribune article said citizen concerns centered around the possibility of one or more of the batteries catching fire posing a safety risk to buildings and residents nearby. This has happened elsewhere. The article pointed out lithium ion battery fires are notoriously difficult to extinguish as the salts in the batteries are self-oxidizing, which means they cannot be “starved out” by traditional fire fighting methods. That and lithium battery fires release toxic gases including hydrogen fluoride (HF), hydrogen chloride, hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide. These gases can cause severe respiratory distress, skin burns, eye irritation, and even death.
But what is all the push for electric battery storage for in the first place? The reason shouts! The demand for more and more electricity supply is on the increase. And electricity is not something one can store up at home or in an office space or a data center or factory. The demand is instantaneous and the supply must be there then, not later.
On the other hand, electric utilities have been closing down traditional power generating plants, many of which were coal fired. They have been depending more and more upon unpredictable generating like wind mills and solar panels; neither of which can be depended upon continuously. Locally, look at the wind mills in Tipton County and the to-be solar fields in Howard County and Cass County. The answer to lack of instant electricity seems to be build large battery electric storage facilities that can feed electricity back to the power grid when demand is high and instant generating capacity cannot meet the demand. This looks a lot like a huge band aid solution.
We need an updated electric power grid to deliver electricity. We need full time dependable, instantaneous electricity generating capacity to meet demand; not battery storage band aids. We need utility companies to build new or refurbish old generation plants powered by dependable full time energy sources. Does this mean coal and natural gas….or, perhaps, nuclear plants? YES. Those until a better solution emerges. Wind and solar sources will not do.
We need to get off of the fascination with wind and solar farms. Neither are efficient or cost effective. Neither are dependable full time. Both start deterioration from the day they become operational. Time to rethink.
Klamath River: Free Flowing Once Again
The Yurok Tribe
190 Klamath Blvd
Klamath CA 95548
Dear Ones:
Miracles do happen, but in the case of the Klamath River and dam removal, it depended upon the years of dedication to river restoration by the Yurok Tribe. I have to tell you that when I read all about what has been accomplished to give life back to all of the fish species, particularly the salmon, whose existence depends upon a free flowing Klamath River, it brought tears to my eyes.
Fish are special to me. My doctorate at Purdue had sturgeon as my focus for research. Before that were catfish and medaka. Fish, indeed, are incredible creatures from our Creator to be treasured and husbanded.
My wife, Marcia, is a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Michigan. They have a history of deep relationship with the fish of the Great Lakes, as you may well know. Their work and dedication to preserving the lakes and streams and the fisheries associated with them has been rewarding to see as well.
When I read the mission statement of the Yurok Tribe on line, one can hope that someday all will adopt the philosophy of your Tribe. Earth and all therein are, indeed, sacred.
So, I deeply thank you for what you have accomplished. I wish you all the best for the future.
Blessings,
Kent H Blacklidge Ph.D.
Silence
“We Indians know about silence. We are not afraid of it. In fact, for us, silence is more powerful than words. Our elders were trained in the ways of silence, and they handed over this knowledge to us. Observe, listen, and then act, they would tell us. That was the manner of living.
With you, it is just the opposite. You learn by talking. You reward the children that talk the most at school. In your parties, you all try to talk at the same time. In your work, you are always having meetings in which everybody interrupts everybody and all talk five, ten or a hundred times. And you call that ‘solving a problem’.
When you are in a room and there is silence, you get nervous. You must fill the space with sounds. So you talk compulsorily, even before you know what you are going to say.
White people love to discuss. They don’t even allow the other person to finish a sentence. They always interrupt. For us Indians, this looks like bad manners or even stupidity. If you start talking, I’m not going to interrupt you. I will listen. Maybe I’ll stop listening if I don’t like what you are saying, but I won’t interrupt you.
When you finish speaking, I’ll make up my mind about what you said, but I will not tell you I don’t agree unless it is important. Otherwise, I’ll just keep quiet and I’ll go away. You have told me all I need to know. There is no more to be said. But this is not enough for the majority of white people.
People should regard their words as seeds. They should sow them, and then allow them to grow in silence. Our elders taught us that the earth is always talking to us, but we should keep silent in order to hear her.
There are many voices besides ours. Many voices…”
-Ella Deloria
[Wisdom from the Original People]
Covid Tsunami
We have been warned. Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche, a widely known Belgian virologist, tells of a Covid “Imminent Tsunami of Death” coming. His warning has been pooh-poohed by some, but we will soon see what happens.
Bossche believes there will be massive illness and deaths among highly-vaccinated populations with compromised immune systems. He predicts a huge wave will cause collapse of hospitals and cause financial, economic and social chaos.
His prediction is the hyper-acute phase of sickness will begin within a few weeks and likely extend through the 2024 election period. Bossche explains that the gigantic global scale of the medical establishment’s experimental COVID vaccine campaign will make the accelerating illnesses and deaths impossible to cover up.
Bossche’s advice: don’t get reinfected with COVID. Take anti-virals prophylactically; not wait until symptoms appear.
This whole possible scenario goes right back to the creation and use of mRNA experimental vaccines, a vaccine construct never before injected into humans. The COVID mRNA vaccine and its boosters cause the human body systems themselves to create proteins found in COVID itself; the spike protein of the capsid encasing the virus. This protein causes an immune system reaction seemingly without end. The coding in the mRNA vaccine could find its way into the primary body DNA causing disruption and unintended consequences.
Bossche warns the COVID mRNA vaccines result in compromised immune systems in the long term. He warns the next wave of disease will be catastrophic. This to be most felt in highly vaccinated countries.
Believe him or not. Your choice. Your choice to get vaccinated or get boosters. Again, we will soon see what happens. Bossche has put his reputation on the line.
Human Life
With a ruling on Friday, February 16, the Alabama Supreme Court has in effect shut down all IVF (In-vitro Fertilization) across the country. The Court concluded that frozen human embryos kept in fertility clinics are “children”. The ruling has a devastating impact on couples having to pursue IVF as a way to have a child.
In-vitro fertilization is really in concept easy to understand. A couple has not been able to have a woman become pregnant by way of the usual sexual coming together for whatever the reason may be. The only option is to seek medical help in creating a fertilized human egg which subsequently is implanted into a woman’s uterus for the growth of a child until the moment of birth.
This all happens under medical supervision and treatment. Under normal circumstances, only one egg is released each month from an ovary and pregnancy results when a man’s sperm joins this egg inside the woman’s body. Under medical treatment, a woman undergoes a series of hormone injections that results in multiple eggs being released from an ovary. These eggs are collected and fertilized in a laboratory with sperm provided by a man. The process is called “in-vitro fertilization” as opposed to “in-vivo fertilization” which is inside a woman’s body. Many eggs are typically fertilized.
The fertilized eggs, now called oocytes or embryos, can be kept viable (alive) when frozen at negative 320 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the temperature of liquid nitrogen. This extremely cold temperature halts all metabolism (biological development) of the embryo allowing embryos to be safely stored for an indefinite period of time.
When a woman has been cared for medically and the time is right, one of these eggs is carefully thawed and implanted in her uterus resulting in a pregnancy. If the woman whose eggs were collected has physiological issues (problems with her uterus), sometimes a surrogate woman is chosen to carry the pregnancy to term.
The giant issue comes with what to do with the unused fertilized eggs that are frozen. There may be several not used eggs. And across the country, there are likely tens of thousands of such eggs being held frozen in nitrogen. To now, these eggs have later been destroyed or given for biological research. With the Alabama court ruling the fertilized eggs (embryos) are children, this could create potential criminal charges for murder for the IVF clinics and even for the couples who have agreed to either dispose of unused eggs or donate them to science.
What are we talking about here. When egg meets sperm and joins, there is one egg, one cell. Within about 5-7 days later, there are something around 200-300 cells in a scientific arrangement called a blastocyst. I have included graphics to illustrate these. The underlying question is when does a fertilized egg become a person. The Alabama Supreme Court decided it is at the moment of an egg joining a sperm cell.
If this ruling stands as an absolute across the country, it could well mean the end of all abortion including that resulting from the “morning after” pill. It could mean the end of abortion even in cases where it has been medically determined such a genetic error has occurred that the fetus inside the woman has no chance of being born alive but is alive at the moment. Certainly, it ends any choice of abortion in the case of rape or incest. Maybe one abortion choice that does remain is when the woman’s life is at risk.
So, all sorts of religious and ethical issues now really have to be dealt with. The answers are not clear or easy ones.
One side on the abortion issue would applaud the Alabama court ruling. The other would condemn it and has taken the position abortion should be available to a woman to the moment of birth of a child. It seems to me neither absolute is tolerable. Where lines are drawn is not clear. It is up to our society to figure that out.
