Historically Irrelevant

The term genius is thrown around a lot these days. When somebody sees anybody they perceive as smart, they immediately label them as a ‘genius.’ If somebody is traversed in the field of general knowledge, they are referred to as a ‘genius. Many call famous scientists, such as Albert Einstein, ‘geniuses.’ Hell, even I’ve been called a genius (which is so far off the mark of what a genius is, but we’ll get to that later). However, all of these people are not geniuses, per say. Now, you may be tempted to simply close this webpage right now for me saying that Albert Einstein was not a genius, but please bear with me. The last true genius, at least by my definition, was the Greek philosopher Aristotle. Born around 322 BCE, Aristotle knew everything there was to know about pretty much everything that could be known at the time. Philosophy, science, mathematics, politics, history, medicine, the universe; you name it, Aristotle knew it. Fairly, there wasn’t that much knowledge out there at the time, but Aristotle knew it all. That’s what a genius is: somebody who knows almost everything there could be known at the time. Fast forward a few centuries later, and we have the next ‘genius,’ if you will: Leonardo da Vinci. Yes, da Vinci was a genius in a myriad of fields: painting, engineering, science (specifically of the human body), warfare, etc. But he didn’t know everything. Look at what scientists of that era were accomplishing, such as Copernicus. While da Vinci was a genius in many fields, he still lacked in quite a few, simply because there was so much more knowledge out there than in Classical Greece. Albert Einstein was a genius, but only a genius of psychics. When it comes to something like engineering or cooking, he was no genius at all, once again, because there was so much information out there. Today, there’s so much information that we don’t know what to do with it. We try and find ways to catalog it, store it, but nobody can know it all. Nobody can know anywhere close to it all. I’d wager to say that if somebody knew even 5% of all the information floating around in our modern world, then that would be absolutely incredible and there’d be no doubt that they would have been a genius, had it been centuries earlier. Today, it is impossible for any one human to be a genius of everything. Sure, one can be a TV show genius or a mathematics genius, but they cannot be a flat genius. Now, the reins of being a genius have been passed to computers, but only time will tell if they are up to the task. 

Well, I decided to write a story about a few passages from the Bible, specifically from the Book of Judges. Why? Well, because I can, and they contain an uncharacteristically badass story. Here it is: 

Today was the day. All his life, Ehud had trained for this moment. All the hours of sweat, of thought, boiled down to just a few seconds. The time had come.

Ehud looked up, and saw the massive walls of the city in front of him. They seemed to stretch on for miles. But that was of no interest to him. He reached into his cloak to feel the sharpness of his blade. It would need to be extraordinarily sharp and strong for its task, so Ehud decided that he’d craft it himself. It had turned out surprisingly well. It was unfortunate that it would only get one use. He made sure it was securely fastened on his thigh, and put his cloak back over the thigh to conceal the weapon.

He pulled up his hood to partially cover his head, and dismounted his horse. He approached one of the guards at the gate, who promptly said, “Who goes there? What is your business in this place?” 

“It is I, Ehud, son of Gera. I come to pay tribute to the king of Moab, Eglon, from the Israelites.”

The guard eyed his suspiciously, but said, “Understood.” He then turned to the top of the gate and called out. “Let him through!”

The gates began to open slowly, and Ehud walked through. He was assaulted by a barrage of sights and smells. People were everywhere; more than he’d seen in his entire life.

Ehud did not have time for it, however. He marched through the commotion and the crowds, intent on achieving his one mission. He and his people had been oppressed and unjustly treated for eight long years. It was time for somebody to take a stand and set the situation right. 

The king’s palace beckoned, and Ehud walked up to the entrance. He was stopped by no guards, for he readily showed on his garments that he was an evoy of Israel. 

It took only moments for him to reach the king’s chamber, and once he arrived he gazed upon the gargantuan mass that was Eglon. Sitting upon his throne, Elgon was a huge man. Flabs of fat covered his whole body, so much so that perhaps even a person could be lost inside the giant mass of blubber. His face was large and jolly, for he had a large plate of food in front of him. It seemed that Eglon was always eating. That eating would end today.

A few advisers surrounded the king, and of course a servant stood ready beside him to go and fetch him more food. He looked a bit exasperated from all the working he’d had to do. The servant was constantly in and out, ordering more and more obscure foods, and large quantities of it.

Ehud stepped forward, and Eglon, in his booming voice, said, “What brings you here, servant of Israel. Do you come bearing gifts?”

Bowing to the king, Ehud said, “Yes, your majesty. Israel has pledged tribute to our glorious ruler.” Taking off the bag on his back, Ehud dropped it on the floor. He walked over to it, and opened the top. Then he pushed it, and hundreds of gold coins fell out of the top. “This is our gift to you, wise one.”

Eglon looked pleased, but promptly shooed Ehud away. “Moab thanks you for your gift, loyal servant. Your presence is no longer requested.”

“As you wish, my king. However, if I were to leave, then you would miss the secret message I have in store for you.”

“A message? What does it entail.” He had the king intrigued.

“It is a message that I can only share with you, unfortunately.”

“Servants! Leave us!” Eglon pushed away his servants, and eagerly dismissed them from his sight. Ehud had the king all alone.

The king said, “Now that we are alone, what is this message?”

Ehud removed his hood, and slowly walked over to the ear of Eglon. He whispered in it, ever so softly, saying, “I bring a message from the God of the Israelites.”

With that, Ehud removed the dagger and stabbed it directly into Eglon’s stomach. It had to penetrate many layers of fat, and took a few seconds before it finally hit the inner body. Blood began to poor out, and the eyes of Eglon stared into nothingness. His task was complete.

Blood began to pool on the floor as Eglon’s lifeless body slumped in his throne. Ehud knew he had to move fast, so he quickly walked over to the door of the chamber and locked it from the inside. It would be hours before the servants of the palace realised that their precious king was no longer among the living.

Ehud planned to be long gone before that time. He spotted a window and quickly smashed the glass. He jumped down to the next rooftop, and began sprinting across them, jumping from one to the next. The mountains would be his next stop, and then to his homeland once again. 

The sun glistened brightly in the day and warmed Ehud’s face. He looked up towards it, and smiled. He and his people were finally free.

Here’s the original lines from the Bible so you can compare(These are all from Judges 3) 

¹⁵ Again the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and he gave them a deliverer—Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab. ¹⁶ Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a cubit^[a] long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing. ¹⁷ He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man. ¹⁸ After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way those who had carried it. ¹⁹ But on reaching the stone images near Gilgal he himself went back to Eglon and said, “Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you.”

   The king said to his attendants, “Leave us!” And they all left.

 ²⁰ Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his palace^[b] and said, “I have a message from God for you.” As the king rose from his seat, ²¹ Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king’s belly. ²² Even the handle sank in after the blade, and his bowels discharged. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. ²³ Then Ehud went out to the porch^[c]; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.

Yes. I’m talking about Gliese 581g again. So I may have a minor obsession. Whatever. Who can blame me? I find the prospect of another planet harbouring life simply astounding. While thinking about life on Gliese 581g, a question came up. How would Gliese 581, the planet’s home star, look in the sky? I imagined a sentient being looking up at the star, and wanted to know how it would actually look in the sky, both its size and colour. After a quick search on the internet, I was able to find out its probable colour: white. That came as no surprise. Finding its size, however, was much more difficult. Finding nowhere on the internet that had the star’s size in the skies of Gliese 581g, I decided to set out on a quest to calculate it. I tried a number of different ways of calculating, but finally came across the small angle formula, which suited my task perfectly. The forumla used the principles of trigonometry to approximate the size of arcs in angles, which is exactly what I needed to calculate, considering the size of objects in the sky, at least in astronomical terms, is measured in degrees of angular diameters. For instance, our star, Sol, better known as simply the sun, is about .52º. The formula, after I made some adjustments, was as follows:

θ=360º/2π*d/D

Where:

• θ (the Greek letter theta) is the angular diameter
• d is the diameter of Gliese 581 (the star) in kilometres
• D is the distance between Gliese 581g and its home star in kilometres

Now that I had the formula, I simply had to get the data for both the diameter of Gliese 581 and the distance between it and Gliese 581g. After a quick internet search, I was able to get both the diameter of Gliese 581, which is 3.07520*10^5 km, and the distance, which is 2.243968061*10^7 km. I plugged them into the equation, and after accounting for all the values, came out with the answer of:

θ=1.040530677º

This meant that the star, from the surface of Gliese 581g, would be about twice the size of our own sun in our own sky. Try and imagine that; that the sun was twice as large as it is now. It’d be interesting, to say the least. Luckily for you, I went through the trouble of bringing up a photo and resizing the sun as it would appear in the skies of Gliese 581g, so you don’t have to imagine it. Here’s the image as it appeared on the Earth:

And here’s the modified image to make the star seem like it was Gliese 581 being viewed from the surface of Gliese 581g:

And there you have it. Gliese 581, viewed from the surface of Gliese 581g. Have a good new year!

Today I was watching a TED Talk by Freeman Dyson. Freeman Dyson, if you didn’t already know, is an absolutely brilliant theoretical physicist and visionary, coming up with ideas such as the Dyson Sphere. So anyway, during this talk he introduced a fantastic and elegant idea. The idea itself is very simple. Imagine that the Rare Earth Hypothesis is correct, and that life in the universe is extremely hard to come by or non-existant outside Earth. A terrible idea to think, but it may be the truth. However, Dyson brings up a great point. As we colonise space, we will bring life with us. If we set up shop on a planet, we’re simply not going to go down there with no other forms of life! We’ll bring bioengineered plants that give off oxygen so we can breathe, and other bioengineered plants to grow us food. With bioengineering, we could create plants and animals to populate space itself. Humans could be the harbingers of life in the universe, and populate it with life. If we decided to bioengineer a lifeform that could last for millennia and survive in the vacuum of space, life would surely spread to other solar systems, and eventually galaxies. Instead of looking for alien races, we could make them. And even if the human race dies out, once life is established in space, it never will. Humanity could be the parents of all other intelligent life. The future is bright indeed, we simply have to survive that long to bioengineer life for space and ultimately ensure the survival and continuation of life. 

Before you ask, yes I have been talking about Gliese 581g a lot lately. I promise that I’ll stop after this, OK? Good.

Now, to the topic at hand. As most of you already know, I decided to do a study on how life could survive on Gliese 581g. The first thing I started with is the so called “shaper” of life, gravity. Without gravity, we’d all float into space and life could not exist. Too much gravity, and we’d be short, stocky little guys that have immense muscles strength. Too little, and we’d be tall, scrawny, and very light. I wanted to find out the surface gravity of Gliese 581g to find out if they’d be the former or the latter. To do so, I used Issac Newton’s universal law of gravitation, which states that g=G(m/r^2) where:

• g is the surface gravity of Gliese 581g
• G is the gravitational constant of 6.67428*10^-11
• m is the mass of Gliese 581g, which is 3.1 to 4.3 Earth masses. I decided to choose the smaller estimate, so 3.1 Earth masses converted into kilograms is 1.851847*10^25
• r is the radius of Gliese 581, which is between 1.3 and 2.0 Earth radii. Because I choose the smaller estimate for the mass, I choose the smaller for the radius as well. 1.3 Earth radii converted to metres is 8.2915781*10^6

When I plug these into the equation, I get an equation of:

g=6.67428*10^-11((1.851847*10^25/(8.2915781*10^6)^2)

After accounting for all the different units, the answer comes out to be

g=17.97774156 metres/second^2

This means that if I were to drop an object on Gliese 581g, it would fall at a rate of about 18 metres every second. By comparison, the surface gravity is around 9.81 metres/second^2 here on Earth, making Gliese 581g have a gravity around 1.8 times stronger. While this may seem like a lot, it really isn’t. If we were to visit Gliese 581g, we would be able to stand up on the planet without much struggle and walk around. Within a few years, our muscles would adapt to the new gravity and we wouldn’t even notice the difference. What this means for life on Gliese 581g is that, at least as far as gravity is concerned, it would develop in much the same fashion it did here.

While the gravity on Gliese 581g is similar, the environment sure isn’t. Gliese 581g, because it is so close to its host star, is tidally locked, much like our moon. This means that one side is eternally basked in sunshine while the other is deprived of it for all of time, meaning there are no days on Gliese 581g. Because Gliese 581g doesn’t rotate, it has no axial tilt which means no seasons, either. While scorching heat and dreadful cold may seem to be harsh conditions for life to develop, we can see that even on our own Earth many small microbes survive in both. 

However, we aren’t looking for microbial life; while it would be nice to find, we want life as we know, animals, plants, and maybe even some form of intelligent life. There is a place where these things could develop on Gliese 581g: along the Terminator line that separates night from day. In this area, it would eternally be twilight, giving it the nickname of the “Twilight Zone.” In the Twilight Zone, Earth like temperatures could exist. Imagine a fertile band spanning the entire planet separating a desert from the Arctic, and that is what Gliese 581g is probably like. 

If the atmosphere is stable enough on Gliese 581, which in all likelihood is, it would convey heat around the planet from the hot side to the cold side, somewhat equalizing the heat and making more parts of the planet habitable for Earth-like life. Likewise, cold air from the cold side would circulate to the hot side, stabilizing the temperatures. The chances of life existing on Gliese 581g are actually very good. It has been around much longer than our own planet, so there’s much more time for life to develop. And we have seen that anywhere there is water on Earth, there is life. There is billions upon trillions of gallons of water in the universe, and Gliese 581g probably has some. If that is the case, then life must surely exist on Gliese 581g.

What would intelligent life on Gliese 581g look life if it existed? I picture a species that may rely on photosynthesis for energy instead of consumption, considering the areas where they could inhabit would be basked in eternal sunshine. They would be resistant to heat, letting them roam the desert side of the planet as they wish. However, they would have to return to the Twilight Zone for liquid water unless they find a way to irrigate the desert and put water there without it evaporating. If these lifeforms occasionally drift over to the night side, they would easily be able to spot our star among the mosaic of stars across the sky without the need for a telescope. They could be gazing upon our star wondering the same thing we ponder about endlessly: is there other life out there?

Today, a new Ace Combat game was revealed for PS3 and Xbox 360. This has made me incredibly happy. Well, it did, until I saw the trailer. (Which can be viewed here, if you wish) For those of you unfamiliar with the series, Ace Combat is an arcade flight game where you shoot down tons of planes. It’s great fun. And this new game, Assault Horizon, seems to be great. Wonderful graphics, great music, cool effects, interesting cinematic events, new helicopter combat, all fine and dandy. But then, I realised something. This game, unlike the Ace Combat games before it, takes place in the real world. At first glance, this seems like a great idea. However, the Ace Combat series has always prided itself on insane technology and overly dramatic stories made possible by the Strangereal world it is set it. These cannot take place in the real, modern world. I cannot have giant laser towers named after legendary swords. There are no astroid destroying turned anti aircraft gun complexes named after ancient ruins in the real world. There can be no shooting down of giant space craft from a fighter jet in reality. Flying aircraft carriers simply don’t exist. And there are certainly no world wars orchestrated by a country to turn two other countries against each other. I want the Strangereal world back in Ace Combat. Sure, I’ll end up buying this Ace Combat anyway, but I’ll still miss all the awesome stuff from the Strangereal world. Good bye Osea, Yuktobontia, ISAF, Eurusia, Yellow Squadron, Belka, and assorted super weapons. No more flying with the angels.

Have you ever been to another country? Well if you have, you’ll probably be able to understand what I’m about to write about. If you haven’t, well the I feel bad for you and strongly encourage you to explore the world a little bit more. Anyway, as many of you already know, I happen to have recently arrived in Ireland for a month long visit. Having not been in three years, I can tell you that it feels great to be back. However, there is a feeling that I experienced when first arriving in Ireland that is not unique to the Green Isle.
This feeling, as I like to call it, is DCE, or Different Country Euphoria. It’s the feeling that you get whenever you step out of the airport in foreign soil. A strange, almost free feeling of being somewhere completely different from your home. The simplest things, such as strange cars you’ve never seen or different road signs, give you the realization that this is going to be a different experience than what you’re used to. DCE can be described as feeling excited, curious, or even frightened. But it’s just that wonderful feeling you get from stepping out of what you’re used to and exploring what the world has to offer. It really is a fantastic feeling, and feel sorry for those of you that have not experienced it.

NOTE: I’ll only focus on the West because the large majority (I’d say almost all) of my readers live in the Western World.

As a lover of history, I like to study how life was from when civilisation first got its start is Sumeria up to the modern day. This study, at least in my opinion, gives me a little perspective of where we are, how far we’ve come, and just how fast our quality of life in the modern world is improving. Most people don’t appreciate how good we have it. Quite frankly, this is without a doubt the best time to be living on the face of the Earth. If I was born any other time than when I was born or later, I’d most likely be dead by now! We’ve got it so good, and most people don’t even know how good. Let’s take a look at what life would be like throughout the ages, starting with:

• 10 years ago: The year is 2000. We’ve got good medicine, like we do today, and live (if you’re in America or anywhere in the West) in the most advanced and progressive civilisation the world has ever seen. However, the Internet is small, compared to today. There’s no social networks, no blogs. Even shopping is hard on the Internet. There’s no iPods. Smartphones are virtually non-existent. And touch screens?! No way. 2000 wasn’t a bad year to live in, but it just can’t compare to today. While the infrastructure and quality of life may be really close to today, the technology just can’t be compared. In 10 years we’ve advanced so much; from huge computers to iPads. Imagine what the next 10 years will bring. That thought just gets me excited for what the future holds!
• 30 years ago: It’s 1980. The Cold War rages around the world as it holds its breath. The Soviet Union and the United States hang at the brink of nuclear war. However, the quality of life in the West is still relatively good. Although I’d probably be dead by the age of 12, we have most basic ailments under control, and can treat many diseases. The internet, however, is still just an experiment in labs around the world. Computers are large, heavy affairs with no real graphical user interfaces. Living in the 80’s wouldn’t be awful, but it sure would be radically different today.
• 100 years ago: So we’re back to 1910. Airplanes are still very risky affairs, and TVs, let alone the Internet, are just a dream. They do have the telegraph and phone, which help with communication across long distances. There are silent movies for entertainment, but no professional sports leagues. The state of medicine is abysmal; we can treat certain infections, but without penicillin, we’re helpless against most. Diseases such as smallpox and malaria wreak havoc all around the world. Science is still struggling to understand the universe, and the idea that it is larger than just our own galaxy is crazy talk. Cars are still new, and not everybody is convinced of the idea. Civil rights for blacks and other races are non-existent. In most states, women are not allowed to vote, either. Not terrible, but you’d still be at the mercy of disease.
• 200 years ago: And it’s 1810. The nation of America is still young. Slavery is rampant around the United States. The practice of medicine simply doesn’t exist. There is almost no way to communicate with other people over long distances besides the postal service and carrier pigeons. The main method of travel is via horses or ships with sails. International politics are no where near as important as today. Many colonies of many different countries dot the globe. And the main job all around the world is still farming. In 1810, there’s a huge difference between being rich and poor; the quality of life differs greatly.
• 500 years ago: It’s 1510. The ideas of humanism and the individual are slowly spreading across Europe. The Church still controls things with an iron fist. Many people die young, and the difference between being rich and poor is astronomical. The atom is not understood, nor is how the universe works. Gravity is an idea that borders on lunacy. Science is a very new study, and printed books are just starting to become popular. If you get any ailment whatsoever, there’s almost no chance of surviving. Gunpowder is new, and guns are still being perfected.
• 1000 years ago: It’s 1010. The country of England, one of the longest running monarchies in the world, has not been founded yet and is still inhabited with only Anglo-Saxons. If you’re not a noble, you live life walking around in the mud for no pay. You’ll have many children, but most will die before they turn 1. You’ll only live to around 30, 40 if you’re lucky. The best form of entertainment would be card games or playing tag. The Church is everything, and controls all the education in Europe. Because of this, you’re illiterate and have no intention of ever becoming literate. You can’t understand any of the Church services because they’re in Latin, nor can you read the Bible. Even if you catch a common cold, you’re most likely dead. There are no rights for anybody except the Lords and Kings.
• 2000 years ago: The year is 10 AD. Your quality of life will differ greatly depending on if you live within the influence of the Roman Empire or not. Inside the Roman borders, you’ll live a life close to that 1000 years later, with a few more clearly defined laws and a much better sense of security without the feudal system. Within Rome herself, you’ll have plumbing, plays and sports events, clean water,  a nice house, and possibly some books. You can also get an education. Living in Rome would not be a bad thing, and would be much better than living anywhere else in 1010 or 1510, and even better than living in some places in 1810!

And we’ll stop around 2000 years ago. I hope that gives you some perspective on just how good we have it. We have things that just 10 years ago would be inconceivable. So be happy, be content with your life! Whenever you’re sad, just think about how lucky you are to living right now, in 2010. And think about how much better it’ll be in just 10 years time. Even in 5 years time, the technology we have today will be pathetic compared to the technology we’ll have then. Medicine will make some great breakthroughs that will save more lives. The world will continue to be a great place to live in, and I’ll enjoy every second of it. I hope you will too.