Well, ten very old words. But some, like overmorrow, we should bring back. And share with the blateroons apricating at the beach this summer. Click here. (Thanks, Glenn!)
You’ve probably already seen Jared Kushner’s take on Kim Jong-Un. It’s pretty funny. (Thanks, Andy Borowitz.)
A tech wizard I admire, Martine Rothblatt, tells me that Dr. Richard Feynman . . . a lecture of whose she once actually got to attend and whose autobiography you should read and who figured out why the Challenger exploded and showed Congress a glass of ice water and an o-ring . . . Martine tells me that this brilliant man predicted decades ago that if you could just get the atoms close enough (or something: what do I know?), battery capacity could increase 1,000-fold . . . and that we’re on the brink now of that happening.
“You’ll only have to recharge your cell phone once a year,” Martine told me. And by the way? She invented and piloted the first all-electric helicopter a few months ago — even with current battery technology. (Here she is piloting it with a passenger.)
Needless to say, if batteries become 1,000 times more efficient, virtually everything will be powered by the sun, just as Thomas Edison imagined. (“I would put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.”)
Which means that . . . just as communication has become virtually free (185 years ago, information never traveled faster than 7mph; today you can make a video call [pause, please, to appreciate the marvel of it] to China [to China!] at no added cost to your Internet bill) . . . so energy is about to become virtually free. Not entirely so, of course; a huge investment in infrastructure will be required to harness the power of the sun, just as a huge investment in infrastructure was required to make that next video call to Beijing free. But the basic fuel? Absolutely free for the taking. And now (or soon), for use at night and on cloudy days, cheap for the storing.
Amazing. After 10,000 human generations struggling and suffering and shivering and striving to get us to this point, it’s all coming together – either to a glorious and ultimately inter-planetary beginning, where those of us with exoskeletons will be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound (or short hedges, anyway) . . .
. . . or to a chaotic, ultimately horrific end.
More likely the latter. But the former is sure worth fighting for. And probably won’t be achieved by cutting taxes for the rich, boosting weaponry at the expense of soft power, and — hallelujah! — bringing back coal.
Have a great weekend.
Editors Note: This article was originally published on April 20th, 2017 on andrewtobias.com, syndicated with permission.
An American writer and public figure, Andrew Tobias has written extensively about politics, finance and insurance. Andrew is also a graduate of Harvard University and is the author of numerous books including; The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need, The Best Little Boy In The World, and Invisible Bankers: Everything The Insurance Industry Never Wanted You To Know.
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