Monday, August 6, 2007

in another life



Do you have another life? I do. It's where I do all the things I tell myself I should do - but lack the will to do - now. The wonderfully magnanimous, civilization improving, selfless acts that ignore such trivialities as personal pain or hardship in the interest of future humanity. 10 years ago, when filled with much more of this youthful elixir, I imagined a career in particle physics - particularly the lines of research that would lead to practical, clean, sustainable nuclear fusion. In my gut, I know it would change everything about the world now. I followed the work of scientists on the Tokamok and I was disheartened to see the UCSD program cancelled in 1998 from lack of progress. I know other international bodies continue to pursue this dream. But until I saw this video, I thought it very far away. Seeing this raises my conspirational hackles and I try hard not to look cynically at the forces which work to keep this dream a reality. It's a huge step, that this secret work of 11 years is now seeing the light of day in a scientific forum. I hope it's not like many other discoveries, that lay dormant for centuries before adventurous souls discover the hidden gem. And I wonder what I could do to help push this effort forward in some minuscule way?

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