News from the University of Planet: Spider Silk

As Commissioner Pravin Lal points out,

"Until quite recently spider silk had the highest tensile strength known to man. And the name silksteel pays homage to the arachnid for good reason."

Here Lal is talking about the ability of humans to weave spider silk-like chemical structures into a metal that can be used as light but very tough armor: silksteel. As it turns out, there has been a lot of research into this precise application of spider silk recently.

An article from Popular Mechanics describes it, along with five other applications:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/med-tech/6-spider-silk-superpowers#slide-2

Planet Orbiting Alpha Centauri Is Found

The story conveyed in Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri took one step closer to coming true recently when astronomers found an earth-sized planet orbiting the Alpha Centauri system, the star system nearest our sun.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/10/earth-exoplanet-alpha-centauri/

No word on whether the planet is named "Planet" yet, or whether they'll wait for the Unity ship to arrive before naming it. The planet is very hot, because it is much closer to its primary star than Earth is to the sun.

News from the Believers: Apple Computers

Miriam Godwinson insistently cautioned her followers about the corrupting potential of technology. Concerned about the growing economic importance of miniaturization, she once said

 "Already we have turned all of our critical industries, all of our material resources, over to these...things...these lumps of silver and paste we call nanorobots. And now we propose to teach them intelligence? What, pray tell, will we do when these little homunculi awaken one day announce that they have no further need for us?"

Miriam would be gladdened to know that her followers in Russia are paying special attention to the hidden values of technology. A group of Russian Orthodox activists have chosen to protest Apple products as un-Christian because they claim that the Apple corporate logo refers to the forbidden fruit of Genesis:

Apple Logo Branded as Un-Christian by Orthodox Followers

Miriam lauds her followers for their ability to concentrate on the essence of the problem at hand, and overlook the fact that the apple is not specified as the forbidden fruit in the book of Genesis, as well as the fact that the apple was chosen as a corporate logo for its approachability and simplicity rather than for its biblical overtones. She is concerned that these protesters, who continue to use Apple products, believe that it is safe to do so provided that a cross is hung over the offending logo - apparently unaware that the danger is on the inside of the Apple package, not the outside.

News from Morgan Industries: Honduras

Nwabudike Morgan had to go to another planet to find a place suitable for the construction of his radically unfettered ideal society, where the list of duties for the state included military interventions, the defense of property rights, and nothing else. (Morgan always felt irritated by those in his society who believed that democratic rights could be used to improve the living conditions of the voter.)

Morgan's acolytes did not have to go as far. They were able to convince the Honduran government that the time has come to allow for a government-free zone in their territory, near the city of Puerto Castilla. Morgan's followers promise that the experimental city will become a Central American beacon of job creation and investment. The only tax there will be on property. (Morgan isn't too sure about the last one, but better half a loaf than none at all.)

Leading the initiative and writing the laws will be the MKG Group, a private corporation based in the U.S.

Private City in Honduras WIll Have Minimal Taxes and Government

News from the Believers: Name Change in OK

Miriam Godwinson, humble and obedient leader of the Lord's Believers, reminds her followers insistently to consider the teachings of holy writ when considering their actions in the world. Luckily, there are still some here on Earth who are willing to do the same.

Take, for instance, Oklahoma County District Judge Bill Graves, who on two occasions has denied the petitions of Oklahoma citizens to change their names as they so choose because it would violate his understanding of God's wishes. In both cases, the petitioners have asked to change their names in anticipation of gender reassignment surgery, to which Graves objects:

“To grant a name change in this case would be to assist that which is fraudulent,” Graves wrote. “It is notable that Genesis 1:27-28 states: ‘So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth ...' The DNA code shows God meant for them to stay male and female.”

Miriam thanks her followers and reminds them that liberty, even the liberty to make wholly personal choices that affect no one else in any appreciable way, must be tempered by obedience to higher authority, as interpreted by elected officials.

News from Morgan Industries: The 47%

Free marketeer par excellence Nwabudike Morgan, leader of the Morganites, never tires of highlighting the links between personal virtue, wealth, and resource consumption. For instance, he asserts in his seminal work, The Ethics of Greed, that

"Resources exist to be consumed. And consumed they will be, if not by this generation then by some future. By what right does this forgotten future seek to deny us our birthright? None I say! Let us take what is ours, chew and eat our fill."

His acolyte, Mitt Romney, eerily channeled the thoughts of Morgan at a press conference recently, and the comments were recently made public, leading his opponents to screech hysterically about class warfare.

Among Romney's Morganite comments was this insightful aperçu:

"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for [my opponent] no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for [my opponent] no matter what...

“Our message of low taxes doesn’t connect...so my job is is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. What I have to do is convince the five to 10 percent in the center that are independents, that are thoughtful....”

Morgan would be proud, although he would also lose the election.

News from the Believers: Time to Beat Your Wife

As a faction, the Believers are all too aware that other groups in society tend toward policies and attitudes that erode law and order, endorsing instead a harmful relativism. However, Pat Robertson has an answer for individualism, and more specifically the modernist scourge of feminism: diagnose the psychological problems of strangers according to a one paragraph email written by a third party, and encourage believers to move to places that recognize the proper role of male authority figures.



Miriam Godwinson might be a bit uncomfortable with the apparent self-contradiction in the comments from the video, namely the simultaneous enthusiasm and disdain for wife-beating, but nonetheless congratulates her followers for recognizing the importance of domestic order.

News from the Believers: Venereal Disease

After what happened to Akin when he spoke about "legitimate" rape, you'd think the followers of Miriam Godwinson would be a bit more careful when speaking to members of other factions. But you would be wrong.

A state senator (not an epidemiologist) from Tennessee,  Stacey Campfield, recently mused on the nature of the AIDS virus recently: “It was one guy screwing a monkey, if I recall correctly, and then having sex with men. It was an airline pilot, if I recall."

He then went on to claim that it is "not completely, but virtually" impossible for heterosexuals to contract the AIDS virus.

Miriam Godwinson would applaud her fellow faction member for underscoring the safety of the world provided that humans remember and abide by the proper rules.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/26/gop-lawmaker-virtually-impossible-to-get-aids-through-heterosexual-sex/

News from the University: Arctic Apples

Scientists have developed fruit that will never spoil.

The inventor behind the project "believes that the Arctic Apple is completely safe for human consumption, and that it doesn’t pose a threat to other growers."

Prokhor Zakharov would be pleased.

http://www.fastcoexist.com/1680290/meet-the-company-that-wants-to-make-your-fruit-perfect-and-genetically-engineered

News from the Believers: Todd Akin

Todd Akin, a candidate for a senate seat in Missouri, recently made shocking but not surprising comments a few days ago, suggesting that women who are raped "legitimately" rarely conceive pregnancies. Apparently he was influenced by physicians in the pro-life movement who believe that the female body will not allow a fertilized egg to implant in the uterus if the sexual act was unpleasant. This would be nice if it were true. Did Akin mean to imply that women who conceive from forced entries secretly wanted the children and enjoyed the rape?

Miriam Godwinson would congratulate Akin for his faith in a providentially designed universe.

The Onion had quite a bit of sardonic fun with Akin's claim.

"Pregnant Woman Relieved To Learn Her Rape Was Illegitimate"
"I Misspoke—What I Meant To Say Is 'I Am Dumb As Dog Shit And I Am A Terrible Human Being'"
"Republicans Condemn Akin's Comments As Blemish On Party's Otherwise Spotless Women's Rights Record"

News from the Hive: Chinese Pools

Apparently, Chinese swimming pools are very popular but also very dirty. According to this story, 90% of the water in one Chinese pool was either feces or urine. That number seems implausibly high to me, but the pools are certainly crowded. Chairman Yang would celebrate the unity of the people as they visit their own recycling tanks.

http://www.amusingplanet.com/2012/08/chinese-swimming-pools-most-crowded-and.html

Introduction

Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri is one of the most enjoyable strategy games ever produced. It combines the famously engrossing gameplay of the Civilization series with a very compelling plot, incorporating a living and proactive natural setting and late-20th century ideological conflicts. At the beginning of the game, players choose one to play as one of seven factions, rather than as a "nation" like Rome or Russia, and each of these factions has an ideological imperative. They are as follows:

Gaia's Stepdaughters - Airy Biocentrism; an exaggerated version of a Green activism from Australia
The Human Hive - Brutal Collectivism; an exaggerated version of Chinese communism
University of Planet - Amoral Technologism; an exaggerated version of Russian scientific utopianism
Morgan Industries - Ruthless Free Marketeering; an accurate version of Ayn Rand's Objectivism
The Spartan Federation - Belligerent Militarism; an exaggerated version of American survivalism
Lord's Believers - Intransigent Religiosity; an exaggerated version of American fundamentalism
Peacekeeping Forces - Soft-headed pacifism; an exaggerated version of Chamberlain's methods

Each of these factions has "natural" enemies and allies. The Peacekeepers and the Spartans are simply never going to get along, so you're likely to gain an enemy from your first turn. However, other factions are more or less compatible, depending upon the player's choices.

What is truly intriguing is the degree to which the factions are all alive today and active in the world. Indeed, the American Republican Party of 2012 is something of a coalition of Morgan Industries, the Spartan Federation, and the Lord's Believers, while the American Democratic Party is an amalgam of Gaia's Stepdaughers, University of Planet, and the Peacekeeping Forces.

I started this blog to document when one of the factions does or says something that appears in the news.