US Navy Goes Sci-Fi?

When we think of the mighty US Navy our minds go to massive aircraft carriers, LL's favorite Littoral Combat Ships, and perhaps transsexual diversity training, so relevant on a warship. But look a little closer and you'll see that the Navy's behind some pretty interesting research.

Dubbed "UFO Patents," Navy backed research into ground breaking tech, such as compact fusion generators and inertial mass reduction devices, useful for FTL travel, seem more like the stuff of science fiction than reality, but the patents are out there. Here's a snapshot, from Forbes:

When Dr. Salvatore Cezar Pais, an aerospace engineer at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD), filed a patent for a “Plasma Compression Fusion Device” in 2019, it was either a giant breakthrough – or mad science. According to the patent application, the miniature device could contain and sustain fusion reactions capable of generating power in the gigawatt (1 billion watts) to terawatt (1 trillion watts) range or more. A large coal plant or mid-size nuclear powered reactor by comparison produces energy in the 1–2 gigawatt range. The revolutionary invention by Dr. Pais, if real, would produce near unlimited clean energy from something no larger than a sports utility vehicle.

 

Check out the whole article if you like, it's not long, and we have to wonder, where's our technology really at and are we on the verge of significant breakthroughs? I'd love to think we were, but if so, could we trust our rulers to use the advance wisely, for the benefit of the people? That's another question again.

In related news, the venerable Church of England appears to be falling into a black hole. You can read the excellent Holy Relic here. Whether the starfaring denomination escapes the event horizon remains to be seen.

Ad Astra,

LSP

Event Horizon 2020

Here at the Compound we call this art "Event Horizon 2020."

Powerful, right?

LSP

Has General Synod Been Found?

Strange radio waves have been detected by astronomers, emanating from far beyond our Galaxy. Could they come from the Church of England's General Synod?

The mysterious energy pulses are called fast radio bursts and last for fractions of a second. First spotted by a team of stargazers at Parkes Observatory in Australia, in 2007, it's estimated that the radio waves traveled at least 3 billion light years before they reached earth.

Experts are divided. A minority believe that the "fast bursts" may be coming from inside the earth's atmosphere. Others believe that they come from very dense objects, like black holes, imploding stars, or even enormous flares. But some pundits  think otherwise.

"It's obviously the General Synod," said one astronomer, "It's far enough away and we don't know what it means."

No one knows what effect, if any, the fast burst radio waves are having on earth.

LSP

Unholy Communion

Dog

The little ACoC (Anglican Church of Canada) is at it again. Desperate to bolster dramatically reduced numbers, Ontario clergyperson, Rev. Marguerite Rea, gave 'communion' to an Alsatian dog at St. Peters, Toronto. After a gentle reprimand from her bishop, Rea stated that her actions were "a simple way of reaching out."

ACoC

In the meanwhile, the strangely shrinking ACoC continues on its trajectory out of earth orbit, with the tacit approval of its richer southern cousin, TEC (The Episcopal Church) and its leaderene, Jefferts Schori.

Schori

All rumours to the contrary, TEC, ACoC and the COE (Church of England) are not about to implode into something resembling a black hole in the icy depths of space.

To the stars!

LSP