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DARPA (the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency, see disclosure note below) is known for going out on a limb with some of its ideas. I am simultaneously intrigued by many of the ideas and research projects they propose (and fund), but also torn by the fact that they are an integral part of the military industrial complex. Moral dilemmas!
Anyhow, as regular readers of this blog might know, I am a fan of airships. There is just something about a floating behemoth and the idea of living in the sky that stirs something deep within me. The particular airborn behemoth that has sparked this post is a spy blimp envisioned by DARPA that appears to be getting the go ahead. This blimp would be the size of a 15-story hotel, float about 17 miles above the ground, and would serve as a comm relay, radar, and scout for the military. The robotic monster could spot enemies on the ground 180 miles away. At the moment the technology appears to be here, but they need funding from one of the armed services.
How long would it stay in the air at a time?
10 years!
Full disclosure: My research is funded by a grant from DARPA under the RADAR project.
My longtime friend over at the Wrathful Dove has an excellent post today on the lack of superness in this so-called Super Tuesday, and I wanted to give it a plug. Here is a brief excerpt that I thought sheds light on the charade that we call “elections” in America:
I was reading the “issues” section of the Atlanta Journal Constitution on Sunday where there was an entire article devoted to comparing the musical selections of the candidates to see what exciting insights this exercise might provide. The same article also subtly observed the importance of selecting a candidate who seems likely to win in November, effectively reducing elections down to the horse race terms in which it is often framed in the corporate media.
These elections are a sham and an obscene circus.
Every four years the American public gets to select its master-in-chief from a narrow field of candidates who fiercely compete and debate within a very narrow range so as to give the illusion of choice and dialog while keeping the true options fixed to those acceptable and profitable to corporate America.
Check out his blog for the rest of the post.
