I Love Science: From Whimsy to Weighty

But I'm going to let myself do a little more exploration of that left frontal cortex. If I find the sweet spot I'll let you know.

Climatology, Anthropology, Whatever

Global warming is a big problem for modern humanity, but our ancestors would have welcomed it. Just fifty thousand years ago, glaciers covered the land masses of Europe and North America all year round. There wasn't even a season worthy of name "summer," which was only invented a few millennia ago, presumably by the "Summerians." They also figured out that when the sun gets hot, it's a good time for plants to grow and that led directly to the invention of agriculture, civilization, and mint-flavored iced tea.

But for many thousands of years it was soooo cold on planet earth that people even prayed to the sun, like in Egypt, where they worshiped the sun god. (That religion, no doubt, was the origin of the chant, "Rah, Rah, Rah.")

Anyway, now we're worried that it's getting too hot. And we've also discovered that human activity is one reason for the increasing heat. Simply put, we are starting to cook ourselves. If greenhouse gases increase too much we will be poached. But if the ozone layer is destroyed we will be microwaved. Would you like fries with that?

This global warming problem is another sign of human inability to understand the law of karma. It should have been more obvious. In just the last 100 years or so, humans have burned up millions of years' worth of the sun's stored energy. Try to imagine it: an estimated 50 million barrels of oil -- that's a huge lake full of oil -- set afire, every single day.

Meanwhile, the threat of global warming can arouse feelings of gratitude by reminding us that we are now living through a very benign climatic era. The birth of agriculture arrived at the end of an ice age, and since only about 10,000 years ago we've been able to feed ourselves with plenty of time and energy left over to do things like invent automobiles and stoves, and learn how to meditate.

Now global warming will be a test of our smarts and tool-making ability. Can science come to our rescue and turn down the planetary thermostat?

According to a 2007 story in the New York Times, engineers are now coming up with ways to stop or mitigate global warming -- mostly schemes to deflect the sun's rays. For instance, one idea is to put millions of reflecting lenses into orbit in order to bend sunlight away from earth. It would be like putting sunglasses on the planet. From outer space it would look like the earth was making a fashion statement.

Another solution being proposed -- and I'm not making this up -- is a plan to float white plastic, or white foam disks across great stretches of the ocean. I don't know, but maybe we should consult with the dolphins first. Meanwhile, a similar plan proposes to cover vast areas of the deserts with white plastic mulch. But we already tried that -- it's called Los Angeles.

I have a better idea. Let's have the government pave the streets with gold . . . literally. That would reflect the sun's rays back into space, and at the same time make good on the great American dream. Maybe the paving contract could go to Haliburton. They could use the profits they made from the Iraq war, and spread them all across the country, along the yellow brick road.

Of course, the obvious solution is to cut back on our carbon consumption. But we're made out of carbon! Are we getting too fat on the stuff? Do we need to get the whole planet on a low carb-on diet?

We shouldn't wait for our politicians to inspire us to consume less energy. I had an image of George "W" Bush looking up at the sun with that macho smirk on his face, and saying, "Bring it on!"

Global warming inevitably brings me around to the Buddha's fire sermon, where he declares that everything is burning. In fact, nirvana means "no fires." Maybe meditation is exactly what humanity needs more than anything right now. It's time to chill. 

Astrophysics, Evolution, and Buddhology

As you may have heard, we no longer can regard space or time as separate dimensions. They are as inseparable as up and down, light and dark, right sock and left sock. Time and space are now space-time, and we can become familiar with the new reality by using the conjunction more often. We live in space-time. Where you are is also when. (Spiritual seekers might want to take note, that if space-time is a single dimension, then "be here now" is redundant.)