Friday, January 1, 2010
Today is New Year's Day. Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner. Stayed at home for the entire day.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Got up at eleven o'clock. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and pieces of California Pizza Kitchen's pizza for dinner. Stayed at home for the entire day.
Logical and creative thinking is the key to finding an epoch-making idea. Logical thinking can be developed by education. However, it's uncertain whether there exists any method of education to develop creativity and imagination effectively or not. Such methods probably exist but should be limited in rare cases. It seems that the strength of the imaginativeness of a person is mostly innate. Most education at schools, such as rote learning, regimented drills, repeated practices, and routine lessons, wear out student's imaginations as if they were designed to do so. Indeed, these educations are the most effective ways of obtaining skills and knowledge, unfortunately.
If parents want their child to grow up to be like an honored person in the area such as a performance, a clerical work, an army, and athletic sports, repeated practices from his/her early years are most appropriate. If parents want their child to grow up to be more creative, they have to protect their child's gifted imagination. Taking strict control of a child in a family isn't a good idea to help maintain his/her imagination.
In my case, both my logicalness and imaginativeness are parts of my character though these aptitudes can't be found in my relatives. A let-alone principle of my parents in bringing up me helped protect my imagination in my childhood by chance. Reading books especially from my college days until now has helped build my logical thinking systematically.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Got up at ten-thirty in the morning. Ate a piece of pizza and a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner. Stayed at home for the entire day.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch. Went out shopping this evening. Ate a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Got up at eight-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a rice ball for lunch, and a bowl of Japanese noodle soup for dinner.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Got up at eight-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Got up at seven forty-five in the morning. Ate a simple meal for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
The following are my additional comments on Capitalism, Socialism and Communism:
The Soviet Union was the former republic that adopted strictly centralized socialism in the twentieth century. Its communist government had fallen in 1990 and a market economy was introduced in 1991. China adopted communists in 1949. After Mao's death in 1976, it renewed its ties to the West. Since then, its centralized economy has been transforming, and the number of private-owned enterprises has been increasing. Since the rise of the movement toward socialism/communism until the early 1990s, their weakness in the economy had betrayed the fact that centralized socialism/communism was unsuccessful essentially.
On the other hand, the free world has revealed its weaknesses, especially since the early 1990s. Ironically, this tendency strongly surfaced at the almost same time as the fall of the Soviet's communist government. The number of ethnic conflicts, especially among nations in the former communist block, had increased after the end of the Cold War. The number of terrorism by religious extremists has significantly increased since then. Overly free-market capitalism has led to bubble economies and their bursts, over-investments to rising counties and less-investments to potential leading industries, and recessions, for the last two decades. The governments of the formerly centralized socialist/communist nations still haven't loosened their control in many aspects because these problems can be restrained under their old systems.
Hopefully, the majorities on both sides know that there is no clue about the extremism of the political system.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Got up at eight-fifteen in the morning. It's a cold day. The lowest temperature today is 18 degrees F (-7.7 degrees C). Ate a bowl of cereal and a bowl of vegetable soup for lunch, and pieces of California Pizza Kitchen's pizza for dinner.
Usually, the difference in temperature between daytime and nighttime in a day is about 20 degrees F (11 degrees C), and that between summer and winter in a year is about 45 degrees F (25 degrees C). The rise in the average annual temperature during the industrial age is believed to be only about 1.3 degrees F (0.7 degrees C). Indeed, it's very difficult for everybody to have a real feeling of the rise in the average temperature by 1.3 degrees F over the last two hundred years. As written several times in my diary, the truth or falsehood of global warming due to greenhouse gases can't be confirmed by a real feeling for a short period of time. Scientifically speaking, only accurate data covering a long period of time from the past to the future will tell it. What scientists can do at the present time is a forecasting, based on theories and available data. On this matter, the observational proof is difficult because the earth is too big for an experimental subject, available data are limited, and some of them may be inaccurate.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Got up at noon. It's a cold day. The lowest temperature today is 20 degrees F (-6.7 degrees C). Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
Watched a DVD of the movie Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace at home this evening. This is the fourth in the order of production and the first in the order of episodes of one of the most popular SF film series. In this episode, a mysterious mastermind of the Sith, which is the Force's dark side and is supposed to have become extinct long ago, pulls the strings behind the scenes in both the Republic and the Federation, aiming at the establishment of his Empire in a galaxy.
The Federation plots to extort trade taxes from its dependencies and forces to join others by recourse to its modernized military. An apprentice of a dark lord, like Sun Wu-K'ung, confronts two Jedi knights at the climax of this film. An interesting point is that the distributor of this film is Twentieth Century Fox.
Dodging a bullet that is fired from a distance of ten yards is beyond human reflexes. Dodging a ray is contradictory to the principle of Physics. By the grace of the Force, a Jedi knight needs to know the point where a ray will hit before a shooter pulls the trigger of a laser gun. What is the Force? No idea. Only a creator of the Star Wars world can tell it.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Got up at ten-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch. Went out shopping at grocery stores and an electric appliances store this afternoon. Ate an oyster hot pot for dinner.
Watched a DVD of the movie Star Wars: Episode II Attack of The Clones at home this evening. The second episode of Star Wars films tells the story 10 years after the first episode. A dark lord's power has strengthened in the Republic while no one has been aware of it, and also starts to have his future apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, in the palm of his hand. On the way to search for a bounty hunter, Obi-Wan Kenobi happens to reveal that a Jedi knight, who died 10 years ago, drew up a hidden plan to make the Republic possess its own army, the Clones.
In the story, some people in the Republic show favoritism for cloning and breeding. A villain engages in secret maneuvers on both the Republic and the Federation. It sounds fair.
So far, my favorite planet in the Star Wars universe, which is made with use of the computer graphic technology, is the Naboo. The scenery on the Naboo is quite beautiful and a castle with bronze roofs rounded like an onion looks cozy.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Got up at eight-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
Watched a DVD of the movie Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith at home this evening. The third episode of Star Wars films tells the story of the termination of the Jedi knights. At the end of this episode, a dark lord transforms the form of government in a galaxy from the Republic into the Empire and shuts down the Federation. Survivors of an unrelenting purge conceal themselves on various planets in order to prepare for the forthcoming organization of the Rebels against the Empire. Then, a familiar stage is ready.
Anakin Skywalker, who is an arrogant hard-liner knight of the Jedi, apostatizes the Jedi and becomes Darth Vader, and P. Amidala, who is an isolationist soft-liner Senator of the Republic, dies irresponsibly after giving birth to their twin. In an entertainment work, an extremist gives off brilliance. Their children, Luke and Leia, are supposed to be well-balanced, according to a prophecy in this movie. In entertainment, a well-balanced character is mostly boring. On the other hand, in the real world, a good sense of balance is the key to fixing problems.
This is the latest and the best film of the Star Wars series in many aspects including cinematography, special effects, actions, script, and so on.
As written in my diary on October 1, 2009, more than half a year after my coughing stopped in 2005, American female, Chinese, German, Taiwanese, and Indian coworkers had started giving coughs theatrically taking the trouble to come near my desk with a meaning. Indeed, this movie Star Wars: Episode III left a very unpleasant impression on me at a theater in 2005 because even an android of the Federation gave persistent coughs theatrically in the movie. Why should an android give persistent coughs? That's crazy.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and two rice balls for lunch, and a bowl of Japanese noodle soup for dinner.
Watched a DVD of the movie Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope at home this evening. This film is the first in the order of production and the fourth in the order of episodes of the Star Wars series. The first installment of Star Wars films was made in my elementary school days, 1977 (1978 in Japan). Those days, an ad campaign for this movie by Coca-Cola left an impression on me in Japan.
In the last scene, guided by Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker successfully protects a base of the Rebels by conducting a difficult strike from a small spacecraft on a weak point of the Empire's gigantic space station, the Death Star. The primary weapon of the Death Star is a huge laser weapon, which is capable of breaking a planet to pieces in this SF. In fact, a laser weapon isn't such a destructive one. In the words used in this film, it's more civilianized. It could be really difficult to break a planet by using a laser weapon even if such a powerful one really were to exist, simply because the laser itself doesn't cause any explosion and has to converge on the target. Instead, a laser device is very appropriate for burning a pinpoint on an object. In a more realistic manner, a very high-power laser of the Death Star might be able to go through a planet by creating at most a narrow hole that may lead to the formation of a volcano on each side as a result.
It's generally known that the Strategic Defense Initiative, which was a proposed US defense system against nuclear weapons, especially ICBMs, was dubbed Star Wars after this film. Indeed, the laser weapon is most suitable for a defense system. What the laser weapon has to do is to raise the temperature at a pinpoint of a flying object from a distance of hundreds of kilometers away by the irradiation of the laser beam as high as possible without melting the laser weapon itself. If the laser becomes more practical by solving problems mostly associated with low efficiency in converting electricity into the laser, most fighters, bombers, helicopters, and missiles have to step down from their positions in aerial dominance.
However, there is always a dark side. The widespread of laser weapons probably leads to two non-technical problems, at least. One is the increase of terrorist acts against a passenger airplane, and the other is that of assassination against a leading figure. Therefore, laser weapons have to be tightly controlled under the governments and the use of them against a human has to be regulated. In any case, a laser weapon is much preferable to a nuclear bomb. This is because a misuse of a laser weapon may claim a few, tens, or a few hundred casualties while that of a nuclear bomb may claim the lives of millions of people.
The development of new missiles and interceptor-missiles, the development of new radar, and that of new stealth technology are just going around in circles. A laser defense system can be the breakthrough technology alternative to the interceptor missile. In order to shoot down a flying object, one first has to detect it by using the most advanced radar.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Got up at eight-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
Watched a DVD of the movie Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back at home this evening. The second installment of Star Wars films was made in my junior high school days, 1980. The scene in which Darth Vader cuts off an arm of Luke Skywalker's was rather shocking to me about thirty years ago. A pair of outlaw-type characters, Han Solo and Chewbacca add some hard-boiled slapstick essences to the SF story exquisitely. This episode may have been enjoying more popularity from an adult audience than the other episodes.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Got up at eight-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
Watched a DVD of the movie Star Wars: Episode VI Return of The Jedi at home this evening. The third installment of Star Wars films was made in my high school days, 1983. No shocking scene was found, different from the previous episode. Instead, a tribe of small primitive creatures takes a lively part. It's lovable, with the exception of cannibalism.
Star Wars films, which are regarded as entertainment SF (PG), deal with a simplified view of the world, that is, the metaphysical dualism between the bright side and the dark side of the Force. In the real world, the degree of goodness and wickedness isn't discrete but continuous. The boundary between good and evil varies to some extent with place and period, and its borderline isn't so clear. There always exists a gray zone between them, which makes the judge's duties difficult. In various cases in our everyday life such as human relationships, transportation, business, politics, etc., some people easily drift into evil ways with or without thinking, and other people intentionally engage in questionable activities in a gray zone.
In Star Wars films, Anakin Skywalker is easily deceived and turns to the dark side because of his character and talent, and a Jedi's obsession with secrecy about it. Instead, Luke Skywalker, who is the son of a hawk and a dove, doesn't abandon goodness. This is simply because of his nature in this movie. This message may be a truth but doesn't help people. A person in the fields of education and government wants to prevent a potential criminal from committing a crime, and their parents also want to. Probably, there are divisions of opinion on the question of which way can help reduce the number of criminals on the whole, to explain to children the harmfulness of evil in detail frequently, for example, the dark side of medicine, which is an illegal drug, or to hide its unpleasant realities as tightly as possible. Needless to say, any experience of wickedness isn't necessary because of the danger of a habit, but some accurate knowledge of evil seems to be meaningful in order to be defensive against sweet snares of seduction. It seems that scolding is mostly a parent's responsibility currently. The problem is, who should educate parents?
Friday, January 15, 2010
Got up at eight forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and two rice balls for lunch, and pieces of California Pizza Kitchen's pizza for dinner.
The overall summary of energy resources is given as follows:
1. Fossil Fuels [150 years plus]
Coal (Working)
Coal is either the cheapest or the second cheapest source of energy. At today's usage rates, the proven reserves of coal can satisfy our energy needs for about next 150 years. A coal-fired power station emits the highest levels of carbon dioxide and other gases, the accumulation of which in the earth's atmosphere leads to global warming. It causes acid rain due to the emissions of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide and air pollution due to the emissions of fly ash and mercury.
The so-called clean coal technologies are designed to prevent pollution by filtering out the excreted substances above. There are some ideas to put carbon dioxide into the porous layers deep underground or to make it absorbed deep in the ocean only for a certain period of time, but these ideas are costly and some of them may be dangerous.
Oil (Working)
At today's usage rates, the proven reserves of oil can satisfy our energy needs for about next 50 years. An oil-fired power station emits the second-highest levels of carbon dioxide and other gases.
Natural Gas (Working)
At today's usage rates, the proven reserves of natural gas can satisfy our energy needs for about next 50 years. A natural gas-fired power station emits the third highest levels of carbon dioxide and other gases.
2. Renewable Sources of Energy [Nearly Inexhaustible]
Solar (Working)
Currently, the most expensive energy source is solar power probably. There are many applications of this technology. As well known, solar power is a peaceful source of energy. Solar cells don't emit any air pollution such as smoke, gases, and dust, don't kill any animal, and don't increase the percentage of fatal car accidents.
Solar cells are ideal for use in outer space. For uses on the surface of the earth, only in clear daylight, a solar cell can convert sunlight into electricity at a rate suitable for practical uses. Therefore, energy storage is one of the important issues for the continuous availability of energy all day long. Energy loss during the charging of the battery should be a critical problem.
Currently, lower-cost solar cells are rather promising for the purpose of replacing a proportion of fossil fuels potentially. If the power loss during charging the energy storage is significantly minimized, solar cells can replace them partially in warm, hot, and desert regions in the future. If not, solar power will continue to be a supplemental source of energy.
Wind (Working)
A wind turbine converts the energy in winds to electric power. The wind is irregular and the location appropriate for the wind power plant is restricted to mountainous and shoreline regions with strong wind. Wind power produces no pollution but is notoriously known as a bird killer.
Hydroelectric (Working)
A water turbine converts the energy in falling or fast-flowing water to electric power. Water flow is continuous but the location appropriate for the hydroelectric power is restricted in mountainous regions with heavy rainfall. Hydroelectric power produces no pollution.
Geothermal (Geothermal: Working, EGS: Under evaluation)
In Geothermal energy, hot water from a geyser, hot spring, or volcano is used to drive a turbine for the generation of electricity. This type of power station has already served as our energy source for the last tens of years. However, the number of geysers, hot springs, or volcanoes that give water hot enough to run a turbine is very limited.
In Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS), holes are drilled deep into so-called hot rock, water is pumped into some of them, and then hot water from the rest of them runs a turbine to produce electricity. Its practicality has not yet been confirmed. The continent's crust shows various thicknesses, structures, and compositions depending on the location. A considerable number of sites appropriate for EGS where the depth of hot rock is located about 5km beneath the surface (~ 2X of oil drilling depth) or shallower has to be found.
The perpetuity of the thermal energy that is obtained from so-called Hot Rocks in the EGS is attractive even though they may require a recovery period for temperature after about twenty to thirty years of use. Currently, there exist several technical problems left in the EGS, but it seems that they aren't fundamental problems. Although, in this stage, the costs of construction of the EGS power plant including drillings aren't affordable for practical utilities, they may drop in the future once its practicality is proven and the necessity for it rises. Hopefully, the practicality of the EGS will be verified in the near future.
There is an uncertainty concerning the safety of the EGS associated with earthquakes.
3. Nuclear Fission [100 years to millenniums]
Thermal Reactor (Working)
Nuclear power is either the cheapest or the second cheapest source of energy. At today's usage rates, the proven reserves of uranium as the fuel of a thermal reactor can satisfy our energy needs for about next 100 years. The use of plutonium is obtained from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel as fuel prolongs it to some extent. There is always a risk of a leak of radioactive substances.
Fast Breeder Reactor (Pending/Under improvement for safety)
This type of nuclear reactor allows further reduction of the cost of the generation of electricity. Because a fast breeder reactor produces more nuclear fuel than it uses while generating energy, it allows us to make full use of nuclear fuels and can satisfy our energy needs for millenniums. The disadvantage of the so-called Sodium-Coolant Fast Reactor is known to be the risks of liquid-sodium use. However, a problem associated with liquid-sodium coolant can be fixed, for example by substituting helium gas for it. The other possible problem of a fast breeder reactor is known to be that the spread of mass production of a fast breeder reactor may raise the level of the proliferation of nuclear weapons. In this stage, a fast breeder reactor is still under development. Therefore, the development of this reactor should continue and be completed till the desired success of international peacemaking efforts. Needless to say, there is always a risk of a leak of radioactive substances.
4. Fusion [Millenniums to all ages]
Hybrid Fusion and Fission Reactor (Under development, Has never worked yet)
The realizability of this reactor remains unconfirmed. This nuclear reactor may allow mankind to make full use of all isotopes of uranium on the earth if a fusion reaction can be ignited in it in the future. In this case, uranium could satisfy our energy needs for millenniums. It seems that the price of a hybrid fusion reactor is much higher than that of a fast breeder reactor, because of additional very high power systems for the ignition of fusion reaction. Different from a thermal reactor and a fast breeder reactor, a hybrid fusion does not require the enrichment of uranium. However, this fact may not help control the proliferation of nuclear weapons because a hybrid fusion can be an effective generator of plutonium-239 by neutron irradiation of uranium-238. However, there is always a risk of a leak of radioactive substances.
Fusion Reactor (Under development, Has never worked yet)
The realizability of this reactor remains unconfirmed. A hot fusion reactor may allow mankind to replace all fossil and fissionable sources of energy, if not only can a fusion reaction be ignited and controlled, but the effective production of electric power from a fusion reaction can also be achieved in the future. In the case of the Deuterium - Deuterium reaction, its fuel, that is, deuterium would satisfy our energy needs through all ages.
Taking the factors above into consideration, four future plans for energy use occur to me. The first, second, third, and fourth plans are characterized by reconciliation, temporary slowdown of the development of developing countries, permanent slowdown of the development of developing countries, and socialism, respectively, as shown below:
[Plan 1] This is my favorite plan. Some right-wing people in the free world may agree to this plan. This is also the most effective way against the possible global warming.
Phase 1.
Focus on international peacemaking efforts by mutual consent and compromises for the next few decades. Try to substitute the natural gas-fired power stations and every type of power generation utilizing renewable sources of energy available for the existing non-clean coal-fired power stations during this period. Continue the developments of the Fast Breeder Reactor, the Fusion Reactor, and so on.
Phase 2.
Will start to replace the existing Thermal Reactors and all of the existing fossil-fuels-fired power stations by the Fast Breeder Reactors after the achievement of international peacemaking to some extent.
Phase 3.
May start to replace the existing Fast Breeder Reactors with the Fusion Reactors, if the Fusion Reactor can be realized in the future.
[Plan 2] Other right-wing people in the free world may prefer this plan. In this plan, the growth of developing countries has to be slowed down for quite a long period of time because of the reduction in the number of nuclear power stations. If the development of developing countries continues to accelerate as ever, all fossil fuels will be exhausted within a century. All of them may be used up within fifty years. In terms of global warming, the combustion of all the fossil fuels in a short period of time is also unwelcome. Unfortunately, it's uncertain whether the development of developing countries can be decelerated or not.
Phase 1.
Continue international peacemaking efforts as ever until one side of them comes to the end of one's strength, for the next one to two centuries. Try to substitute the natural gas-fired power stations and every type of power generation utilizing renewable sources of energy available for the existing non-clean coal-fired power stations during this period. Continue the developments of the Fast Breeder Reactor, the Fusion Reactor, and so on. Slow down the development of developing countries.
Phase 2.
Will start to use the Fast Breeder Reactors after the achievement of international peacemaking to some extent. Speed up the development of developing countries.
Phase 3.
May start to replace the existing Fast Breeder Reactors with the Fusion Reactors, if the Fusion Reactor can be realized.
[Plan 3] Some left-wing people in the free world may prefer this plan. In this plan, the development of developing counties has to be slowed down and to progress at a low pace either permanently or until the desired success of the Fusion Reactor. However, it's uncertain whether the development of developing countries can be decelerated or not.
Phase 1.
Continue international peacemaking efforts as ever until one side of them comes to the end of one's strength, for the next one to two centuries. Try to substitute every type of power generation utilizing renewable sources of energy for both the existing non-clean coal-fired power stations and obsolete nuclear reactors during this period. Continue the developments of the Fusion Reactor and so on. Slow down the development of developing countries.
Phase 2.
Will continue to depend upon renewable sources of energy, especially Hydroelectric and Enhanced Geothermal Systems, even after using up all fossil fuels. Will keep the speed of the development of developing countries slow.
Phase 3.
May start to adopt the Fusion Reactor, if it works in the future.
[Plan 4] Some people in the left-wing countries on the Eurasian, and Central and South American Continents may prefer this plan. In this case, the growth of developing countries can be decelerated spontaneously. Indeed, this is a horrible idea for capitalists and loyalists. World War III is unwelcome. Therefore, this is unrealistic.
Phase 1.
Move the political systems of all countries in the free world to Socialism in the next tens of years. Try to substitute every type of power generation utilizing renewable sources of energy for both the existing non-clean coal-fired power stations and obsolete nuclear reactors during this period. Continue the developments of the Fusion Reactor and so on. The growth of the economy of both developed countries and developing countries will be slowed down spontaneously, as usual for Socialism.
Phase 2.
Will continue to rely on renewable sources of energy, especially Hydroelectric and Enhanced Geothermal Systems, even after using up all fossil fuels.
Phase 3.
May start to adopt the Fusion Reactor, if it works in the future.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Got up at eleven o'clock in the morning. Ate a piece of pizza and a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner. Stayed at home for the entire day.
Watched a DVD of the movie "The Horse Whisperer" at home this evening. This is a film by Robert Redford, who is a leading Hollywood actor and an Oscar winner director, released in 1998. His handsome features hadn't faded yet at the age of sixty-two. How great his role in his film is!
In the original novel, different from his film, a protagonist commits adultery following his primitive instincts. This isn't humanity.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Got up at eleven-thirty. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch.
Went to see the movie, "The Lovely Bones" directed by Peter Jackson and produced by Steven Spielberg at the Legal Gateway Theater this afternoon. This film brings to the screen Alice Sebold's novel of the same title. Fantastic scenes of an imaginary world that lies between this world and the afterlife are magnificent. The color of the eyes of a young leading actress is beautiful. It may be an artificial coloring with special effects.
This movie reminded me of a serial murderer in Japan and a suspect in the US. The former is Tsutomu Miyazaki, and the latter is a suspect who was arrested for killing eleven women and abandoning their bodies in the basement of his house in the latter half of last year. Actually, just the thought of their faces made me sick to my stomach at the theater this afternoon. It seems that the ending of this story may be rather realistic but doesn't satisfy the audience.
This is a strange film. Some peculiar factors make this film incomplete. It's probably an international situation. Who brought it and who is behind seems to be obvious. Anyway, that makes a movie fan disappointed.
Went to buy some items of food at grocery stores on the way home. Ate a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and two rice balls for lunch.
The Internet access via Earthlink had been disconnected since noon through about three pm for some unknown reasons.
Ate a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Got up at eight-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a bowl of Japanese noodle soup for dinner.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Got up at eight-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a meal for dinner.
The following is my prospective view of the future world on the assumption that no effective plan is carried out:
Continue international peacemaking efforts as ever until one side of them comes to the end of its strength, for the next one to two centuries.
Continue to accelerate the development of developing countries as ever.
Consume all of fossil fuels within 50 ~ 150 years.
Give the highest priority to the widespread of energy-efficient products.
Give a higher priority to some renewable sources of energy, such as Wind Power and Solar Power for industries.
May see the rise of the sea level and the advancement of desertification within tens of years if the theory of global warming due to greenhouse gases is true. In this stage, a scientist will be able to confirm whether it is right or not.
Will adopt the Fast Breeder Reactor after the achievement of international peacemaking to some extent and the exhaustion of fossil fuels in the future. May start to adopt the Fusion Reactor, if it were to work in the far future.
With the world proceeding in this way, in the worst-case scenario, the world may be faced with a critical decision, if all fossil fuels are exhausted within 50 years and, in this period of time, international peacemaking doesn't make any progress, average temperature rises by several degrees C, the sea level rises by a few meters or more, and the desertification advances.
In the best-case scenario, the world may not be faced with any difficult problems related to these cases, if fossil fuels serve our energy needs for 150 years or longer and, in this period of time, international peacemaking makes significant progress, any noticeable global warming does not happen, and the Fusion Reactor works and becomes practical. It's wonderful, isn't it? However, most of statesmen and scientists in the world probably believe that the worst-case scenario is more realistic than the best-case scenario.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Got up at eight-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and pieces of California Pizza Kitchen's pizza for dinner.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Got up at eleven o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch. Went out shopping at grocery stores this afternoon. Ate a meal for dinner.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Got up at ten-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a piece of rice balls for lunch. Applied two clear coats to the front door of my house this afternoon. Ate a dish of Italian pasta for dinner.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Got up at eight-fifteen in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Got up at nine o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a dish of Italian pasta for dinner. A backup copy of computer files to an external hard drive was made this afternoon.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Got up at seven forty-five in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal and a simple Japanese meal for lunch, and a bowl of Japanese noodle soup for dinner.
"This is an interesting topic found in the BBC online news today". The following are my comments on it:
For some unknown reason, last year's seasonal influenza spread milder than in the average year. That's good. However, it's uncertain whether a considerable number of seasonal flu cases were reported as the swine flu cases last year or not.
When media hype started to make a very big deal about the possible pandemic of the swine flu in May of last year, it was my wife's and my judgment that the way the media reported on this matter wasn't normal. It seems that that was a distracting clap followed by a Robin Hood activity in a gray area. Hopefully, there was no such link with drug companies as recently reported in the news media.
Therefore, we haven't had any flu shots since then.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Got up at eight o'clock in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
Mr. J. D. Salinger passed away at the age of ninety-one. According to a news source, he left fifteen unpublished completed manuscripts at least. His works written for the last forty-five years after his going seclusion drew my interest. Had he approved the posthumous publications of these unpublished novels by will?
"This is an interesting topic found in the BBC online news today". The following are my comments on it:
European communism lost most of its followers after the Soviet Union's communist government was disintegrated in 1991. The East German communist government was overthrown in 1989 and Germany was reunited in 1990. Yugoslavia collapsed due to internal ethnic conflicts after Tito's death in the 1980s and the republics in it declared their independence in 1991-92.
Different from Western communists, communism has remained alive in North Korea for some reason or other. It developed its own nuclear bombs and conducted nuclear tests twice, assisted by the former communist bloc diplomatically, for the last two decades. On the other side, during the same period of time, South Korea has successfully modernized its businesses and industries, assisted by Europe and America and following in the footsteps of Japan. If their acts for the last two decades were carried out, assisted by an A-bomb worshiper society behind the scenes, on the basis of a scenario that was planned sometime in the 1990s, North Korea and South Korea should be reunited soon, as scheduled. If so, what they are doing recently is a mere show.
Probably, this is just a conjecture. North Korea may still want to absorb South Korea as a communist nation.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Today is my 44th birthday. Got up at eight-thirty in the morning. Went out for lunch. Bought some pieces of cake on the way home. Also bought some items of food at grocery stores this afternoon. Ate a piece of cake at three o'clock and a Japanese-style meal for dinner.
"This is an interesting topic found in the BBC online news today". The following are my comments on it:
There are several difficult technical hurdles to overcome in the development of fusion reactors. The first is the ignition of the fusion reaction, the second is the confinement of the plasma, and the third is the generation of electricity that has to be higher than the consumption of electricity for its ignition.
--- The BBC reported that its ignition is on the horizon. "It's going to happen this year." ---
In the case of a laser fusion reactor a.k.a. an inertia confinement fusion reactor, the second hurdle doesn't exist because the confinement of the plasma with inertia is accompanied by its ignition and is limited in a very short period of time. Fusion reaction is designed to burn out instantly before the plasma sphere disperses in all directions due to an increase in thermal motion. However, this fact makes the third hurdle higher. In a laser fusion reactor, a fusion reaction emits fast neutrons in an instant, and about 80% of the high energy produced is carried away from the plasma. It's very difficult to obtain higher electrical energy from such flash radiation of the fast neutrons from the plasma than electrical energy consumed for ignition of fusion reaction. Probably, the third hurdle is more difficult than the first hurdle for a laser fusion reactor.
Then, a researcher of NIF invented the hybrid fusion and fission reactor, which may enable to clear the tough third hurdle. However, it seems that a hybrid fusion and fission reactor won't be a substitution for any other power station because of its high construction cost. There is another model of electricity generation utilizing a hybrid reactor. A hybrid reactor can be used as a fuel production plant because of the capability to convert uranium-238 into plutonium-239 effectively by neutron irradiation, and the plutonium-239-rich fuel that is produced in it may be distributed and burned in thermal reactors throughout the world. Therefore, the hybrid option for a fusion reactor probably leads to some political difficulties because it may raise the level of the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Obviously, it should add a risk of a leak of radioactive substances.
On the other hand, in a tokamak reactor, which is one of the typical magnetic confinement reactors, the confinement of the plasma may be attained with a strong magnetic field generated by the superconducting magnets. The second hurdle of a tokamak reactor is difficult and may be unreliable for the production of electric power. However, the third hurdle of a tokamak reactor is lower than that of a laser reactor, because fusion reaction can be maintained in a tokamak reactor for a longer period of time, and a tokamak reactor may be refueled without repeating ignitions rather easily than a laser reactor.
These two types of fusion reactors have both merits and demerits. In terms of various aspects, a fusion reactor is far more difficult than a fission reactor.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Got up at ten-fifteen in the morning. Ate a rice ball and a bowl of cereal for lunch, and a piece of cake at three o'clock. Repaired the interior walls of my house this afternoon. Ate a Japanese-style meal for dinner. Stayed at home for the entire day.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Got up at ten-thirty in the morning. Ate a bowl of cereal for lunch. Had my pickup truck inspected for an annual state inspection at an oil and lube shop this afternoon. Completed the repair of the interior walls of my house this afternoon. Ate pieces of Central Market's pizza for dinner.
