Nepal experienced a catastrophe right out of a science fiction movie script, yet the terror and its consequences became all too real. Then, as the search for survivors and the perilous dig-out had barely taken form, the USA's own Grand Canyon was invaded by a deadly flood from which almost nothing in its path could escape -- and didn't.
Most of the humans on our planet glide through life unaffected by extreme weather events, easily making us complacent about the deceptively solid ground upon which we stand. Wrapped warmly in our fantasy blankets promising personal safety, there's no reason to tremble in fear over what disaster could materialize in mere seconds, a cataclysm of proportions guaranteed to end us forever.
Tick...tick...tick...as away we slip, bit by bit, not simply as individuals, but as a vast collection of hominids whose birth, existence and disappearance mean nothing to the rocks shooting past our planetary neighborhood during endless hours of infinity.
New York, Times Square: A short plump woman, seemingly hatched at an insane chicken farm, stabs a young female bank executive to death, then begins carving up a nearby man until confronted by police officers forced to shoot her ass dead. Pundits come out of the shadows to accuse and admonish law enforcement officers for not treating the murderess more gently, despite her expressed desire to kill the cops as she lunged toward them with one knife as she held another in reserve.
We, the people, are slowly checking out, in my opinion. Will the final nail in the coffin be insanity, ingenuity or the shrugging of a few billion shoulders around the world? Will we colonize Mars after first claiming significant moon real estate -- and just who would be the "we?" Did we originate on Mars as specks, jettisoned to Earth by natural forces? How many people are too many people? Would legislation help? If we could save just one. . .
Data centers must come. Strengthen your resolve to hate them, and then understand that these are a must-have. Why? China. There's a battle going on, and if China wins the data center war first they will be in charge of everything of importance. If somebody wants to build one in your town, make sure that somebody pays your taxes, your electric bills and every other ongoing expense for many years to come. Make it clear that data centers recycle water for cooling, and insist upon putting noise abatement in force, as these centers can hum loudly and become annoying to hear 24/7, probably affecting human and animal health in ways yet undiscovered.
As if AI isn't concerning enough, add to it the race to beat China in the war on mass information by way of these overheated, noisy, polluting data centers. Everything about them speaks trouble, yet build and control them we apparently must. Should there be another way, a cheaper way to overcome China in this maddening sprint to destinations yet unknown, bring it forward.
Or maybe if science solved the UFO (UAP) puzzle, a more convenient and palatable solution would emerge. But enough conjecture. What I really want is. . .
An I.C.E. robot dog. Paired along with those innovative electric I.C.E. gloves that shock alien criminals into reasonable compliance, there would be no stopping us. Equip the robot dog with a mouth full of razor-sharp choppers capable of biting everything in its path (except me) and adjust my gloves to semi-electrocution level voltage and I'm ready to fight alien border invaders, crime, dirty politicians and people who try to sell us things over the phone (AI will need to track these folks down, wherever they hide).
Yes, data centers will engulf rural areas of immense beauty and the bodies of water adjoining them, This is horrible, one more series of ongoing environmental tragedies -- and we're apparently to be held hostage despite promises of good jobs -- in the short term -- in construction.
Semi-conductor chips, AI, data centers: A technological wonder-blend. . . or an inconceivable triple threat in the long run?
