A speculative mind

                                                                                                                          Picture by Joyce When I was fifteen or so, my dad got a new job in a different city. Partway through the school-year I had to say goodbye to my friends and start over at a new school. I was dreading this pull away from the people and places I knew. I shouldn’t complain. Some kids go through this a lot. But it is especially hard when it is in the middle of the school-year. It is like starting your life over again. I went to my new classes and I immediately started getting the new-kid stares. That is not a good thin...

  One of the things that scientists concern themselves with is symmetry. Symmetry is found in nature, in biology, in chemistry, in physics, and in art. Symmetrical things seem pleasing to the human mind. They strike a chord with us. Scientists (ever the categorizers) are not just content with noting that something is symmetrical, but how is it symmetrical. What type of symmetry does it have? They also include more esoteric concepts of symmetry that have nothing to do with physical shape. We say that human bodies are symmetrical. And if we are symmetrical, that must make it a good thing right?   If something is symmetrical, you can slice it in two right down the middle and each half will be the mirror image of the other. The specific type of symmetry that humans have is called bilateral symmetry. This means you can only slice us in two along one specific plane to get that mirror image. Slice us any other place, divide us any other way, and it will not work. So, humans are b...

  A couple of years ago I remember seeing the book Mickey 7 (by Edward Ashton) on bookshelves in the library, in bookstores, and other places. It seemed to be popular. I remember seeing it, but it didn’t generate any interest in me. Maybe I associated it with baseball. Mickey Mantle was the most prominent baseball player when I was growing up. I never really liked baseball. Or, maybe I associated it with the Toni Basil song “Mickey.” I never really liked that song. Maybe it was the cover? Whatever the reason, I never picked it up or even sought to see what it was about. Then I heard someone talking about it, and thought I would give it a try. Okay, I liked it. The Mickey of the title is in a group of colonists trying to scratch out a living on a cold barren planet. Mickey has an unusual job. He has the job the no one should want. He is an “expendable.” His body and brain patterns have been fully recorded, and should he die (he definitely will die, and that is not a spoiler) a ne...