Analysis

The infinite size of an infinitely sliced fish

Port Nolloth’s heyday as a hub for the transhipment of diamonds and copper is long over.  Nowadays the small town near Springbok supports a little bit of tourism, and a small fishing community.

A fisherman who wishes to sell his catch for higher prices faces an eight-hour drive down to Cape Town.  Perhaps he pulls out his mobile phone and calls ahead to find out the latest price.  As refrigerated trucks converge on the Mother City, news of the imminent arrival of piscine abundance reaches the various seafood markets.  With so much soon to be available, the price for fish drops.

Countdown to Lift - The Race to Build a Space Elevator

LiftPort has a clock counting down to 27 October 2031 on their website.  The US-based company believes that, on this date, they will achieve the construction of a space elevator.

The concept was first considered in 1895 when Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky proposed using the Eiffel Tower in Paris as the base of a tower that would reach from the ground up to an altitude of 35,790 kilometres above sea level.  This is the altitude necessary to achieve geostationary orbit in which a satellite remains fixed over a point on the earth below.

Getting democracy right one restaurant at a time

You’re going to find this outrageous.

Last week, the wife and I went out for dinner to a new restaurant in our neighbourhood. The food was awful and the service insulting. Afterwards a few of the patrons gathered outside. One man was particularly engaging and inspired us to take action. We formed an angry mob, set fire to cars in the parking lot and threw stones and burning wood through the windows of the restaurant.

A few days later we went back to the restaurant and – this is the bit you’re going to find outrageous – their service had NOT improved!

Predicting the future isn't what it used to be

There are certain things we know.  There are certain things we don’t know.

We know how many people there are.  We know the likely fertility rate of those people.  We have an idea of mortality, both infant and maternal. For a reasonably long period we do know how many people exist in different populations, different countries and different regions.