March 24th, 2009 by Kevin A. Barnes
In the late ‘70s while I was in high school, it wasn’t that unusual to see “Clapton is God” scrawled on a wall. Less frequently seen was the message “Dylan is God.” As my musical horizons expanded after high school, my respect for Bob Dylan grew and I began to think of him as a sort of Ur-Creative, pulling songs out of the collective unconsciousness. So from that perspective, the Battlestar Galactica producers’ choice to use Dylan’s song “All Along the Watchtower” as a critical plot element seems perfect. Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: Innovation/Creativity, Music, Science Fiction | Tags: All Along the Watchtower, Battlestar Galactica, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Joseph Campbell, Ron Moore
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January 24th, 2009 by Kevin A. Barnes
It was 25 years ago today (January 24, 1984) that Apple unveiled the first Macintosh personal computer.
On that day a quarter century ago, Steve Jobs stood in front of a crowd of early Apple faithful and literally let the Mac out of the bag. Macintosh Model M0001 may look nostalgic by today’s standards, but in 1984 it was the most polished, most powerful, most user-friendly, best looking and among the lightest computers on the planet. (Hmmm. Sounds like the 2009 Macs ...)
As my friends and family know, I’ve been a strong Apple supporter since even before the Mac was introduced, so Mac’s 25th is an ideal excuse to wax poetic about my many Apple memories. Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: Business, Innovation/Creativity, Technology | Tags: apple, mac, newton, steve jobs
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April 14th, 2008 by Kevin A. Barnes
Science magazine has just published a peer-reviewed article examining the radioprotective (or anti-radiation) abilities of an emerging class of drugs. [1] This follows the recent announcements that two pharmaceutical/biotech companies have received government funding to further develop their respective anti-radiation drugs. According to the announcements for the research awards, the US Department of Defense is seeking anti-radiation drugs that can be used to treat soldiers who are exposed to radiation. My initial thought with respect to this news, however, is that such anti-radiation drugs also may help solve one of the largest challenges associated with interplanetary travel — in fact, the development of anti-radiation drugs could be as important to human spaceflight as the development of the spacesuit. Read the rest of this entry »
Categories: Innovation/Creativity, Science, Space Exploration, The Future | Tags: anti-radiation, biotech, Mars, moon, NASA, radiation, Science magazine, space
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