Things that will never happen

(Editors Note: this article will be moved to www.kewl-science.com in 30 days)

And now for something completely different … my predictions for things that will never  happen.

Flying Cars – If your like me, you’ve been waiting and waiting for your very own flying car. We’ve been promised this since ‘the jetsons’ first aired on television. We’ve seen all sorts of prototypes. Going way back into the 1960′s. So where are they? Where’s my flying car? Well I’ve got news for you, it’s not going to happen. I do agree, that a ‘car like’ mode of transportation is possible, (as opposed to the helicopter which you can already buy – but haven’t) and a few people may someday own one (Donald Trump, perhaps). But you and I won’t ever get one. And it’s not because of cost or even technology. Consider that the U.S. Department of Transportation Statistical Records Office indicates that there is approximately 62 million registered vehicles in the United States. If you count un-registered vehicles and those which may not be running, that number jumps to 143 million vehicles.Every year, over 42,000 people die in car crashes. It is estimated that at any given time, 3% of the drivers on the road are intoxicated. In addition, it is estimated that 12% of the vehicles on the road are considered ‘hazzardous’ and fail to meet the legal requirements for safe operation on our highway’s. Yet, there they are. Driving right along side you every day on your commute into work. How many accidents did you pass today on your way to work? How about yesterday? That car or truck that you saw broke down on the side of the road – that would be a fireball of death if it had been flying.

Now imagine those same people, same vehicles, buzzing over your head; your house; your office. Imagine the destruction that a drunk flyer would cause as he crashed into a high rise condo. Or how about the damage that a teenage joyrider would cause when he ran dad’s vehicle into the local water tower. (You KNOW it would happen) How about the moron that runs out of gas – then crashes INTO a gas station. These are the reasons that flying cars will never happen. It’s not that technology couldn’t do it – it’s that society wouldn’t LET it happen. You can’t stop people from being stupid and sometimes the stakes are just too high.

Stop Terrorism – The simple fact is that terrorism is part of life. As long as there are freaky people who want to tell other people how to live their lives, or people who want to take something from someone else, there will be terrorism – in one form or another. And I don’t see a shortage of freaks any time soon. Dealing with terrorists is like taking out the trash. It don’t matter how much trash you took out yesterday, tomorrow there will be more trash to take out.

World Peace – With all due respect to Miss America – It ain’t gonna happen. There’s about 10 million reasons why this one won’t happen, (including item #2 above) so it really is not even worth discussing. It’s just absolutely absurd. If you are one of the hopeful saps that thinks this is possible – you seriously need to seek psychiatric help. Grow up and accept the misery like the rest of us.

Contact Intelligent Life outside our solar System – Never mind the fact that the jury is still out on whether or not there is intelligent life on earth, I really have a hard time believing that we will find it elsewhere, let alone contact them. I do believe that intelligent life it is out there. The odds are really good for that. I just think that we won’t ever find it. The universe is so ridiculously large – and we are so minutely small that I think the odds are simply too great to overcome. We must also consider that ‘timing’ is critical. The earth is 5 billion years old and our ability (technologically) to even detect E.T. is only 60 years old. An alien life form could have called us just 62 years ago and we would not have even heard the phone ring. For all we know, that light the 3 wise men followed, could have been E.T. saying hello.  Too bad we didn’t have an answering machine to pick up and say, “I’m sorry, we can’t come to the phone right now, our savior is being born and we too ignorant to know that you have called. Please call back in about 2000 years.”

 
Survive our own technology – My final prediction is that we probably won’t survive our own technology. I know, what a downer. But the simple fact is that we have invented far more ways to destroy ourselves then we have invented to save ourselves. Whether by a man made plague; nuclear war; trying to manipulate our environment; genetic un-gineering; becoming dependant on our technology, or having our own robots take over the earth – I believe that mankind’s technology has far outpaced his wisdom. As a species, mankind harbors too much evil. In fact, we are the only species that that acts with evil & malice. We are the only species that kills for pleasure. While other animals may defend territory or resources, only mankind ‘conspires’ to assure that others are forbidden to acquire their own resources. Do think that Dinosours would have lived for 100 million years if they had our attitude? Neither do I.