2008-04-14 - 2:28 p.m.
"So, basically, your job is to measure things that can't be measured?"
(Actually, that's exactly what his job is. He's supposed to be predicting changes that occur so quickly that no instrument to measure them actually exists.)
I'm laughing my ass off at this lugubrious scientist, but he's being a good sport about it, and I'm actually pretty happy to know that scientists still haven't given up on fusion*.
We've drawn the attention of the other scientists now, and from now on this evening will devolve into a kind of scientific comedy routine, and also what I will consider to be my most successful night in Tokyo.
The scientists are here for their friend's shotgun wedding. Here, I would like it to be clear that I'm not crashing a bachelor party. The wedding has already taken place and the groom is not in attendance tonight.
Another scientist is working on making flourescent lights better. And not only in terms of efficiency. This scientist already knows that he needs to get rid of the blue colors in exchange for more flattering orangish ones. Appearently, this will be done with some sort of manipulation of some sort of salts.
The scientists make me feel inadaquate, but in a good way. I am travelling alone, and I have decided to and succeeded in chatting up strangers whenever the opportunity seems ripe. In this way I have, thus far, met a lot of people who are trying to present themselves as cooler than they really are, and I've also become kind of disgusted with myself for doing the same. These scientists, however, are cooler than they know, and I'm grateful to them for that.
Here's hoping that science really is the future.
************
* I confuse the two, so let's clarify. Fission is the one where you join two things together and get a whole lot of energy and really bad leftovers. Lots of places use nuclear fission to make electricity. Fusion is the one where you join two things together and get a whole lot of energy and only kind of bad leftovers. Fusion is possible, but not feasible**.
** For a new power source to be feasible it not only has to work, but it also has to be cheaper than other availible means of generating electricity. It's because of this that fusion is still a funny joke of a science. But then, all respectable sciences started as funny jokes.
