Category Archives: Science and Technology

Poems about the world of science and technology

Iconic

Iconic

You must have noticed how the word ‘icon’ is now much overplayed
In ordinary conversation we seem to hear it almost every day
Historically the word was used to describe a religious work of art
Nowadays applied to distinguish some object thus setting it apart

In the digital age icons are used to represent a useful ‘application’
Click on the app’s icon and its faculties leap into action
So in this case the icon is a symbol representing a function
The graphic and the routine working in conjunction

Now we seem to have decided that anything exceptional is ‘iconic’
From a well recognized brand name to a modern health tonic
Thus everyday symbols like those for Apple, Coke or Dyson
Stimulate in our minds a sort of anticipatory frisson

All this is good for the salesmen and marketing gurus
But I wonder if the term ‘iconic’ they have patently abused
Indeed we seem to hear that label used so often in these days
It has long ago begun to sound like an inconsequential phrase

So perhaps we should resolve to give the word ‘iconic’ a well earned rest
As a description of anything that we extol as being the very best
And find some other words to refer to artifacts exceptional
And avoid hinting at ideas that are really undeliverable

Ken Fisher

Near Miss!

Near Miss!

 

On most things in life we don’t want to miss out
But here is one goody we can well do without
For yesterday the earth dodged an asteroid
An alien object we were all glad to avoid

Apparently this detritus was as big as Gibraltar
And on its path towards us it never did falter
But fortunately the closest it actually came to our home
Was about one million miles, four times a trip to the moon

Asteroids are a regular threat to our peace of mind
Space scientists keep warning us from time to time
An asteroid may unleash energy like 1,000 atom bombs
Enough, no doubt, to turn mother earth into a tomb

So let’s hope we might manage to remain asteroid free
Or else to another planet we may all have to flee
But even if we can find refuge elsewhere in space
Some other flying object might to that haven chase!

Ken Fisher

 

 

 

Threats from On High

Threats From On High

Apparently space has become a junk-yard
There is so much up aloft it has become a hazard
Detritus is now measured by some thousands of tons
Far greater than picked up by Steptoe and Son

Apart from threats from comets and asteroids
Space is no longer just an empty void
Old satellites, spent rockets, and defunct devices
Are floating out there in a variety of sizes

The planets of our ancient solar system
Over eons of time have been a victim
Of impacts small and others much greater
Resulting in some quite enormous craters

It is claimed that the dinosaur population
An asteroid impact led to annihilation
So you can see that objects falling from space
Might well do the same for our human race

And the reality is that the risk is increasing
With all the debris that we are releasing
And although these devices are put to good use
We must find a way to stop all this abuse

So technologists are conducting endless research
A method of disposal is part of their search
That after useful life junk might self-destruct
Or enter safe orbits thus humans won’t hurt!

However perhaps we should now all take heart
It’s been reported that a used rocket’s come back to earth
And in future we hope to recycle this kind of device
Which to the environmentalists must bring delight

Ken Fisher

Old Fashioned Radio

Old Fashioned Radio

I find the world of radio a great fascination
How transmissions are made by wave propagation
And the history or this amazing technology
Spreading the world’s treasures audibly

Elsewhere I wrote of radio’s evolution
And how it brought about a virtual revolution
From Crystal sets with their in-built cat’s whiskers
To VHF and  DAB via thermionic Valves and  Transistors

But an aspect of old radios that makes me smile
Is the detail printed on the wireless dial
The wavelengths are usually Medium or Long
Rarely they show Shortwave – not very strong

To select the wavelength there’s a switch to flick
So that leads to the programmes you may want to pick
The major provision seems to be the Home Service
Which serves those whose listening intentions are serious

The Home Service also has some local opt-outs
Scotland, Midland, Northern, and Wales to try out
The Third programme is for the intellectual mind
The Light programme for the rest of us  – unrefined!

The radio dials show that signals came from far and wide
Budapest, Munich, Paris, all on the Channel’s other side
Moscow, Brussels, Oslo, and somewhere called Hilversum
Apparently a town in the Netherlands not far from Amsterdam

Other stations that spread transmissions in the ‘ether’
Dublin, Hamburg, Strasbourg, and Lille feature
Back in middle England the Droitwich name
A major Long Wave transmitter of great fame

And let’s not forget that early rebel commercial pioneer
Radio Luxembourg on 208 filled the legals with such fear
It spawned the growth of pirate offshore DJ shows
And taught modern presenters all they know!

Religion was not neglected with broadcasts from the Vatican
And no doubt the other churches featured in the plan
To use the radio to ‘inform, entertain, and educate’
Which broadcasters even today claim they emulate

So there we have it, a nostalgic backward glance
Even in those early years quite an expanse
Of those with a message to spread by the radio emitter
Today surpassed by Facebook, Skype, WhatsApp and Twitter!

Ken Fisher

 

see also: Radio, the Listener’s Window on the World

Photo Opportunity

Photo Opportunity

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Do you ever get more than a little annoyed
At those snappers whose aggression seems unalloyed
As they compete with each other to get the best shot
The paparazzi – I’m sure you’ve heard of that lot

But it’s not just the professionals who can get in your face
The use of cameras is now so commonplace
That the whole imaging thing is almost unhealthy
Especially as we all seem obsessed with the selfie

This latter day trend arrived as photos went digital
And we could easily capture anything visible
So just as we found this new use for our phone
Our urge to take pictures has suddenly grown

So perhaps it is time to be more discreet
Let the camera lens take a back-seat
And simply greet people with a word and a smile
And let our eyes meet each other just for a while

Ken Fisher

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Apprenticeship

Apprenticeship

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Today is Budget Day and it is interesting to note
a new emphasis on Apprenticeships.  An old idea
being given new clothes 

The image in this picture represents great distortion
Of what apprenticeship today is really all about
Their TV show antics seem out of all proportion
The normal rules of business they prefer to flout

Of course there is little doubt it brings us entertainment
But do the images they create show us much of business?
Surely apprenticeship involving good work placement
Should let us experience a working life in all its richness

In latter years many young people have shunned apprenticeship
So off they went in droves, hoping to become a graduate
Believing that the University would them for life equip
But in the end wealth and success proved not their future fate

So recently there has been greater realization
That practical training rather than lofty theory
Might better serve the young denizens of our nation
Than book learning of which they become weary

Getting your hands dirty in workshop or in laboratory
Might then prove for many a much wiser bet
Adding steadily to a growing skills inventory
And incidentally avoiding piles of student debt

In the old days apprentices into journey-men became
And now-a-days these trainees can show similar success
The system of advancement is now much less arcane
As in the modern day labour market they smoothly can progress

So to Lord Sugar we must offer due deference
He and his team of two have kept us all amused
But the real life apprenticeship is our own preference
And between the two we are surely not confused

Ken Fisher

 

Doctor’s Appointment

Doctor’s Appointment

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Why does waiting fill me with such apprehension
Alert for that buzzer, body tight with tension
Trying to appear cool, calm and collected
Pretending I am really quite unaffected

I thumb through the magazines in the waiting room
Christmas adverts although it’s well into June
Santa’s jovial face beams out amidst snow
My anxieties he clearly does not know

Names are called on the buzzer’s pulse
Each time it seems to make my heart convulse
Only two more ahead of me in the queue
Surely soon they are bound to call me through

Bored by those journals out-of-date
I spy notices which describe my fate
If I don’t seek early treatment for my ills
Remedies much more radical than pills

Doctor now ready, just go on through
I chap the door, to face the interview
But I really should not have been so scared
As with my GP pleasantries are shared

What’s the problem she gently enquires?
A question of which she never tires
I say that I am just in for my regular check
Hoping I haven’t turned into a wreck

She takes my blood pressure with that fancy scope
That its not gone sky-high is my earnest hope
Then bodily fluids are drawn off in samples
Sent off to the labs in clear shiny ampules

I stand on the scales to check on my weight
I claim that my shoes will the figure inflate
Then she asks about my exercise and diet
Of my answers she expresses some disquiet

Well fortunately now the session is over
I am hoping the tests will no nasties uncover
‘Keep taking that tablets’ she loudly declares
In a tone that’s intended to show that she cares

Ken Fisher

 

Cold Calling

Cold Calling

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The phone rings and we react in a Pavlovian way
Only to find that we have once again become prey
To those anonymous callers who want us to respond
To their sales messages electronically spawned

We know right away when we pick up the phone
That the caller is thousands of miles from our home
Their grasp of our language seems rudimentary
Their spiel they repeat as if straight from memory

The background noise sounds like a bazaar
How many such sales progress very far?
But these callers give it their very best shot
Each shift for them must be really fraught

Then there are calls which purport to be local
Sometimes these speakers can be very vocal
‘We are in your area and thought we would ring
To offer our product – the very best thing’

When you reply that you’ve been double-glazed
This seems to leave them completely unfazed
What is the state of your cavity walls
Or careworn rooms and unpainted halls?

So although their messages are often unwelcome
And surely they close a sale only seldom
Nonetheless they’re determined to  persevere
For rewards that bring so little cheer

Perhaps we should give these agents a thought
For in the end it’s simply a job
And although we would rather they left us alone
Do them a favour, at least pick up the phone!

Ken Fisher

 

See also: Thank You for Waiting – Your Call is Important to Us

 

USB

USB

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Where would we be without this gizmo so cute?
Vital for all with a need to compute
So many devices it helps to connect
The flow of our data by its use we direct

Over the years these gadgets evolved
Internal architectural problems resolved
Using both parallel and serial connections
The messages moved in every direction

The transfer of data between computer components
Is the task of the ‘bus’ from moment to moment
Thus hardware and software it seeks to unite
And moves all the data at the speed of light

Apart from aiding so much data traffic
USB’s have features that seem almost magic
As storage devices they can hold a huge stash
In the memory systems which they now call ‘flash’

So endless word documents and complex spreadsheets
Dictionaries and maps showing all the known streets
And our photos and music they can thus secrete
All safely stored and labeled so neat

If you wish to display your work on PowerPoint
Your presentation you can proudly anoint
With considerable glamour all packed in a stick
The audience dazzled by your display so slick

So let’s give a cheer for this great innovation
Portable media released to the nation
Within the tiny shell of the USB case
So much raw power that we can embrace

Ken Fisher

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Maps

Maps

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Maps, our bird’s eye view of the world
Miraculously we soar on high drone-like
O’er the expansive land and sea
Towns and countryside in microcosm

Maps compiled for different purposes
Physical maps to show the hills and valleys
Rivers and lakes, forests and fields
Contour lines trace shape and elevation

Maps political claiming who owns what
The boundaries of the nations
The states therein and cities all identified
Motorways, roads, canals and railways

Maps economic show the sites
Of natural resources, farmland and mines
Factories, mills and fisheries
So much of manufacturing now museum pieces

Maps that let us dive below the surface
Sensing the contours of the ocean floor
Vast trenches and ridges there detected
The conflict of tectonic plates

Maps that are more like diagrams
Zoomed in we confront the details
The London Tube, the airlines’
Skyways to sunshine on exotic shores

Maps of larger scale to take us under streets
Channels and tunnels for our utilities
Power and gas, water and sewerage
And fibre optics for the internet and phones

Maps are not just tied to location
They are also a snapshot in time. There and then
Thus maps can unite geography with history
Depicting the past in time and place

So give thanks for Maps and the work of all cartographers
From the pioneers of the Ordnance Survey
To those who deploy todays drones and satellites
From canvas sheets to GPS the world laid bare

Ken Fisher

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Atlas

Power Cut

Power Cut

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Today, for a brief interval, we experienced an unusual event
There was a power cut – or outage as they call it in the US
I say unusual because it seems to happen very rarely
And I thought it must simply have been a bulb
That had burned out and blown our fuses
But no, the fuses all seemed undisturbed

And so it dawned on us that our vital energy supply
Had suddenly been removed. The spark extinguished
And all at once a number of unfamiliar beeps pulsated
From devices unused to service interruption
Little red lights flashed, and LCD displays closed their eyes
Even the Smart Meter discovered it was not quite smart enough

And then one starts to wonder if other aspects of our virtual life
Have been threatened by the removal of the magic flow of electrons
What if our planned recordings on the Tivo box are sabotaged?
What about those anxiously awaited emails. The calendar
perhaps set into disarray. The reminder messages forgotten?
More important – what about tonight’s cryogenic chicken in the freezer!

Of course all of this is simply emblematic of our dependency
Without the power we have rendered ourselves powerless
No communications, no heat and light, no monitoring or control
Much of our supply of news and entertainment gone AWAL
And unless you have your home generator, how will you manage
From your nonexistent stash of batteries and candles?

Still, in days of yore humankind survived somehow
Perhaps we have all become too reliant
We cannot believe that the rupture of these vital lines
The exhaustion of non-renewable resources
Or just a simple technical glitch can thus render us hopeless
Thank goodness the power returned in ten minutes
Perhaps it was all just a brief nightmare!

Ken Fisher

Dietary Control

Dietary Control

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Recently I had to review my diet
Eat anything but just don’t fry it!
Thus the experts would advise
Caw canny on the old French fries

Perhaps I just exaggerate
Should watch what we put on our plate
No processed food laden with fat
We should remember old Jack Sprat

In an Italian diet we can rejoice
They know what is the healthy choice
Pasta seems to do much good
A dietician’s favoured food

Of great salad meals we can be proud
Veg and fruit we must espouse
Submerge yourself in oily fish
Definitely the favoured dish

Say good-bye to oven chips
Chunky steaks must now eclipse
Subsumed by beans and other pulses
Learn to control our salty urges

Apparently we need some starchy foods
Bread and rice can do much good
Potatoes baked with their skins on
Might help promote both brain and brawn

For breakfast don’t ignore your porridge
And of cereals ensure no shortage
Dairy products, milk, cheese and yoghurt
If low-fat will never hurt

Perhaps this is too scientific
Deluged with facts, far too prolific
Energy, protein, and saturates
How do I get them to my plate?

However expert advice is for the best
And while we must not be obsessed
Following their balanced plan –
More salad bowl, less frying pan!

Ken Fisher