Category Archives: Science and Technology

Poems about the world of science and technology

Is There No End To It?

Is there no end to it? [The Universe]

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Musings on the enormity of the Cosmos

 

It all began with the “singularity”
The origins of all, packed into one
A point in” space-time” when gravity
caused matter to have infinite density
but at that same time, to have zero volume
This the initial state of the Universe at the
very beginning of the Big Bang!

From that moment onwards
All that was, and all that was to be
kept on expanding, outwards and onwards
That explosive initiation was a long time ago
Indeed the current view is that
It was 13.77 billion years ago
Measured by checking the temperature!

And with the help of the ‘hiss’ from
the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation
Scientists have worked out the cooling time
of the Universe since the Big Bang.
Thus we can measure the expansion rate of the universe
And by a deft process of extrapolating backwards
Lo and behold – we have its age!

Then we have our Solar System
The planets orbiting round our star the Sun
You know them all I’m sure
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars,
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
[forget little Pluto now!]
And Neptune is 2,795,084,000 miles from the Sun!

Now we have to wrestle with this cosmological behemoth
How do you get to grips with its vastness?
Well if we shrink the distance from the
Earth to the Sun to equal one inch
(It is actually 93,000,000 miles!)
Then the nearest Star would be 4.3 miles away!
And there are about 200 billion stars in the Milky Way

Stretching beyond the spiral arms of our Milky Way
Thanks to the legacy of Edwin Hubble
We can detect infinite galaxies each populated
By a never ending number of stars each progressing through
Their life cycle from Stellar Nebula through Red Giant
to Planetary Nebula to White Dwarf and perhaps even Black Hole

How many Galaxies in the Universe we ask?
The Hubble Space Telescope seeks out the
very edge of the Observable Universe – light that has
had a chance to reach us within 13.77 billion years
And by extrapolating from a sample we come up
With the almost magic number of – wait for it –
225 billion Galaxies in the cosmos

So what is the whole thing made of?
The CMBR helps us to quantify the content of the universe
And the result is rather mind-boggling
atoms, all the things we perceive, accounts for only 5%
24% is Cold Dark Matter – sub atomic particles
And most of the universe (71%) is labelled as
Dark Energy – with its gravitationally repulsive effect

And thanks to this Dark Energy the universe still
hangs together despite continuous inflation
The Universe is homogeneous and isotropic
It is the same and looks the same in every direction
This is sometimes called the Cosmological Principle
Which means that viewed on a large enough scale
“The Universe looks the same whoever and wherever you are.”

Ken Fisher – with information from a wide variety of sources.

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Map of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation

Personality

Personality

Unknown

Introvert or Extrovert, Intuitive or Sensor
What type are we, as seen by those experts who us measure?
Thinker or Feeler, Judger or Perceiver
I hope the test ne’er proves to be a false deceiver

Personality typing is a tool with many uses
And cynically, I suppose, even some abuses
I am told it is a method of true self-discovery
Sometimes even helps us in self-recovery

Historically the main researchers in this field
To whose opinions we might humbly wish to yield
Were Jung then Briggs and the Myers tribe
And subsequently others who to their views subscribe

Myers-Briggs have defined sixteen different profiles
Each of these describes just one distinctive style
Each profile has a group of letters to avoid confusion
The group defines the type thus by allusion

So here we find the ISTJ known as “The Inspector”
The ISFJ – apparently “Protector”
Then there’s the ESTJ who’s a “Supervisor”
While ESFJ’s a kind and good “Provider”

The INFJ is known as a “Counsellor”
Better still, the INFP can often be a “Healer”
The ISTP is a handy “Artisan”
INTP “the Architect” another useful man

Many wish to be an ENFJ that is a “Teacher”
An ISFP “Composer” or ESFP a “Performer”
Then there is the ESTP known as a “Dynamo”
But can the ENTJ “Commander” him readily o’er throw?

We still need ISFP who’s a “Composer” of fine work
And ENFP the “Champion” – never known to shirk
Finally ENTP the “Visionary” in front and never left behind
But best of all there’s INTJ known to all as “Mastermind”

The jumbled letters range from narrow INTROVERSION
And at the other end, expansive EXTROVERSION
The letters also point to the humans’ wide dichotomies
Similarly wide-ranging in size and shape like their anatomy

So S stands for “Sensing” against N for ‘iNtuition”
J is “Judging” against P for “Perception”
And finally we set T for “Thinking” over against F for “Feeling”
Such categorization might not seem so appealing

Anyway this is my summary of personality typing theory
I have to say I am now getting somewhat weary
No doubt the experts in the detailed field of HR
Will apply the testing for employment near and far

But I have to wonder if putting us into a labelled box
And judging all we do against the ticking clock
Will really make us willing to put our best foot forward
Perhaps a smile, a kindly word, yield just as much reward.

Ken Fisher

[Acknowledging data from Myers Briggs and Jung Personality Tests websites]
http://www.humanmetrics.com           http://www.myersbriggs.org

My Shiny New iMac

My Shiny New iMac

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I am now the owner of a shiny new Mac
Having got this beauty, I don’t want to turn back
I have released my grip on the Snow Leopard’s mane
To excitedly cavort with El Capitan!

Probably none of the above will make any sense
And if you know nothing of Macs that’s a good defence
And here is more jargon, just to show off
The retina screen is indeed very posh

Inside the casing so slim and so light
The massive store holds one whole terabyte
Its internal chips ensure remarkable speed
No matter how complex the input we feed

So I have to say I am feeling euphoric
Although yet to master its rules esoteric
And also it does give me cause for alarm
As I transfer old data, avoiding all harm

Anyway I forge ahead with this wondrous new toy
If you are a geek you would admire such a ploy
But I do hope this Mac containing such treasures
Will give faithful service and bring me much pleasure
Ken Fisher

Radio – the Listener’s Window on the World

Radio – The Listener’s Window on the World

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For the genius of Guglielmo Marconi we must truly all give thanks
Among all his contemporary scientists he was in the very front rank
On the shoulders of Heinrich Hertz who found waves electromagnetic
Marconi built a method to send out these signals energetic

 

Marconi concocted a plan most cunning that avoided telegraph wires
And thus sent out his ‘wireless’ signals far above all those church spires
As the 19th century reached its close his experiments came to fruition
When with magnets, coils and dancing sparks he made his first transmission

 

From such primitive experiments by these wise men of invention
Flowed a cascade of ideas yielding endless innovation
Hence crystal sets and thermionic valves (which frequently got hot)
Transistors followed next and radio sets did then shrink a lot

 

As the years took their course and broadcasts grew universal
Transmitter networks worldwide ensured signal dispersal
Initially wave lengths were short or long and sometimes just medium
For local sites we had medium and long, for distance, shortwaves gave a premium

 

Sometimes people would complain of FM interference
Then along came VHF giving much more coherence
And in latter days, in a world of instant communication
Quality transformed as satellites beam o’er the nations

 

But the radio scene was much enhanced not just by technology
Its programming stretched wide spanning all ideologies
From off-shore pirate ships to internet radio delights
Broadcast output unceasing by day or by night

 

So today we have radio which is quite all-pervasive
It’s in our cars, on our phones, perhaps too invasive?
Where e’er we roam in this wide world its waves fill the air
We get it live, by DAB, or pod-cast, no matter when or where

 

And radio for each listener is a window on the world
Its masts like nations’ flags are everywhere unfurled
And if the aim is that ‘nation should speak peace unto nation’
Then those early pioneers assured its true foundations

 

So we have come a long way from that first pulse ethereal
Art by invention sent from masts to aerials
A world-wide enterprise to educate, entertain and inform
The broadcast media have all our lives transformed

 

Therefore acknowledge the debt we owe those pioneers of the past
Without whose achievements we could not amass
Such bounteous gifts as come winging by the air
An inheritance rich that is quite beyond compare

 

 

Ken Fisher

 

 

 

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Unpredictable [The Scottish Weather!]

Unpredictable

[A comment on the Scottish Weather!]

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Believe the forecast? Well I wouldn’t go that far
The Scottish weather we’re convinced our pleasure’s bound to mar
If morning brings the sunshine bright, the noon will see it gone
Rain before the eventide denies the promised dawn

 

We never know quite what to wear midst all that fickle change
And our planned calendar we’ll need to re-arrange
We play it cool but soon we find the weather is so hot
Our temper’s frayed, our nerves thus overwrought

 

More likely it’s the opposite, we’re hoping for the heat
Or at the very least we’ll still have two dry feet
What will it be? Wet, dry, hot or even cold
Sure predictions by us would simply be too bold

 

And of course this weather is so volatile it can affect our mood
Sometimes our cheeriness is easily subdued
We simply must adjust and learn just how to cope
No matter what the days may bring we should not lose all hope

 

For rain showers give us verdant land and open fields so green
Our streets too by this process are easily kept clean
And sunshine, when we get it, brings on the crops and flowers
The mixture of these elements shows nature’s mighty powers

 

Of course there are those who cannot stand no sun or too much rain
And thus the exodus of ex pats who now call home sunny Spain!
But being true Scots most of us are made of sterner stuff
No cowards we, we hang on in e’en though the climate’s rough

 

And after all who would want to get up every day
Looking out the window and finding, come what may
The vista never changes when time it is to rise
Far better we, when curtains slide, an every day surprise!

 

So let’s not let the weather become our pet obsession
There is no need for rain or shine to bring on deep depression
Let’s learn to live with change and smile what e’er betide
Thus all our Scottish weather we’ll cope with in our stride

Ken Fisher

 

 

 

 

The Night-time Broadcast

The Night-time Broadcast

 

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Nightwatchman of the tireless airwaves
Friend of insomniacs and shift-workers
Vigilante who prolongs our wakefulness
Comforter of the agitated and uneasy mind

Sometimes their offering is just a long succession
Of mood music to help anaesthetize the brain
They ‘spin’ these play-lists not just back-to-back
But in a seamless flow, often end to end

And thus sedated we may eventually succumb
And fall gently into the outstretched arms of Hypnos
Thus for some broadcasters their purpose is achieved
Perhaps our own choice when locked in to the ‘sleep mode’

And yet there are many who are not seeking sleep
For some the duty of unsocial hours, at desk or driving cab
Welcome the company of the ethereal companion
To educate, to stimulate, to banish boredom

Nowadays – and nights – broadcasting is a 24/7 affair
Swept away the curfew of the midnight chimes of Big Ben
With little pause the stations re-gain their breath
Plunging headlong into nocturnal schedules

So we are offered a diet of news, or sport, or music
And if we so desire our mind can be transported
By travelogues, quizzes, drama or political diatribe
And of course the World Service, where it is always daytime

One feature is the phone-in session – who on earth
Is awake to participate? Well there seems to be
No shortage of inquisitors to assail the agony aunts
And those ever contentious ‘shock jocks’

So it seems that night time broadcasting has
Not been banished to the land of nod. It is wide-awake!
And many rejoice that radio, like its carrier waves
Knows no bounds, brooks no opposition

Except perhaps the charms of sleep itself!

Ken Fisher

 

Thank you for waiting – Your call Is Important to us!

Thank you for waiting – Your call is important to us!

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These ambivalent words fill us with frustration
Do we believe that anyone cares?
Is ours simply a voice from somewhere in the nation
And of our exasperation they remain unaware

Then on comes that music meant to calm and to soothe
If it hesitates for a moment we are then filled with hope
But it soon resumes its beat and its rhythm so smooth
And we are left to wonder how we might cope

For if our call is important why can’t they reply
Have the staff all gone AWAL – disappeared home?
Where have they run to and please tell us why
They should stick by their station and not from it roam

To our relief the music is suddenly muted
To be followed by silence that seems almost eerie
Perhaps our ‘valuable call’ has just been re-routed
In our suspension, this seems a reasonable theory

But no amount of conjecture seems to bring a result
And when the music resumes we almost explode
To our injured feelings this just adds further insult
And our blood pressure surely is in overload

However, a few seconds later we hear the sweet tones
Of the missing operator who was till now so illusive
But instead of assaulting her ears with all our pent-up moans
Overwhelming relief  stops us from being quite abusive

Perhaps if we could learn in such moments of tension
To just bide our time and learn to forebear
Not filled with such unjustified apprehension
Then our life would be freed from such futile despair

Ken Fisher

 

See also: Cold Calling

 

Candid Camera

Candid Camera

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They say the camera never lies
More true than even human eyes
It only records what hits the lens
Our face, or those of our friends

The button makes the shutter blink
Keep your eyes open – do not wink
And inside this strange black device
It makes an image most precise

I’m told it’s actually upside down
But that won’t make us smile or frown
Whatever hits the open shutter
Captured even if our eyes did flutter

Of course you will have realized
The camera shown has now evolved
From the basic model shown above
For many, a toy that we all loved

No matter how new models have advanced
Digital imaging much enhanced
Nevertheless it remains still true
That candid snap is truly you

But in this modern age there’s a handy prop
It comes in the guise of ‘photo shop’
So if we find our images show too much candour
We can magic them all with a touch of splendour!

Ken Fisher

We Are Short of a Sucker

We Are Short of a Sucker

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For quite a while now we have felt lack of suction
‘Cause our old vacuum cleaner would no longer function
It would often blow out when it was meant to suck in
Which would suggest some deep conflict within

We stripped it down as best we could
And fiddled with bits that no lay person should
Screws were removed and dirt extricated
Just in case its internals were found constipated

But no matter how deeply its guts we did prod
It became ever clear that something was flawed
So today we agreed that despite all our stewardship
The machine’s only future was ‘off to the tip!’

So this afternoon we had to take an excursion
And purchased this lovely shiny new version
Initial trials of this modern domestic appliance
Confirm this is how one should apply science

Therefore let us hope all our dust problems are solved
As the Hoover Hurricane’s blades fastly revolve
And all dirt and grime will meet its due fate
This machine was designed to facilitate

Ken Fisher

When the Internet Crashed

When the Internet Crashed

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Booted up in the usual way

Friendly icons reappear

Just like any other day

Through the menus we can steer

 

Keeping to the old routine

Nothing there seems out of place

All laid out neatly on the screen

Every task made commonplace

 

Ready now to check the mail

No doubt the inbox will be stacked

With problems that will our minds assail

And junk mail too, that must distract

 

So let’s waste no time just hit that symbol

Or whatever key will release the flow

Scan down that list, it is so simple

Then it hits us, that awful blow!

 

Don’t tell us that we can’t connect!

Surely we have paid the bill

That’s not something we neglect

Our voice rises rather shrill

 

Further checks we implement

It’s not just email that has crashed

Looks like a real predicament

All connections somehow trashed

 

Not one web site can we open

All our favourites unresponsive

Surely all this can’t be broken

Somehow they’ve been knocked unconscious

 

But let us pause for just a while

Could this be a blessing in disguise

Must this hiatus cramp our style?

To simply panic is unwise

 

This moratorium we can enjoy

In the shut-down let’s relax

Other tasks our minds employ

Ignore ‘Big Data’s’ mega facts

 

Read a book or take a walk

Why not give the car a clean?

Remember how you used to talk

Freed from those all-commanding screens

 

Just think back, not long ago

Before computers made us slaves

Perhaps the pace was rather slow

Not leading to an early grave!

 

So once you’ve taken some time out

And let your nerves calm down a bit

You check once more the screen blackout

And no doubt it will then be fit

 

A few more clicks and we will bet

Those vital beeps will bring us cheer

Herald the returning internet

Dispelling all our angst and fear

 

And perhaps with hindsight we will see

A temporary pause can be corrective

With some thought you might agree

Let’s keep computers in perspective

 

Ken Fisher

 

The Builders

The Builders

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No challenge too great for the building trade
No problem will make these workers afraid
They dig down to make sure of a firm foundation
The earth that they move could re-shape the nation

 

Then they build up many rows of bricks upon brick
With a hod and a trowel they perform this neat trick
They leave spaces for windows and holes for the doors
And layer-by-layer they construct each new floor

 

Inside this stark shell they fit out each room
And soon we discern the shape of a home
If of their achievements we still require proof
Just take a glance at the shiny new roof

 

For their unstinting efforts, we these workers salute
Their dedication and skill is not in dispute
The future homeowner will derive so much pleasure
Thanks to those builders for their willing endeavor
Ken Fisher

Candle Power

Candle Power

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That flickering flame so vulnerable
Shines through the gloom impenetrable
Radiating heat and light
Defiant in the darkest night

 

What is light, intangible?
Scientists claim – both wave and particle
But surely more than either measure
Its gifts bring to us boundless treasure

 

The energy that is the light
Supreme in the sun that burns so bright
Provides our earth with power untold
This little candle does uphold

 

Ken Fisher