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(Jon sez:) ![]() Seriously, though, the appearance of the binoculars out of seeming thin air is due to the Engines of Creation miracle of nanotechnology. I think, to a large degree, we have been trained by shows such as Star Trek to accept the big, obviously-imaginary technology and to reject the more possible technologies. A Phase-Inversion Bolognium Ray (or whatever) is just silly; whereas one can look at something like self-assembling nanotech and quibble with it in a number of reasonable ways. How does it transfer the energy needed to do work? How does it deal with overheating? Such questions, contrarily enough, make the nanotech device seem much less "real" than the Giant Bolognium Cannon - even though the Bolognium Cannon is complete fantasy while there are colleges and military labs working on nanotechnology right now. This week's icon is Benjamin's boss, Gustave Nyerere, with his distinctive moustache and his furrowed brow.
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