I have no words...wow,

Wow that was amazing :D

How did I not see this until today? Amazing work! :D

I can help you out with crafting of gear... any exotics, just let me know and try to provide materials. I can help if you don't have all of them. Other than exotics... legendary weapons would be the next option. Perhaps we can get a trade going for rares... deposit rare weapons that are being requested for legendary precursors and take out the rare weapons you need based on a point system. Please give me any other suggestions... you know I'll help when I can.

I think for me, as an educator for most of my professional life is the current worldwide revolution in education. You can see some of the symptoms of this inevitable change already occuring in developed countries by the way in which education-inflation has increased. Where 10 years ago a degree was required to do a job, now a masters is required. Though the job requirements really havent changed.

The problem is, society itself has changed. When the whole system of education was created, particulariky that of western civilization, it was devised to meet the needs of industry ( moreover the industrial revolution). This is why, wherever you go (as remarkable as it sounds), from Rio to London, the structure of education is exactly the same. At the top are maths and languages and at the bottom are the humanities; from music to drama. Regardless of where you go, this is repeated. How many of us were benignly steered away from subjects we liked in school because we we were told (whether informally or formally) ; " Dont study art, you cant be artist...Dont study music, you cant be musician". But this rhetoric is profoundly misguided. Time and time again, we see children demonstrate particular talent(s) in one or more areas, butwe squander them, pretty ruthlessly because the system of education prioritises subjects that are favourable to industry. But society has moved on a great deal since the advent of the industrial revolution.

Why isnt music taught with the same presence of math? Mathematics is of course important, but so is music, drama, dance et al.

This is where I think the greatest societal change will begin, as is already underway in many developed countries. Tailor-suited education that focuses the talents and potential of children to help nurture skillsets so they can self-actualise and be whom they were always destined to be. Definitely not steered into a direction of employment to work at some nameless corporate entity factory.

This I think would probably be the most positive contributive factor to human progress in the 21st century. Well rounded individuals with their potentials reached, free to claim their niche in the world and be all the more happier for it.

Apologies for any typos, im on my samsung tab at 2am. :)

WOW, haha sofar great responses. Yeah I've been following mostly photovoltaics and advancements in liquid-metal batteries. It's incredible to think that every surface of a building can now generate its own electricity. And why not? Every second of every day the Earth is hit with more ambient energy than has been used by the entire run of human civilization. I've seen images of German neighborhoods like this; with their European green surroundings they are quite beautiful... though I still can't -for the life me- figure out why the most powerful nation on the planet cannot get with the program in a meaningful way (actually I know exactly why but not the place to be negative). Call me a pragmatist, but my biggest passion is for not-to-distant future advantages. Better energy usage, algae refinement and use, and of course computer tech.

Haha, I really cannot wrap my head around the mathematics behind purposed methods of FTL travel and advancements in space travel with my art school education. Though I do read what I can and keep to date, I am far from an expert. However, I do see what benefits will come from the investment. One of my favorite is Vertical Farming: such a concept of advanced agriculture which may be required for survival in inclosed Mars habitation could be engineered on Earth into something like Archology (ref. Mass Effect): the creation of urban centers that produce both energy and agricultural needs locally, drastically reducing resource consumption.

What an awesome topic and such great answers so far!

As a scientist myself, I get excited about all sorts of stuff. Even with the rapid advancement of technology in the last century, it seems like the coming decades may yield even more life-changing scientific discoveries and technological achievements.

I'm a biophysical chemist and geneticist, so I tend to get professionally excited about those possibilities. Right now I'm doing a postdoc on developing some new instrumentation, but I hope to one day work on algae-based biofuel. There are some really promising proposals to turn algae into fuel producers for humanity. A big advantage of this process is that it creates fuel compatible with our current infrastructure, but all of the CO2 and other nasty byproducts released upon use is pulled out of the atmosphere when the fuel is created in the first place, making the whole process carbon-neutral. Additionally, it provides us with another source for plastics and fine chemicals, which is something that other alternative energy sources like wind and solar can't provide.

Outside of my own work, I'm very excited about all the recent advancements and near-future possibilities of astronomy and space travel. The fact that private companies are starting to take over more routine aspects of space travel is very cool, and it is freeing NASA up to do even cooler things. On top of that, I can't believe that some scientists at NASA are actually attempting real, laboratory experiments to create warp bubbles based off the ideas of the Acubierre Warp Drive.

It's actually gotten me so jazzed that, the next time NASA puts out a call for astronauts (they do it every few years or so), I'm going to throw my hat into the ring!

I'm not an engineer or scientist. My background is in literature, art, and philosophy. But Star Trek inspires me in these areas, as well. The idea that humanity can come to a point that we see each other as equal, that we put aside the differences (after much difficulty) to create a society where anyone can achieve as far as they desire, and where the human endeavour focusses on discovery rather than warfare, these inspire me in my own work.

Its an awesome idea, I have seen other online groups large enough do the same before. I just cant afford to go and to take the time off D:

Awesome. I 'liked' the pizza place's Facebook page. They're making out quite well for themselves following this little incident, hehe.

I think this is really inspiring that a community would rally against ignorance, hate and bigotry like this.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joel-diaz/lgbt-tolerance_b_2397363.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&icid=maing-grid7%7Cmaing7%7Cdl19%7Csec1_lnk3&pLid=252397

This is a really awesome topic, Daniel. Thanks for posting it.

When the original iPhone came out I was so psyched because of it's innovative touch-screen interface. It reminded so much of a Starfleet datapad, albeit smaller and of course the iPad. When I think about how the processing power I hold in my hand once had to fill an entire room only a generation or two ago it truly does boggle my mind.

I work for a skincare website and as such have had access to light-therapy devices which utilize hand-held infrared and LED lights that pulse to reverse the visible signs of aging and clear acne. Sound like a dermal regenerator to you? This technology was developed by the US navy and is being used to treat much more serious medical conditions like certain forms of cancer.

The advances in warp drive theory are very exciting. I remember that the graphical representation of the TNG Enterprise's warp field always seemed to oscillate around the ship. Scientists are only recently saying that in order to sidestep the tremendous power requirements that had made warping space so implausible the warp field around the object must be made to oscillate in size and frequency so I wonder just how long that potential solution has been around? We may not see phasers and hovercars and interstellar travel in our lifetimes but I'd say there's a much better chance than there was.

I myself have always been enormously intrigued by astronomy since i was a kid. More recently, the some 890+ extra-solar planets that have been discovered in the past decade is just incredible to say the least, and a fraction of those have been confirmed to be orbiting their star at around the same distance as earth is from our sun. With time and better telescopes coming to fruition, we'll be able to see them in more detail, and even confirm whether or not they could support life as we know it.

iPhone/pad and Droid users can download an app called "Exoplanet" that is updated regularly as these distant worlds are discovered. You can also explore these systems in full 3D view, as well as the entire milky way galaxy. If you don't already have this app, I would download it immediately. It's amazing.

I've also joined www.planethunters.orgwww.planethunters.org which allows members (free membership) to quickly look at histograms and ID the anomalies appearing within them as those signify potential planets based on the varying brightness of that star over a period of time. I do a few graphs on my lunch hour at work. Those results are then examined more closely by the pro-astronomers around the world, and then documented as discoveries are made.

890 planets and counting, and that number has no where to go but up.

Between this, the developing concept of warp-drive you mentioned and the higgs-boson findings, the prospect of life beyond Earth...we live in truly exciting times.

As for books, i've enjoyed reading "Physics for the Rest of Us" by Roger S. Jones as well as "Secrets of the Night Sky" by Bob Berman as my favorite exploratory books.

Star Trek has driven my passion for it all, always reminding me that nothing is impossible.

Steve

My inspiration... Carl Sagan and Neil DeGrasse Tyson

What the heck can we do as a group for group gear?? The good stuff... that's what we need to be looking at.

Quote by ltervlet

It's a good idea to read through it to get advance warning of the "situations" you'll encounter unless you like to work through those kinds of things without help. :)

Advance warning? Im not sure you understand how RPG's are supposed to work. ;) Guides are only supposed to be for when you're frustrated over not completing a task. The very idea is Heresy!

Yay lets kick some ass! :P

These are 2 guides I found for acquiring HK-51. I'll set them both as links to make it easier for people to access.

http://www.swtor-spy.com/companions/hk-51/4670/

http://dulfy.net/2012/10/11/swtor-patch-1-5the-hunt-for-hk-51companion-droid/

The first one you can follow pretty much step by step. It's a good idea to read through it to get advance warning of the "situations" you'll encounter unless you like to work through those kinds of things without help. :)

Hello all!

Though I have only been with you all a few days, it has so far been very enjoyable. I wanted to take a minute to ask a question and see who had a chance to respond.

Star Trek is a world of science, philosophy, and exploration. So many facets of it have influenced our lives in many ways that the general population may not realize. Computers, Flat-panel TVs, cell-phones, even aspects of space travel were illustrated on Star Trek (pulling from many great writers for inspiration) and engineers have used it as a template ever since.

So I'd like to ask what kinds of science and technology excite you? Some of you I have seen on here say they are scientists, engineers, educators, and it's all so wonderful. What catches your interest? What do you read about? What gives you hope for the future? Astrophysicists since the 90's have refined a theory of Warp drive (mostly just a thought exercise at the moment) to a point where it does actually seem quite plausible. That, with advances in anti-matter research and developments in Higgs field studies, could mean that the exploration aspect of Star Trek could very well be realized. This excites me! It's amazing and I hope we keep going!

So I want to know what you all think! This is a great group for it, especially considering the contributions of gay men and women in the fields of science, society, and culture (Allen Turing, Oscar Wilde, Arthur C. Clark, Eleanor Roosevelt, just to name a few). :)

:woohoo:
That's AWESOME!