The Ontario-based company, Toth Technology, has applied for and been granted a patent to build the world's first "Space Elevator". This elevator would be a 12.4 mile (20 km) tall behemoth that would be supported by pressurized gas. At the top would be a couple of rocket launchpads and runway so that specially-designed spacecraft could be launched into orbit via rocket and then return to the top of the elevator and land on the runway.
Should this concept actually come to fruition and be built, it could save significant costs in sending satellites and humans into space. The only problem is, they have to ride a freakin' 12 mile-tall elevator to get there. That is an elevator that is more than twice as tall as Mount Everest. As it stands today (pun definitely intended), the tallest manmade structure in the world, the Burj Khalifa, is only a little more than 1/2 mile-tall.
Conceptually, this is not the first proposed space elevator. That distinction goes to Russian, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who theorized the idea back in 1895. His vision was for an elevator that stretched all the way up to low-earth orbit, or roughly 22,000 km. I think it is fair to say we are still pretty far off from that ever happening, but if it were technically feasible, it would make sending satellites into orbit cheaper than taking a flight from Akron to New Orleans, or approximately $230.
Though it is now the proud owner of the patent, Toth Technology is not expected to begin construction of the elevator any time soon. When it does, let me just say, you can have the honors of going first - I'll wait.
Trophies for Everyone!
Making news over the weekend for his comments related to "participation" trophies, James Harrison of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Kent State University alumnus has ticked off many proud parents of underachieving children. Harrison mentioned that he returned the "participation" trophies that were given to his sons, because he does not want them to be rewarded for something they haven't earned. Perhaps the criticism came harsher because he was taking away something from his sons rather than making a general statement on youth sports that hand out trophies to all involved, but this point is absolutely there.
I received numerous "participation" trophies in my childhood; in fact, I just saw them again recently after they had been packed away for roughly ten years. I scoffed at them again just as I did when I first received them. The thing that parents are not seeming to grasp is that their children are not dumb (not all of them anyway). Children know when they have truly succeeded and when they haven't. They know when they have earned something and when they haven't.
My guess is that the "participation" trophy concept was never intended to be about the kids; when they were first handed out, it was all about the parents. Think about it: you are on one of the first teams to receive trophies after finishing a season of whatever sport in dead-last. What's going through your mind? Maybe, "why are you giving me this?" Or what about, "We all get trophies?" They were likely taken aback and confused as to what they did to earn this reward.
Now think about the winning team when trophies were first handed out to all other teams. They were probably mortified that everyone else got trophies too, and it took away from their achievement that was well-earned. Sure, their's probably said something like "First Place" or "Champions" and maybe it was a little fancier, but it would still have to cheapen the victory.
Finally, let's look at the perspective of the parents. Their son or daughter just completed the first of many miserable soccer seasons to come. The team record was roughly the same as the score in their best game. The parents are proud of their kid for going out there and "playing their best" and "sticking it out through a rough season". They feel bad that their child is disillusioned at the season, and that they were questionably not truly fit to play the sport. Let's cheer them up. How about this year, instead of only the winning team getting the pizza party and ice cream while receiving their championship trophy, we'll all close out the season together and give all of the kids pizza, ice cream and trophies. Sports are supposed to be fun, right? It was only a "recreational" league, not a "competitive" league. This way all of the kids will end the season on a happy note, and I as a parent who is more concerned about watching my kid be sad than them actually learning any practical life-lessons, can now feel better about this whole ordeal.
The lesson that became ingrained in the kids receiving the "participation" trophies is that of entitlement. They have been taught that they do not have to succeed on their own, that they do not have to accomplish what they set out to achieve, and that regardless of any outcome, everyone deserves the same reward. Well, guess what, you can take those "participation" trophies and, in the words of Tanner Boyle, "shove 'em straight up your ass".
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