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For RobertDyck re post in Chat: https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.ph … 13#p237413
That's an impressive piece!
It deserves a wider audience than it is likely to find here.
I think the answer is that America is doing this because a sufficient number of Americans voted ** for ** Donald Trump in the last election.
We have at least two Trump voters in the forum, so we may be able to hear from them.
My guess is that the outcome you described is not what the Trump voters had in mind (taken as a group).
However, the voters ** knew ** that the man was a convicted felon, and they voted for him anyway.
It is not too late to recover from the headlong rush to the end of the American Experiment, but if you are right that this was (and is) a carefully planned Russian effort, then chances of recovery are poor. Once trust is broken on a global scale, it will be difficult to restore.
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For RobertDyck ....
First, thank you for keeping your cool in discussion ... I am always confident when I open one of your posts that I will come away refreshed.
You have a writing style that serves us well in challenging times.
***
In this evening's Linux meeting, one of our regular members lives East of Toronto on the shore of the Great Lake there. I asked him if Canada would be willing to provide safe haven for people from Minnesota who might wish to escape persecution. He reminded me that Canada has been playing that role literally for hundreds of years.
You are a lot close to the action right now than that gent is. Would your City be able to put up some terrified US citizens if that should become necessary.
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For RobertDyck ...
Because of your interest in meal preparation for Large Ship, I thought you might be interested in this competition:
Dallas Express Media
NASA Launches “Mars To Table” Challenge To Build Earth-Independent Food Systems For Deep Space
Dallas Express
Mon, January 19, 2026 at 9:30 AM EST
3 min read
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China’s Zhurong Rover Uncovers Ancient Mars Shorelines, Fuels Ocean Theory | Image by Artsiom P/Shutterstock
China’s Zhurong Rover Uncovers Ancient Mars Shorelines, Fuels Ocean Theory Image by Artsiom PShutterstock
Generate Key TakeawaysNASA has officially opened a major international competition aimed at solving one of the most fundamental challenges of long-duration space exploration: building a complete food system that could sustain astronauts on the surface of Mars or the Moon without heavy dependence on Earth.
The Deep Space Food Challenge: Mars to Table, announced by NASA on January 13, 2026, invites multidisciplinary teams — including scientists, engineers, food experts, chefs, students, and citizen innovators — to design fully integrated food systems capable of meeting all dietary and operational needs of long-term planetary missions.
The challenge comes as NASA advances its Moon-to-Mars strategy through the Artemis program, which aims to establish sustained human operations beyond low Earth orbit.
A shift from cargo to infrastructureTraditional space missions carry pre-packaged food from Earth. For multi-year missions to Mars or sustained lunar surface operations, NASA says that approach is unsustainable.
Advertisement“In the future, exploration missions will grow in both duration and distance from Earth. This will make the critical question of feeding our astronauts more complex, requiring innovative solutions to allow for long-term human exploration of space,” said Greg Stover, acting associate administrator of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.
NASA frames the Mars to Table Challenge as a shift in mindset — from viewing food as cargo to treating it as mission-critical infrastructure.
Competitors are asked to design systems that cover all stages of the food life cycle: production, processing, preparation, storage, and waste management.
Teams must deliver solutions that:
AdvertisementProvide 100% of daily nutritional needs for crew members
Operate as an integrated, end-to-end system
Limit Earth-provided food to no more than 50% of total system mass
Integrate with life support systems to maximize reuse and efficiency
“Future crews on the Moon and Mars will need food systems that are nutritious, sustainable, and fully independent from Earth. Food will play a pivotal role in the overall health and happiness of future deep space explorers,” said Jarah Meador, program executive for NASA’s Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing Program.
NASA underscores that such systems must consider not only calories and nutrients but also taste, safety, variety, morale, and operational usability under extreme constraints.
Global competition with practical spilloversNASA has allocated up to $750,000 in prizes for U.S. teams, including:
Advertisement$300,000 for first place
$200,000 for second place
$100,000 for third place
Category awards of $50,000 each for specific achievements
International teams are eligible to participate and be recognized, though prize money goes only to U.S. teams.
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For RobertDyck re "none of the above"...
This is the first time I've heard of that option.
That doesn't mean it's not a good idea. All it means (to me ) is that if it's been tried, I've never heard of it.
What we ** have ** tried is the third party option, which is a real spoiler when it is implemented.
Ross Perot and the gent who wrote a book about dangerous cars are examples of third party candidates whose participation swung elections.
I'm doubtful I would select "None of the Above" in an election, but there might be folks who would. Casting a vote for None of the Above would be a gamble.
Of course, casting a vote for a declared candidate is a gamble.
Locally we have a lecture coming up on how elections work (or don't work, I presume). Your idea appeals to me to toss into the hopper.
The event is in February, so I've made a mental note and will let you know if anything happens.
My guess is that there is a reason I've never heard of this idea, but perhaps it has. If it has, it didn't create a strong impact.
Ranked Choice voting is an alternative that seems to me to have some of the qualities you might be looking for.
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For RobertDyck re election in the US ...
My impression is that not ONE of the individuals who voted for the winning candidate had any confusion at all about who they were voting for.
The presence of "none of the above" would have made NO difference.
The people who would have voted for "none of the above" threw away their votes on candidates who could not possibly win.
My interpretation is that this is the outcome millions and millions of Americans wanted.
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For RobertDyck re Chinese population ...
https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.ph … 07#p237507
Thank you for another thoughtful and thought inspiring post!
While your major theme seemed to be about the Adam Smith concepts of Specialization and Division of Labor, you did spend a few moments thinking about the dilemma of the Chinese Communist Party trying to optimize population by edict.
While the actual situation necessarily is more complicated than you could have dealt with in a short paragraph of a larger post, I thought your word picture of the trends we have observed from a distance was reasonably accurate.
What you may have chosen to overlook is the mad race between Elon Musk and the Chinese to design, build, test and refine humanoid robots. I think Elon's vision is reasonably accurate (as I understand it), but I think the Chinese will achieve success on a large scale before Elon is able to achieve success on a modest scale.
What I ** think ** this competition will yield is a humanoid robot with the IQ of ChatGPT or Gemini.
In the Chinese system, which appears to harness capitalism under the close watch of the Party, the population id likely to enjoy the benefit of these innovations long before the Western cultures with looser reins on capitalism.
You've pointed out that an aging population might well become miserable in later years due to the lack of young people to help, but I expect that China will not see that problem in quite the same way as Western cultures.
The next few years should be ** very ** interesting to watch. Some of us might even get a chance to participate in the flow of innovation that is under way, though how that might happen I cannot guess.
Of all of us, you seem the best positioned to find yourself immersed in the flow of innovation at the level I'm describing. The reason is the field of service in which you've been operating for several years. In recent years (as I understand it) you've been helping a large governmental agency to serve a population scattered over a massive landscape, by providing technical assistance at a level only available in very large cities such as the one where you live.
If my prediction is correct, and if your country is able to further trade with China, you may find yourself escorting medical humanoid robots to assignments in locations were medical facilities are currently absent or minimal. Unlike with humans, the robots on the horizon will be able to accept uploads of specialized knowledge in short periods of time.
In any case, I am looking forward to seeing how you may think about these ideas.
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For RobertDyck re Canadian leadership in unsettled times...
Without necessarily naming personalities, I am impressed by the leadership that seems to be emanating from Canada these days.
Again, without naming personalities, I would definitely be interested in your sense of how your neighbors are thinking about recent events in which Canada has played a part.
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