We had a bit of trouble this weekend.  Junior fell at a playground and fractured his wrist.  Fortunately, it was not too bad.  He only got a ‘soft cast’ of a splint wrapped in an Ace bandage.  The folks at the Lake Wales Emergency room were very helpful and I have nothing but good to say about them.  (Avmed, not so much.)  We were in and out in less than three hours even though they said they were extremely busy.   The incident did bring up a lot of thoughts about medical care in a devolving society.

First, let’s talk about the technology involved.  They were able to digitally X-Ray his wrist three different ways and send them to the doctor’s computer in seconds.  Stop and think about the technology involved (digital X-Ray equipment, computer network and databases).  Now, stop and think about the support structure behind this technology.  I am sure digital X-Ray equipment is complex.  I know computer networks can be very complex.  Each bit of technical complexity is a bit that can fail and break.  This is the system’s Resiliency.

Recently, Richard Forman and Daniel Sperling wrote an article in the online magazine Solutions called  "No Driving, No Emissions, Nature Reconnected."   The main idea was to change our roadway system so everyone would ride around in small, electric ‘pods’.  These pods would travel on either elevated or buried roadways so as not to impact the natural surroundings.  I am going to examine each of these ideas in turn.

 First, the electric pod concept.  This idea has circulated for some time.  The movie “Logan’s Run” from the 1970’s had people riding around in automated vehicles.  What is nice about this idea is it is very ‘do-able’.  GEM has been producing small, Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) for some time.   They can travel up to 35 miles per hour and have no emissions.