The Breakfast Club (Red Christmas)

The Waters of Mars is an episode of the Doctor I rarely re-watch because it’s sad and painful.

The story is set on Mars in the year 2059 where the Doctor encounters the first human colony, Bowie Base One. This is commanded by Captain Adelaide Brooke who turns out to be a pivotal character in the history of humanity. The Doctor must decide whether to use his knowledge of her fate to change history.

The nuclear blast that destroys the base leaves no survivors, but it does galvinize humanity to explore the Universe.  Because the event is so pivotal it is considered a “fixed point” in time, unlike the life of Gillian Taylor who not only gets dumped by Kirk but who’s disappearance from the time stream makes no difference whatsoever.

Thus Galifreyan interlopers are expected not to interfere.  The Doctor, the last Time Lord of Galifrey, the Oncoming Storm who destroys his entire race as well as the Daleks in the holocaust of The Moment, decides he is no longer bound by petty rules of continuity and saves Adelaide and two others.

Time Lord Victorious!

Adelaide, shocked by the potential consequences of what he has done, kills herself.  The Cloister Bells ring.

So, is it better to be like Yuri, Mia, and Gillian- little noted nor long remembered?  Sacrifice yourself over the ravings of a lunatic in a blue box?  And what does this say about the hubris of absolute power, could you be trusted with the future?

Well, not me!  I like pushing buttons and I expect I’d push every last one.  This is why most realistic assessments of time travel that allow you to change events end up with a future in which that no longer works.  It’s the only way to be sure.

On the other hand perceptions are tricky things and perhaps the way we experience reality is not the only one there is.  In physics the rule is that your model is self consistent, that its internal rules not contradict themselves.  It is perfectly possible to imagine such systems, if they exist we will probably never know.

The law that entropy always increases holds, I think, the supreme position among the laws of Nature. If someone points out to you that your pet theory of the universe is in disagreement with Maxwell’s equations – then so much the worse for Maxwell’s equations. If it is found to be contradicted by observation – well, these experimentalists do bungle things sometimes. But if your theory is found to be against the second law of thermodynamics I can give you no hope; there is nothing for it but to collapse in deepest humiliation.

–Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington, The Nature of the Physical World (1927)

Science News and Blogs

• George RR Martin: our long obsession with Mars, by George RR Martin, The Guardian
• Great Scott! Back to the Future turns 30 (and catches up with reality), by Catherine Shoard, The Guardian
• Water on Mars: Nasa faces contamination dilemma over future investigations, by Ian Sample, The Guardian
• South Carolina: Civil War Cannons Pulled From 150-Year Bath, Associated Press
• Why no Trident? The benefits of a nuclear apocalypse, by Dean Burnett, The Guardian
• A living thing in two places at once? This quantum quandary test is limited, by James Millen, The Guardian
• Half of Europe opts out of new GM crop scheme, by Arthur Neslen, The Guardian
• NASA Eyeing Venus, Asteroids for Next Low-Cost Robotic Mission, by Mike Wall, Space.com
• Hazing, #piggate and other secret rites: the psychology of extreme group rituals, by Joanna Walters, The Guardian
• New Maps of Ceres Highlight Mysterious Bright Spots, Giant Mountain, by Mike Wall, Space.com

Science Oriented Video

Obligatories, News and Blogs below.

Obligatories

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:30am (ET) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.

I would never make fun of LaEscapee or blame PhilJD.  And I am highly organized.

This Day in History

News

• More Bad News For The F-35, The Plane That Ate The Pentagon, by Jonathan Broder, Newsweek
• Pacific Trade Deal Talks Resume, Under Fire From U.S. Presidential Hopefuls, By JACKIE CALMES, The New York Times
• Congress sidesteps government shutdown as Boehner prepares for exit, by Nicky Woolf, The Guardian
• Oklahoma governor stays execution of Richard Glossip amid drug concerns, by Erin McCann, The Guardian
• How LA school districts are turning disused land into low-cost housing, by Nate Berg, The Guardian
• Elizabeth Warren lobbying query leads Brookings Institution fellow to quit, Reuters
• What is the world’s most vulnerable city?, by Adrian Mourby, The Guardian
• Bernie Sanders’s $26 million cash haul is a major problem for Hillary Clinton, By Chris Cillizza, Washington Post
• How Glencore’s Crazy Month Makes Greek Banks Look Tame, by Camila Russo, Bloomberg News
• Rail service shutdown could cost economy $30 billion, group says, By Curtis Tate, McClatchy

Blogs

• Kissinger poisoned the Middle East: America is living in a quagmire of his making, Greg Gandin, Salon
• Feingold Widens Lead Over RoJoWho, By capper, Crooks & Liars
• With One Bombing Run Russia Gets the US to Acknowledge CIA’s “Covert” Regime Change Forces, by emptywheel
• Washington Post Runs Anti-Sanders Editorial In News Section, Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research
• NYT Does PR Push for TPP: Was Iraq War a “Legacy Achievement” for President Bush?, Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research
• What Sanders Can Accomplish by Not Acting, By Gaius Publius, Naked Capitalism
• Catalonia Exit Threat Moves Spain Toward Political Breakdown, By Don Quijones, Naked Capitalism
• The Secret Service’s mind-blowing abuse of power: Why do government agencies keep spying on lawmakers?, by Marcy Wheeler, Salon
• Bernie Sanders blows away expectations by nearly matching Hillary Clinton’s fundraising haul, by Sophia Tesfaye, Salon
• Bernie Sanders is getting screwed: This is why the networks are ignoring him for Donald Trump, by Eric Boehlert, Media Matters