Category: science

At Home In The Far Distant 2001

This short McGraw-Hill film from the 1960s is remarkably accurate about 21st century homes. Surprisingly, where it’s off the mark is 21st economics.

This short McGraw-Hill film from 1967 gets most of the technology right and some of the design details wrong, but it’s remarkably accurate about 21st century homes. Surprisingly, where it’s off the mark is 21st century economics. Even though the 2020 pandemic field-tested many longstanding ideas about working and learning from home, many of the economic concepts about health insurance and working conditions are still far distant future concepts in 2021.

Something it gets half-right: the kitchen. Between modern appliances (the microwave, the smart crockpot) and mail-order meal ingredients (Blue Apron, Hello Fresh), the Kitchen of the Future is here now, but we’ve dropped the idea of incinerating our dishes at the end of every meal and re-molding the plastic. We can’t even recycle milk cartons properly. And imagine the smell and particulates.

The interesting thing is an interview with an industrial designer; after a tour of the glamorous new world of robotic cooking, they cut to a distinguished older man who designed this smart kitchen. “I think people will continue to make food the old-fashioned way,” he says sheepishly. “Because they enjoy doing it.”

One other oddity: In every 60s conception of the home of the future, from this to Disney to the Jetsons, living room ceilings are always at least 20-feet high, even in apartments.

Why the Planet of the Apes is never happening

Total number of great apes on Earth, worldwide: 500,000
Total number of humans on Earth, worldwide: 7,000,000,000

It’s math:

Total number of great apes on Earth, worldwide: 500,000

Total number of humans on Earth, worldwide: 7,000,000,000

The number of great apes worldwide is decreasing. Even if every ape in the world learned to speak and was interested in attacking us, we’d wipe them out in a day. The largest ape populations in American cities are perhaps twenty apes in a zoo, a mix of a few gorillas, four or five chimpanzees, and assorted smaller species.

Some people will find this comforting.

Jefferson, the Monkey Trial star witness

From the Dayton Herald News dated June 15, 1925.

Is “Planet of the Apes” complete fiction? Yes, what did you think I would say? Because it’s monkeys, not apes, that get the real attention. From the History is Fun blog, 2007:

Clarence Darrow put a talking monkey on the stand. That’s right. A little monkey was sworn in, sat down, and answered Darrow’s questions for a startling half hour.

From the Dayton Herald News dated June 15, 1925:

The drama of the Scopes matter continued to fascinate and stir the wonder of this small hamlet as a thirty pound African green monkey was called to the stand to answer questions from the defense attorney, the esteemed Clarence Darrow.  A shocked crowd proceeded to hoot and holler until reprimanded by Judge John T. Raulston.  Much to the amazement of all, the monkey spoke fluently and eloquently when questioned by Darrow.  However, the greatest surprise of all came when the prosecution’s William Jennings Bryan rose to question the monkey.  Under the harsh pressure of Bryan’s inquisition, the monkey broke down and admitted his answers were coached by Darrow adding, “I don’t believe I am related to any stinkin’ [sic] humans.”  Judge Raulston dismissed the jury saying he, “needed to make sense of all this hurly burly.” The monkey was later seen at a local tavern.  By most eye witnesses accounts he was visibly intoxicated.