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The Future of Cool Science
by Raymond M. Coulombe

Who's doing the really cool science?

Is it the government?

Yes and no. Sure, government science can be interesting. After all, they get to raid the Patent Office for all the great stuff. Most people don't know the military has the opportunity to snag any cool idea that comes into the Patent Office. Lots of fascinating ideas never see the light of day. Government scientists have big piles of cash to work with and lots and lots of nifty toys. Problem is, it's all politicized science. It's science with an agenda. A lot of it has ultra mega super top secret stamped all over it. Much of it is channeled into better ways of killing people. Sure that's fun and all, but that certainly limits the cool factor.

What about major corporations?

Well, they do have resources. A big company certainly can afford to seek out the brightest and the best in any field. So far so good, but what do corporations do with these people? Mostly, they want them to make last year's widget 1% better for 2% less money. Risk taking isn't encouraged by the bean counters who have power over creative types. Back in the days of Bell Labs, corporate scientists could follow their passions a bit more. Lots of cool things came out of Bell Labs, but I don't see corporations allowing that free flowing cool science thing much any more. Bean counters, always the bean counters.

Universities?

"I'm sorry, but your (insert gadget or idea here) doesn't fit in with our current grant cycle and we certainly aren't going to pay money out of our current budget to study it." Lets face it, universities are stuffed with people who are pretty conservative. Their main concern is tenure. There are exceptions here and there . . . probably . . . hopefully . . . but all in all, universities don't get the cool factor. I'm sorry guys, I really am.

So what's left?

Why, the darlings of the Science Fiction world, the backyard/ garage/ basement mad scientists! Their day has come. They are bold, free thinking, and often unhampered by rigorous schooling and safety concerns. These daring pioneering men and woman are more than happy to go where no one else has gone before.

What can one person do? In the past, your average mad scientist was hampered by working alone with limited resources and little access to information. How many rich eccentric people are out there anyway? Those days of limited resources are past. The Internet now links whackos from around the world in the pursuit of rebel science. The best thing is, more and more of them aren't particularly concerned with fame or fortune. (I did say they were mad, didn't I?) They are willing to post their projects on-line and get feedback from others. Think of it as a massively parallel system. Lots of little people all pulling in the same direction. They might be whacko, but they aren't alone. Here's the neat part: some of their strange outlandish stuff actually works! That my friends, is where the cool science is coming from. Not locked up in a secret government lab located in the desert somewhere, not buried in the bowels of a faceless corporation, not weighted down with the traditions and norms of academia. True rebels. True madmen. My people.

What a wonderful time to be alive. You too can experiment with zero point energy, gas dynamic lasers, cruise missiles, mind control, antigravity, multidimensional reality, and other cool and interesting things. You can even find others from around the world to help with your exploits.

Cool? Certainly!

Fun? You bet!

It's the sort of thinking we at Quantum Muse like to encourage. Rebels unite!

Well, gotta go. Down the basement there's a plasma field about to breach containment, my "Z" ray tubes are punching holes in the cloud cover, and I've got to autoclave that nasty purple stuff living in my wife's pasta maker. She's due home any minute. Can't have another noodle incident.

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