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| Personal background |
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When I was in the sixth grade, I realized the undeniable truth: I am a nerd.
This was of no real surprise. I am after all the son of an electrical engineer, who in turn is the son of a physicist, who in turn...(and so on to the beginning of our Universe!) Science is in my blood! In preschool, I would bring in my Star Trek action figures and ramble on about antimatter reactors and space-time shifts. As a kindergartner, I would spout facts about our solar system and the space program to all who would listen.
Rather than fight genetics, I embraced my nerdiness. (Some would say to an extreme!) In the eighth grade, I purchased my first pocket protector. (I have since created a small collection of novelty pocket protectors, most have the NASA logo on them.) In the ninth grade I took Biology 1 and I had my mind set on a career in microbiology or pathology. Then, as a sophomore, I took Chemistry 1, and naturally I wanted to be a chemist! (Our chapter covering aspects of quantum mechanics was fascinating!) As of this writing, I am 16.8 calendar-years of age and enrolled in my junior year of high school. While I had the option of taking Chemistry 2 this year, I opted for Physics 1 so that I may make an informed decision when I leave home for college. (In case you are interested, at the moment I still want to be a chemist.) This year I plan to reorganize our school’s rocketry club for a few launches in the spring. During the fall and winter, I’ll participate in the Ohio Mock Trial Competition, a contest between high school teams across the state to argue cases before actual state judiciaries. Social studies have always been a close second to my pursuit of science.
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| Thoughts about SETI and SETI@home |
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I am one of those users who believe that the existence of only one (1) planet capable of supporting life is a ludicrous concept! To use a cliché, it seems like a terrible waste of space. I also believe that space exploration in any form is a positive action for our species. If just PREPARING for a simple flight to the Moon can lead to fantastic technological innovation, imagine what we could accomplish by communicating with another species!
Over the years, I have followed the space program closely and am saddened by the apparent lack of support it has. In my present position as a high school student, who must balance his time between PreCalc homework and U.S. History essays, I find it convenient to support exploration of the Final Frontier using SETI@home. (Don't worry, I will still use SETI@home even if I go into aerospace!)
The concept for SETI@home is a testament to human ingenuity and efficiency. Why go through the trouble of employing thousands of mainframes or minicomputers when you can have more processing power for a fraction of the cost? The screen saver is an added bonus; I will never go back to flying toasters.
I run SETI@home on a 333Mhz G3 processor. The machine uses MacOS 8.6. Someday, perhaps I will help humanity’s quest with the aid of a SPARC...
It was in the summer of 2000 that I formed my SETI user group; the United Nerds of Jenkins. Originally, it was composed only of my family members. However, the group has grown to include others who are friends of science. All are of course welcome!
I thank the SETI@home team for their excellent work in providing the world with a quality application that has the potential to help us evolve. As they say on the planet Vulcan, "Live long and prosper."
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