[LMB] Tech marches on, was textile machinery

[Paula Lieberman]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sylvus Tarn" <sylvus at rejiquar.com>


> On Wed, 2006-09-06 at 11:18 -0400, Paula Lieberman wrote:
>> The American
>> Museum of Textile History in Lowell has an impressive collection of
>> US textile production equipment, ..
>> Oh WOW is some of that stuff every NOISY!
>
> Yes, as a matter of fact, I have to Lowell and visited the textile
> museum---one of the few open on the Monday I had to explore.
> Fascinating.  And your point is well taken, compared to then machinery
> now is *relatively* bearable.
>
> But only relatively.  It's almost impossible to find a place truly
> without automobile noise, but think of that, refrigerator noise, 60
> cycle whines, computer fans, on and on and *on*---there's still a lotta
> low-level noise, and like other low-level pollutants I don't think most
> people have much sense of how these have subtle, injurious impacts.
>
> Bottom line:  the pervading noise and nighttime light pollution make me
> crazy.

The fluorescent lights in grade school drove me bonkers...

There are noise cancellations systems around, that sample the noise 
background and then produce electromagnetic signals that do some cancelling 
out (generation of signals 180 degrees out of phase).  They don't do it 
globally, but can work locally.  Digital signal processing has made a lot of 
things possible that were once considered impossible... and unlike the 
Arthur C. Clarke story, it usually doesn't explode.

(That story, and current technology, show where SF goes over the 
waterfall... stories are tied de facto to when they're written.  One of the 
thing that got overtaken in Lois' writing, for example, is the nature of 
ulcers... since Warrior's Apprentice, medicine determined that bacteria 
create the conditions that cause ulcers, and treatment with antibiotics is a 
cure.   The surgical solution that Miles got, therefore, isn't generally 
something that would likely happen anymore.)