EP. 111 NOW.2025.APR Better Living Through Blackouts, Peace through Wonder, Zero Gravity BioRepair, Synthetic Leaf Creates Fuel, Proteus Class Brain Surgery, Detective Ara Grok, A.I., on the case!

Fortunately, most power has been restored after a blackout brought the Spain and Portugal, and parts of France to a standstill on Monday. Or is it? There seems to have been a silver lining to this massive outage, hiding in plain sight.Can you guess?  A clue would be…candles..another would be …neigbors..Got it?  Meanwhile we work with Grok3’s Ara as a detective sleuth, investigating the who, what, and why’s of this strange case of power gone awry..Historical parallels to past European blackouts are drawn, highlighting the vulnerability of interconnected power systems. While the official cause remains uncertain, geopolitical motives, particularly from Russia, are discussed as a potential, though unproven, driver for such an intentional act to test NATO resilience.   Also this week, aging in space and what it means for us, galaxies aimed mysteriously at us around Andromeda, Synthetic leaves for fuel and plastic generation, and other topics such as economic realignments, religious influences on global politics, the potential for advanced technology like space elevators and bioreactors, and the development of micro-robots for brain surgery, along with more abstract concepts like the nature of consciousness and the unity of humanity. Enjoy!