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I’ve posted on this elsewhere: “Old Tapes”; “BWB”; “Self-Portrait.” I’ve changed my Facebook profile photo to Trayvon, and spoken with my sons. Let me explain:
In “Old Tapes,” I revisited an incident in which I was forcibly frisked by a store detective. He didn’t care if I had a microscope, a telescope, a tool kit, a chemistry set at home, physics and science books nor did he ask if I had a complete set of the Encyclopedia Britannica. No, I was a suspect for shoplifting for merely combing my hair: guilty until proven innocent. “BWB” was an admittedly emotional response directly to the absurdity of a teenager losing his life over his dress, an iced tea and skittles; “Self-Portrait” was written earlier, but reflected the same concerns.
In Nanos Gigantium Humeris Insidentes, I did describe my background a bit, but not so the photo. I became Brigade Commander of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools '79 - 80 on the negative answer to what I thought was a rhetorical question to the Commander for the ’76-77 school year: “what would it take for someone to rise to your rank?” His answer was specifically addressed (to my ethnicity and potential): “Your kind will NEVER get to this rank!” (Never) say never: the complete irony was he went in an enlisted, I an Air Force officer. We saw each other on active duty at Bergstrom Air Force Base in Austin, Texas. He had a Constitutional obligation to salute me.
Women and men of a certain age in my culture can trace back to when we lived in humble conditions on a segregated side of of our respective towns, I recall numerous times when the sight of drug dealers and runners; switch blades, kitchen hatchets (both directed at me) or guns threatened our lives. Despite these challenges, many of us went to college – HBCUs, Ivy League, Graduate Schools – and attained degrees for a better life. Our parents, and leaders of the Civil Rights movement (like my sister) inspired us to do this.
Tony Morrison said: "In this country American means white. Everyone else has to hyphenate." So, I am classed as African-American because Negro/Black wasn’t definitive enough for Malcolm X. As he went on his own pilgrimage of self-discovery to Mecca, he coined “Afro American,” founding the Organization of Afro American Unity (dissolved after his assassination). Reverend Jesse Jackson is credited as the source of “African-American,” since as a fellow engineering student from A and T pointed out: “there’s no such country as ‘Afro.’” And to be sure: Africa is a continent of 53 different nationalities, as diverse as this nation in cultures and ethnicity.
Yet, all this effort towards equity, to “pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps,” we as our parents must have “the talk” with our male sons, how to behave in public, how to talk to the police if stopped, how not to appear “a threat.” Yet, I still get quick looks when I get on an elevator, shifted purses, I must put others at ease; apologize when professionally embarrassed in email. Guilty until [I've] proven [myself] innocent...
I AM: the father of two statistics: The risk of dying from homicide among non-Hispanic black male teenagers (39.2 per 100,000 population) is more than twice that of Hispanic males (17.1 per 100,000 population) (Figure 4) and about 15 times that of non-Hispanic white males (2.6 per 100,000 population); at current levels of incarceration a black male in the United States today has greater than a 1 in 4 chance of going to prison during his lifetime, while a Hispanic male has a 1 in 6 chance and a white male has a 1 in 23 chance of serving time. That has nothing to do with their locale (suburbs); nothing to do with my education, their education or career choices. It is the aftermath of what historians tastefully describe as “the peculiar institution,” of the antebellum South, as with South Africa’s Apartheid, based on pigmentation, its wages and legacy. What happened to Trayvon is the unspoken nightmare; the uttered prayer each night, Psalms and Glossolalia. We do not have the luxury, or security to be blithely skeptic or agnostic. The slaughter of male children by Pharaoh and Herod are not biblical illustrations, but an evidential, everyday concern.
All I ask, all WE ask: is to be considered not as a threat, but for our potential.
Related links:
One of the most recent civilizations to join the Hegemony, the Plutarchs, a group of sentients from a highly advanced world, upon discovering the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations insisted on becoming a member of said civilizations. The Plutarchs (our name for them, that was the closest translation that worked in polite company, their actual translation was "the owners of everything") were insistent they could improve galactic commerce by bringing their ideas to the community of worlds.
They insisted their way of dealing with wealth, its management and development, mastered over millennia ensured the furthering of progress, improved innovation and inspired their populace to work harder than ever with new levels of prosperity for the civilization. And while there was poverty, it was an accepted part of the lifestyle of their planet and the people who were poor understood it was their lot in life. It simply couldn't be helped. Poverty was a natural side-effect of wealth and knowledge of that fact ensured wealth moved where it needed to be in society.
The Hegemony tended to not involve itself in the politics of worlds unless those worlds wanted to join the galactic community. The Hegemony was less than happy with the social structures and were absolutely sure they wanted nothing to do with the Plutarchs financial structures since the Plutarchs, for all of their wealth had failed to handle issues on their own planet to the standards of the Council of Worlds. While the Hegemony watched the Plutarchs and Citizens relationships, the Plutarchs insisted they should be allowed to join the Hegemony and would not take no for an answer. After a decade of watching the planet, the Hegemonic Council's solution was a unique one.
The Council's decision was one that did not change the inherent nature of the planet. Since every Citizen was fitted upon birth, with an automatic asset management account, which tracked their wealth and assets and assigned them a numerical value, indicating their wealth, the Council decided to build on that idea. Every citizen was fitted with a gravitic torc. A beautiful piece of jewelry that could not be removed by local scientists. The torc would be linked to the databases of the world banks and would reflected the wealth of the person, the richer they were, the more affected by the force of gravity they would become.
Once the system was installed (and it took some time, the Hegemony insisted on hiring local workers and paying them a galactic Citizen's wages for their efforts) it would be active on all one billion of the Citizens. It was explained how the technology would work and Plutarchs who were extremely wealthy would be given a month to decide how to organize their funds. Most didn't seem to understand how the devices would work and were unhappy with how the Hegemony decided to go about their indoctrination.
The Council tried to explain how the galaxy was a big place and worlds who wanted the benefits of the Hegemony, a community of over sixty thousand inhabited planets and millions of other kinds of biomes, artificial, virtual, chemical or mechanical, slavery of any kind was frowned upon by responsible members of the Hegemony. No race could trade, sell, or interact with the Hegemony if they engaged in slavery or slave-like conditions. The state of Citizens on the Plutarchs world easily qualified as a form of wage slavery and indentured servitude.
Citizens were unable to own property unless they were already born into wealth. If a Citizen managed somehow to become wealthy enough to afford property, they paid three times the current rate as a form of entrance fee into the Plutarch society. Most of the time, Citizens were paid only what was necessary for them to meet their monthly allowance of resources. The net result was, at the end of the month, Citizens had a net worth of zero. Sometimes it was less. If a Citizen had a net value of less than zero, they were allowed to use debt management mechanisms to keep track of that debt.
Unfortunately, once a Citizen fell deeply into debt, they were usually unable to get out of debt and interest rates ensured they would be driven to penal slavery, either by failing to pay the interest which then criminalized their poverty and ensured they were sent to debtor's prisons to work off that debt being paid one tenth of their previous wages. Citizens sent to prison, died there and their debt was divided among their surviving relatives.
Citizens could be educated, but only one tenth of one percent could afford to do it without incurring new costs. Most were forced to get an education they could not afford and became part of a workforce that could only pay enough to keep their debt from growing, nothing more. Yes, even under these conditions, innovations, breakthroughs, developments continued to happen because people were desperate to escape their conditions. Most of those technologies were "developed" by the Plutarchs who paid their wages as work for hire, making sure the Citizen got to keep none of the funds created by their labors.
As the month wound on, most Plutarchs ran about trying to figure out how to maneuver their wealth into accounts that would make their money appear on paper to belong to someone other than themselves. Others made corporations, claimed those corporations were persons and divested themselves of their wealth. Normal Citizens hearing the news of their impending joining of the Hegemony were unable to muster much enthusiasm, especially when the Hegemony indicated it would make no changes to the status quo of the civilization.
The gravitic web was established one week before activation of the Wealth Management System and the Citizens who established it complained nothing would change for them and the Hegemony was simply a greater version of the structure of their world and it was simply preparing Citizens for their eventual enslavement as members of the galactic community. Most of those technicians were paid a tidy bonus to establish the gravitic web and were pleased to see the Hegemony was far less stingy than the Plutarchs of their world and they had better work hours as servants of the Hegemony, so they surmised it might not be as difficult when they became Citizens of the Hegemony.
A great fanfare preceded the Hegemonic Council's arrival on the Plutarch's world for their acceptance ceremony. The gravitic web was activated at the same time as the treaty was signed. The signer of the treaty and ninety percent of all Plutarchs died instantly, crushed under the weight of their wealth. Once activated, it could not be easily shut down. The Council retired to quarters and would wait for the next representatives of the Plutarchs to appear.
The Hegemony's computers did not accept prevarications used by the Plutarchs for generations to pretend they were less wealthy than they appeared to be. If money could be tied to you in some fashion, no matter how tenuous, it was and the burden of that wealth was yours. The remaining nine percent were hospitalized and unable to move until they actually divested themselves of their wealth. Most died a few months later bowed under their ever-increasing wealth since their engines of prosperity favored wealth flowing uphill faster than they could figure out how to get rid of it. By the end of the month, the Plutarchs, down to the last entity were dead. The remaining Citizens, once a new governing body was elected, met with the Council and decided they would leave the Hegemony's gift running as a reminder of where they came from.
The remaining Citizens reformed many of the rules that allowed the Plutarchs to exist in the first place. Debts were forgiven, prisons were opened, education became a service provided by the government. Prosperity would be localized, and local Citizens were respected no matter where they lived on their planet. The new reforms made it possible to be wealthy but it would be up to everyone to ensure egregious disregard for the system could never return. Gravity would handle the rest that tried.
Yes, there are rich Citizens today. You can tell them from the occasional shuffle of their step or their slightly bowed backs, tastefully dressed with very comfortable shoes. Most accept that burden gracefully and work diligently to ensure they never grow wealthier faster than they can return to the truly innovative, intelligent and capable Citizenry what is theirs, dignity in work and a prosperity equal to their effort.
The hunt and murder of Trayvon Martin seems like a fictionalized scene from a teen dystopian novel similar to the Hunger Games. The only problem is that this scene is real. I’ve been keeping up with the news on this case and I am both horrified and enraged. My feelings stem from two fronts, one because I am Black and the other because I am a mother. The injustice boils.
Visit:http://www.aliciamccalla.com/blog/87-trayvon-20-a-creative-science-fiction-response-
The story goes: Donald A. Glaser developed the idea for the bubble chamber - a means of tracking atomic particles (alpha, mu mesons) staring at a bottle of beer. Or, er several bottles of beer at the University of Michigan Student Union. If you're looking for the physicists... He mentions beer as well as Ginger Ale and soda (I guess he was "designated driver") in his Nobel Prize speech.
Now...it appears Beaujolais helps with superconductivity. Looks like they had several trials...
And, you thought physics was boring? Remember, soda for the DD's.
Physics arXiv: Red Wine, Tartaric Acid, and the Secret of Superconductivity
I would like to invite all BSF members to check out and join our blog!! This is the story about the young Shaman KaKo on his travels to earn his initiation..come travel with us!!!!
We are finishing the last episode before finding a publisher..so we would love some of your input!!!
Give Thanks!!
http://www.thecrocodilefactor.blogspot.com/
Hello Everyone,
Those of you who know me know I couldn’t allow the Trayvon Martin tragedy to go by without opening my big mouth and doing something about it. I belong to a group called All4One Authors who are a co-op of authors who mentor, share resources and promote each other. Anywhooooo, we are organizing a fundraiser and are inviting authors to join us. In short April 1-7, 2012, participating authors will donate 17% of their book sells (eBook and print) to the Martin family or give a monetary donation of at least $17. Please visit the website http://www.Authors4Trayvon.com for full details on how to participate, but please DO NOT give out the website to readers. I’m still adding authors and updating. We’ll be sending out the press release and starting promotion of the event in a few days. Stay tuned and I hope you decide to join us. If you know of other authors who may want participate, please feel free to share this information with them, but again, please do not release the link to readers yet.
Thank you
Deatri King-Bey
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| Good Technology |
la vengeance se mange très-bien froide, or "revenge is very good eaten cold." Khan Noonian Singh in Wrath of Khan quotes "revenge is a dish best served cold," is alas not from the Klingons, but the 1841 French novel Mathilde by Marie Joseph Eugène Sue (Wikipedia)
In the late 19th century, two competing electricity systems jostled for dominance in electric power distribution in the United States and much of the industrialized world. Alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) were both used to power devices like motors and light bulbs, but they were not interchangeable.
A battle for the grid emerged from the Apple and Microsoft of the Gilded Age. Thomas Edison, who invented many devices that used DC power, developed the first power transmission systems using this standard. Meanwhile, AC was pushed by George Westinghouse and several European companies that used Nikola Tesla's inventions to step up current to higher voltages, making it easier to transmit power over long distances using thinner and cheaper wires.
The rivalry was fraught with acrimony and publicity stunts -- like Edison electrocuting an elephant to show AC was dangerous -- but AC eventually won out as the standard for transmission, reigning for more than a century.
When we visited the Architectural Engineering Department at North Carolina A and T, Dr. Singh (absolutely no relation to Ricardo Montaban's fictional character, but an interesting aside), spoke to my son of "off-grid" buildings, self-sufficient and generating their own power. I see this as a part of the effort towards energy independency.
However, It is my sincerely hope that no elephant is injured in this latest incarnation of DC power.
Scientific American: Edison's Revenge - Will DC Make a Comeback in the US?
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| Technovelgydotcom |
The ESPER machine in the Sci-Fi Blade Runner allowed bounty hunter Deckard (played by Harrison Ford) to see around corners in search of his prey (replicants). Dutiful as we Sci-Fi fans tend to be, we suspend belief subconsciously to both enjoy the movie and help the plot along.
Until.
Bats, whales and dolphins (and, some very adept humans) use a sonar form of this: echolocation, where most likely, the sonar images are not exact or precise, but each group has enough experience to know friend from foe.
Gizmag: MIT researchers create camera that can see around corners
Just released a new e-book. Blues Love Blood & Wine. It is available on Amazon for the kindle. You can read it even if you don't have a kindle with a free Kindle app for PC, Android or Apple products.
Beware the book has monsters in it, and one cool main character. It's like Charlies Angles meets Men in Black on a date.
Lots of fun. Please check it out and let me know what you think.
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| NIST Photo |
In our bodies, an electrolyte "any substance containing free ions that make the substance electrically conductive." (Wikipedia) Our muscles and neurons respond to this when we replenish it with a solution that has a salt like sodium, potassium, calcuim, magnesium (ibid). It made the University of Florida famous (Gatorade), and most likely quite wealthy.
It turns out you can be too thin—especially if you’re a nanoscale battery. Researchers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the University of Maryland, College Park, and Sandia National Laboratories built a series of nanowire batteries to demonstrate that the thickness of the electrolyte layer can dramatically affect the performance of the battery, effectively setting a lower limit to the size of the tiny power sources.* The results are important because battery size and performance are key to the development of autonomous MEMS—microelectromechanical machines—which have potentially revolutionary applications in a wide range of fields.
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| Starts With a Bang! |
This goes out to each and every individual I have had the honor of working with, sharing adventures with, learning with and learning from. I wanted to share with you, a new webseries campaign I’m producing that needs your help and support!
The Fastest is a sci-fi action series in which citizens of the small fictional New York City borough of Tran’s Port, find themselves moving and thinking at light speed after an accident affects random inhabitants in strange ways.
OUR GOAL is to transform this into a web series and grow The Fastest campaign into a television series. We've written character arcs for dozens of characters but will focus on shooting one episode for a character that Filmmaker, Google/YouTube Producer Chris Chan Roberson has developed and a character that Filmmaker/Entrepreneur Greg Payton has developed. We've also extensively developed the history of Tran's Port, its supporting characters, and what's to happen in the first several seasons.
WHAT WE'VE DONE SO FAR Thanks to the years of teaching and on-set experience by Chris and Greg, the shoot is fully scheduled. The crew is in place and the roles have been cast. We have all the equipment we need; taking advantage of the latest in RED, Sony, Panasonic and Go-Pro High-Definition camera technology.
WHAT WE NEED The two most expensive budget items are food and transportation. The money raised here will feed our fearless crew. No food, no morale; no morale, no series. The money will also help our crew travel to various parts of New York City and beyond to realistically create the fictional sixth borough of Tran's Port.
Simply put: every dollar you spend will be seen on screen. The money you invest in our series will not go towards processing fees or producer salaries, but will pay for someone to record professional quality sound, to have professional make up artists, to pay for actual locations opposed to redressed NYC apartments, and so forth and so on.
With every campaign, it has its deadlines! By April 8th, 6:20pm, the campaign must be fully funded that’s why I turn to some of my most trusted professionals, friends and loved ones for your support! Remember it only takes $1; more if you feel so generous! Like, donate and share with your own networks to help get the word out!
Every dollar counts as the campaign for the newest science-fiction series marches on! We plan to submit this series to the New York Television Festival http://www.nytvf.com/, the International Television Festival http://itvfest.org/, among others, so the vision for The Fastest will be shared among the masses!
LIKE, SUPPORT AND SHARE THE FASTEST!!
Thanks and much love for your support,
Greg Payton | Chris Chan Roberson
Creators
THE FASTEST
Good day,
As a local, Harlem-raised author, I was happy to see Hue-Man open
years ago. Since then, I have tried to get your establishment to carry
my independently published novel; on each of the several occasions on
which I did so, I was told that Hue-Man does not accept independently
published manuscripts. At first, I took this in stride; I thought
maybe it was a matter of excessive demand, and/or an attempt to
maintain a high literary standard. As a Harlem native, it made me
happy to think this might be the case. But since then, I've walked
into Hue Man--and received its newsletters--and been increasingly
disappointed in not only the diminishing quality of the newsletter's
writing, but the popularity-driven schlock that has more often
stocked its shelves. If you're going to pick up some of the
hoopla-oriented caricatured stuff I've seen, I think your consistent
unwillingness to represent a local author--whose book aims to inspire
critical thought and a progressive agenda--is disappointing. There was
a time when Hue-Man was on the short list of bookstores I'd have been
happy to say were among the first to stock my debut; I'm no longer
sure this is the case. Again, I find this disappointing. If you'd at
least taken a copy and it wasn't your cup of tea, I could have
retained my respect for the bookstore's standard and intent; now, I
increasngly believe that it's just an angle to slide into some
weak and unchallenging outpost of the mainstream, by promoting
half-baked quasi-intelligent products that tell people what they want
to hear. Feel free to prove me wrong, but I have my doubts.
Sincerely,
PW
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| Ars Technica - link below |
A new experiment involving a graphene-like material has shown that it's possible to perform some spectacular manipulations of the properties of these quasiparticles. The work is described in a Nature letter by Kenjiro Gomes, Warren Mar, Wonhee Ko, Francisco Guinea, and Hari C. Manoharan. The team arranged carbon monoxide molecules to form the same hexagonal pattern found in graphene, except that they could change the spacing slightly.
This produced an environment where the material's electrons behave remarkably like relativistic particles, with a "speed of light" that they can adjust. Additionally, the researchers could change the spacing between molecules in a way that the masses of the quasiparticles changed, or cause them to behave as though they are interacting with electric and magnetic fields—without actually applying those fields to the material. This setup will potentially help us explore new physics that may arise in these environments.
Wikipedia: Higgs mechanism
Ars Technica: Researchers mimic relativity and the Higgs field in graphene-like material
BWB © 19 March 2012, the Griot Poet
Driving While Black…no, he was
Walking While Black…
Being While Black…
Trayvon Martin’s crime was
Iced tea and a bag of skittles, the riddle of walking
In a hoodie in the rain during an intermission of the NCAA All-Star Game.
His English teacher said his major was “cheerfulness.”
Other than his hoodie that most teenagers wear,
George Zimmerman became Klansman and executioner,
The 2012 version of Emmett Till’s asthmatic whistle that got him tragically killed.
Mamie Till allowed an open casket view
To look at the ugliness that they’d visited on her son.
That brave act steeled backbone in the Civil Rights Movement;
A personal tragedy in a pre-racial reality.
Now, in the post-racial reality of having a
Black president, Trayvon’s spirit cries out for justice,
And the DOJ has a black attorney general, the force of law being:
“Hate Crime” – defined as “a traditional offense like
Murder, arson, or vandalism with an added element of bias.”
For the purposes of collecting statistics,
Congress has defined a hate crime as a "criminal offense
Against a person or property motivated in whole or in
Part by an offender's bias against a race, religion,
Disability, ethnic origin or sexual orientation." (FBI.gov)
Every black and brown parent hugs their kids closer tonight;
Every black and brown child hides their Obama t-shirts and posters,
Else flirt with disaster.
These were the fights they’d see only in February/September-October
– once-a-year – in Black and Hispanic History (Month), or You Tube reels.
The young would roll their eyes and say:
“that’s old; it don’t happen anymore.”
Well…
Trayvon’s blood was spilled on a police department’s
Floor as his father called his cell for THREE days
And NO ONE answered until they got their “story” straight.
They’d protect Invader Zimm through Florida’s
“Stand Your Ground” law, because if they
Prosecute Zimmerman, they risk [for themselves] lawsuit!
Trayvon’s blood calls out to God as Abel’s
Did for Cain’s slaughter of him.
And just to remind you – Trayvon’s “sin” so to not long ponder this riddle:
Driving While Black…NO, he was
Walking While Black…
Being While Black…
…with the deadly weapons of a hoodie, an iced tea and a bag of skittles!
Hi there
I'm new to the site. Does anyone know about reviews on Tananarive Due's speculative fiction? I'd like to introduce her work to my college students, and want to give them some academic background.
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| Full report here |
At a panel discussion at the conference, a number of scientists and science policymakers said these poll figures reveal a startling degree of public skepticism toward the United States's ability to compete globally in scientific research. They blamed the public's perception of the United States as a dwindling science powerhouse on a lack of long-term thinking by lawmakers tasked with funding national science endeavors. While China and the European Union have taken steps to increase their research budgets, the United States more recently has struggled to keep its research budget from declining...
No sooner than yesterday's posting. I thought to scale back my comments. I'm glad I didn't!
To be fair and elucidate: the chart above and a the link below the picture seems at first glance we're OK having the proverbial "biggest piece of the pie." Adding all the other parts, it merely says collectively there is skepticism regarding our collective ability to do anything of significance or visionary leadership. A collective sigh; a national shoulder-shrug.
Cosmological Age, Evolution, Global Warming: we've become a sound-bite culture where journalism is meaningless, coreligionist rather than reasoned or rational, more concerned with scoring political points than solving critical problems: and jingoism is not patriotism! It makes Octavia Butler's "Parable of the Sower" and "Parable of the Talents" almost prophetic.
Prophecy, nor predictive models have to be destiny: it only occurs when either go unheeded.
AAAS Science Mag - Poll: Many U.S. Voters Have Gloomy View of America's Science Future
John Paulos is a Mathematics Professor at Temple University. Writing in the New York Times:
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| NYT Photo |
I’ve visited Singapore a few times in recent years and been impressed with its wealth and modernity. I was also quite aware of its world-leading programs in mathematics education and naturally noted that one of the candidates for president was Tony Tan, who has a Ph.D. in applied mathematics. Tan won the very close election and joined the government of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who also has a degree in mathematics.
China has even more scientists in key positions in the government. President Hu Jintao was trained as a hydraulic engineer and Premier Wen Jiabao as a geomechanical engineer. In fact, eight out of the nine top government officials in China have scientific backgrounds. There is a scattering of scientist-politicians in high government positions in other countries as well. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has a doctorate in physical chemistry, and, going back a bit, Margaret Thatcher earned a degree in chemistry.
I personally think it's a matter of motivation.
Usually, politics is not seen as a "STEM Career," so many don't even think to pursue such a path beyond the lab/fab. Dealing with a circuit/test tube/sample is far simpler than saying the right sound-bite-tested phrase for the cameras. It's quieter than a political rally.
It's also my observation that politicans have "emotional intelligence," meaning they can "move a crowd," a skill they need if they want to maintain a job. A skill unnecessary in a laboratory. Tech types tend to be self-motivated.
From Wikipedia: The term technocracy was originally used to designate the application of the scientific method to solving social problems, in counter distinction to the traditional economic, political or philosophic approaches. According to the proponents of this concept, the role of money and economic values, political opinions, and moralistic control mechanisms would be eliminated altogether if and when this form of social control should ever be implemented in a continental area endowed with enough natural resources, technically trained personnel, and installed industrial equipment so as to allow for the production and distribution of physical goods and services to all continental citizens in an amount exceeding the individuals' physical ability to consume.
This would, unfortunately create a new "class" of being that only specialized knowledge would allow the ascendancy to the governing body. Since it would only require a select few, much as our current system of governance, it would become quite evident that the shift of power would favor one group (s) over others. The world does not work like Star Trek, or Vulcan. Our baser instincts would prevail. (Besides, it ultimately didn't work so well on the fictional home of Superman - they, er... blew up.) 
However, the current pandering to focus groups and "the base" needs to cease. Our leaders need SOME appreciation of science for clear decision-making, else they will model an anti-intellectualism that will soon become the "new normal," one we will not recover from...for maybe a generation.
New York Times: Why Don't Americans Elect Scientists?
