This document provides a summary of an interview with John Hedderich, who works at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey. Some key points: - Hedderich discusses how the skills and technologies developed at Picatinny for weapon systems can also help with disaster response and managing crowds in emergencies. - He notes that Picatinny employs a diverse range of scientists, engineers, and technicians and that their work involves areas like energetics, explosives and ballistics. - When asked why someone would want to work at Picatinny, Hedderich cites opportunities to contribute to national security and help keep soldiers and citizens safe.

2. M A S T H E A D
PaulJackson Publisher & Founder
Rev.Dr.William James Founder
John J.Meo Managing Editor
Diahne Parsons VicePresident Development
Maria Paredes Layout & Design
PaulClark Washington D.C.Bureau Chief
AustinArrington Associate ScienceEditor
DanielRose Co-Founder & Co-Publisher
LETTER F R OM THE EDITOR
At The Harlem Times,our tagline is News for Harlem and The Harlems of the World.Like Harlem itself, our
news is fresh in its approach, unique in its content, and global in its worldview.
Currently,The Harlem Times is distributed in allfiveboroughs of NYC,North and SouthJersey, Delaware,
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these cities,TheHarlem Times serves as an informativegateway for readers, connecting them with the restofthe
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We hope that you enjoy our paper as a source of information.
Sincerely,
P.A.Jackson
Co-Founder & Publisher
CONTACT INFORMATION
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Email - pjackson@theharlemtimes.com

3. HT Spotlight
John
HedderichArmament Research, Development and Engineering Center,
Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey
InterviewedbyPaulJackson,Publisher,HarlemTimes
departments and active
shooter demonstrations.
The question is how will
the people react to a di-
saster? When you con-
sider our missions or
even how to fire a gun it
takes all kinds of think-
ing. Analyze the data all
aroundyou. Manyofthe
decision aids, sensors
and devices we use to
develop weapons can be
used. Those algorithms
and analysiscan be used
the same way. This can
be done when you’re
worried about how
crowds are going to re-
act to different disasters.
Logistics will change. If
you think about water
and food, and having to
move people from one
place to another that is
pretty much like ammu-
nition. Allofthoseparal-
lelsthat we do everyday
have a direct connection
to civilian life. We regu-
larly test our communi-
cationsystemsforweap-
onsandthesamelessons
learnedcanalsoapplyto
civilians. The support-
ingtechnology,willhelp
limit a disaster’s dam-
age. It’s all available as
wecontinueourpartner-
shipwiththeCityofNew
York. We are involved
with our communities,
local, state, or nation-
al. Taxpayers have been
payinga lot of money and
we are ready if needed.
is here. We have physicists, chemists, tech-
nicians that run machine shops and accom-
plished programmers because most equip-
ment is run by computers. It is not just the
scientist at the top end, we have everything
in between.
P: Whataresomeofthestepsinyourca-
reerthathelpedyougettothisposition?
First, become an expert in an area. Before
floating at multiple jobs find your niche at
somethingand make yourmark. I made my
mark in an area called tank ammunition. I
started in the eighties during the cold war.
Then tank ammunition was a huge challenge.
It had to defeat the armor of that day. I was
able to learn in multiple areas. I learned by
taking on any challenge my management
gave me. In my career I always wanted the
job no one wanted to do. That is something
in which I take great pride. Don’t be afraid
to take on challenges. I learned to listen to
everyone and to keep my mind open. Tryto
understand where the other person is com-
ingfrom. Istillmake mistakesandstilllearn
from them.
P: What advice would you give to schol-
ars in college or high school?
Number one, follow your dreams and keep
anopenmind. Thepeopleyouconnectwith
shape the wayyouthink. Go into science. It
leads to any path you want. Set your sights
high! Don’t just work 100% on things, work
120%. Listentoyourselfandpeople. Taketo
heart what people tell you.
P: What job do you think will be most in
demand in twenty years?
That’s a good question. They are still going
to need a mixture of computers and science.
Haveavarietyofspecialties. Anengineering
position in thecommercialsector isgoing to
bemoreindemand. Theworldisheadingto
P: How many people
workatPicatinny?
different ways of making things. All of the
disciplines are starting to merge. As peo-
P: Can you tell me about yourself?
Wheredidyougrowup? Howaboutpar-
and I wouldhave an argument or a fight, he
wouldsitusallonthecouchandmakeusput
P: What motivated you to choose engi-
neering as a career?
1976to1980. MyfatherwasintheNavyand
wasa30%disabledvet. Hebelievedincom- If you include contracted and civil service
ple live longer they will need more doctors.
That’sanareaIwouldalsoconsider.
ents,brothersandsisters?Tellmeabout our heads together. Wewould just sit there munity service. That was the beginning of personnel, it would be 5500 to 6000.
some of your education choices. I know until we started cracking-up laughing. We I was always interested in taking things where I am today. Fairleigh Dickinson was P: What is Picatinny doing to attract
you studied mechanical engineering at wouldrealizeitwasstupidandforgetabout apartandfiguringouthowthingsworked. I great and I waspresident of the Association P: WhattypeofworkdoPicatinnysci- morestudentsfromunderrepresented
Fairleigh Dickinson University. whywewerefighting. thought I was going to be a machinist. My for Mechanical Engineering. entists and engineers do? What are their populations?
dadandmompushedmetogoaheadandbe- primary duties?
Igrewupabout10minutesfromtheGeorge
WashingtonBridgeinBergenfield,N.J.Iwas
That’s how I actually live my life. It is my
leadershipstyle. IfpeoplearearguingI will
comeanengineer. Theywantedmetotryto
go one step further. They told me I seemed
P: Let’sgooversomequestionsaboutPi-
catinnyArsenal. Picatinnyisgoingtobe The main areas are energetics, explosives,
Picatinnyhasbeengiventheopportunityto
hire additional employeesthisyear andhas
borninHackensack. IlivedinTeaneckuntil get themtogether andtalk. I’mabeliever in to be good at math so why not just try. My working on some things with New York propellants and techniques. If you want expanded its outreach program. We had to
I was about 6 years old, then moved to Ber- lookingatsomeonefacetofaceandworking fathercouldn’taffordtopayforschoolsohe City. Howare you going to worktogeth- something to fly through the air you use retrain our recruiters. We’ve targeted our
genfield. MydadwasabutcheratA&P. My hard. I make time for my people. It is not toldme,“youcanhavefreeroomandboard, eronbothman-madeandnaturaldisas- aerodynamics. You have to have a sense of HBCU effort. We also worked through the
momwasabookkeeperuntilshestayedhome
to raise the family. I’m one of four, having
always easy. Youcan say you’re really busy
andmakeupanexcuse,buttherearenogood
so get a job, start saving and figure out how
topayforit.”So,Isupportedmyselfforfour
ters? electronics to survive. Electrical and com-
puter science engineers are increasing as a
STEM Education Office. We want to do
more outreach. The only way to get people
threesisters. Igrewupinaveryclosefamily. excuses. If you are going to be a leader, you years of college. I paid for my education. We’ve been working with New York City, percentagebutthebiggerchunkismechan- attracted here is for them to know we exist.
Mydadalwaysbelievedinstickingtogether havetomaketimeforyourpeople. The reasonI went to Teaneckfor school was Philadelphia, Newark and WestOrange for icalandchemical. Wehavethousandsofen- We have to make sure our phones are open
and taking care of each other. If my sisters IlivedrightthereinBergenfield. Iwentfrom many years. We work with the police, fire gineers here. Every element of engineering so when people seek information we re-
20 |THEHARLEMTIMES.COM • FEBRUARY 2016 THEHARLEMTIMES.COM •FEBRUARY 2016 | 21

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5. 24 |THEHARLEMTIMES.COM • FEBRUARY 2016
HT Spotlight
spond. Wealso have a webpage people can
see. We’retrying to open up throughadver-
tisement. Wehadajobfair. Wehadover300
peopleregister. Bytheendofthedaywehad
over750peoplehere.
P: Why would someone want to work at
Picatinny Arsenal?
Theyhavealoveforsecurityandunderstand
thattheworkwedoprovidespeoplewiththe
comfort that they can go home to their fam-
ilies in peace. You’re not going to become
a millionaire working for the government.
If you wanted to serve in the military and
couldn’t,thiscouldbeyouropportunity.The
realjobishowmanylivesdidyousavetoday?
Think of that challenge. That’s what you do
here all day. You will be working on many
things. Wevalue openness to newchalleng-
es. That’swhatarmamentengineersdo. You
will do well here too because we need all
types of people. Belief in diversity and the
challenge to bring our soldiers safely home
arewhypeoplewanttoworkhere.
P: WhatadvicecanyougiveourHarlem
Times readers?
Find new ideas and follow your dreams to
your career. Come to a place like Picatinny
tolearnwhatsuccessfeelslike. Wehavea1%
turnover rate. We are here to be a national
asset. We hope students take advantage of
livinginourareaandtheeducationaloppor-
tunities associated with it. Get your college
degree and remember Picatinny Arsenal and
theopportunitiesitoffers.

6. Q&A Q&A
P So you combined your me- cansneakaglimpsebehindthecurtain.Ien-
courageallengineerstoetherobtainanMBA
P Whatwould you tell a scholar to-
Taking the leap:
Shahram Dabiri
of Picatinny
Encouraging
youngpeople
to the sciences
chanical skills with your business
skills.
S I had to. Engineering school
doesa greatjobteaching howthings
work but I needed to know how the
businessandsocialside ofengineer-
ing works. In my almost 15 year ca-
reer I have noted that more often
thannotengineeringproblemssolve
themselves when the right team is
put together, like a well formulat-
ed and staffed orchestra. It’s us, the
managers that just haveto get out of
thewayandtoworkhardtokeepthe
channelsofcommunicationfreeand
open. Toalways have an open mind
oraSixSigma Blackbeltliketo betterunder-
stand their organization. This knowledge
will allow them to see why management does
whattheydoandaidthemintheirdaytoday
communicationsupthecorporatechain.It’s
notjustrandomnessthereislogicandreason
to all decisions that get handed down from
above.
P How long did you work in the pri-
vate field?
S For about a year and then I worked
inFinlandfortheAndritz-Ahlstromcompa-
ny designing and developing pulp and paper
recycling machines. In Finland we worked
on the impossible recyclable challenges of
daytostudy?
S I tell students to study everything and
anything you can get your hands on, be the
insatiable sponge of information and ideas.
Living in America, we are fortunate that we
are flexible in our education system; we are
never truly locked into one track like our
friendsinEuropeorAsia.Anddon’tfearthe
firststepinthelongroadofinbetteringyour-
self though education. Engineering may be
scary,science may be scary,but what is scar-
ier is the regret of not having taken that first
step.
Asanimmigrantandsomeonewhohastrav-
eledandlivedinmanycountriesIholdboth
InterviewedbyPaulJackson,Publisher,HarlemTimes
myfamilyimmigratedtotheUSduringper-
haps the most turbulent times in of the Iran
US relations. However we were warmly
greetedbyall whom we encounteredin our
that the written word was my calling and
boldlydeclaredtomyparentsIwantedtobe
awriter.Howevertheybeingwiserandmore
groundedinsistedIatleasttryengineering.
of others views, of problems and
solutionsandto;empower,delegate
and accountability and responsibil-
ity to the individual. That’s the key
skill I needed to obtain via my MBA
tobeabetterengineeringmanager.
P Can you give me something
that you learned from this mar-
riage?
S Microeconomics and market-
ing were two classes that I absolute-
ly loved. I had no idea about what
the consumer was thinking until I
studied marketing. By knowing mi-
croeconomics, I now have a better
understanding of how supply chains
function and how new concepts de-
velop and are given financial value.
What really impressed me was game theo-
ry. To become aware of how competitive in-
dustries and individuals work together and
against each other in the pursuit of a com-
mon goal is amazing. This knowledge al-
the day. It’s called downstream capitaliza-
tion, turning waste into profits. We worked
on finding new and novel ways to recycle
unrecyclable components of paper such as
titanium dioxideand waxesfoundin waxed
cardboard. We made some amazing strides
in using sound to pull apart the titanium
particles and temperature shocking to sepa-
rate the wax from the pulp. The group that I
workedwithwereamazingandIsharedalot
ofgreatmemorieswiththeminFinland.
P Is observation one of your stron-
gest skills in engineering?
S YES! We often find ourselves living
in this amazing nation and we never really
mindfully observe what is going on around
us. Be it how things work to how people in-
teract with each other. If I could give one
word of advice to all the students out there
I wouldsay,“ Be inquisitive,be in wonderof
theworldaroundyoubutfocusthatwonder
into learning how and why things and people
do what they do and learn to communicate
anoutsidersandaninsider’sviewofourna-
tion. And thus I constantly remind students
that despite our shortcomings this little ex-
periment is the most amazing country and
society that ever existed! We as Americans
are almost programmed to be knowledge
hungry and to take risks and to explore the
unknowns of ourselves and the world around
us.Andso I implore studentsto say,“yes”to
educationalopportunities.Ifsomeoneoffers
you an opportunity to learn something new
say, “yes.” If your teacher offers you to stay
afterschooltofieldanexperimentsay“yes.”
Ifyoubossoffersyoutotaketrainingjustsay
“YES!”
From the parent’s point of view and the
ever increasing cost of secondary education
thingsarealittledifferent.Whenparentsask
meaboutwhattheirchildshouldstudy?Isay
“Just make sure they get out of high school
with a good understanding of the fundamen-
tals and then go to a good school that they
can afford and are comfortable with.” And
P I know you’re an immigrant to this
country?Tellmeaboutyourselfandwho
or what motivatedyou to become an en-
gineer?
S I was born and raised in Iran in 1977
before the revolution. I’m the oldest of three
siblings. I guess you can say engineering
runs in the family. My grandfather started
his career at Langley Motors, which was the
original Land Rover and eventually opened
up a few movie theaters and a repair shop
for the movie projectors. He was an electri-
cal engineer and a master machinist and he
wouldbringmewithhimtohisshopwhenI
wasyoungtoseethesemassivecomplexma-
chines being repaired. And watchinghim and
his team breathing new life into broken ma-
chineswasalwaysasourceoffascinationfor
me. That’sprobablyhowitallbegan,looking
to revive the ghost in the machine and won-
deringhowandwhysomethingworkedand
others didn’t.
In 1980 the Iran Iraq war began and in 1985
journeyofassimilation andadoptionofthis
nation as our own. We eventually settled in
the small town of Glens Falls in the Adiron-
dackMountainsofNewYorkStatewheremy
parents currently reside.
While a student at Glens Falls High School
I had a once in a life time opportunity to be-
comeanexchangestudenttoaforgingcoun-
try for one year. And through the support
and encouragement of my parents I served
asaRotaryExchangeStudentforoneyearin
the city of Cochabamba Bolivia. It was there
whereIwasmatchedwiththemostamazing,
kind,patient,professionalandastutefamily
who taught me critical communication and
adaptive skills which would serve me later
in life. Upon my return as a senior in high
school, I was faced with the challenge every
highschoolstudentisfacedwith,“Whatam
I going to study in college?” and asked “What
areyougoingtodowhenyougrowup?”Due
toanumberofarticlesIhadpublishedinthe
RotaryInternationalNewsPaper,Iassumed
Atthattime,Ihad falselyassumedthattobe
viable engineer, you need an A+ in mathe-
maticsandIwasonlyaBstudentandIwasn’t
evensureIwouldbeacceptedintoengineer-
ing school. Yet with some luck and further
encouragement from my parents I applied
and was accepted to Hudson Valley Commu-
nityCollageasanengineeringstudent.And
it was there that my ability to communicate
with people and other learned social skills,
allowedme to stepinto engineering with an
open mind and do rather well in school and
in my subsequent career at Picatinny Arse-
nal.
P Wheredidyouattendschool?
S I started off at Hudson Valley Com-
munityCollegeinTroyNewYorkthen went
to the SUNY University At Buffalo where I
obtainedmyBachelor ofScience inMechan-
ical Engineering. I have subsequently earned
an Executive MBA from Farleigh Dickinson
andamaSixSigmaBlackBelt.
lowed me to understand internal and exter-
nal social and economic pressures. And now I
yourthoughtsandideaswithothersinanef-
ficient manner.”
above all else to finish their secondary edu-
cation and to take full advantage of collage/
university life, by learning as much as they
can about science, technology and society.
Suchthat whenthey graduate withadegree
theyhaveagoodunderstandingoftheworld
around them and can hit the ground running.
P A lot of students believe that you
havetobethebesttogointoengineering,
what do you have to say to them? Why is
it hard to understand what an engineer
doesandwhatittakes?
S I say to students what I’m looking for
isawell-roundedstudent,notnecessarilythe
straight A student. Tobecome a great STEM
studentor an engineer or scientist, youneed
tobewillingtostepupandtakeinitiativeand
to ask the question, why? So you have to be
innately inquisitive, comfortable in being un-
comfortableinyourlackofunderstandingof
thingsyouknownothingabout.Thatshould
be their drive to peruse a STEM career. You
25 |THEHARLEMTIMES.COM • FEBRUARY 2016 THEHARLEMTIMES.COM •FEBRUARY 2016 | 26

7. Q&A
see in science and technology it’s that fire of
inquiry within which lights up the darkness
that makes you question the universe and
draws you into enlightenment. To take that
firststep.
P What’s happening at Picatinny Ar-
senal?
S I’m trying to stay on top of all the good
workgoingonaroundhere.Thereareseveral
things being organized and coordinated. For
instance, we have our Introduce a Girl to En-
gineering Open House coming up, which al-
lows overa hundred
girls from local schools to meet the awesome
female engineers and scientists from Picatin-
ny and to discuss their career and education
options. Wehave a large involvement in First
Robotics where we currently sponsor 34 FRC
teamsandmakesureeachonehasaPicatinny
engineer mentor workingwiththem. Weare
also the primary sponsor of a robotics tour-
nament that will take place in early March at
Mt. Olive. We are organizing a large STEM
diversity event to be held at Liberty Science
Center for students from Harlem and north-
ernNewJerseyinmid-Marchwherestudents
getachancetoengagewithourleadengineers
andtoseehowtheygotwheretheygot. Atthe
endofMarch,wewillbeworkingonanational
campaign,theJuniorScienceandHumanities
SymposiumsatRutgersandMonmouthUni-
versitieswherestudentswillcompetetogooff
tonationalsandtorepresentNewJersys’best
and brightest.
P Your focus is on young people. You
have many partnerships revolving around
STEM education. How do you work with
theseoutsideInstitutionstomakecollab-
orations work?
S We partner with a menagerie of local
schools and institutions. Working with these
institutions we have realized that students
have engineers all around them, they just
don’t know it. Often students have broth-
ers, sisters, aunts, uncles, moms or dads who
are engineers. When asked, do the students
know what these people do, the answer is al-
mostalways,“no.”Thatshowsthatengineers
do a terrible job of promoting the wonderful
things that they do. And so at the request of
the teachers and administrators, Picatinny
deploys engineers and scientists into local
schoolstoencourageinteractionbetweenthe
engineersandthestudentsona regularbasis.
This will givestudentsthe information need-
edtounderstandhowimportantandreward-
ing an engineering career can be and maybe.
And get them to talk to their family members
aboutwhytheychoseaSTEMcareer.
Thehope isthat thissparkofcommunication
encourage young people to enter the STEM
fieldssothatwewillhaveasufficientquantity
of qualified engineers and scientists to meet
our nation’sfuture workforce needs.Andun-
like some careers that have a socio economic
bias STEM fields are blind to; race, socioeco-
nomic status, gender or sexual orientation.
It’s just based purely on your ability to think
critically and to communicate concisely and
toproducesomethingofvalue.Engineersand
scientist are judged based on their creativity
andproblemssolvingcapabilities!Notwhere
they are fromor where they wentto schoolor
with home.
P How does that fit into your mission
statement? And how are you making a
change in our communities?
S On the front end our main objective is
straightforward: answer for students the age
old question, “Why do I need to learn this?”
Andonthebackendweareaskingourselves,
“Why do we have a national problem with
qualified human capital?” This fear of a lack
ofgoodhumancapitalissharedbymanycom-
panies, and hiring managers who lay awake at
nightwondering“wherecanwefindthemost
driven and intelligent students and recruit
them?” Thus this becomes a two sided prob-
lem,oneofunderstandingandoneofrecruit-
ment. If we educate student, parents regarding
theviabilityofaSTEMcareerwecandevelop
apipelineofqualifiedcandidatesfromwhich
we,Picatinny,andthenationcanrecruitfrom.
This familiarization of students with the vi-
ability of a STEM career reinvigorates many
underservedcommunities inthatit levelsthe
socioeconomic playing field and demonstrates
a pathway to financial and personal growth
andstability.Andchallengespreexistingpar-
adigms in well healed districts in providing an
alternate career path to the statusquo and re-
invigorating the desire for understanding. In
short, our mission of informing is a very pos-
itivedisruptiveinfluenceinourlocalcommu-
nity.
P So what message can you give to
The Harlem Times readers?
S Never say no to an opportunity that
may knock at the door and never be scaredto
learn something new. Don’t fear the first step
in the long road of in bettering yourself. En-
gineering maybe scary,science maybe scary,
life may be scarry but what is scarier is the
regret of not having taken that first step. Life
isa learning experience! Andifyouare doing
it right you will have few regrets and some
amazing stories.
27 |THEHARLEMTIMES.COM • FEBRUARY 2016

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9. 29 |THEHARLEMTIMES.COM • FEBRUARY 2016
O
Front page
Scientist, Educator, and
Cultural PowerhouseBy:AustinArrington Photo:MariusBugge
Dr.NeildeGrasse
Tyson
verthelastyearNeildeGrasseTy-
son has become a cultural power-
house. The astrophysicist and di-
rectoroftheHaydenPlanetarium
attheAmericanMuseumofNaturalHistory
notonlyhelpededucatethemassesaboutthe
wondersofscienceandtheUniversethrough
Cosmos, but also tackles a wide range of is-
sues with his radio show StartTalk, and has
somehow managed to become a social me-
diaiconintheprocess.Tysonisawholenew
breed – scientist, entertainer, gifted com-
reachinganewlevelofmassappealwithhis
message of humanism, scientific enlighten-
ment, and cosmic exploration.
Mostrecently,NeildeGrassehasmadeTwit-
ter headlinesasthe“Grinchthat ruined Star
Wars”–andiswellknownfortweetingscien-
tificfallaciesinStarWarsandothersci-fifan
favorites.Here’sarecenttweetfromDecem-
ber, 21: “Unashamed of inanity, #TheForce-
Awakens repeats the Millennium Falcon
boastofcompletingtheKesselRunin‘under
12parsecs’.”
As if being a social media rockstar wasn’t
enough, how about discussing the relation-
shipbetweenart,science,andcreativitywith
a musical legend? Tyson sat down recently
with David Byrne of the Talking Heads. Ty-
son asked Byrne such thought-provoking
orenhancedbyrestraints,howmusicandar-
chitecturearerelated,whethermachinescan
be creative, and why studying art makes for
better scientists and mathematicians.”
The Harlem Times had the opportunity to
sit down with Dr. Tyson at his office above
HaydenPlanetarium to discuss the science,
education,andtheroleofmediaasacommu-
nication platform for big ideas.
When Tyson talks about the Universe, he
has a way of really getting you to listen, by
making it clear that it’s important to have
this knowledge. Learning about the Uni-
verse, and about how life on Earth came to
be through stellar events and evolution, can
be a kind of self-knowledge, or realization
of our own existence in relation to the Uni-
verse. Of course, one of greatest proponents
of self-knowledge throughstudy of the Uni-
verse was Carl Sagan. A few times during our
interview, Tyson spoke warmly about Sagan,
thehighlyinfluentialastronomerandhostof
the original Cosmos series. Sagan had first
reachedouttoTyson,whentheyoungTyson
was deciding where to get his undergraduate
degree. While Tyson went on his own path,
the fact the Sagan went so far to reach out
to him made a lasting impact on his ownlife
andteaching style.WhenCosmosfirst aired
in1980,Tysonwasalreadyingradschooland
deepintohisresearch.While itdidn’tneces-
sarily teach him anything new scientifically
speaking, Tysonsaysthat the original series
taught him something else.
“The effect that it hadonme at thetime, was
toseeandnoticethatitwaspossibletobring
the Universe to thepublic in such a waythat
people would embrace learning, and em-
bracethepowerofknowledgeofourplacein
theUniverse,”Tysonsaid.“Tolearnwhatour
placeisintheUniverseisdeep—it’semotion-
ally deep, it’s philosophically deep, it’s even
spiritually deep—and it’s these kinds of mes-
sages,thatwereputforthintheoriginalCos-
mos,thatitmyjudgmentmadeitsomething
that people never forgot.”
Ithinkit’sfairtosaythatTysonhashadasig-
nificant impact ongettingthegreater public
to embrace learning. While Tyson’s style is
certainly different from Sagan’s (with way
more cheeky humor and cool sarcasm), the
two scientists are very similar in their mas-
tery of language and communication, the
ability to distill complex ideas into manage-
able bits, and the ability to deliver this mes-
sage in a way that connects people and gets
them excitedabout learning. Hats off to you
Neil–thanksforshowingusaroundourUni-
verse!
THEHARLEMTIMES.COM •FEBRUARY 2016 | 30
municator, and deep thinker to the core – questionsas“whethercreativityishindered

10. A
Front page
Q&
Have you had any “ah ha” moments?
Formelifehasbeenanaccumulationofforc-
es. And as the forces accumulate and as you
learntowieldtheminawaythatservesyour
missionstatementthen“ahha”momentsbe-
come rarer.It implies that youare surprised
bythem; it impliesyoucouldnot anticipate.
It implies that you are not fully aware of the
landscapeyouarestandingon.AndItrytobe
asawareasIcanpossiblybe.Soifsomething
is rising up in one corner I’mpreparedfor it.
It’s an old saying, “luck favors the well pre-
pared” which means there really is no luck.
Thatis,areyoupreparedforsomethingthat
for someone else may have been unantici-
pated? And then what do they do. Maybe it
works as an “ah ha” moment for them, but I
betmostpeoplemissitentirelybecausethey
have no receptors for it. My life has been an
accumulation of life experiences, activities,
ideas,andexpressedideas.Yeahtheirarelit-
tle moments I can site but there are not big
moments, Other than when I first started on
the path to know about the universe when I
was nine years old.
I think some people are waiting for “ah ha”
moments to come to them, not realizing we
have in fact to create the meaning of life. If
you create the meaning, you realize it’s not
somethingyouarelookingfor,it’ssomething
you shape. You create meaning for others;
you lessen the suffering of others. You can
enrich youownlife for a little more loveand
light in the world. This is how you create
meaning; otherwise you spend your whole
life looking for it. Maybe you’ll find it, but,
there is a lot of time between now and when
youfindit.Whereasyoucouldhavebeencre-
ating meaning in the world.
What are your thoughts on Mediation?
I’mnotconvincedthatmeditationwillwork
for me, because I care much more about the
world outside of me, than the world inside
of me. In the time I would be meditating I
would rather read a book about how super-
sonic airplanes work, or about space trav-
el. I am acquiring knowledge, insight, and
wisdom about these objective realities that
exist outside of me. Meditation is highly
introspective. And science couldn’t be fur-
ther from introspection than you could get
because it recognizes that there is a reality
outside your brain. What is that reality, let’s
find out. The people who would seek intro-
spection could become more at peace with
themselves or others. And its great value to
the individual but I have not found value in
meditation, to the objective realities that
drive the world, politics, discoveries, and
policies. For example, if mediation actually
contributed to those forces then those na-
tions and cultures that are best known for
meditation and introspection would be the
ones discovering things about the universe.
However, those countries look to the rest of
theworldfortohowtoadvancetheirciviliza-
tion.Meditationhasgreatpersonalvaluebut
I’m not into personal value. Science was in-
vented to remove the human mind from the
equation; the human sensory system: sight,
sound, smell, taste touch. Science replaces
all those sensors with far superior detectors
that are not subject to whether youhadyour
coffeethismorningorwhetheryougotafull
night sleep. Now I have a machine making
themeasurementsaboutanobjectivereality.
Andwecanalllookatthemachineandsayoh
that’sthereality!
31 |THEHARLEMTIMES.COM • FEBRUARY 2016

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