(d) QUICK STEP verification of the equivalence of the inertial and gravitational mass (theory of relativity) with a relative precision of 10 17.

No, no! In terms of what we really need to do to put the brakes on this very high inertial thing our big economy we've really hardly started.

How can governments rise to the challenge? The risk they face is clear enough absent a profound reengineering, inertial spending owing to entitlements and civil service wages is bound to crowd out spending on new priorities and new policies.

These saving plans show that there are methods other than outright compulsion to overcome human inertia. One hopes that, in the future, such plans will be adopted on a large enough scale that we can devise a variety of new programs that serve both inertial and active individuals well.

And Obama s policy does indeed appear to be aiming for precisely that a nuclear détente with Iran, an end to Syria s civil war by means of a regional security architecture, and a two state solution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict. It is a policy that sounds almost utopian, given the enormous inertial force of the region s problems.