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News Briefs 29-11-2007

Yup, it’s that day again…

Thanks Kat and Rick.

Quote of the Day:

Science depends on a belief in the intelligibility of nature.

G.N.M Tyrrell

Editor
  1. Is a space program a waste of money?
    [quote]Many people dismiss space exploration as a luxury, but this attitude is not only wrong, it’s dangerous.[/quote]

    I agree, space exploration is not a luxury, BUT conducting it entirely on your own is just plain insensible.

    I see all these countries struggling to try to re-invent the wheel on their own, and it just saddens me.

    Cooperation is the key to space. Not just between nations but between governments and the private industry. But as long as some people keep seeing space as an ESTRATEGIC area for hegemonic military power, we will not go very far in our endeavours.

    —–
    It’s not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me…
    It’s all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!

    Red Pill Junkie

    1. Space
      Hi Red,
      I agree. Space exploration should get going proper, and that includes a joint effort by big business – the one thing they should be doing, but aren’t. Which is rather typical.
      We are explorers, and we’ve always explored to increase trade. The only organisations that are historically terrible explorers are governments. They should get out, and stay out.
      The future of space is for trade, as our advancement has always been, and in involving big business, we end up involving the whole planet. Which, as well as anything else, will give us a joint aim – which must be healing for our diverse cultures.

      I’m fanatical about moderation

      Anthony North

      1. funding
        There are some relatively minor private efforts, companies building launch systems and such.

        My favourite objection by the anti-space crowd is that we should not spend money in space, we should spend it on earth. Of course we are spending all the space exploration money on earth, there are no businesses in space.

        Perhaps that is precisely the problem. We should give space travelers and opportunity to make a little private money on the side.

        This is consistent with anthonynorth’s view – all the people who work in space are government employees, and not allowed to derive any private income from their work.

        Maybe we should let the residents of the ISS work for their own business 1 day a week. I am sure there are much better ways of doing it.

        The point remains – government subsidizing exploration works, government controlling exploration doesn’t work.

        —-
        If we don’t succeed, we run the risk of failure.

        (Bill Clinton, and perhaps others)

          1. yeah
            We have to fix that. Find some points to argue about 🙂

            —-
            If we don’t succeed, we run the risk of failure.

            (Bill Clinton, and perhaps others)

          2. Okay
            As a Brit I totally and absolutely disagree with the use of a ‘z’ in ‘subsidising 🙂

            The balanced adult retains an inner child

            Anthony North

          3. secondly
            Secondly, english, american and canadian together are my second language.

            With regard to subsidising or subsidizing – it’s all about the money.

            So we found the problem with the slowness of space exploration .
            Next step – what on earth is the solution?

            —-
            If we don’t succeed, we run the risk of failure.

            (Bill Clinton, and perhaps others)

          4. Solution?
            The same as every other new phase of human history. Intellectuals theorising upon it. Historians showing its natural process from history to the future. Mythologists devising a new ‘Big Story’ to get the general public interested.
            Then associations will begin, and brain cells will begin to connect in entrepreneurs (we hope), and engineers will seriously look at the problem in terms of enterprise.
            And then, one day, it will happen.
            As for the Big Story, I’ve been working on a post for some time. Should be out soon.

            I’m fantical about moderation

            Anthony North

          5. one more thing
            One more part is to let engineers have freedom, let them develop solutions to problems we did not know we had.

            —-
            If we don’t succeed, we run the risk of failure.

            (Bill Clinton, and perhaps others)

          6. Crazes and paranoia
            People tend to get their fat asses up the sofa when they have a really serious problem in front of them. We as a species are natural procastrinators.

            We have hotly debated on previous thread the dangers (real or imaginary) of global warming. As a result governments are slowly moving towards finding a solution to the problem of cost-effective renewable energy sources. At least that’s a positive outcome we can all agree to.

            Maybe the hands that pull the strings of the world from the shadows should start a paranoia about killer asteroids being a serious threat to the survival of our species –which they are, of course, but for some reason that eludes me, the public has never gone along with this, despite the efforts of Hollywood with movies like “Deep Impact” & “Armageddon”, which BTW were supported by NASA, because they were opportunities for more public support to the space program.

            So, maybe the only way in which people could start taking seriously the space program, would be if there were a very serious threat to our survival (even an imaginary one) in the from of an outside threat.

            If it was a common threat, as Reagan posited, opposing nations would forget their differences an would be more willing to cooperate for a joint goal.

            Fear and Greed, the two major forces that impulse society.

            —–
            It’s not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me…
            It’s all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!

            Red Pill Junkie

          7. FutureSpace
            You’re right about fear and greed, Red, but there is another stimulus – simply wanting to know. It used to be enough to keep us curious, but the obstacles were down to Earth (yes, a pun).
            Today’s obstacle is unimaginable – leaving the planet. We’re fearful of the process itself, and are at present in denial. Hence, the people who should be doing it are fuelling this trivia driven celebrity culture.
            Time to wake up guys!
            Earthling, you’re right to make a plea for engineers to have more freedom. It SHOULD be happening. But one of the problems is pessimism. Engineers have accepted the limitations of science. They do not take the risks, the possibility of ridicule, getting out of that ‘comfort zone’.
            It’s a scary place. Most will fall flat on their faces if they tried. But a brilliant idea usually crawls out of the bodies of a hundred failures.

            (Is there a new by-line there?)

            Wise people usually begin as stupid ones

            Anthony North

          8. locked in innovation
            I say it’s not the engineers that have accepted limitations. It is the employers of the engineers.

            Independent engineers, and some smaller independent engineering companies, are coming up with new ideas all the time. You can’t stop them. Of course, many of them fail, but that is the price we have to pay.

            Innnocative engineering is on the boundary to research. If you could predict the outcome, it would not be worth doing.

            ‘—-
            If we don’t succeed, we run the risk of failure.

            (Bill Clinton, and perhaps others)

          9. Bureocracy is the enemy of innovation
            One of the main prblems of NASA is that, despite all the funding they receive (which I agree is nothing but peanuts compared with the total of the federal budget and how much is spent in homeland security) is being used mostly to pay the salaries of a massive bureocratic group.

            So I agree with earthling, the problem is not with the engineers themselves, but with their bosses who are more worried about keeping their jobs long enough so they can retire with a nice pension, and so are constantly downscaling the amount of projects developed, and the scope of those that get the “OK” approval. That’s the reason the ISS ended up being nothing more than an exotic destination, but the science and research that gets to be done there is debatably justified compared with the expense of keeping it in orbit.

            I agree that the hunger for knowledge should be incentive enough, but in this day and age that it’s not what gets politicians to sign the checks. Fortunately some weatlhy people like Paul Allen, who remember their infancy and the curiosity that lead them to become so succesful, are willing to support endeavours like private space flight and the search for aliens.

            —–
            It’s not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me…
            It’s all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!

            Red Pill Junkie

          10. 1st and 2nd languages
            I do admire all you clever people who are multi-lingual (and write so well in your second language, too). All languages other than English reside in a monster-sized black hole in my head. On the Census form where it says “Any other language spoken in the house?” I am always tempted to write BAD!!

            Regards, Kathrinn

          11. Thanks Kathrinn…
            I had the fortune of a good education, where I was exposed to the english language from a very early age.

            But aside of that, the thing that really, REALLY helped me to understand and get familiar with english, please don’t laugh, but it was none other than Mister Rogers!

            I loved to watch old programs of “Mister Rogers Neighborhood” on cable tv, even when I was 12-13 and much, much older than the intended audience of that show. The man talked in such a calm, clear way, that it was very easy to follow.

            From that I moved to watching Bob Ross paint his happy little trees. If some people say “More Plato, less Prozac”, then I say “More Bob Ross, less Valium”! 🙂

            And from that I moved to the saturday morning cartoon bar. After you get to understand what Bugs Bunny is saying, you’re pretty much in control of english 😉

            —–
            It’s not the depth of the rabbit hole that bugs me…
            It’s all the rabbit SH*T you stumble over on your way down!!!

            Red Pill Junkie

  2. Umberto Eco
    Name of the Rose & Foucault’s Pendulum are two of the most entertaining novels I’ve ever read. Interesting that Eco has named Dan Brown as one of the Foucault protagonists, because I’d always assumed it was a pastiche of Holy Blood & Holy Grail !

    Sorry to see Richard Leigh check out, though.

    1. Praise Be…
      Perhaps it’s a sign…

      Fixed now. Silly people putting possessive apostrophes in their urls.

      Kind regards,
      Greg
      ——————————————-
      You monkeys only think you’re running things

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