Comments on: Sputnik skeptic http://blogs.earthsky.org/lindsaypatterson/human-world/100491/sputnik-skeptic/ Learning to love science. Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:42:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: bluej http://blogs.earthsky.org/lindsaypatterson/human-world/100491/sputnik-skeptic/#comment-1444 bluej Thu, 11 Oct 2007 00:03:14 +0000 http://blogs.earthsky.org/lindsaypatterson/human-world/100491/sputnik-skeptic/#comment-1444 bravo lindsay, could not agree with you more bravo lindsay, could not agree with you more

]]> By: lindsay http://blogs.earthsky.org/lindsaypatterson/human-world/100491/sputnik-skeptic/#comment-1438 lindsay Mon, 08 Oct 2007 21:56:30 +0000 http://blogs.earthsky.org/lindsaypatterson/human-world/100491/sputnik-skeptic/#comment-1438 Michael Steen, thank you for contributing your thoughts. You make a very interesting argument. I agree that the Space Age that launched with Sputnik brought about innumerable advances in science and technology which have added immensely to our current knowledge. I'm not trying to deny that space exploration has a place in science, or say that we shouldn't keep looking into the skies and widening our imagination. But in my opinion, it's time for a shift in where we focus our full attention. There's no reason why a similar burst of science can't happen here, first, on Earth. There's no reason why Earth can't stimulate the imagination and drive innovation. Earth is a stunningly beautiful place - I would argue more so than the distant and inhospitable environments of other planets - and right now, it's plagued with problems that need creative solutions. Challenges that we've always thought about, but never have been able to solve, are becoming increasingly critical, and the pace is picking up. The great thing about Earth is that everyone who lives here can get involved, and wonderful inventions, ideas, and designs are being created to make life better for the entire world. Take solar power, for example. We've always known that the sun is the greatest source of energy for our planet, and we've done a good amount of research and development, but it's never really taken off. But now it seems like every other week scientists come up with some new technique on the path to making solar energy cheap and flexible. If there was more attention on making usable solar power - rather than the equally realistic return to the moon - maybe we'd be getting somewhere fast. And still, designers and inventors are coming up with cool, imaginative tools everyday - just look at the <a href="http://www.indexaward.dk/2007/default.asp?id=706&Article=2599&Folder=2599" rel="nofollow">INDEX awards</a>. If we couldn't find ways to fuel our imagination on Earth, we wouldn't be very creative. But there's a higher premium on creativity now than ever before. And we need it here, very badly, on Earth. Michael Steen, thank you for contributing your thoughts. You make a very interesting argument. I agree that the Space Age that launched with Sputnik brought about innumerable advances in science and technology which have added immensely to our current knowledge. I’m not trying to deny that space exploration has a place in science, or say that we shouldn’t keep looking into the skies and widening our imagination.

But in my opinion, it’s time for a shift in where we focus our full attention. There’s no reason why a similar burst of science can’t happen here, first, on Earth. There’s no reason why Earth can’t stimulate the imagination and drive innovation. Earth is a stunningly beautiful place - I would argue more so than the distant and inhospitable environments of other planets - and right now, it’s plagued with problems that need creative solutions.

Challenges that we’ve always thought about, but never have been able to solve, are becoming increasingly critical, and the pace is picking up. The great thing about Earth is that everyone who lives here can get involved, and wonderful inventions, ideas, and designs are being created to make life better for the entire world. Take solar power, for example. We’ve always known that the sun is the greatest source of energy for our planet, and we’ve done a good amount of research and development, but it’s never really taken off. But now it seems like every other week scientists come up with some new technique on the path to making solar energy cheap and flexible. If there was more attention on making usable solar power - rather than the equally realistic return to the moon - maybe we’d be getting somewhere fast. And still, designers and inventors are coming up with cool, imaginative tools everyday - just look at the INDEX awards.

If we couldn’t find ways to fuel our imagination on Earth, we wouldn’t be very creative. But there’s a higher premium on creativity now than ever before. And we need it here, very badly, on Earth.

]]> By: sglasson http://blogs.earthsky.org/lindsaypatterson/human-world/100491/sputnik-skeptic/#comment-1437 sglasson Mon, 08 Oct 2007 16:24:09 +0000 http://blogs.earthsky.org/lindsaypatterson/human-world/100491/sputnik-skeptic/#comment-1437 I have to agree that we were meant to explore, but I agree also that we need to protect our home planet. The second is the most important and should take precedence over exploring the rest of the universe, but we can and are doing both. I have to agree that we were meant to explore, but I agree also that we need to protect our home planet. The second is the most important and should take precedence over exploring the rest of the universe, but we can and are doing both.

]]> By: Michael A. Steen http://blogs.earthsky.org/lindsaypatterson/human-world/100491/sputnik-skeptic/#comment-1436 Michael A. Steen Mon, 08 Oct 2007 12:55:09 +0000 http://blogs.earthsky.org/lindsaypatterson/human-world/100491/sputnik-skeptic/#comment-1436 I'm sorry, Ms. Patterson, but I must disagree. I was alive and in elementary school when Sputnik went up, and we all realized on that day that the exploration of our universe was about to take its first steps off our planet. Since then, both with spacecraft and with telescopes, we have discovered that Venus is unimaginably hot, that Titan has lakes of liquid methane, that we inhabit this universe with over 100 billion other galaxies, that Europa may have a gigantic ocean of liquid water beneath its icy sheath--perhaps harboring life--and that Mars once flowed with rivers and seas. This information makes up part and parcel of who I am now, and I believe my intellect and my spirit to have been immensely enriched by it all. When I was a child, neither I nor anyone on the planet knew anything about these wonders. And though we were not diminished by our ignorance, it was still ignorance. And that is something that we have always sought to dispel in ourselves. Dozens of satellites gaze upon Earth every day, looking for pollution, changing weather patterns, forest growth and decline, etc. Some of our greatest scientists devote their lives to the problems of energy, waste management, disease control, and population growth. And I thank them for that. But others (and there are enough talents and resources available to do it all) devote their careers to helping us to look outward, to dream among the stars. We will likely never colonize the moon or Mars in any meaningful way; the costs are simply too staggering to contemplate. But we can send our optical and robotic emissaries to the farthest reaches of space, and they can fuel our imaginations as the great explorers of the past did when they reached the South Pole or the depths of the Amazon jungle. Don't decry these efforts because they don't address problems here on Earth. In fact, they address the stagnation of imagination, and in every generation that is one of the greatest threats we face. I’m sorry, Ms. Patterson, but I must disagree. I was alive and in elementary school when Sputnik went up, and we all realized on that day that the exploration of our universe was about to take its first steps off our planet. Since then, both with spacecraft and with telescopes, we have discovered that Venus is unimaginably hot, that Titan has lakes of liquid methane, that we inhabit this universe with over 100 billion other galaxies, that Europa may have a gigantic ocean of liquid water beneath its icy sheath–perhaps harboring life–and that Mars once flowed with rivers and seas. This information makes up part and parcel of who I am now, and I believe my intellect and my spirit to have been immensely enriched by it all. When I was a child, neither I nor anyone on the planet knew anything about these wonders. And though we were not diminished by our ignorance, it was still ignorance. And that is something that we have always sought to dispel in ourselves. Dozens of satellites gaze upon Earth every day, looking for pollution, changing weather patterns, forest growth and decline, etc. Some of our greatest scientists devote their lives to the problems of energy, waste management, disease control, and population growth. And I thank them for that. But others (and there are enough talents and resources available to do it all) devote their careers to helping us to look outward, to dream among the stars. We will likely never colonize the moon or Mars in any meaningful way; the costs are simply too staggering to contemplate. But we can send our optical and robotic emissaries to the farthest reaches of space, and they can fuel our imaginations as the great explorers of the past did when they reached the South Pole or the depths of the Amazon jungle. Don’t decry these efforts because they don’t address problems here on Earth. In fact, they address the stagnation of imagination, and in every generation that is one of the greatest threats we face.

]]> By: Eddie http://blogs.earthsky.org/lindsaypatterson/human-world/100491/sputnik-skeptic/#comment-1425 Eddie Fri, 05 Oct 2007 15:55:40 +0000 http://blogs.earthsky.org/lindsaypatterson/human-world/100491/sputnik-skeptic/#comment-1425 50 years later and we're making all our fears come true. The cold war may be over, but you couldn't tell it from the headlines: we're sending weapons into space, China's shooting weapons out of space, Russia's sending weapons into space in retaliation. It seems that we need to do a little more exploration - of ourselves. When we get to Mars, aren't we just going to militarize it, too? And then won't we just need four Earths and four Mars after it's colonized? Where does it end? 50 years later and we’re making all our fears come true. The cold war may be over, but you couldn’t tell it from the headlines: we’re sending weapons into space, China’s shooting weapons out of space, Russia’s sending weapons into space in retaliation. It seems that we need to do a little more exploration - of ourselves. When we get to Mars, aren’t we just going to militarize it, too? And then won’t we just need four Earths and four Mars after it’s colonized? Where does it end?

]]>