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/sci/ - Science & Math

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1141336 No.1141336 [Reply] [Original]

Serious question

In this world today, in the United States, anti-science politicians make hay while the sun shines. Voters like them because "hurr, we don't need more fruit fly studies." and anti-science is embraced from sea to shining sea. These politicians tell their constituents that they're combating government waste because all basic science is boondoggle - that the fact we don't get immediate technological results is because "them scientists" are only interested in their own "agenda" whatever that means.

In the 1950's and 60's there was a resurgence in science and science funding. Science magazines were popular. You were "cool" if you were studying hard. This was largely because of the USSR launching an artificial satellite when the vast majority of Americans thought that the Soviets couldn't even make a refrigerator. We were "Sputniked," kicked in the ass and motivated to go all the way to the Moon as well as "do the other things, because they are hard."

How do we combat the anti-science crowd? How do we get people to like science again without having China "Sputnik" us?

tl;dr How do we combat the stupid people?

>> No.1141344

Well there are sciences that study things for pure research without goals but I'm going to have to agree, funding programs without purpose isn't really beneficial. I would much rather see people study things with a goal in mind.

>> No.1141349

I see your point, OP, and I agree.
Being a scientist just isn't... cool any more.
And they took away all of NASA's funding. :[

I have no answer to your question, and I don't want to just throw out some bullshit, all I can say is I agree.

>> No.1141360

robot football

>> No.1141397

Money makes the world go 'round.

>> No.1141402

We need another cold war. How do we piss off china enough to kick start it?

>> No.1141405

The united states is a stagnant empire and there's nothing we can do to save it.

>> No.1141410

>>1141402

I don't find this unappealing.

It would be preferable if we didn't have to have China do a Sputnik, but if that's what it takes, that's what it takes.

>> No.1141425

Try to be more like Carl Sagan. Get people interested in science and that kinda crap.

Don't catch up to them and say "Hey would you like to know Schrödinger's equations?", instead tell them "So this star Betelgeuse is gonna blow up sometime soon, and it will be visible for years." and they'll say "Oh cool" and you say "It will even outshine the Moon. We will see it during the day just next to the Sun".

Show people that there are wonders out there, and some of them are closeer than we think.

>> No.1141433

>>1141410
Wow really? When people say things like this I'm inclined to keep voting in these 'anti-science' politicians... if you think another cold war would be good for whatever reason then you sir, are an idiot. Sagan himself was strongly in support of nuclear disarmament and he's demigod-like on /sci/

>> No.1141441

>>1141336
Science moves from place to place in cycles. Those finally too oppressed by religion to even survive break free, and in that freedom they discover science. With that science they improve their lives, and realizing the importance of that improvement briefly value science. However the novelty wears off. Once science progresses to where people can be taken care of without having to think, they grow complacent and stop caring. Then religion comes back, and the dark ages return. Meanwhile the science goes someplace else, to enrich the lives of someone more appreciative.

>> No.1141459

People don't seem to realize that everything they take for granted - from their Bluetooth cameraphones to their soft reusable contact lenses - are direct results of pure scientific research.

Either that, or those same people realize that virtually none of this world's real life problems are caused by a lack of scientific knowledge. Not sure i would give them that much credit, though.

>> No.1141461

Have a leader like JFK (which regardless of what you liberalfags thing, Obama is not).

Also, get sputniked.

>> No.1141474

fuck all populizers of science. fuck popsci books and news. i dont want any dumb shits coming our way

>> No.1141475

>>1141441

I think it's a bit soon to think history works in "Enlightenment -> Dark Ages -> Enlightenment" cycles.

We've only had one dark age, so far (I don't know much about history before, you know, jebus was born besides the roman empire and greece and such). I think whatever happens, will happen. I really hope we don't enter the new dark ages, but it's a little early to assume we will.

After all, the number of atheists/agnostics, at least in the united states, is [slowly] increasing. Those religious extremists are becoming more vocal because they know they are the minority and they will lose.

On the other hand, if things go too far, we might get a case of scientific priesthood...

>> No.1141476

We go to Mars.

Right now, the biggest thing in Science is a big tube in Europe that does things that most people don't really understand. We need something glamorous to excite the public again.

But in the end, the problem comes from a mix between science education being in a sorry state, fundamental religion driving people towards stupidity, and the internet making people stupid and complacent.

But hey, at least China is doing some cool shit.

>> No.1141498

>>1141474
>FUCK THINGS THAT MIGHT INSPIRE PEOPLE TO TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT SCIENCE AND TRIGGER MORE WIDESPREAD INVOLVEMENT

You are part of the problem (and a total fucking moron).

>> No.1141500

>>1141474

Carl Sagan wrote popsci books.

Therefore popsci books are good.

>> No.1141516

>>1141498
no fuck you. im sick of faggots reading popsci books and news and thinking theyre hot shit and smart, thinking they actually understand that shit.

>> No.1141523

>>1141476
We should have been on mars 20 years ago.

>> No.1141531

>>1141523

Send a letter of complaint to the Nixon administration.

Seriously, if that fucker had not cancelled NASA's Future Projects branch... The stuff we would've done.

>> No.1141544

>>1141516

You're only getting sick of this now? This is about as new to actual scientists as christianity. I remember being like 13 and actually DOING shit like building motors or fucking with laser pointers and diffraction patterns and hearing some dumbshit say something that made no sense and referencing some popsci book and thinking for fucks sake.

Also fuck sagan. Not really, he wasn't bad, but he's not really special... I don't know why sci chose HIM as their mascot. I can see Feynman, kinda, but Sagan didn't do shit.

>> No.1141549

>>1141531
>implying a letter of complaint will achieve anything

>> No.1141560

>>1141549

I wasn't really being serious on that one.

Just the second line about Nixon being a fuckhead.

>> No.1141561

>>1141544

I'm jealous. I have no hands on experience at all..

>> No.1141563
File: 31 KB, 588x473, carl-sagan-smoke-weed-everyday.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1141563

get political/ social power

force good education on everyone

/thread

>> No.1141585

>>1141531
Was there anything Nixon did that WASN'T evil (besides a handful of environmental projects)?

>> No.1141593

>>1141544
Poor butthurt baby can't handle the fact that everyone has to start somewhere.

>> No.1141595

>>1141585

Probably not.

>> No.1141602

>>1141585
Fixed the economy.

>> No.1141605

>>1141500

The Demon Haunted World is the best anti-science argument I've seen in my entire life. And I read a lot.

*hanging out on 4chan because I like chaos*

>> No.1141624

>>1141476

Agreed. Going to Mars would be the best thing for science that could possibly happen.


Think about this:

In order to go Mars we would need to revamp existing Apollo technologies. =Engineering revolution on an order of magnitude greater than anything Apollo did.

We would need to employ thousands of physicists to calculate trajectories, orbital mechanics, launch and post launch shit, and deep space navigation. =physics revolution on an order of magnitude larger than Apollo.

Mars is a fucking geologists PARADISE (this is my area of expertise). Having an actual geologist on Mars (and yes, there will be a geologist on that flight) could possibly change our fundamental models of tectonics and structural geology, fluvial geomorphology, glaciology, the list goes on and on. Hell, we could even completely change the model of solar system formation. =revolution in geology not seen since the formulation of the theory of plate tectonics.

If, by some off chance, we were to discover life on Mars (and there is a good chance we would), this would without a doubt be one of the most important scientific discoveries EVER. You are talking altering the theory of evolution big, and cementing ever shifting model of abiogenesis. =the biggest revolution in biology since darwin.
tl;dr we NEED to go Mars. but Americans would rather spend 54% of the budget on WORTHLESS FUCKING TROOPS.

Oh, and to any soldiers out there on the chans... I HOPE YOU DIE FROM AN IED YOU FUCKING PIECE OF GARBAGE

>> No.1141651

No need to be an asshole, not all the soldiers want to be there.

>> No.1141659

>>1141624
Why the FUCK don't we siphon all of the money DARPA is wasting into a new Future Projects division?

>> No.1141666

>>1141651

they sure as hell signed up for it. they sold their soul to the military, they deserve to die a painful death.

>> No.1141675

>>1141624
Like I said, stagnant empire. If you want to see the future of space exploration you're probably gonna have to start looking at China, Japan, Brazil or any other emerging economy that's dabbling in space.

>> No.1141680

>>1141659

Maybe DARPA will come up with some new cool shit we might need.

Or maybe they are wasting the money downloading pr0nz of the interbutts.

>> No.1141683
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1141683

>>1141624
fag pretending to be a geologist (worthless job anyways), and is also butthurt

>> No.1141707

>>1141683

this is why /sci/ was never good.

>> No.1141721

>>1141602
>trollface.jpg

>> No.1141732
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1141732

>anti-science

>> No.1141738

>>1141666
Well, they think they're defending their country.

>> No.1141751

>>1141680
Or maybe combine NASA and DARPA? I mean, they've already made a space plane.

>> No.1141765

>>1141605

Er, anti-anti science.

This is late, but whatevah.

>> No.1141772

>>1141751
The fact that that plane was supposed to be "secret" is probably the best argument against UFO conspiracies I can immediately think of.

>> No.1141817
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1141817

>guys people don't care about us anymore, what can we do to get attention?
>go to Mars

None of you seem to understand that the modern political landscape is dominated by the worldwide recession. Doing something glitzy and spectacular isn't what people respect but instead it is producing something valuable.

Going to the moon is a spectacle.

Harvesting valuable resources from the moon is what earns you a paycheck.

>> No.1141841

>>1141474
lol, research scientists don't pay themselves.

>> No.1141846

>>1141817

Then lets send some people to strip-mine the asteroids.

There is an asteroid containing 100 million tonnes of platinium, 99% purity, with a pricetag of 30 trillion dollars. I guess a couple of billions of dollars pumped into the space program wouldn't hurt considering the vast amounts of resources one would gain afterwards...

>> No.1141854

>>1141585

Détente with the Soviets.

The first serious nuclear arms treaty negotiations (SALT, eventually signed by Ford and Brezhnev)

And "Only Nixon Can Go To China"

The environmental stuff was nothing to sneeze at either.

He was just an asshole and saw political enemies everywhere, which led to the Plumbers and CREEP.

>> No.1141881

>>1141846
Isn't that exactly what Obama laid out in his address, though? Manned mission to an asteroid, then Mars?

In any case, which Asteroids are close enough to earth to harbor a potential landing site?

>> No.1141889

Man, let China "Sputnik" us. The only time America gets shit done is when somebody tells them.

British king raises the taxes sky high?
AMERICANS TOLD [X]
South secedes from the North?
UNION TOLD [X]
Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor?
U.S.A. TOLD [X]
Russia launches Sputnik?
U.S.A. TOLD [X]
Extremists blow up buildings?
U.S.A. TOLD [X]

Fucking shut down our space program... Let's get China colonizing the damn moon, maybe we'll get a man on Mars after that.

>> No.1141910

>>1141881

He did, and after reading some of the stuff Obama did when he met with NASA and the Planetary Society, I have some high hopes for the future of America in space, even if it soon gets replaced by other countries like China, Japan, Russia and Brazil, not to mention the private companies like Bigelow Aerospace (Which has already built space hotels, now they need to launch them) and SpaceX (Which is talking to NASA about a future super-heavy-lift launch vehicle, which would, you know, put Bigelow's space hotels in orbit).

>> No.1141936

>>1141881

The Apollo asteroids cross the Earth's orbit all the time.

We could land on Sisyphus. It's 10km in diameter.

>> No.1141956

>>1141336
It's time to get in a coldwar with China. Lets do this guys!

>> No.1141972

>>1141956
Fuck yes.

>> No.1141995

>>1141936
LET'S MINE THAT MOTHERFUCKER! Is it metallic? Does it have gold on it? THEN LET'S CRASH THE GOLD MARKET INTO THE DIRT! GOLD SO CHEAP KIDS ARE WEARING GOLD RINGS. GOLD SO CHEAP CHINA PUTS IT IN THEIR CHEAP SHIT AS A REPLACEMENT FOR LOW MELTING POINT ALLOYS!

>> No.1141998

Relevant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ5sWfhkpE0

>> No.1142005
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1142005

>>1141336

You attack Republicans, yet it was the Obama Administration cut funding for NASA, the F-22, and several other aeronautics programs.

>> No.1142032

>>1141995

We could put solid gold connectors on everything! None of that plated crap! We could have gold speaker wire! The audiofags would have to find a new metal to get a hard-on about! RHODIUM PLATED GOLD SPEAKER CONNECTIONS, MOTHERFUCKER! DO YOU KNOW WHAT I HEAR? I HEAR NOTHING!

>> No.1142036

Don't worry, I'll fix it for you.
Sounds pretentious, yes, but I will.

>> No.1142071

>>1142005

Obama increased NASA's budget.

He destroyed the Constellation program because it was a money black hole, bloated, would've taken a man to the moon after 2030, and the cost would've been so high most of NASA's research budget for other stuff would've been completely destroyed.

>> No.1142088

We need to wait a little bit before getting into a real Cold War with China, because while China has manpower, they still need to build themselves up technologically a little more.

The reason why war hasn't been bringing about real strong innovation recently is because we keep taking our military and using it to bludgeon third-world countries. Cold War tech still suffices against the post-Cold War enemies we've had.

OP makes a good point that the frenzy around science development post-Sputnik was partially because most Americans thought the Soviets weren't capable of this groundbreaking achievement. It won't be enough for China to just land on the Moon -- they need to do something that the US hasn't done already, something that implies a strong threat.

>> No.1142092

>>1142005
You refer to the F-22 as though it was something worth saving.

>> No.1142100

>You were "cool" if you were studying hard.

I couldn't read past this.

>> No.1142104 [DELETED] 

lulz i found sum child porn featuren christopeher pooolar bear hearways :tinyurl dawt com / 39poqjq 6fb940e8941a924c937f72bac5a27576

>> No.1142101

>>1142036
Elaborate? Are you actively working on the equivalent of a Chinese sputnik or are you talking out of your ass?

>> No.1142113
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1142113

With leadership like this, who needs science?

>> No.1142134

>>1142101
Can't tell you. Confidential. But don't worry, it'll be fixed soon.

>> No.1142138

>>1142134

Oh.

That's probably a lie but if it isn't.

<3

>> No.1142162

>>1141624
>would be the best thing for science that could possibly happen.

i disagree, solving the oncomming energy crisis takes precedent.

>> No.1142163

>>1142134
Seriously, please don't be trolling because I can only take so much disappointment in one lifetime. :C

>> No.1142175

>>1142162
ITER Fusion reactor had better start paying off soon, we're gonna need that shit in a few years.

>> No.1142177

>>1142005

>You attack Republicans,

No I don't. Where did I say Republicans in general?

I said Teabaggers. I mean Sarah Palin. I mean the fucked-up anti-science crowd. The "them sciencers, they're trying to take our jerbs away" people. The people who get upset because scientists point out that mining coal poisons the oceans, the air, and the food we eat. The people who get upset at scientists that point out the unsustainability of fossil fuels. The "every sperm is sacred" crowd that insists that every single-cell fertilized embryo has a brain, a soul, and must never EVER be used to cure diseases. The crowd that would rather substitute "intelligent design" (religion) for science in the classroom.

The fact that these people happen to be Republicans is irrelevant. Blue Dog Democrats also need to be fucked in the arse. It's not my fault these dumbshits decided to pick the Republican Party as the beerhall to organize in.

Senator John H. Chaffee, a much loved former senator of the state I live in, was a Republican, but he wasn't anti-science. What is happening now is the luddites and anti-thinkers are actively working to remove people like Chaffee (they got rid of his son, Lincoln, because he was a "RINO", nevermind that he was following the same policies his dad did). They are purging anyone remotely resembling someone might not be as far right as possible.

Barry Goldwater was not anti-science. But in today's climate, his type would be run out of town on a rail by the "real republicans" whatever the fuck they are.

It's fucking sad. Reasoned debate is being substituted with sound bytes, infighting, and sabotaging for personal gain.

So don't you dare fucking call me anti-Republican. I am anti-stupid. Party has nothing to do with it.

>> No.1142188 [DELETED] 

lulz i found sum child porn featuren christopeher pooolar bear hearways :tinyurl dawt com / 39poqjq 0db1332c2f7eff1164d4e235f7fdc642

>> No.1142202

>>1142177

Well said.

>> No.1142208

Why do you think we want to piss Iran off so much?

>> No.1142230

>>1142202

Could you detect the anger? I tried from having every vein in my forehead from bulging as I wrote that.

>> No.1142238

>>1142230

Not really.

I could tell you were upset though.

>> No.1142242

>>1142208
Iran's rockets can barely reach Israel, let alone space.

>> No.1142282

>>1142177
Sarah Palin quit halfway through her first term as governor, said some of the stupidest things ever recorded and left the economy of her hometown in shambles so she could build a sports stadium. Yet somehow, she's managed to remain in the spotlight as a potential contender in the next presidential election.

I share your fury and would like to add my own frustration in the face of an increasingly xenophobic and anti-intellectual voting public.

>> No.1142313

>>1141683
no, he's actually right.

>> No.1142363

>>1142282
>left the economy of her hometown in shambles so she could build a sports stadium

WITH THE MAGICK OF SCIENCE

>left the economy of his home(lol)nation in shambles so she could guarantee free medicine for bums and beaners

>> No.1142401

>>1142363
>implying the economic crisis was Obama's fault

>> No.1142407

>>1142282

You know who also infuriates me?

Ron Paul, and his son, Rand.

I remember listening to him being interviewed on WBZ a couple of decades ago by David Brudnoy, probably one of the best talk show hosts ever to grace a microphone, now dead of pancreatic cancer. Ron Paul sounded sensible back then. Fast forward to today where he has abandoned his principles of keeping the government out of private life (i.e., your bedroom) and became a religionfag. His son, Rand, is a fucking disgrace to his dad's former principles, even
embracing systemic racism (because the free market demands it).

Herp, a derp.

Excuse me while I cue up Jill Sobule's song "Heroes"

Heard Babe Ruth was full of malice
Lewis Carroll I'm sure did Alice
Plato in the cave with those very young boys
TS Elliott hated Jews, FDR didn't save the Jews
All the French joined the resistance after the war
Raymond Chandler drunk and depressed
Tennessee Williams drunk and depressed
Think I'll just get drunk and depressed.

>> No.1142430

I am talked out. Thank you all for responding.

You may now go back to your regularly scheduled brainwashing.

>> No.1142435

>>1142407
One of the reasons America will never truly be a land of the free is our tremendously fucked up legal system.

>> No.1142479

>>1142401
>implying it wasn't

>> No.1142503

>>1142479
It started during and because of Bush's administration.

>> No.1142507
File: 13 KB, 595x389, doublepalm.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1142507

>>1142407
>Jill Sobule

>> No.1142518

>>1142503
it started because of laws designed to make sure minorities could buy houses they couldn't afford

it was not all because of the great satan bush


and yes obama is making it worse

>> No.1142539

>>1142518
Nice try.
"The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 was irrelevant to the subprime boom, which was overwhelmingly driven by loan originators not subject to the Act."

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/03/things-everyone-in-chicago-knows/

>> No.1142548

Government waste on science is laughable. NASA receives $17.3 billion a year in federal funding. The National Science Foundation receives a further $5.9 billion. DARPA gets $3.1. The Department of Energy, Science, gets $4.4. Total science receipts? $30.7 billion.

If you look only at operations procurement, and only that procurement used specifically for Iraq and Afghanistan (that is: bullets, bombs, fuel, flares, and spare parts), the total is $39.9 billion per year.

>> No.1142550 [DELETED] 

>>1141334
lulz i found sum child porn featuren christopeher pooolar bear hearways :tinyurl dawt com / 39poqjq 89e0a5932242ef5f7b6a3602d9f26b07

>> No.1142572

>>1142548
So you're going to include all of the science funding but then NARROW down the war funding? Terrible argument. You have to compare FULL SCIENCE funding to FULL WAR funding or else you're not making a single point.

>> No.1142582

>>1142539
presenting graphs that show private loans reactions to the crisis doesn't mean you blame the crisis on those loans

>> No.1142591

>>1142572
i think his point was just to illustrate what a small fraction of the defense budget the science budget is

>> No.1142618

The LHC needs to re-ingnite people, there will be no doomsday in 2012, and science will be right, we will be on mars within the next 20 years

I am hoping all of this will be enough to kick start science popularity again

>> No.1142621

>>1142572
Pardon me? No. The point is completely lost. Including the whole war budget lets people escape the illustration with overarching and ultimately meaningless claims of why the military is needed. Narrowing the scope to simply bullets, fuel, and bombs used in a hugely unpopular campaign illustrates waste. The claim of science funding as wasteful, less than this narrow view of military waste, shows how little waste is even possible in the science budget. Fuck off.

>> No.1142625

Stupid people cannot be stopped. Even if you cloned an entire race, you'd still have stupid people. Stupid people exist because of the infinite ways of being stupid.

It's the same as entropy. Entropy is stupidity in conscious form.

>> No.1142642

One of the problems is that most of humanity is frequently inebriated.

>> No.1142648

>>1142618
People just don't care anymore. Things have become to complicated and to common to bother to understand. For instance my father bought a kit car and assembled it himself and this wasn't a particularly unusual thing back then. Now the majority of people driving cars don't even do simple things like changing their own spark plugs. Science will get 'popular' if it directly affects people's lives (like building a flying car) but things like going to the moon, even if related research improves other things, doesn't make any difference to the average person.

>> No.1142661

>>1142648
That's why we need to find a way to commandeer Madagascar and start our own island empire of science.

>> No.1142663

>>1141336

although i would have preferred a career in mathematics or science, i decided to major in business admin with minors in math, econ, and a concentration in finance. will this make me happy? not very. will it benefit society? not really other than the fact of me making money for the country. regardless, i will (hopefully) make enough money to invest back into science programs, private research, and the like

>> No.1142678

Ask any scientist in a specific discipline about any science in a specific discipline outside their own general discipline, and they will say: I don't fucking know.

Stop idealizing op, and accept people.

>> No.1142692

>>1142661
Alright, I'm down, but why Madagascar?

>> No.1142741

>>1142648

>Now the majority of people driving cars don't even do simple things like changing their own spark plugs.

Because cars have become increasingly complicated.

Come the fuck on. Do you know what kind of contortions I had to go through to change the plugs in a 1976 Oldsmobile Starfire (Chevy Monza)? I had to go up through the wheel well, by feel.

And that was *before* the car companies dumped all sorts of stuff in the engine compartment. You can't even change an alternator belt anymore unless you have a special tool for adjusting the idler pulley, because it's all one serpentine belt.

People don't work on their own cars anymore because they open the hood and say "Fuck that" and it has nothing to do with laziness but everything with intimidation by complexity.

" but things like going to the moon, even if related research improves other things, doesn't make any difference to the average person."

Those of us who watched Apollo 17 in second grade would respectfully disagree.

>> No.1142752

the scientists don't have an agenda, the people funding them do.

>> No.1142756

>>1142678

Reading comprehension fail.

>> No.1142767

>>1142756
Buck up chipper lad, you'll get them next time.

>> No.1142771

>>1142661

Thunderbirds are go!

>> No.1142796

>>1141410
>>1141889
China has already spunik'd us
They just had the biggest breakthrough in quantum physics in a long while. ~10 mile long quantum entanglement stuff

Oh yeah, rumor has it that China is planning to create a sun harvester type thing on the moon

>> No.1142802

>>1142796
I thought Japan was the country trying to put a solar panel belt around the moon's equator

>> No.1142807

Article related:
http://www.theonion.com/articles/last-time-sources-checked-this-still-america,17545/

>> No.1142809

>>1142692
It's got nice, sunny tropical weather, is a big ass island, and really, would anyone honestly give a shit if someone toppled to government of Madagascar? I mean, the Madagascarians might, but they'll get over it.

Oh, it also has lemurs.

>> No.1142817

The vast majority of Americans think the Chinese can't design their own refrigerator. Hopefully they land on the moon or some shit so the U.S. will become competitive again.

>> No.1142825

>>1142809
I like Argentina more... it has at least some resemblance to modern civilization that we wouldn't have to create from scratch.

Also, all that land in Patagonia could be used for a badass space ramp.

>> No.1142830

>>1142796
>>1142802
http://gizmodo.com/5552774/lets-cover-the-moon-in-solar-panels

Pardon my ignorance

>> No.1142842

>>1142830
No prob, honestly wasn't sure myself.

>> No.1142929

>>1142825
> Patagonia could be used for a badass space ramp.

No, you don't want to go to Patagonia.

The best launch sites are closest to the equator, to use the Earth's rotation as a boost. If you go to the Southern tip of South America, you are abandoning this method of fuel/energy reduction.

>> No.1142980

>>1142830
So how are they gonna get the power back to earth?

>> No.1143027

>>1142980
They said they are going to use a concentrated laser beam and it will be aimed at a reciever on earth.

>> No.1143031

>>1143027
Goddammit, Japan is gonna dominate space before we even fucking know it.

>> No.1143061

>>1143027
>>1143031
Not so fast, this is just a crazy proposal by Shimizu working with Japanese colleges. Shimizu makes lots of crazy proposals. Also if power sent to Earth exceeds a certain value, it's worse than the radiative forcing due to anthropogenic CO2 in the atmosphere and will cause global warming, after all, any energy usage on Earth goes to heat.

>> No.1143074

Answer : kill them with fire.

Serious answer : We can't. It's nowadays cool to be stupid and good at soccer.

>> No.1143083

>>1143031

Japan is going to dominate space until the tentacle creatures rape all their women.

>> No.1143091

>>1143083
Japan has already produced tentacle rapebots and has already handled this problem quite well.

>> No.1143098

>>1143091
link nao

>> No.1143101

>>1143061
Also, current technology only allows a 2% efficiency of power transfer via-laser, so a lot of that energy would just be wasted.

>> No.1143144

Wow, /sci/ is the most arrogant, conceited board on here. You people suck

>> No.1143171

>>1143061
>after all, any energy usage on Earth goes to heat.
or, you know, motion

>> No.1143237

>>1143144

*wets lips*

I'm sorry, do our multisyllabic polemic pontifications provoke fits of pique?

Peevish protestations of pretentiousness only provoke pomposity.

For spite.

>> No.1143291

>>1143144
the thread was going so well
back to /b/ with you

>> No.1143306

>>1141624

Why is it that every geologist I see or meet is either angry, a drunkard, or both?

>> No.1143401

>>1142032
>The audiofags would have to find a new metal to get a hard-on about!
Already hard on silver.

>> No.1143436

We need another technology race. Politicians only like to win, we need to make it look like a fun game.

>> No.1143442

>>1143237
fuck off with your alliteration.

>> No.1143443

>>1143306

My geology teacher smokes a lot of herb.

>> No.1143472

>>1143443
Well then he's probably very smart!

>> No.1143615

>>1142518
holy fucking shit this

I remember the article praising that program that the Bush Administration started, even at that young age I knew it was a bad fucking idea.

2 years later, proved right.

>> No.1143634

>>1143615
I was a freshman in Highschool and even then I knew he was the biggest fuckup in presidential history.

>> No.1143646

>>1143634
I wonder if /sci/, as a collective, could send him enough negative letters to finally cause that piece of shit to commit suicide. I've never wanted to force another person to kill themselves before, but fuckin' A, since GWB is already on suicide watch, I might as well put in the minimal effort to personally put an end to one of the worst presidents in US history.

>> No.1143654

>>1143634
>>1143615
Funny, because the law he's talking about was under the Clinton administration.

>> No.1143661
File: 77 KB, 800x600, 1262328530606.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1143661

>>1143646
>>1143634
I actually liked Bush as a president. Still disagreed with his policies though, especially the housing one.

It was such a minor thing, who knew it would blow up like that? Apparently just young teens.

>> No.1143667

>>1143661
Anyone with eyes could have seen the housing crisis coming. HURRR PRICES CAN ONLY GO UP UP UP it's not like every single other bubble in the history of economics.

>> No.1143691

>>1142177
5,000,000 Cool points awarded

>> No.1143708

Not only will China 'Sputnik' the USA, it will also undoubtedly 'Vietnam', 'LHC', 'Pearl Harbor', 'Yuri Gagarin' and 'literacy' them.

>> No.1143713

bmo and colonel coffee mug are my favorites.

>> No.1143715

I have never met anyone who's anti science. Sure, I've met my fair share of people who think evolution theory is wrong and I've even met people who think the world is not going to end in 2012, but not once have heard someone say "Science is bad, mkay...".

>> No.1143720
File: 70 KB, 400x400, Funds.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1143720

>>1141544
>>DURRRr WHY DO PEOPLE LIEK SAGAN SO MUCH
cause hes actually a good human being and cares about our future and general happiness, and doesn't use science as a great dick waving contest but as something fun amazing and engaging?

anyway the best thing to do OP would be to actually rape america of its War department funds, anyone who thinks we even need to be spending half of what we are right now is a fucking retard. science is only dragging behind because Americans are all to willing to dump more money than the entire world put together in military spending

>> No.1143723

If the economy rebounds in the next decade, we might see a Renaissance in science. People after a dark time tend to get optimistic. Look at post-WW2 America-we were fucking PUMPED! We rebuilt Europe and then spent a decade making giant ass cars and listening to Elvis as the country got all shiny and antiseptic and modern. Jobs paid well, industry was booming, the long dark time of Depression and War was over!

That will happen for us, after this darkness passes. It will be interesting.

>> No.1143731

>>1143720
military budget is out of fucking control

BUT

reducing it=political suicide. Barack Obama would be the man weakening America, a traitor. They'd run ads of sad looking defense contractors standing by cobweb filled tank factories moaning about their lost jobs, telling you to vote for the candidate who's strong on defense.
We need to violently overthrow the government.

>> No.1143736

>>1143720

sagan's just a stupid atheistic pothead

>> No.1143739

>>1143736
no he was an intelligent atheistic bro

>> No.1143741

>>1143736
Oh come on, I know the religion vs science war here on /sci/ has made both sides out to be yapping cunts, but Sagan was more of an agnostic and he did lots of good work.

>> No.1143744

>>1143723
Welp, all I can do is hope the next couple of decades are significantly less shitty than everyone seems to think they'll be.

Here's to optimism, though. *clink*

>> No.1143750

>>1143741
Inspiring young people to pursue an interest in science and cosmology is about as noble a passion as any.

>> No.1143753
File: 538 KB, 600x736, 6a00d83452d74569e2010536875c2b970b.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1143753

>>1143736
Hes done more and discovered more than any scientist would reasonably hope dip shit, worked on the voyager missions and was part of Tapps, got his dream of ending the cold war on default of nuclear war is fuckings stupid, married fathered a kid.

pretty good for a 'dumb pot head'

>> No.1143756

>>1143753

he still was a jew

>> No.1143763

>>1143753
Plus the story of how he met his wife is pretty goddamn romantic, all things considered.

>> No.1143780

>>1143753

If he was so intelligent how come he didn't believe in God?

>> No.1143802
File: 40 KB, 350x470, cassowary_350x470.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1143802

>>1141516
>HOW DARE SOCIETY NOT CARE ABOUT SCIENCE FUND OUR SHIT

>FUCK OFF DUMB SHITS SCIENCE IS OUR SECRET CLUB

>COME BACK I NEED YOUR MONEY TO FUND MY EXPERIMENTS

Pick one or the other faggot, either society tries to act intellectual, or society tells you to shut the fuck up and invent a better beer hat.

But please, PLEASE, just get the fuck over yourself.

>> No.1143814

>>1143802
Fer serious, if the average scientific literacy is strengthened then all of humanity will benefit.

>> No.1143819

>>1143814
yes. pop sci can be simplistic, but it serves a greater purpose of promoting reason and enthusiasm.

>> No.1143848

I don't think it's "anti-science" as much as it is "we have other things of greater importance to spend money on"

>> No.1143859 [DELETED] 

>>1141334

lulz i found sum child porn featuren christopeher pooolar bear hearways :tinyurl dawt com / 39poqjq d45a9305579be1f2794b39845af1a5a6

>> No.1143857
File: 78 KB, 440x600, 20011110 Guns.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1143857

"How do we combat the stupid people?"

Guns

>> No.1143907

>>1143848
Like murdering brown people.

>> No.1144591

>>1143731
>>1143731
>>1143731
>>1143731

>reducing it=political suicide. Barack Obama would be the man weakening America, a traitor. They'd run ads of sad looking defense contractors standing by cobweb filled tank factories moaning about their lost jobs, telling you to vote for the candidate who's strong on defense.

This post seems to have been missed by others toasting in this bread. Fear not, anonymous poster on the internet, as I lol'd at your words.

>> No.1144615

Either mass education, which will yield a good humane result, but very slowly. Or eugenics which will yield a quick result, but is dangerous.

I am inclined to think that the stable combination of the two is the wisest course of action, an optimized and controllable one.

>> No.1144653

I think most people have just given up on trying to appreciate what scientists are doing because the different fields have become so specialized. And you don't really see anyone trying to explain things, either. Just people like the ones in this thread saying "if you don't understand then fuck off, you're totally worthless to me". These people seem to forget that nobody has the time to familiarize themselves completely with the latest happenings in every single scientific field.

>> No.1144737

>>1144615
I fully support castrating people like you, self-important yet ignorant.

There's too much of your kind on /sci/.