How much would you pay for the Universe? Neil DeGrasse Tyson makes a powerful and emotional appeal in this new collage just uploaded on YouTube. Must Watch .
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How much would you pay for the Universe?
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madame scientist's not-so-mad musings 
An excellent video, not to be missed. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Thanks Rajini Rao super video 🙂
Rajini Rao Would say the same for what we do for the environment.. while there we stopped dreaming…here we have stopped caring
Interesting comparison, Kershaw Rustomji . Re. the environment, I fear that politics has divided us (at least here in the US) into those who care, and those who ignore it for short term economic expediency.
#neildegrassetyson is a god-like hero! On a similar note, congress wants to keep NIH’s budget the same, which is not in line with the rate of increase in doing biomedical research. Link in another post.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/107896084561441926092/posts/JhHVZRbkNed
Chad Haney , to draw a parallel to NASA funding, this quote from the article you cited says it best: It would be the 10th year in a row that NIH’s budget has not kept pace with biomedical research inflation, he says. As a result, in inflation-adjusted dollars, “we’d be 20% below where we were a decade ago,”
In both cases (NASA and NIH), reducing their budgets has enormous ramifications to jobs and the hopes and dreams of young scientists/engineers. Broken record again: I’m so sick of the anti-intellectual movement. Being educated or knowledgeable is not bad. It’s what we need to move forward.
I think I read that part of the Wall St debacle was due to mathematicians not going to NASA or academia after graduate school but developing the derivative scheme at investment firms. I’ll have to find a link.
This country is going down the tube. Intellectuals are considered elitists. Women must be barefoot and pregnant. Corporations have more rights than the poor. 😦
Powerful stuff, and very moving. Where are our priorities?
Gnotic Pasta , I’m a very passionate speaker too! When I lecture on my favorite topics, 90 minutes just flies by. I don’t know about the audience 🙂 I must admit that it’s good to have “the gift of gab”..there is no stage fright, no hesitation and the words just spill out as if they were written in a script. I have to do a fair bit of persuasive or motivational speaking in my job..strictly in relation to academic things, though.
Couldn’t agree with you more Rajini Rao . There is great correlation between Power and Incompetence. The people with the most Power to change things are the most Incompetent.
I recently learned about an amazing women by the name of Hypatia. Here is a quote of hers,
“Life is an unfoldment, and the further we travel the more truth we can comprehend. To understand the things that are at our door is the best preparation for understanding those that lie beyond.”
Everyone should know about her.
Bobby Ryan , that is a wonderful quote, thanks! There were several references to Hypatia in my Mar 8 post on STEM women, if you are willing to scroll through the comments. She surpassed the mathematicians of her time but died a tragic death.
For-profit space corporations are not effective nor mature enough to provide space capabilities at the same level as NASA, nor now.
Norman Ma , for profit exploration and space tourism are an alternative, but they will always have an eye for profit before serendipity and discovery, won’t they (even if they catch up technically in the near future)?
I share Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s passion for manned space. However, after 20 years of observation I have little confidence in the modern NASA. I’d prefer a new agency, one unencumbered by decades of baggage created as a result of the “job security is job one” paradigm.
No matter the agency there must be the political will to use the military as a deterrent to those who might interfere with operations. That will does not exist today in America. If I were to plan a private manned mission I’d rate being shot down by a government during launch, reentry or just after landing as a risk since no one would be on my side.
Job Security, yeah…
http://www.tgdaily.com/business-and-law-features/57427-nasa-braces-for-massive-layoffs
There were tangible value in exploring the New World and settlement of the U.S. West with a supportative government policy. The value of Space or Mars is not clear, for business people. Considering Dr. DeGrasse Tyson’s comment about competition as a motivation, the space exploration competition does not seem to be very hot right now.
The economy in that region (Melbourne, Florida) has been devastated by the closing of the shuttle program.
This is a good video to watch. I have always been thinking about this NASA budget and the actions from politicians for some time, and my thoughts are not too far away from his point of view, and I think many of us have similar assessment. Stuff like space exploration, aerospace innovations, finding cures for various diseases such as cancer, diabetes, hepatitis, cardiac vascular disorders.etc… have never been top priorities from the government and politicians. This is a shame. The funding cuts to NASA, JPL, and other programs benefiting the citizens of this country are heart broken. The future outlook for this country in the next 30 years still doesn’t look optimistic. The two party in Congress and this government are still influenced by special interest groups and greed. This political system must somehow get to be changed for the better. Each of us have one vote. Sadly our votes can be influenced by the corrupted media outlets and wealthy corporations.
Some how there needs to be a sense of urgency.
Tom Lee That’s why we need more spokespersons like DeGrasse Tyson who are so eloquent and forceful in their expression! Unfortunately, most of the passionate and dedicated scientists I know would never dream of venturing into social media, talking to the press or reaching out to people.
Matt Burkey When faced with a constant cycle of layoffs a person might consider making themselves as unexpendable as possible in the hopes that they don’t get laid off. If they do get laid off then the hope is that they’ll be able to hop right back on board when the money starts flowing again because they have an expertise that they’ve carefully cultivated and jealously guarded. Apply this to a whole organization that has been at the whims of the House and Senate budget committees for decades.
Here’s another installment of Symphony of Science – Onward to the Edge!
via Matt Arnold . Lovely views of the planets, and autotuned voices of NdGT, Brian Cox and Carolyn Porco. Enjoy!
Rajini Rao spokespersons like Tyson is hard to find and a rarity. However, one Tyson will have to compete for thousands of tabloid news and money hungry media networks which could careless about spreading constructive ideas. The government and congress probably wouldn’t spend a second listening to his message, unless that message benefits their re-elections. The country we have now is not the country that we’ve known before. Greed and selfishness will always be there. The only thing that could change this whole mindset is to improving our educational systems which will need to produce a new future generation of reformists emphasizing in developing the new direction for this country.
Well, Tom Lee , we’ve got to do something to change that!!! At least we’re talking on G+ 🙂 Gnotic Pasta , there’s a whole series of these, some better than others. The Ode to the Brain is nice too. I posted one that got dissed so badly by the plussers (bad autotuning), I dare not post another, LOL!
I have learned a lot too, Gnotic Pasta . It’s pretty awesome that if there is one error in my post, someone is on to it in a flash! Keeps me on my toes 😀
One argument you hear from conservatives is that private industry can always do a better job than the public sector. One example that is sometimes given is drug companies can do more “productive” research than academia. There are errors in that argument due to the reliance on knowledge gained from basic science which the government funds, not drug companies. However, that’s not my main point.
About 10 yrs ago I was working on artificial blood. You’d think that the military would be funding that left and right. Well one guy wasted a lot of the army’s money and ruined the funding for academia. Funding agencies were convinced that drug companies could do a better job. Unlike academia, drug companies have to make a profit and don’t want to gain knowledge. People died in clinical trials of two different blood substitute formulations. In 10 yrs, people have died and we are no where closer to artificial blood. I would wager that if public funding didn’t stop, we’d either have a safe product by now or the answer as to why it may never work.
Thanks Rajini Rao the video holds much truth as sad as that is. Fraser Cain Kick starter for NASA’s budget? 😀 I’d gladly give way more than a penny!
Motivated by both fear and hope. We know the fear part, hope example can be from some group looking for the “promise/promised land”. Religious group would be willing to go through hardship to settle a frontier, but the New World (Americas), U.S. West is different than Space. Willing people are not able to just set their mind and go.
“Curiousity driven research” has been the engine for many great discoveries. Neither hope nor fear appeals to the typical scientist. I wonder if explorers feel the same.
That’s what I suspected! What drives a person to explore new places or experiences (whether climbing mountains or crossing the desert) is probably very similar to the rush of excitement and anticipation that scientists feel when trying out new ideas. 🙂
Very true, Feisal Kamil . It’s about motivating those who control the purse strings, not those who do the research 😦
Rajini Rao I’d be excited to have a job cleaning toilets and space sick if it meant I could get a few glimpses out of the viewport at Earth from orbit.
LOL, Richard Healy , if we can send people up to orbit earth then we should be able to automate toilet cleaning 🙂 I’d like to get up there too!
HI Awesome n thanks for the share