Phil Plait's latest article flew past me on Twitter today, and I was speedy enough to catch it and give it a read.
Read this before continuing:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/03/24/from-distant-planets-to-the-deep-blue-sea/I happen to agree with him that even in times like these we need to fund research, in fact, I'd point out that *especially* in times like these. When the economy is uncertain, it's all too easy to gaze into the complexity of the problems that face us and want to run screaming into the arms of a comfortable superstition to make us feel better. (No, I'm not talking about Atheism or Religion here. I'm talking about the unreasonable ticks that arise in every one of us when faced with something out of our control.)
Good science brings hope. It's good for the country's morale. I want to cry when I see how NASA has fared in the last 20 years, perhaps longer, because the boneheads in Congress lack the foresight to embrace science as a priority. My father worked for NASA< and I was lucky to be one of those kids exposed to the Wonder of space and science at an early age. I want my children to have the same, but these days, NASA gets more press when things go wrong than when things go right.
I could not agree more with Dr. Plait's final statements:
It is not only possible, but I believe mandated, that all of us who love science and want to further the knowledge of humanity support each other’s endeavors. The public does in fact have a great interest in many fields of science, including space exploration, ocean exploration, biological exploration…
The key word there is exploration, and there’s enough Universe out there for everybody.
