Posted July 22, 2011 ... And we can only attain that wealth of knowledge by having the government run the program? Not necessarily. But when the question "what can we do to make a dollar" supersedes "what can we do" it feels like something will be lost. Yeah, new knowledge will be stuck behind "trade-secret" and "copyright" walls, but that is no worse than new knowledge being stuck behind "classified" or "military secret" walls. It's not the "rate" of advancement as much as it is the direction of advancement that concerns me. Share this post Link to post
Posted July 22, 2011 I dunno. I'd still appreciate more avenues of advancement than "We'll just hitch a ride with the Russians." And privatizing space research wouldn't have to mean it was entirely geared toward monetary profit. It would all depend on the mission of whomever was founding or running it. Share this post Link to post
Posted July 22, 2011 I dunno. I'd still appreciate more avenues of advancement than "We'll just hitch a ride with the Russians." And privatizing space research wouldn't have to mean it was entirely geared toward monetary profit. It would all depend on the mission of whomever was founding or running it. That is true, if given a choice between private research and russians I would rather side with private research if for no other reason than to maintain a SLIGHT mote of national pride/relevance. Share this post Link to post
Posted July 22, 2011 The main issue here is that, we cant be running the Shuttle Program with so many money-consuming issues down here on earth. Not to mention we are in trillions of debt. Besides, Id rather the money for the space program be put towards the arts, healthcare, education and earth-bound sciences. Oh, paying off some of our debt would be nice too... Share this post Link to post
Posted July 22, 2011 The main issue here is that, we cant be running the Shuttle Program with so many money-consuming issues down here on earth. Not to mention we are in trillions of debt. Besides, Id rather the money for the space program be put towards the arts, healthcare, education and earth-bound sciences. Oh, paying off some of our debt would be nice too... This definitely. National pride for education >>> national pride for shooting things into space. And America is severely lacking in the former. Share this post Link to post
Posted July 22, 2011 I agree with all points. We are stuck with a terrible economy right now and are so badly in debt that we can't be focused on how well goldfish survive in space. (yes this was an experiment.) I don't agree with the national pride thing, because we basically sold that with the debts that we owe, but we do need the space dollars that we really don't have in a place where they can do some good. Share this post Link to post
Posted July 22, 2011 Anyone else here interested in Biotechnology? I just took a 2 day summer camp on it, and it was awesome!! I think I want to do something in that field now, possibly in forenisics. Share this post Link to post
Posted July 22, 2011 Is biotechnology where they use a piece of bio-matter in a computer to make a computer chip thats like a zillion times better then a normal one? Or are we talking something else? Share this post Link to post
Posted July 22, 2011 Is biotechnology where they use a piece of bio-matter in a computer to make a computer chip thats like a zillion times better then a normal one? Or are we talking something else? No, you're thinking of synthetic biology. Biotechnology is more like genetic engineering, gene therapy, pharmacogenomics, bioinformatics, genetic testing, cloning, etc. The two do overlap somewhat, but your average forensic scientist isn't working on creating life from scratch or building E. coli DNA specifically to solve math problems. Synthetic biology is far more controversial than most aspects of biotechnology-- excepting maybe agricultural GMOs. Things like insulin-producing bacteria and DNA testing (forensics, paternity testing, etc) are pretty ubiquitous. Share this post Link to post
Posted August 23, 2011 I like science, but not crazy for it. I like to watch shows like CSI, NCIS, and Bones that do that kind of stuff. Share this post Link to post
Posted August 23, 2011 If only real science could be as exciting as those shows! What they don't show you is the high amount of boring work it can be. Paperwork, mathing, re-doing tests, ect. Also some of their people are doing like five different jobs (that is, normally five different people with five different degrees would cover those jobs). Still, modern day forensic science is pretty darn amazing. Share this post Link to post
Posted August 23, 2011 I lol'd That was half of my chemistry class last semester. "Determine what is, or isn't in this sample" Share this post Link to post
Posted August 23, 2011 I lol'd That was half of my chemistry class last semester. "Determine what is, or isn't in this sample" What was the other half? Share this post Link to post
Posted August 23, 2011 Lecture. The lab portion was pretty much figuring out how to determine what chemicals you have in a random sample. And learning how to share the centrifuges. 30 people in a lab with six centrifuges, one of which is missing the dial (and thus we had to use a metal spatula to turn it), made that lesson possible. (And only four of them were under the hoods. When you're spinning stuff with sulfur compounds the two not in the hood are not usable) Share this post Link to post
Posted August 23, 2011 Someone need to come up with a witty chemistry/gangsta joke based on that. Share this post Link to post
Posted August 24, 2011 I'm half and half sometimes I like science other times there are things I don't understand - sometimes I think it's not my calling at all but other times it's the other way around I like astronomy , astrophysics, quantum physics, particles, biology,chemistry, parellel universes, AI I like a lot of it, but I wouldn't consider myself a geek though sometimes I feel like I'd rather read or write stories, or make movies, or hack videogames, or play instruments than do science experiments Share this post Link to post
Posted August 25, 2011 One word: Space. Everything about it. It *is* the final frontier. Share this post Link to post
Posted August 25, 2011 Lecture. The lab portion was pretty much figuring out how to determine what chemicals you have in a random sample. And learning how to share the centrifuges. 30 people in a lab with six centrifuges, one of which is missing the dial (and thus we had to use a metal spatula to turn it), made that lesson possible. (And only four of them were under the hoods. When you're spinning stuff with sulfur compounds the two not in the hood are not usable) Same here. Except for me the other half was about biology and nature and things like that. Share this post Link to post
Posted August 25, 2011 90% of the chem labs I did when I was majoring in chemistry (for a semester) were titrations. -drip- "is it pink yet?" "nope." -drip- "is it pink yet?" "nope." -drip- "is it pink yet?" "nope." -drip- Needless to say I wasn't impressed. Share this post Link to post
Posted August 25, 2011 Sounds very familiar. And then you accidentally move the stopper on the burette too much and it turns bright pink and you lose the competition. (Or at least in my classes we try to make it fun by competing against each other) Share this post Link to post
Posted August 25, 2011 90% of the chem labs I did when I was majoring in chemistry (for a semester) were titrations. -drip- "is it pink yet?" "nope." -drip- "is it pink yet?" "nope." -drip- "is it pink yet?" "nope." -drip- Needless to say I wasn't impressed. Holy crap that reminds me of my chem class last year x_x Share this post Link to post
Recommended Posts