[TheZookie007]

I'm still pissed about the demotion of Pluto...but I am glad that Pluto was able to confront NdGT at last!

[Ronald Ray Gun]

I wholeheartedly agree with Pluto's demotion. Pluto has a new family of cool dwarf planets with Sedna, Makemake, Eris and Ceres.
NdGT talked about moons in that clip. I hope the new show has some good episodes about the moons. Some of the moons of the gas giants are very interesting.

[rtpoe]

Two thoughts on "The Clean Room" episode of Cosmos

It's far too easy to poke fun at Archbishop James Ussher for his statement that the Earth was created at a specific time on a specific date. This is totally unfair; his calculation was a very fine piece of historical and Biblical scholarship especially for its time (circa 1650). If you think it was easy, I challenge you to do the same....

"Ussher represented the best of scholarship in his time. He was part of a substantial research tradition, a large community of intellectuals working toward a common goal under an accepted methodology." Steven Jay Gould, "Fall in the House of Ussher"

And for all the stuff about vested interests fighting against Science, there's a good subtext in Patterson's story. His initial research, determining the trace amounts of lead in zircon crystals so as to pin down the age of the Earth, was pure research. Setting out to find something simply because it would add to our Knowledge, and not because he or anyone else could profit from it. And from that we got not only a healthier world, but he also developed "clean room" technology - which became vitally important to the computer industry. One may never be able to predict where it will lead, but Research for the sake of Research is always of great value.

[pedonbio]

I certainly agree about Ussher. At least he began the inquiry by accepting that there was a time before the earth existed. What I find ridiculous, of course, is that after 350 years of research drawing very different conclusions, a handful of fanatics still insist his was the correct answer. I would suggest that they limit themselves to the state of medical knowledge circa 1650.

That was, of course, one of the problems that Darwin saw with his theory 200 years later. The best estimate for the age of the earth based on geological processes like sedimentation was 110 million years, which is much too short a time for evolution by natural selection.

[TheZookie007]

And for all the stuff about vested interests fighting against Science, there's a good subtext in Patterson's story. His initial research, determining the trace amounts of lead in zircon crystals so as to pin down the age of the Earth, was pure research. Setting out to find something simply because it would add to our Knowledge, and not because he or anyone else could profit from it. And from that we got not only a healthier world, but he also developed "clean room" technology - which became vitally important to the computer industry. One may never be able to predict where it will lead, but Research for the sake of Research is always of great value.

Absolutely. I am a huge booster for Pure Research. I feel companies/countries that downplay it, do so at their own peril. So for all the "they did a study about that?!" reaction that even I have from time to time, in my more lucid moments I know that even seemingly-useless research may one day have a practical use, as yet unknown to us.

[rtpoe]

They finally got around to talking about global warming directly.

"We just can't seem to stop burning up all those buried trees from way back in the carboniferous age, in the form of coal, and the remains of ancient plankton, in the form of oil and gas. If we could, we'd be home free climate wise. Instead, we're dumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at a rate the Earth hasn't seen since the great climate catastrophes of the past, the ones that led to mass extinctions. We just can't seem to break our addiction to the kinds of fuel that will bring back a climate last seen by the dinosaurs, a climate that will drown our coastal cities and wreak havoc on the environment and our ability to feed ourselves. All the while, the glorious sun pours immaculate free energy down upon us, more than we will ever need. Why can't we summon the ingenuity and courage of the generations that came before us? The dinosaurs never saw that asteroid coming. What's our excuse?" - Neil deGrasse Tyson

[SamV]

And on that, heard today on the news that the latest USG sanctioned report on global warming and climate change was released by the White House. Four years to complete and with input and review from scientists in both the public and private sectors, and as expected more than a few Repubs immediately issued statements questioning the conclusions presented in the report.

Makes me wonder if those dinosaurs who never saw the asteroid were also Republicans?

 

[rtpoe]

And it's pretty tough to question the conclusions when the report is saying "This is what is happening NOW!"

[3deroticer]

I don't know what you have available in your area, but we have a local solar energy project that will install a unit on your roof as a lease guaranteeing a freeze on the electric bill of what you are paying now for 20 years, in exchange of letting them sell the electricity gain from the roof solar unit. If everyone did this, even though you may not gain that much in saving with the solar cell, you would lower the demand for dirty energy. Plus we are moving toward electric vehicle technology, and you could use the roof to store energy into your vehicle.

We sell the solar unit in our state and so any sales will go right back into the economy. And less to the Oil industry which will lower their ability to influence Congress. Getting solar energy to run your home is a huge gain in other area, saving the planet and weakening the corporation influence on our govt.

Check out www.solarcity.com

[TheZookie007]

If I'm not mistaken, SolarCity is owned by Tesla/SpaceX head honcho Elon Musk.

[3deroticer]

I just heard that Tesla have release all of their patent!

[TheZookie007]

I just heard that Tesla have release all of their patent!

Indeed.

June 12, 2014: "All Our Patent Are Belong To You", By Elon Musk, CEO