I cannot get enough Neil!
“…every great scientific truth goes through 3 phases; first people deny it, second they say it conflicts with the bible, third they say they’ve known it all along.”
I was so excited when I saw that Mr. Tyson would be on Science Friday. I thought I would share the highlights with the hour long interview with you.
Here is the first 4 minutes of the interview….
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Full transcript is here and I pulled out some of the best bits and put them below…
Science Friday also did a video of there time with Mr. Tyson…
What Mr. Tyson had to say.
The state of America….
Well, yeah. I mean, we’re fading. We’re sliding. We’re – you look at all the symptoms in society today: We’re losing jobs; the economy is tanking; we don’t have many science – the interest in science is on an ebb; our performance of our students is at all-time lows on an international scale.
On the cost of space travel…
People say we can’t really afford to go into space. That’s if you think space is a handout. Yeah, if it’s a handout, then no, we can’t afford it, we’ve got plenty of other things we need to do. However, apart from the spinoffs, which we can – we should spend some time on or alerting people if they didn’t know what some of the direct and indirect spinoffs are of space technology, that’s not even the strongest argument to do it.
You can also cite the glory of discovery and scientific advance. And that’s my lead reason, personally, but that’s still not even the most compelling reason to do it. The most compelling reason to do it is we are fading fast on the world stage of economic strength, something that is a very uncomfortable position for us to be in because we are unfamiliar lagging in that category.
And…
…people say, why are we spending money up there? We have problems down here on Earth. So let’s tackle social problems for the moment. Let’s ask the budget, how much budget – Budget, how much do you spend on social programs and on education? That turns out, when you add it up, it’s 50 times what we spend on NASA right now, 50 times.
And so we are concerned about what’s going on here on Earth. We are trying to solve those problems. …one might suggest zero NASA’s budget, and give that money to the social programs. That would increase the social program budget by 2 percent, and… …that would not solve – it would not solve the problem.
On Progress…
In fact, if you only do what people did who came before you, nothing would ever change in the world. The people we remember the most are those who did what no one did before them, and that takes courage, and it takes some capacity within you to navigate places where no one has been before.
On Carl Sagan….
…he was one of the first scientists, maybe even the first scientist, to exploit the value of mass media in serving the interest of the advance of science, knowing that science, at least in America, is primarily a tax base-funded enterprise.
And so you have the right as a taxpayer to learn what are the scientists doing in the lab and in the telescopes and in the, you know, you – it’s an obligation – not only do you have the right to know, it’s our obligation to tell you. And he took that to extremes never before seen.
On the new Cosmos….
I feel almost duty-bound to serve the role as the host of the – this reboot of “Cosmos,” which we’re currently engaged in, as perhaps many of your listeners already know.
Protecting the environment…
I think it – first, it shouldn’t be a question. It should be an obvious, blunt, yeah, of course, we’re going to invest in NASA because not only do we get those spinoffs – by the way, NASA was the primary instigator of the miniaturization of electronics at the beginning of the electronics revolution, the microelectronics revolution.
and…
Let’s go back to environment for a moment. Consider that when we went to the moon with the objective of studying the moon, at least in part – it would be the last mission to the moon that actually had a geologist on it, not the first, but that’s another conversation. So you go to the moon, and – Apollo 8 was the first to do this – you look back and you see Earth suspended there in the void of space. That was a photo taken in 1968 by Apollo 8 when they did their figure eight around the moon.
Do you realize that between 1968 and 1972 and ’73, this is when – these are all the missions where we went to the moon and landed, and a little bit after that – are the primary legislation in America to protect the Earth? The Environmental Protection Agency was in that period. The major adjustment, major improvements to the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the banning of DDT – all of this happened in that period. Earth Day started. You know the organization Doctors Without Borders? That started in 1970. Where do you even get the phrase without borders? That didn’t really have currency in our language until we saw Earth in space, from the moon, not drawn by mapmakers, with countries colored in, but drawn by nature itself, with land, water, air.
Drivers of big projects….
[there are]… three drivers of major funded projects in the history of our species. The number one among them is war, the I-don’t-want-to-die driver. And that’s responsible for the Great Wall of China, the Manhattan Project, the Apollo Project. When war is – when you might die, water flows like rivers, like – or tapped keg, whatever is your preference there.
Another driver is, of course, economic return, the promise of economic return. And that’s what drove the Columbus voyages and the Magellan voyages. And, you know, Columbus himself was a discoverer, no doubt about it, but the people who wrote the check were not. That was Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, and they say Columbus, here. Here’s a satchel full of Spanish flags. Put them wherever you land and claim this – and claim that in the name of Spain. And this was – and tell us what riches there are there for us to exploit. That’s essentially the back story of that mission. And so the promise of economic gain is a huge driver in the history of the world.
And third is the praise of gods and royalty. So you get the pyramids and the cathedrals of Europe and the U.K. And so that’s a major enterprise, a major investment in human and financial capital to achieve some collective goal that the society values.
So, I’m saying, I don’t want to go into space for war even though we did that in the ’60s. The benefit was the economic return. So I’m saying, shed the war baggage. Do it for the economic return. Then you’re not going to complain what it costs because all that matters is your return on that investment.
On going to space…
What I want is to turn the solar system, especially the near solar system, into our backyard. And if it becomes your backyard, you then have a suite of launch vehicles that you design and build. And you strap on one kind of booster configuration or another that’ll take you to the moon if that’s where you so choose. Take you to Mars if that’s what’s necessary. Take you to an asteroid when it’s time to deflect it. Take you to some space station if there’s a geopolitical reason to do so. Take you to the backside of the moon if you want to be a tourist. Make space an ever-advancing frontier, so that every new step we take innovates. And it’s not just we go here or there, I want to go everywhere. And so the attitude is space is our backyard.
When you’re a kid and put out in the backyard – and if it’s the city then the metaphorical backyard – you don’t want to be restricted to where you want to go. You want to let your curiosity take you wherever it might – wherever it pulls.
And…
It’s just a really good idea that transcends politics. It’s not even bipartisan. It’s nonpartisan. It’s a nonpartisan idea. What a concept, right, where everyone say, hey, let’s just do that.
The value for America…
FLATOW: Neil, if you were put in charge of all of our space efforts, would you take the job?
TYSON: No, because the person in charge of the space efforts reports to the president. And right now, the president’s plan is not the plan that I think is in our best interest. It requires vastly more money than anyone is allocating, and the argument they’re giving is we can’t afford right now, when the real answer is we can afford to not do it. So the only way to actually affect this change is to convince the public of why it’s good for them and good for their economy. By the way, when you innovate, you create innovative things in your marketplace and the jobs can’t go overseas because they haven’t figured out how to do it yet.
One of the symptoms of an absence of innovation is the fact that you lose your jobs. Everyone else catches up with you. They can do what you do better than you or cheaper than you. And in a multinational corporate – free market enterprise, it is the company’s obligation to take the factory to a place where they can make it more cheaply. But in the ’60s and ’70s, was anyone complaining that jobs were going overseas? I don’t remember that – because we were innovating in ways that the rest of the world was playing catch up. And so I – so, for me, the motivation is to compel the nation to want to do this so that we – as a stoking force on our economy, and that – and once the nation wants to do it, the pressure then gets put on our lawmakers. And then what they end up putting into place is the expression of our wishes, not some political whim that happens to be – make a good campaign slogan.
Tyson may go to the senate….
I got a phone call from the Senate, and they want me to testify in front of the Senate House Committee on – I mean, the Senate Committee on Commerce – next Wednesday. And I’ll be testifying after the head of NASA to comment on where I think the future of NASA should be in its relationship to the nation. So that’s bittersweet for me, because, personally, I don’t like trying to influence politicians, who are themselves representative of huge numbers of people.
As an educator, I’d rather enlighten the people and educate the people and let they be the ones who put the pressure on their elected officials. I feel like I’m circumventing the electoral process by speaking directly to senators. But if it’s just a matter of clueing them in to what my thoughts are, I’m happy to do that and I’ve been invited to do so.
Some in America see science as taking away their religion. If the light shows that your religion is wrong…. just maybe…. your religion is wrong.
GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum targeted primary rivals Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich on Tuesday for allegedly buying into the “bogus” science of man-made climate change, while proudly declaring that he himself had never believed in the “hoax of global warming.”
Keep your fingers crossed. This guy may get the nomination and provide many months of great laughs.
Post by Phil Ferguson
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I found this site called fixedearth.com. I just found out that evolution is wrong. So is biology, geology, physics, chemistry, astronomy etc….
Here is a screen capture of a page. Random caps, color changes, bizarre highlighting and font changes always point to truth!
Post By Jim Newman
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This came across a home school site. From Dr. Rhonda Furlow, Institute for Creation Research, http://www.science-essentials.org.
Love at first sight. True love. Forever love. Always. With all my heart. Real love.
Yes, it is that time of the holiday season again. Saint Valentine’s Day, or Valentine’s Day as we typically call it. It’s traditionally a day when you profess your unfailing love for someone through flowers, candy, cards, or romantic dates, all known as “valentines.” Modern Valentine’s Day symbols include Cupid, doves, and anything heart-shaped.
However, as we all know, there are no feelings of love abounding in the heart organ itself. But have you ever stopped to think of all the amazing things we need our heart for? Not so much for feelings, but actual living.
Today I thought I would give you seven little-known facts about the heart to use with your students.
Did you know:
1) The human heart creates enough pressure when pumping blood out to the body that the blood can squirt 30 feet?
2) On average, a million barrels worth of blood is pumped through the heart in a lifetime?
3) Your heart, made up of mostly muscle, is strong enough to lift approximately 3,000 pounds, the weight of a small compact car?
4) Your heart beats 100,000 times a day, which is enough to fill 8,800 quart-size milk cartons?
5) Your heart does enough work to lift your body 1 mile up into the air?
6) For its size, the human heart is considered one of the world’s strongest pumps?
7) Your heart is able to propel a blood cell completely through your body in just 60 seconds?
When God designed the human heart, He not only made sure it was functional to meet all our bodily needs, but He also made it one amazing organ, leaving no question about random design. Now THAT’s what I call love!
Hmm, well, if the heart is perfect the designer should be sent back to school because it sure isn’t perfect. If god created the heart he, she, it deserves a D if not an F. No I guess a D because it does work. It just could work a lot better.
Given the desire to save lives, reduce grief, and enhance circulation, many doctors would agree to redo a number of heart design flaws.
Heart valves tend to be produced inconsistently such that many people have heart valve problems. Congenital heart valve disease usually involves pulmonary or aortic valves that don’t form properly. These valves may not have enough tissue flaps, they may be the wrong size or shape, or they may lack an opening through which blood can flow properly. Better genetics would eliminate these quality control issues.
Sadly there is no heart-based heart valve monitoring system to detect backflow or faulty valves. People can have heart valve problems for years and not know it, though it affects their health. The heart valve design is too prone to congenital defects.
The heart is unable to detect plaque buildup or to remove plaque. Heart disease is the number one killer now. While it is often diet, it is also an inherent problem within the circulatory system. One which if overcome would extend our life tremendously.
Because we are mammals, our lungs do not function in the fetus, causing the undesirable mixing of oxygenated and unoxygenated blood. This happens in the fetus where there is a hole between the chambers of the heart that must close off at birth. This leads to a relatively common baby condition, the so called “hole in the heart” baby.
If the umbilical cord were inserted at the chest instead of the belly, the umbilical vein and artery could connect directly to the mother’s pulmonary vein and artery, eliminating the need for a hole in the chamber, and providing better oxygenated blood to the baby. This would solve several other problems as well, including the need for a placenta and menstruation!
The hemoglobin in blood has more affinity for carbon monoxide than oxygen. We could relieve some of the work of the lungs and liver, if it were not iron based, and did not prefer attaching to the poison CO.
When a person has congestive heart disease, the heart gets bigger and bigger to compensate. Since the heart doesn’t have a monitor for this, people don’t know they have this problem until it is too late and very difficult to correct.
Since the heart doesn’t have a means of monitoring blood pressure, people suffer tremendously from the silent killer stroke. Many, many lives would be saved if the heart could tell us when it is experiencing too much pressure. Other problems would be eliminated if it could detect too little pressure.
The heart has a hard time coordinating valve opening and closing with chamber contraction, resulting in the common ailment arrhythmia. A better electric circuit in the heart’s atrioventricular node would eliminate this problem.
Black women have a much higher risk of birth-related heart problems, especially, peripartum cardiomyopathy. 93% of people who get this problem are black. A better designed heart would not be afflicted by race issues.
Beneficial bacteria in the gut break down fats so well they more easily deposit on arterial cell walls exacerbating thickening and hardening of the arteries. The heart is unable to combat this. Nor is it able to combat the inflammation from other bacteria in the body (in particular periodontal disease bacteria). We have no consciousness of the need to brush our teeth and not eat so many fatty foods, resulting in diseases we could have avoided.
There is no reason the heart has to have a four-chamber design with a heartbeat. More efficient pumps of more simple design could reduce wear and tear on the heart and the circulatory system. While issues of tissue rejection are more difficult to overcome, the mechanics of pump design are easily met by human heart design.
Jim Newman, bright and well
www.brightpride.com and www.frontiersofreason.com
Post by Phil Ferguson
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NASA’s “Blue Marble” image is one of the best-known high-resolution pictures of our planet. It’s even included as one of the default images for Apple’s iPhone. Now NASA has released a brand-new “Blue Marble 2012,” based on image data from the VIIRS instrument aboard Suomi NPP, the most recently launched Earth-observing satellite.
The Suomi spacecraft was known as the NPOESS Preparatory Project, or NPP, when it was launched last October. This week it was renamed the Suomi NPP — or Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership — to honor the late Verner. E. Suomi, a professor at the University of Wisconsin who became known as the father of satellite meteorology. The $1.5 billion mission is a partnership involving NASA as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Air Force.
Suomi is the first of a new generation of satellites that will provide data for climate research as well as weather prediction. It carries five instruments on board, and the biggest and most important of the five is the Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite, or VIIRS. This composite image was built up from swaths of surface image data collected on Jan. 4.
To learn more about Suomi, check out the mission’s website. For a huge 8,000-by-8,000-pixel version of Blue Marble 2012, go to the NASA Goddard Photo and Video Flickr gallery. And for a daily dose of Earth imagery, including more pictures from VIIRS, click on over to NASA’s Earth Observatory.
