I really have to stop watching the news over breakfast, but since I've been eating a more regular diet, I am doing it more and more. This morning I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Michio Kaku on the CBS Morning News discussing the recent meteor strike in Russia. I thought, "Ok, this is cool. I like science, and I like Dr. Kaku. He seems to be a pretty good advocate for science and rational thinking." These kind feelings stopped abruptly when he proposed a federal program to detect asteroids. He said - I paraphrase here - "It would only cost a couple hundred million dollars. That's chump change."
Yes, Dr. Kaku, and we're the chumps. I'm all for the early detection of potentially dangerous asteroids, but can't we raise the money without using force and coercion? There is no reason to resort to violence if the concerns and the science have merit. In the modern world of projects like Kickstarter, shouldn't it be relatively easy to raise the "chump change" from hundreds, thousands or even millions of willing participants world wide? Give peace a chance Dr. Kaku.
No comments:
Post a Comment