4 ms·

> what's the ultimate value to humanity? What if we found a bacteria that would spread on Mars and create an atmosphere? There are so many questions like that.

by derrida 14y ago

> what's the ultimate value to humanity? What if we found a bacteria that would spread on Mars and create an atmosphere? There are so many questions like that. Science for science sake, art for arts, because dammit, we are alive!

Kilimanjaro 14y ago
Why don't we better terraform the sahara desert or the death valley? Greenland? Australia's outback? Antarctica? Honest question.
- tocomment 14y ago
  Conservation I guess. And cheap existing land.
  - StavrosK 14y ago
    Simpler explanation: Because we can't. As Neil Tyson says, we can't even accurately predict the weather a week down the road, you want to terraform something?
    - waterlesscloud 14y ago
      Of course, he also says that humans have had a preventable effect on Earth's climate.
    - ceejayoz 14y ago
      > As Neil Tyson says, we can't even accurately predict the weather a week down the road, you want to terraform something? Did he really say that? I'd think NDT would be acutely aware of the difference between short-term weather and long-term climate, given that he gets to fight climate change denialists using that absurd misunderstanding on a regular basis.
      - StavrosK 14y ago
        He is, and he did: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/ngd5e/i_am_neil_degrasse_tyson_ama/c38va48?context=1 http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/ngd5e/i_am_neil_degras...
- scythe 14y ago
  A: terraforming is slow, but we're trying -- see the Sahara Forest Project B: the Sahara desert is the biggest rain-shadow in the world. It's between the Atlas Mountains in Morrocco on the north, the Cameroon volcano chain in the southeast, and the Red Sea hills to the northeast. To make things worse, the year-round trade winds prevent Atlantic storm systems from going aground in Africa -- instead we get a hurricane season in Florida. The result is a magical place where it never rains: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MeanMonthlyP.gif http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MeanMonthlyP.gif
- aheilbut 14y ago
  While we're at it, why don't we first not make a giant mess of the habitable and productive parts of the earth that we depend on?
Cushman 14y ago
We're doing science. There's a whole science lab on Mars, right now, rolling around doing science. That's super valuable. What does it need a human for?
- blhack 14y ago
  Because this is what humanity does.
- ceejayoz 14y ago
  > We're doing science. There's a whole science lab on Mars, right now, rolling around doing science. That's super valuable. What does it need a human for? Digging deeper than five inches?

by derrida 14y ago

Kilimanjaro 14y ago

Why don't we better terraform the sahara desert or the death valley? Greenland? Australia's outback? Antarctica? Honest question.

tocomment 14y ago
Conservation I guess. And cheap existing land.
- StavrosK 14y ago
  Simpler explanation: Because we can't. As Neil Tyson says, we can't even accurately predict the weather a week down the road, you want to terraform something?
  - waterlesscloud 14y ago
    Of course, he also says that humans have had a preventable effect on Earth's climate.
  - ceejayoz 14y ago
    > As Neil Tyson says, we can't even accurately predict the weather a week down the road, you want to terraform something? Did he really say that? I'd think NDT would be acutely aware of the difference between short-term weather and long-term climate, given that he gets to fight climate change denialists using that absurd misunderstanding on a regular basis.
    - StavrosK 14y ago
      He is, and he did: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/ngd5e/i_am_neil_degrasse_tyson_ama/c38va48?context=1 http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/ngd5e/i_am_neil_degras...
scythe 14y ago
A: terraforming is slow, but we're trying -- see the Sahara Forest Project B: the Sahara desert is the biggest rain-shadow in the world. It's between the Atlas Mountains in Morrocco on the north, the Cameroon volcano chain in the southeast, and the Red Sea hills to the northeast. To make things worse, the year-round trade winds prevent Atlantic storm systems from going aground in Africa -- instead we get a hurricane season in Florida. The result is a magical place where it never rains: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MeanMonthlyP.gif http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MeanMonthlyP.gif
aheilbut 14y ago
While we're at it, why don't we first not make a giant mess of the habitable and productive parts of the earth that we depend on?

Cushman 14y ago

We're doing science. There's a whole science lab on Mars, right now, rolling around doing science. That's super valuable. What does it need a human for?

blhack 14y ago
Because this is what humanity does.
ceejayoz 14y ago
> We're doing science. There's a whole science lab on Mars, right now, rolling around doing science. That's super valuable. What does it need a human for? Digging deeper than five inches?