"One problem with academia is the malice of the new." Astronomy is different. The first telescope was built in 1600. Telescope technology hasn't changed much

"One problem with academia is the malice of the new." Astronomy is different. The first telescope was built in 1600. Telescope technology hasn't changed much since then. The engineering has gotten better though -- we spend money to get as many photons as possible. --- In regards to the "X beats HST" stories that seem to constantly populate the news: there's no optical telescope/instrument out there that can image as faint as HST, over such a wide field of view, with such high resolution. There won't be for at least another decade.