SCIENCE!

[smokingboot]

Even as hopes of fusion rise http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35074848 our government decides to ignore democratic process and push through fracking legislation without discussion.

It occurs to me that while our scientific evolution is moving so quickly, our social evolution remains retarded by self interest at its most stupid: quids for the boys now and ruined health and landscape for later. Let's see how money staves off lung cancer. Oh wait, it doesn't... but if a tory wants to take that risk with their own life/family/house, fair enough. Foisting it on everyone else is a different matter.

There is a part of me that wants to turn away from space exploration, and say that it would be better for us to be unable to get off planet Earth, that if we make this beautiful place ugly and uninhabitable, we should have to live with it until we learn otherwise, rather than go smearing our faeces across galaxies. But exploration is so exciting! The latest pictures of Enceladus and Tethys are fabulous: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/nasa-spies-cosmic-bulls-eye-as-two-moons-line-up-perfectly/ar-BBnBGBi?fullscreen=true#image=1

We need to examine why we give the ugly, the evil, the stupid, the grasping, so much power over our lives... but the universe is still a beautiful place. Sometimes I need to remind myself of that.

Comments

[larians.livejournal.com]

While fusion is the long term answer the problem is the long term. Enormous amounts of money and research are being poured into it without any indication as to when it will be viable - it is still likely to be decades away.

Therefore there is a need for shorter term solutions, of which there are a number of options all of which carrying significant challenges.

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

They might... so one would expect a government at least to have a debate in the commons in order to actually look at the reports about the safety of fracking.

They didn't - which is handy considering the U-turn they have made regarding the safety of our heritage sites and national parks. And very handy for Cuadrilla, who have been lobbying with extraordinary access to government influence for years, thanks to Lord John Browne, who has commercial links to the company. Lord John Browne is also connected to the huge BP drilling disaster off Louisiana and Mexico. His cost-cutting measures have been linked to lack of safety measures leading to the Texas City Refinery Explosion. It is ironic that this gent has had much more time and opportunity to lobby for fracking than MPs have had to discuss it!