Stellar Water Fountain

ktulu1115 writes "Space.com writes: An aging star that spits water into space could provide astronomers the clues they need to explain the formation of planetary nebulae, the cloudy remnants of a star's death."

Comments

more taxpayer money down the toilet

[tps12]

Hey, this is cool. Pretty entertaining, I'll grant you that. But aren't there more pressing issues that we should be devoting our resources to? AIDS? Cancer? Genital mutilation? In the grand scheme of things, how much do "space fountains" really matter?

I think the entire scientific community needs to take a step back and rethink their priorities. I like science as much as the next guy, provided that it is science that benefits humanity. This masturbatory gee-whiz hobbyist garbage is a shameful waste of precious resources.

I don't want to have to explain to my grandkids that the reason I'm dying of brain disease in the year 2075 is because we were too busy looking for space waterslides to find a cure.

Bullshit.

[Eliza Doolittle]

Water is blue. The stuff coming from that star is red. Perhaps those "scientists" should get their eyes checked before trying to identify stuff.

a good point, actually

[tps12]

I hadn't thought of it that way, but it is right. People basically stop being productive around 50 years old, to my knowledge. Furthermore, as you point out, the only people who miss them when they die are their family. At the age of 50, the elderly should be forced into retirement for 10 years, at which point they can be painlessly put to rest. Couples should be bound to whichever date comes first, so no one dies alone.

We should invest our money in scientists looking for better ways to accomplish this so that it remains as natural a process as possible. Once we have the human population problem under control, we can concentrate on the important things, like the Martian Colony.

I still don't think space fountains are helpful, though.