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Hawaii Supreme Court Approves Thirty Meter Telescope On Mauna Kea (hawaiinewsnow.com)
Applehu Akbar shares a report from Hawaii News Now: After years of legal wrangling and protests, the Thirty Meter Telescope got a green light Tuesday from the state Supreme Court. In a 4-to-1 decision, the state's highest court ruled in favor of the telescope's construction atop Mauna Kea, effectively ending all legal avenues for contesting the controversial project unless the U.S. Supreme Court takes up the case. In a statement, TMT International Observatory Board of Governors Chairman Henry Yang said the body is "grateful" for the ruling and "committed to being good stewards on the mountain."
Slashdot reader Applehu Akbar adds: "Green anti-science organizations, such as Deep Green Resistance and Sierra Club, have been trying to stop TMT construction for years, in an expanded version of an earlier campaign to halt the construction of large research telescopes in southeastern Arizona. As in Arizona, their excuse was at first endangered species on the construction site, and subsequently native rights.
"TMT is an advanced world-class telescope designed to investigate and answer some of the most fundamental questions regarding our universe, including the formation of stars and galaxies after the Big Bang and how the universe evolved to its present form. Native Hawaiians will also be included in other direct benefits from the TMT," the court wrote. "Thus, use of the land by TMT is consistent with conservation and in furtherance of the self-sufficiency of the state."
"TMT is an advanced world-class telescope designed to investigate and answer some of the most fundamental questions regarding our universe, including the formation of stars and galaxies after the Big Bang and how the universe evolved to its present form. Native Hawaiians will also be included in other direct benefits from the TMT," the court wrote. "Thus, use of the land by TMT is consistent with conservation and in furtherance of the self-sufficiency of the state."
Shaddap anti-science republican faggot
You've clearly never visited Hawaii OR obtained even a cursory understanding of the issue here. The anti-science ones in this issue are the green party and native Hawaiians.
What benefits will they gain from a big telescope being nearby?
It's basically the best location on Earth for a ground-based telescope due to local climate and air conditions.
Also.... it's literally just named Thirty Meter Telescope?
It was named by scientists, be glad it wasn't some absurd string of latin words translating roughly to "the glowy ring things from sonic the hedgehog."
I wouldn't call them anti-science so much as anti-progress of any type.
You'd think that "greens" would actually be pro-science, what with environmental issues mostly being understandable by actual science.
But think of all the so-called "greens" who are into essential oils, crystals, supplements and all the other esoteric unscientific nonsense. They want to align with Native Americans because they think it gives credibility to their new age bullshit to associate it with actual pagan religious practices, which while culturally legitimate are no less fantasy than new agers or Catholics for that matter.
And actual organized native opposition to something like a scientific observatory is really nothing more than a political shakedown for concessions somewhere else.
Right, because the "scientific-industrial complex" just wants to spend ~$1B in a remote location to fuck up the view. This is on grounds that were set aside long ago for astronomy, which according to you has no value to humanity. Obviously, we don't need things like GPS, or cell phones. In fact, just go read this to find out what astronomy has done for humanity, then come back and apologize for your ignorance. Otherwise, we'll just know it was stupidity, which can't be fixed.
https://www.iau.org/public/the...
Just another day in Paradise
Hawaii is ``best'' location not just due to height and accessibility. e.g. they could just build it on Pike's Peak in Colorado... higher, and way more accessible. What sets hawaii apart is that it's in the middle of the ocean, which minimizes atmospheric interference.
A small, but important, triumph.
as the consensus amongst the right is that taking from others in the name of science is fine for Kea, I must assume they've no problems with the Feds taking everything past the first five million from the rich. It's just religion after that and we're all agreed that religion has no value. What's wrong with taking nothing?
wait, what?
Why does everything have to be reduced to a right/left dung throwing fest? I'd be shocked if the astronomical community designing/building/using the scope voted much differently than 1/3 R and 2/3 D. But, hey, you've got to have only two boxes to cram any policy decision into, so go ahead.