Most plans I've seen call for sub-terranian colonization of Luna or Mars. Some people want this to be the human "lifeboat" in case of a meteor strike. Guess what, we can dig subterranian "lifeboats" fueled by nuclear reactors for order of magnitude less.
As far as colonizing available real estate, Antarctica is still relatively untaken. It is pretty cold (like Mars) but it does have the benefit of a breathable atmosphere and plentiful water supply. Again, the colonization efforts would be orders of magnitude cheaper. But who wants to live in a cold/barren landscape world like Antarctica, Mars or Luna?
If you want a telescope... build a robot. We have no need for a manned space station to take pictures, robots can do that just fine.
Perhaps we should learn how to make our own society in the US more harmonious and equitable before we start trying to build them on Earth or Mars. If you gave me a choice between universal healthcare and Mars colonization, I would choose universal healthcare. Otherwise, you would simply be creating Martian health care crisis to accompany ours here on Earth.
Let's not forget that there is also a big push from the right to publish anything that will make adult stem cells seem as promising as fetal stem cells. The fact that this paper is recalled will not deter stem detractors. The mainstay of scientific luddites is always old, discredited studies that they keep propogating regardless of how many times they've been told that it is wrong. You get exactly the same garbage from anti-evolutionists and the anti global warming crowd.
Assuming that someone is trying to be The Joker by advertising their bombs with a Light Bright, I could understand them detonating a single device to see what's up with them. But after that, it should have been very obvious to them that the devices were NOT bombs but rather, just a lightbright board with a two dimensional figure making a lewd jesture "as much as he can".
I don't think that Boston officials were stupid. I think they saw this as an opportunity to show how "vigilant" they were. They intentionally wasted city resources for their own political profit. In essence, they were just emulating Washington DC and the master of the house at 1700 Pennsylvania.
It is reasonable to question whether an object is a bomb. But we have to remember that real life terrorists aren't as concerned about style as say... The Joker. No, I believe tormenting the cops with riddles is the job of fictional villians who are excellent at constructing plot device but not actually killing. Yeah, it could be a bomb, but there are scores of other things one could build a bomb out of that are less visible (key if you don't want the Boston Bomb squad to foil you) and more effective.
I sincerely hope the citizens of Boston construct their own Mooninite light bright signs and put them up. This incident was a hoax by politicians, not marketers.
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Most plans I've seen call for sub-terranian colonization of Luna or Mars. Some people want this to be the human "lifeboat" in case of a meteor strike. Guess what, we can dig subterranian "lifeboats" fueled by nuclear reactors for order of magnitude less. As far as colonizing available real estate, Antarctica is still relatively untaken. It is pretty cold (like Mars) but it does have the benefit of a breathable atmosphere and plentiful water supply. Again, the colonization efforts would be orders of magnitude cheaper. But who wants to live in a cold/barren landscape world like Antarctica, Mars or Luna? If you want a telescope ... build a robot. We have no need for a manned space station to take pictures, robots can do that just fine.
Perhaps we should learn how to make our own society in the US more harmonious and equitable before we start trying to build them on Earth or Mars. If you gave me a choice between universal healthcare and Mars colonization, I would choose universal healthcare. Otherwise, you would simply be creating Martian health care crisis to accompany ours here on Earth.
Let's not forget that there is also a big push from the right to publish anything that will make adult stem cells seem as promising as fetal stem cells. The fact that this paper is recalled will not deter stem detractors. The mainstay of scientific luddites is always old, discredited studies that they keep propogating regardless of how many times they've been told that it is wrong. You get exactly the same garbage from anti-evolutionists and the anti global warming crowd.
Assuming that someone is trying to be The Joker by advertising their bombs with a Light Bright, I could understand them detonating a single device to see what's up with them. But after that, it should have been very obvious to them that the devices were NOT bombs but rather, just a lightbright board with a two dimensional figure making a lewd jesture "as much as he can". I don't think that Boston officials were stupid. I think they saw this as an opportunity to show how "vigilant" they were. They intentionally wasted city resources for their own political profit. In essence, they were just emulating Washington DC and the master of the house at 1700 Pennsylvania.
It is reasonable to question whether an object is a bomb. But we have to remember that real life terrorists aren't as concerned about style as say ... The Joker. No, I believe tormenting the cops with riddles is the job of fictional villians who are excellent at constructing plot device but not actually killing. Yeah, it could be a bomb, but there are scores of other things one could build a bomb out of that are less visible (key if you don't want the Boston Bomb squad to foil you) and more effective.
I sincerely hope the citizens of Boston construct their own Mooninite light bright signs and put them up. This incident was a hoax by politicians, not marketers.