why are we trying to look at planets millions of miles away and trying to fid a micro-organisms.??

Sort out our planet first. then find out ways to question the others

America have spent over $2 billlion on the two Rovers but they haven't sorted out the people killing inocent soldiers in Iraq yet, they need to get there priotoies right. $2 bill would of sorted out 1/2 of Africa's Starvation problems and water problems, and they would get good publisisum and support. but No lets be the first to Mars

Its all about how big Americas balls are

why cant we the civilised British help Africa and Asia, instead of builing a £1 mill useles bit of equiptment now stranded on Mars or in the depths of deep space!

It's fabulous. It expands our knowledge, our creativity and our purpose. It's what our species has done for millions of years. It's why we are what we are.

What also makes us this is our cruelty, heartlessness and selfishness.

The sum of these parts is the Homo Sapiens - we will do whatever it takes to make ourselves better as a whole.

The sum of these parts is the Homo Sapiens - we will do whatever it takes to make ourselves better as a whole.

as a whole, but does that not mean everyone on our planet?? and why do can we not spend those amounts on starving people aswell??

we 'Britain' make and print our own money we make money why cant we put the machines on over drive and give it away to people who need it??

Originally posted by Fletch
why are we trying to look at planets millions of miles away and trying to fid a micro-organisms.??

Sort out our planet first. then find out ways to question the others

America have spent over $2 billlion on the two Rovers but they haven't sorted out the people killing inocent soldiers in Iraq yet, they need to get there priotoies right. $2 bill would of sorted out 1/2 of Africa's Starvation problems and water problems, and they would get good publisisum and support. but No lets be the first to Mars

Its all about how big Americas balls are

why cant we the civilised British help Africa and Asia, instead of builing a £1 mill useles bit of equiptment now stranded on Mars or in the depths of deep space!

I understand what you are saying, but the only reason we have I.T. is because so much money has been spent on space exploration and the latest technology is the spin offs from that I.E. the micro chip, computers etc. and all the wonderfull things that are now available, it is one thing or the other, you cannot have it both ways!

you could now though

we have the technology to develope new things and put them into everyday life, they came up withe th electronic calculator without a space mission!!

they are developing things smaller and smaller at this second without space missions, we may have needed them to get the ball rolliing but now its moving and wont stop, as long as there is a customer theres a market!!

just look at this thread by Geoff

puond coin sized hard drive (http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5882)

Toshiba dont build space craft!!

Originally posted by Fletch
as a whole, but does that not mean everyone on our planet?? and why do can we not spend those amounts on starving people aswell??

That is a fair point, but the basic programming of our species is to improve. It’s called natural selection, and we are better at it than any other species on the planet. In purely natural terms that means that the ones with poor nutrition, health and rife disease will die out. Ergo, the starving will starve as better versions of our species replace them. It’s a tough world.


Originally posted by Fletch
we 'Britain' make and print our own money we make money why cant we put the machines on over drive and give it away to people who need it??

We don’t print our money in the way that you mean it. To physically make more money would destabilise economies worldwide and lead to increased poverty. Our wealth is based on the RESTRICTED SUPPLY of money, not the free supply of it. Therefore some people have to be poor and some have to be rich. That’s just the way it is.

SO if you were staving in Africa and a rich m,an with loads of money falling out of his pockets went passed you would say
"well hes lucky he got to be rich and i got to be poor thats the way life is, i wont ask him for any money"
would you. i wouldnt.

if i was that rich man i would give away as much as i could, so i can still be in a happy house and live in relative comfert but also feel as though i am heloping poor people have a hapier food rich life

Originally posted by Fletch
we have the technology to develope new things and put them into everyday life, they came up withe th electronic calculator without a space mission!!
You could not have picked a worse example. The electronic calculator was developed so that astronauts could function when communications were lost as they travelled on the dark side of the moon. (I will bow to greater knowledge on this one );)

You could not have picked a worse example. The electronic calculator was developed so that astronauts could function when communications were lost as they travelled on the dark side of the moon. (I will bow to greater knowledge on this one )

ok but there must be somthing on this planet that was invented as an electronic product theat was niot linked to a space mission

Originally posted by Fletch
SO if you were staving in Africa and a rich m,an with loads of money falling out of his pockets went passed you would say
"well hes lucky he got to be rich and i got to be poor thats the way life is, i wont ask him for any money"
would you. i wouldnt.

if i was that rich man i would give away as much as i could, so i can still be in a happy house and live in relative comfert but also feel as though i am heloping poor people have a hapier food rich life
Yea, but that is just an individual at that moment in time. Our species wouldn’t and doesn’t do that. You and the rest of this country would not give loads of stuff up (lets say your computer your holidays your car and your nice safe house with central heating) to give food to starving people in other countries. What happens is that over time they catch up to where we are today. However, by that time we have moved on again so the gap will always be there. We are lucky in the developed world because we have the choices. You should remember that only 50 years ago a famine in Africa would kill far more people than it does today. Disease in other countries is now treated by western drugs. Famine and thirst is salved by aid programs, agricultural techniques and water treatment. Western style education is increasing to benefit nations. Political development is assisted by developed nations who are also finally trying to restrict the arms that are provided to political despots to keep their own people in penury.

Guilt is a western disease. It is the true luxury gap.

The electronic calculator was developed so that astronauts could function when communications were lost as they travelled on the dark side of the moon.

but the calculator was discovered by the greeks or eygyptians in the form of an abacus!!! :P

Yea, but that is just an individual at that moment in time. Our species wouldn’t and doesn’t do that. You and the rest of this country would not give loads of stuff up (lets say your computer your holidays your car and your nice safe house with central heating) to give food to starving people in other countries.

i did not say that, i said


if i was that rich man i would give away as much as i could so i can still be in a happy house and live in relative comfert

as i am now i would still keep a computer and have all the nesesities like a car,
i said i would give away any extra i have!! so if it meant i gave up an un needed holiday i would!!

I'm afraid that whether you agree with space travel or not, it's just human nature to feel the need to delve into things things we don't know or are not sure about.

The thing is: as there is little else to learn about our own planet, naturally we feel the need to explore other worlds. Whether this is right or not doesn't really come into it. I's just the way we are.

I agree that the money should be put to more worthy causes, but this is never going to happen, is it?

To put things into perspective, though. It may be fantastic how we have progressed, particularly in the past 100 years or so, but certain things have stumped us and continue to do so. We may be on the verge of conquering the Solar System, but we can't find a cure for the common cold, and we still don't know why we need to sleep.

Originally posted by halevan
I understand what you are saying, but the only reason we have I.T. is because so much money has been spent on space exploration and the latest technology is the spin offs from that I.E. the micro chip, computers etc. and all the wonderfull things that are now available, it is one thing or the other, you cannot have it both ways!

Well said Hal.

I thought the Beagle2 was/is an amazing piece of ingenuity and technology. Lets not forget, those Apollo missions had the computing power of a couple of old Amigas! and we probably wouldn't be communicating like this if it weren't for those programmes.

Hi Fletch,

you may be interested in what some of the world's hyper rich are doing with their private wealth... people like Bill Gates for instance...

Check out this article for instance

A New Take on Giving (http://www.aglimmerofhope.org/philanthrophy/timemagazine_12_98.htm)

Some have an aim to give 90% of their income to improving the quality of lives of others - and still to have all the material wealth they need (which isn't much when you really think about it)

Learn all you can and then do what you can... :thumbsup: