05-09-2019, 05:10 PM
HOTPE - I also read Belsky and Akaka's letter. I don't understand it either.
"To understand the need for a TMT, we should know that it is a Quixotic quest to romance The Singularity, that enigmatic mystery moment that triggered the Big Bang theory some 13 billion years ago. Star-gazers have wrestled with this baby since Day One. How humanity will survive without new information on this philosophical conundrum is anybody’s guess."
It's anyone's guess as to what this paragraph means. I can't make heads nor tail of it. It's a wild menagerie of words that mean nothing. What's day one or romancing the singularity? The observations have nothing to do with the big bang.
"It is mistaken to think that no TMT would relegate Hawaii to a second-rate astronomy research center. The technology behind space exploration is in its infancy; larger telescopes are already being built, and Hubble-type satellites, as well as our (Earth’s) moon, are being surveyed for research and some, perhaps diabolical, purposes."
Let's be clear: one larger telescope is being built in Chile. I do not believe "Hubble-type satellites" are being surveyed and although the moon would be a fantastic place to build an observatory, it's not something that'll happen in the near future. That applies whether they are diabolical or not. I do try and keep up with the latest in astrophysical developments but have yet to see a proposal for diabolical telescopes; here on Earth, in orbit or on the moon.
"To understand the need for a TMT, we should know that it is a Quixotic quest to romance The Singularity, that enigmatic mystery moment that triggered the Big Bang theory some 13 billion years ago. Star-gazers have wrestled with this baby since Day One. How humanity will survive without new information on this philosophical conundrum is anybody’s guess."
It's anyone's guess as to what this paragraph means. I can't make heads nor tail of it. It's a wild menagerie of words that mean nothing. What's day one or romancing the singularity? The observations have nothing to do with the big bang.
"It is mistaken to think that no TMT would relegate Hawaii to a second-rate astronomy research center. The technology behind space exploration is in its infancy; larger telescopes are already being built, and Hubble-type satellites, as well as our (Earth’s) moon, are being surveyed for research and some, perhaps diabolical, purposes."
Let's be clear: one larger telescope is being built in Chile. I do not believe "Hubble-type satellites" are being surveyed and although the moon would be a fantastic place to build an observatory, it's not something that'll happen in the near future. That applies whether they are diabolical or not. I do try and keep up with the latest in astrophysical developments but have yet to see a proposal for diabolical telescopes; here on Earth, in orbit or on the moon.