@twiddlestix
Because your two biggest reasons can be easily dismissed. Billions of taxpayer dollars would be wasted if the main reason we were in space was becuase "it's really cool." Why not use divert tax money to making bouncy houses for everyone? There has to be some kind of practical benefit of space exploration, which luckily there is. It is definitely cool, but not why we should explore space.

@Yoyoyozo
Ever heard of blue sky funding? Because its cool and Why not? are two huge reasons for funding an enormous amount of research. When do you think we are going to see any practical benefits from the LHC at Cern? And yet we have pumped billions into that.
Tbh my original post does seem quite dismissive, sorry about that. I agreed with most of the points in the top 10, except the two I pointed out. My last sentence was supposed to be for a bit of fun!

Anyway, I thought my point about reason number 10 was worthy of some debate. Obviously not...

We would probably stand a good chance at making it not hit the earth. Not much to debate there I think?

I didn't see any mention of space resources boosting the economy although number 5 skims through it.

It depends on the size in my opinion. If it were an apocalyptic sized asteroid, then no, not by a long shot. If it were capable of destroying several major cities and not much else, I think we'd stand a chance. The astriod would be small enough that we would be able to change the direction of the asteroid fast enough to have it miss earth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbIZU8cQWXc
neil de grasse tyson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8BGAYXNW74
1:46 skill mode

"Wir müssen wissen — wir werden wissen!"

Twiddlestix, what if we answered both your questions in the same turn? What if we built a weapon big enough to blow up an asteroid and put it in space??? We could defend ourselves from giant inanimate rocks.

1. Climate change is going to turn earth into a Venusian Hellscape in 300 years

Oh good grief.

Good grief, that's a pretty mild reaction. I was thinking more "God save us all"

I was thinking that the ozone layer has shown recovery, deforestation rates are lowering, and with many countries (especially in south america, such as venezuela) running out of oil, eco friendly fuel methods are on the rise, and their stocks have been climbing for vital companies

Thucy, Al Gore was an idiot, get over 10 years ago, things have CHANGED

I was thinking about how the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is past its tipping point and WILL cause sea level rises of ten feet at least, displacing hundreds of millions if not billions. But, sure, keep whingeing about Al Gore

What a lot of head in the sand people don't understand is that a lot of warming feedback loops have already been set in motion, and no amount of windmills can alter what is going to happen. We were too late, because people like you gentlemen didn't want to listen to "alarmists."

Is on an alarmist if they raise the alarm about a genuine threat?

yeah, did you know that there was no ice caps at all when the dinosaurs lived, or that many thousands of years before that, the entire Earth was trapped under ice?

Yeah but I don't want to live in an ice age. That would suck.

The debate I was referring to wasn't are we capable to adjusting the trajectory of a large incoming object (which I still believe is beyond us). I was actually talking about if there was an extinction level event, should the public be told, or should they be kept in the dark in order to prevent panic? Basically is the true always best, even if it could cause more harm than good?

@JamesYanik
Yeah that ndgt video is exactly what Im talking about. Science shouldn't be focussed on what are the practical benefits going to be. True science is a quest for knowledge, with or without application. To remove all science funding with didnt lead to a practical benefit would be to shut half the maths and physics departments in universities across the planet!

I always point out this incident to people who question why we should explore space instead of spending that money in solving world-problems.

http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/08/why-explore-space.html

@halis

So? Did you know that in the age of the dinosaurs there was no intelligent life? Did you also known that intelligent life on this planet has released an unprecendented amount of carbon into the atmosphere? If temperatures at the ocean floor get too high, methane clouds could be released into the atmosphere effectively making earth uninhabitable for most vertebrates and plants. These things could come to pass in mere centuries, they are not inventions of politicians, they are scientific possibilities which grow likelier by the day

@Balrog, thank you for that link, it was interesting to read.

@thucy

The reason why Antarctica seems to be getting hotter, is an event known as polar displacement. It is still very controversial, and very theoretical, but while some areas of antarctica have gotten especially hot, oceans on the opposite side of antarctica have had record lows.

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this does not affect landmasses of course,and the effects can be drastic, but it is not in human control. So far the rate is slow and constant, so we have little to worry about, but one of the reasons why we need to go into space is to further our understanding of the magnetic fields surrounding earth.

There, eco+space.

Lol... Dude. You're trying to deny anthro climate change right now? Tragic. You're not just embarrassing yourself, you're embarassing the species

How hard is it to understand that we are pumping CO2 into the air? Do you know what oxidation is?

Why go to space? To keep alive our sense of wonder, to lift our eyes from the morass of the mundane that afflicts us all, to measure ourselves against the universe and to explore the unknown. Even at one remove, the discoveries and explorations of our nascent civilizations are marvellous, and if we can curb the stupidities and foolishness of our base natures to go out amongst these marvels, what greater things can we discover? And the fragile, minute skin around this planet will not last forever; we must learn to co-operate, to explore, discover and survive.

WHAT? i am not at all denying the fact that climate change is occurring but let me throw some science at you thucy:

the amount of CO2 we put into the atmosphere blocks enough of the sun's initial rays coming in, so hat the ones it deflects back down to the earth are compensated for. Fluorinated Industrial Gases are the main problem, and 97% of those are industrially produced, and out of civilian control. However recent restrictions on such gases in the last 2 decades has led to significatn recovery

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/earths-protective-ozone-layer-is-beginning-to-recover-a-un-panel-reports/2014/09/15/a814ba9c-39c2-11e4-9c9f-ebb47272e40e_story.html


"You're not just embarrassing yourself, you're embarrassing the species"
-If facts are embarrassing, then yes, i suppose i am. dumbass

ALSO THUCCCYYYY: Oxidation is the loss of electrons in a molecule

do you know what it is???

I think global warming is based on the CO2 coming out of Thucydides butt.