January 17, 2005

Titan!

There are some panoramic images here. If the link breaks, as it might, search them up elsewhere. These images are popular.

And I'll go ahead and address a common comment here. It comes up all the time on threads on fark or slashdot. Someone says something like, "what a colossal waste of money, with so many more pressing problems in the world."

Maybe, but I don't think so.

Are Americans, or most people in the world, hungry and unsheltered because of a lack of money? No, they're not. Politics, and other issues, are the major obstacles. Astronomy is pretty cheap in the grand scheme of things. It's ridiculous to prioritize the problems of the nation, or the world, and then apply all resources to solving the first one, then the second one, ad infinitum. That's not a wise thing to do.

One of the things that makes human civilization great, in my opinion, is that we care about this sort of knowledge. We value it for it's own sake. There are ways to determine the nature of the universe and our place in it. A culture that fails to look past its immediate physical needs of food and shelter is a short-sighted one that isn't any greater than a troop of baboons.

Life isn't just for food, sex, sleeping, and being comfortable. Not in my opinion. There are things to do in this lifetime we have, and learning about the universe we live in is one of those worthwhile things.

Posted by Mike at January 17, 2005 01:36 AM