Ten questions Science Must answer

A very interesting set of questions in that article, thanks for sharing. It's produced one of my favourite sentences, and a concept I've always exalted:

The great technological breakthroughs, the science that has changed society, all have their roots in fundamental science pursued for its own sake.
Click to expand...

Though it's also published some pretty dumb comments, albeit self-admittedly frivolous, which I suspect some people would actually consider to be valid queries:

On a more frivolous level, I'd also like to know whether my cat is fully evolved as a species.
Click to expand...

Nice find.
 
How about 'I take one sandwich and I cut it in half. Do I now have two sammidges??'

In the short to medium term I would go for 'How do we transition from a global oil economy to an alternative hydrogen/electric economy?'
 
Jonny69 said:
Tracy Chevalier
How are we going to cope with the world's burgeoning population?

This is a really interesting one and a real problem as well, something I encounter a lot as I work in the field of environment and sustainability. It's not something that science or technology alone is able to address, but something that encompasses consumption, lifestyle and equality; three things that are currently all working in conflict, globally.

Resources such as raw materials, oil, food and, increasingly, water are already starting to feel the strain. With the population still growing and lifestyles in developing countries improving, it is rapidly becoming a major problem with not enough to go around.
Click to expand...


Thats an interesting question and also frightening, could we ever get to a point where for long periods of time, having children is a crime to level out the population?
 
Tefal said:
Or you know, just stop giving them food aid...
Click to expand...

Pretty much.

I'm not saying do it, and I guess genocide isn't the answer science would give as it's not scientific... It would surely become the winning answer for the countries in power, once we get seriously short on resources?
We'll all be dead by then but I'll consider it anyway.

Forced sterilisation, mandatory birth control, etc...
Suppose that'd be a friendlier science answer?
 
Tefal said:
Or you know, just stop giving them food aid...
Click to expand...
Do you eliminate the victims of the problem or the cause of the problem (us)?

Castor said:
Thats an interesting question and also frightening, could we ever get to a point where for long periods of time, having children is a crime to level out the population?
Click to expand...
China have shown the world how that sort of system can work with the introduction of its one-child policy. The outcome has been an ageing population, infanticide, gender imbalance and huge numbers of abortions. Not desirable!

The global population growth curve has shown that the boom has happened and the curve is flattening off now. Since we can estimate what the population will grow to, we can start to plan global development around those figures. So hopefully we won't see a day when births are restricted worldwide.
 
Jonny69 said:
Do you eliminate the victims of the problem or the cause of the problem (us)?
Click to expand...

How do you figure on that?


The problem is numbers and our birth rates are very low.


Thats an interesting question and also frightening, could we ever get to a point where for long periods of time, having children is a crime to level out the population?
Click to expand...

We wouldn't really need to, our birth rates are pretty stable and dropping.

Also we can grow far more food than we currently do, it's just too expensive to bother with atm.
 
Tefal said:
How do you figure on that?


The problem is numbers and our birth rates are very low.
Click to expand...
There are a lot fewer people in the developed world and, as you've pointed out, our birth rates are lower than the developing world. However, the developed world's consumption levels contribute a significantly higher proportion than the developing world does. Global environmental, social and economic problems have been created by the developed world consumption, not the developing world, which has largely been exploited.
 
skippi90 said:
If there is a van carrying 200 pigeons driving down a road and all the pigeons suddenly start to fly inside the van, does the van become lighter?
Click to expand...

If we assume the van is a sealed container, then no. The pigeons won't be resting on the floor of the van any more, but the thrust they generate to keep themselves airborne would push the van down with equal force. That is, before all of the pigeons die of asphyxiation and end up resting on the van floor anyway.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom