Just as sustainability efforts on Earth aim to balance present needs with future generations’ well-being, space sustainability seeks to utilize the space environment to meet the current demands of society without compromising the needs of future generations.

As human activities in space expand, from satellite deployments to the prospect of colonizing other celestial bodies, the need for environmentally conscious practices in space exploration and utilization has become increasingly apparent. (more…)

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If humans evolved from monkeys, then why do monkeys still exist?

According to science communicator Forrest Valkai, aka “The Renegade Science Teacher,” this is an extremely common question, and, in response, he provides this fabulous video.

It’s a great reminder that the world would be a much better place if we all understood science and used it to manage how we should live together.

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An old college friend and I were talking the other day, and the topic turned to American politics in general and Trump in particular.

At a certain point he said, “Ya know, the most alarming thing about this whole mess is that you have tens of millions of people who simply can’t see Trump for the lying sociopath he is.”

Nailed it.

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Gun violence is an epidemic in this country, but there is a lighter side to all this.

Apparently, it’s opening day of the cucumber hunting season.

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When the former president retweets the home address of Barack and Michelle Obama, or when he suggests that special prosecutor Jack Smith should be “put out to rest,” it seems obvious that he represents a danger to our society.

Yes, the actual amount of pro-Trump violence has fallen since the insurrection, presumably because even the most deranged of these people has the sense to avoid lengthy prison terms, but by no means has it vanished entirely.

For right now at least. the issue is not so much actually violence as it is threats.  As discussed here, threats of violence are plaguing the prosecutors working on the multiple lawsuits and investigations of the already indicted Donald Trump.

Lurking around the nation are tens of millions of armed Trump supporters, many of whom are waiting, some more patiently than others, for their leader to call for the next uprising.  Similarly, there are members of the judiciary who understand their responsibility to prevent a blood-bath before it happens.

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The New Yorker’s editor David Remnick interviews presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in this fabulous podcast.

I join the vast majority of Americans in expressing my concern that candidate Kennedy has no relevant experience that would make him qualified to be the Commander in Chief of the U.S. military, nor in crafting policies that determine how this nation goes about its business as the most powerful nation on Earth.

The fact that he’s a crackpot conspiracy theorist, a la Alex Jones, just puts the icing on the cake. I don’t think we would be well served by a man who asserts, without substantiation, that Dr. Anthony Fauci helped orchestrate the coup attempt following the 2020 election.

 

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Re: the ad here, I wrote, “We need a new internal combustion engine like we need faster biplanes. What type of moron buys into this?”
Reader Andrew Dean replies:  “Literally everyone smart enough to know that electric cars are NOT the long term answer.”
Two points:
The recognition that fossil fuels are ruining this planet is held by everyone whose understanding is not rooted in Big Oil’s propaganda.
The auto industry is investing trillions of dollars to move to electric.  It makes sense, to me at least, to follow the money here.  Mercedes Benz built 6 million gas- and diesel-powered cars and trucks in 2022.  Their target for 2025?  Zero.  Not a single one.
I’m always amused by people who think that environmental movements are a sham, even when industries the size of world transportation are betting their entire future on them.
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Here’s a clever reminder of how humankind came to fill its role as the only life form whose activities despoil its home.

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Many of our civilization’s greatest thinkers believe that humankind has found itself in an “evolutionary cul-de-sac,” i.e., that we’ve progressed as far as this species is capable, along road with a dead-end ahead.

Normally, these folks talk about our superabundance of technology and our woeful lack of compassion for one another.

Another concept is, ironically, in many ways the polar opposite. I join those who fear that it is, in fact, the rejection of science that will bring us to ruin.

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As discussed here, Pence is shifting his position on the subject, but what else could be expected from a person tragically born with neither a spine nor a personality?

Could be a moot point, given that Pence could no more be the next U.S. president than he could be overlord of the Milky Way galaxy.

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