Headline Tag: Barack Obama Rating: Good Hits: 2704 Comments: 0 Neil deGrasse Tyson: Sputnik Moment Neil deGrasse Tyson: Sputnik Moment In Space Chronicles, Neil deGrasse Tyson describes how the Soviet Union was a catalyst for the U.S. space program, and China might be considered a similar catalyst today (http://goo.gl/fzGtH). Transcript-- When the president, President Obama, mentioned the Sputnik moment, seeing that we are losing a competitive edge to the Chinese and others, said, "This is a new Sputnik moment" and then he gave a list of things we should do, which included like higher speed Internet and light rail. I'm thinking, no, no. Energy independence, that's not a Sputnik moment. We should have those things anyway. Sputnik moments, you reserve those for grand visions that take your mind, body and soul to places that no one had previously dreamed. Sputnik moments are occasions where you invent tomorrow. I'm not old enough to remember 1957 but there's certainly plenty of people among us who do. And when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik that was a Sputnik moment. This was our sworn enemy, the communists. And we had our own state of self-assessment that we were technologically proficient, you know, we won the war. Our manufacturing was back in place and here's this country that we were telling the whole world that we were better than they were in every way that mattered and, bam, out comes a satellite. Our response was we created NASA; first we went berserk then we created NASA a year later. We redoubled our efforts in science and technology and engineering. And that would shape the identity of the United States from the end of the 1950s through the 1970s. The Sputnicity of that moment I think comes from the fact, whether or not the public knew this, the military folks knew it, that Sputnik was a hollowed out intercontinental ballistic missile shell. They took out the warhead and put in a radio transmitter that went beep, beep. The military folks knew that if they could put a radio transmitter in a ballistic missile shell and fly it over our heads that they have the new higher ground. So in that case the Sputnik moment was a military one. And it was clear that technology and science would be what would enable nations to take the lead and the high ground. Right now we're, we in America, we're sort of slowing down, or maybe everyone else is just speeding up but the effect is we've lost our edge. We've lost our leadership position. When President Obama said, "In a Sputnik moment, in fact we will rejuvenate the space program." The space program in fact is not dead it's just kind of smoldering back there. One of them is we'll be back to Mars in the 2030s, 2030's, maybe as early as the late 2020's. Who's gonna be president? On what budget? So that's a nice thing to listen to in a speech because he's thinking about the future but that's not a future that's actually within reach that anyone can act upon. I don't like Sputnik moments. I'd rather have been the leader all along. Why do we have to be shocked into being motivated to lead? Why don't we just lead all the time? And maybe that's just unrealistic, maybe that's just not human nature. Maybe we have to feel threatened in order to act. So yes Sputnik moments work, and if we can't lead all the time, let it be a Sputnik moment that kick starts our heart back beating again. But I can't help but be a little disappointed that we haven't stayed there. That we're going to have to play catch-up if we're gonna catch up at all. Directed / Produced by Jonathan Fowler & Elizabeth Rodd User: Curtius May 2, 2013 5:22 AM












Headline Tag: Television Rating: Amazing Hits: 1277 Comments: 0 David Attenborough: Origin of Life, Conquest HD | BBC Documentary | Animals & Nature David Attenborough: Origin of Life, Conquest HD | BBC Documentary | Animals & Nature In search of the earliest animals In more than fifty years of broadcasting, Sir David Attenborough has travelled the globe to document the living world in all its wonder. Now, in the landmark series First Life, he goes back in time in search of the very first animals. David Attenborough's First Life is told with stunning photography, state of the art visual effects and the captivating charm of the world's favourite naturalist. It was first broadcast as a two-part series in the UK on BBC Two in November 2010, and as a two-hour special by Discovery Channel in the US. It is now being shown by broadcasters around the world, including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The epic story of the beginning of life on Earth from the much loved and respected naturalist, writer and broadcaster, Sir David Attenborough. Spanning billions of years, First Life reveals the extraordinary story of the evolution of the first life on Earth and how it then evolved into multicellular life, the first plant, the first animal, the first predator, the first to live on land: key moments in the development of the huge diversity of life that has lived on planet Earth. First Life travels the world, from Canada to Australia, Morocco to Scotland, to unearth the secrets hidden in prehistoric fossils and meet the palaeontologists who have harnessed new techniques to enhance greatly our understanding of the origins of life. May 16, 2013 9:17 PM












 
Tags: Sweden, FX TV, Commencement Speech, Slow Motion Photography, News Blooper, Mustaches, France, Italy, Skrillex, Texas, Dubstep, Gene Krupa, Big Think, Luke Skywalker, Totally Biased, Cartoon Network, NBC, Fox Network, Coffee, W. Kamau Bell, Don Novello, Carl Perkins, Walter Cronkite, Bradley Cooper, Gilda Radner, Sammy Davis Jr, Buddy Rich, Jennifer Aniston, George Takei, Ringo Starr, M C Escher, Geraldo Rivera, Ed Helms, R2-D2, Roy Orbison, Neil deGrasse Tyson, George Harrison, Zach Galifianakis, Mars, Motorcycles, Eric Clapton, Johnny Cash, Infomercial, Optical Illusions, Darth Vader, David Attenborough, NASA, Piano, Alcohol, Internet, Bloopers, PSA, Canada, Bob Dylan, China, Marriage, Jimmy Fallon, Homophobia, London, England, Disney Inc, Documentary, The Simpsons, Viral Videos, Military, Farts and Poop, How To, Dance, Star Wars, Robot Chicken, Non Sequitur, Saturday Night Live, Food, BBC, David Letterman, New York, Live Music, Big Business, Japan, Pop Culture, Tech Geeks, Stephen Colbert, Sci-Fi and Fantasy, Science, Barack Obama, Animals, Stand Up Comedy, Animation, Cinema, Music Videos, Adult Swim, Music, Celebrities, Politics, Humor, Television, Video Clips

The comments are property of their posters.

All logos and trademarks in this site are property of their respective owners.

Everything else © 2012 MilkandCookies.com.

[ DMCA | Privacy Policy ]