• athos77@kbin.social
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    8 months ago

    Hunh. The Sagittarius B2 interstellar cloud:

    is composed of various kinds of complex molecules, of particular interest: alcohol. The cloud contains ethanol, vinyl alcohol, and methanol. […] An ester, ethyl formate, […] is also responsible for the flavour of raspberries, leading some articles on Sagittarius B2 to postulate the cloud as smelling of ‘raspberry rum’. Large quantities of butyronitrile (propyl cyanide) and other alkyl cyanides have also been detected as being present in the cloud.

    Cool stuff.

  • DumbAceDragon@sh.itjust.works
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    8 months ago

    I want to be excited, but techbro futurists like musk have ruined it for me. Once we fix the shit we’ve got going on down here then maybe there will be more to look forward to out there.

    • TIN@feddit.uk
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      8 months ago

      I always say in response to this point that we can probably do 2 things at once, there are 8 billion of us. We could probably stretch to fixing 8 things simultaneously if we really wanted to.

      • OpenHammer6677@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Idk man, recent events have led me to think that only a small percentage of us actually has the power to do anything significant. Sure, ideally we can all band together and reach for the stars ™️ but that’s not gonna happen if most of us are struggling to even survive

    • Sabre363@sh.itjust.works
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      8 months ago

      It always baffles me when people say that we gotta fix everything on Earth before we go to space when countless inventions and innovations that make our modern lives even remotely possible are a direct result of space travel. Just to name a few; disease and medical research, better understanding of physics, advances in computing, GPS, weather prediction and tracking, solar panels, and the Internet. You don’t have to get excited, but to say we shouldn’t go to space is a very short sighted argument.

    • MrSpArkle@lemmy.ca
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      8 months ago

      I mean I don’t like that Haber made chlorine gas, but I like fertilizer. I’m happy that I have fertilizer, but Haber can go fuck himself for his role in chemical warfare.

      I’m pretty hyped about having food.

      I’m pretty hyped about Starship too.

    • Seraph@kbin.social
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      8 months ago

      Gotta do both at once. Fix the problems and get all the eggs out of a single basket.

  • OneCardboardBox@lemmy.sdf.org
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    8 months ago

    I don’t give a shit about raspberry nebulae unless there’s someone out there to eat it. Find them aliens! I’ll settle for a bacterium, even a fossilized one.

  • Tb0n3@sh.itjust.works
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    8 months ago

    That nice and all, but some people are more interested in tangible things. Not something we’ll never see or experience.

    • Stamets@startrek.websiteOP
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      8 months ago

      And without space exploration and the quest for it, you wouldn’t have a lot of those tangible things.

      • Routhinator@startrek.website
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        8 months ago

        Emergency blankets, grooved pavement, cell phone cameras, cordless vacuums, scratch proof glass, insoles, ear thermometers, GPS, invisible braces, memory foam, tap water filters, smoke detectors… List goes on.

    • voracitude@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Stuff out there impacts life here - sometimes literally - all the time. It’s “cool” that you’d rather ignore it, but you’re very wrong that we’ll never see or have to deal with it in some fashion. Not to mention the scientific advances from observing the behaviour of something we previously thought couldn’t exist.

        • voracitude@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          It is true. Nobody said you have to get excited about it, but now I’m confused as to why you bothered replying, or even commenting in the first place.

    • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      The subtext to that is if you don’t find space fascinating, you probably don’t have a very good imagination, or much going on between your ears.

    • vormadikter@startrek.website
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      8 months ago

      Tangible things that they will experience? Like a fair tax policy, for example? Or that they will become rich and famous? Or at least be able to afford a house? Or the last time Taylor Swift took a dump? Or world peace? Or some nonsense from the Orangeman? Or a genuinely real and truly traditional truth from the Bible? :D

      • Tb0n3@sh.itjust.works
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        8 months ago

        Some people like things you don’t like and don’t like things you like.

        If you don’t like motorcycles, sailboats, big trucks, dogs, guns, and computers, you are objectively wrong and have the wrong interests because you’re not exactly the same as I am.