The Big Picture: Science!

[Rabidkitten]

I will answer all 3 of these to the best of my knowledge with as few words as possible.

A) Why no Jet packs, Fly Car, and what not.

Answer: We have Jet backs, and we have flying cars (there called planes). See Jet packs are difficult to use as a flying requires much more skill then driving. Air is difficult to navigate and takes lots of skill and training to be able to perform safely. And even after all that, the numerous jet packs, and rocket powered wing suits that exist are still VERY dangerous. One mistake and you are dead, one pocket of thin air and you have a serious accident. Jet propulsion is not an efficient form of mass transit no matter how neat it might sound.

Why not grown meat?

Answer: It's not cost effective. They are working on it but the general issue is that the cost of growing an organ super out weighs the cost of raising cattle. Raising cattle is pretty cheap as they feed them selves, and what they eat is a renewable resource. The whole system is already in place, so why grow them? Its a fine idea if the science can make it cost effective which we are very far from.

Whats up with the human space program?

Answer: It's useless. And I'm serious, it's completely fucking useless. The only use is to mine asteroids which might be a profitable venture, which can be done by robots. Robots can handle all of our space travel needs at a fraction of the cost.
Now why is it useless? Because people in space is unnecessary and will always be unnecessary. Robots and AI are the key tools to space exploration, when it comes to deep space exploration we will first be sending robots who can do things like survive absolute zero, and 1000 year journeys to the nearest life harnessing planet. As far as physics is concerned faster then Light speed travel is impossible. So we have so pretty insane treks to the nearest life habitable star.
Tell me who was better for scientists, Spirit and Opportunity or Neil Armstrong? Spirit and Opportunity killed the human space program.

Why no small genetically altered bear pets.

Well we could, but we just don't. You could without fancy genetic experimentation, Down breed bears into small cute domesticated pets. But the issues that stand in the way are things like Bears being protected a species, and it not being cost effective. And the number of generations it would take would be quite staggering. See dogs have been domesticated over many years and they are ready to breed within a year of birth. Which makes domestication quite simple. That and wolves don't attack people, bears do.


Past that we have better things to solve before we can start on deep space exploration, like developing long lasting and reliable sources of energy, using genes to super evolve our species into something far beyond anything we could imagine, and continue to develop computer technologies so we can better facilitate every last aspect of our existence.

 

[Staskala]

I'm a bit confused now, could someone help me out here?
This episode was an ironic jab at all the people who have no idea what they're talking about demanding "science" (as if there's some sort of homogenous group of "scientists") to do completely uneconomic, wasteful and downright unreasonable things, yes? This wasn't actually serious, yes? Because I'm not too sure anymore.

 

[KingPiccolOwned]

Google "Frankenfood". Good luck marketing THAT to people or convincing a grocery store to stock it. You think "Corn Sugar" creates a backlash? Wait till you wheel out the vat meat. Never mind the cost per pound to produce vat meat vs the same for real meat.

He already did, and made a video about it. I suggest that you check his archives.

yes but he didn't really do a proper research why people are scared about it and how it affects farmers..

you dont have a jetpack because it is ridiculously resource consuming. you waste 30 litres of liquid hydrogen-liquid oxygen only to be able to 'fly' for 30 seconds. and we don't have big enough and strong tanks that could compress huge ammounts of fuel. we are juststarting to find new ways to propell an object. and btw its like driving on a rock.

a proper meat alternative would not be meat from the tank (played to much project eden, eh?)
it would be grinded insects compressed to blocks like tofu.
and about the animal rights groups. 70% of them are scams or just hot air (peta)

and about the space program. it would be good to have some spaceships on our lawn just to scare off to other species that might try to invade.
but people just want to waste resources on new Cellphones and TV's.

also this is how people view science today:

help humanity by experimenting and observing for long periods of time with the risk that you might find out that your lifes work was to prove your own theory wrong.

OR

get a huge ammount of cash by being a dick on tv, getting constantly laid and be remembered as the dude that totally laid so much chicks and filmed it on his new cell phone that some nerd (who cares) invented.

and newsfash: science takes time and is hard to do. so please respect our scientist (well just the serious ones) and say thank you once in a while whenever you can plug a micro usb cord in your cellphone to recharge it. they speeded up since 1900 and they are not the ones that made false promisses.

... All I said was that he made a video about it, not that it was necessarily right.

 

[wolf thing]

Hate to say it, but the reason we're still on Earth is because any type of bacteria on another planet would kill everyone it touched, most likely.

no its not, not at all. think space suit. and then think about getting to those planets. and rethink what you just said.

 

[GeorgW]

I went into that thinking you'd finally done another big picture, literally figuratively, and oh how glad I am I was wrong. That was hilarious, thank you. Also, loved the oil idea, they should really get on that!
Oh, and Bob (and everyone else), you're welcome:
Buy a jet-pack! [http://www.jetpackinternational.com/equip.html]
Build your own! [http://www.rocketbelts.americanrocketman.com/ky.html]

 

[zdgrafyd]

The problem with cultured meat is that it doesn't taste or feel like meat. Meat only gets its taste and texture because the creature has had stuff like breathing, blood flow, exercise etc etc. It's be more like meat pudding.

Yep, that's also what I've heard (biotech BSc student). Cultured meat is basically an artificial tumor, its not very nice to eat. So that's why we don't have it yet. Yet. We'll get there soon.

 

[Wandrecanada]

While the video was humorous to someone who pretty much knows the answers to most of your questions I feel like it might give 'Those People' the wrong idea about who is at fault when it comes to scientific research and discovery.

All science research these days comes down to funding and funding comes from greedy jerkbags who want to get rich on science discovery. Want to know who to blame? People with money and people who administer money; Not scientists. Ask your federal government WTF they pulled funding from NASA and why a mission to Mars is not important.

Better yet perhaps we should ask why basic logic and reasoning is not a course kids take in grade 1.

 

[bunji]

In this thread and episode, people not realizing that some factors make random things incredibly difficult. Jetpack? Fuel source that doesnt weigh too much and which is actually economically viable, aswell as stabilizing flight. A cure for the common cold won't be found, because the common cold is collective term for a million different kinds of germs that produce basically the same immuno-defence response.

I'm sure similar seemingly trivial things are whats hindering the other stuff aswell. Mining oil on mars wont be profitable untill some clever guys invent some way of lifting mass out of a planets gravitational pull without expending so much fuel that you lose money in the end. You've all seen the shuttle launches, think of all the fuel expended to launch 4 guys in a bathtub into orbit and imagine what it would cost to hoist large quantities of oil into space.

I share moviebobs dismay that some things that we "should" have now just arent, but look at what we do have ffs. The iPad is crazy. Its a flat board. That can instantly summon up almost all of mankinds accumalted knowledge. 3d tv. Damn there's so much, lets enjoy what we have and celebrate science not only for giving us that but what it may one day give us.

 

[Dak_N_Jaxter]

*watches video*
You glorious nerd

 

[BgRdMchne]

How come you never see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery?"
-Jay Leno

I don't need to be psychic to know these things. Just like I know that Jesus will never come back, there will never be peace on Earth, and that coal will never spontaneously turn into gold.

Your life will be a lot better if you take off the rose colored glasses and accept that this world is shit and that science is no longer about innovation and advancement, merely profit and finding better ways to put dumb YouTube videos on a telephone.

 

[DuelLadyS]

Dear Bob,

It takes decades of selective breeding to make a small dog a few pounds lighter. Shrinking bears to hamster size will take centuries, if not millenia. Sorry.

Sure, we could lie about what's on Mars. Then the powers that be will decide to fight over who owns Mars. Other countries space guys will call us out to prove it to buy themselves time to get up there and plant their 'dibs' flag first. It's harder to set up than it sounds.

It would cost McDonalds more to set up the labs and equipment to grow meat than to just keep killing cows- not to mention cultural backlash against lab grown food. We'll do what we can on our own.

We apologize that your jetpack isn't ready.

Sincerely, Science.

 

[Eli Wasserman]

Here ya go Bob. Enjoy

http://martinjetpack.com/

 

[Gluzzbung]

Hate to say it, but the reason we're still on Earth is because any type of bacteria on another planet would kill everyone it touched, most likely.

no its not, not at all. think space suit. and then think about getting to those planets. and rethink what you just said.

So you think people would be able to construct a steller space station, on an alien planet, and keep it air tight so no bacteria could get in? That's unreasonable and what do you clean the space suit with? Even if it is possible, which I highly doubt to the degree of certainty, it would be completely uneconomical because of the amount you would need to take and how frequently you would need to take it.

 

[Madrak the Red]

I usually hate doing this, but I feel I just have to:

Bob, please don't do this. It makes me sad. As soon as I saw the title, I though 'I sure hope he doesn't ask for a goddamn jetpack'. And then he went and did it. Needless to say, it made me die a little inside. Why don't you have one? Because they're impractical and incredibly dangerous. They have short runtimes, and technology does not exist to allow them to be much longer. Once again, as is often the case with these 'why don't we have x' scenarios, perfectly plausible theory is defeated by engineering, and our actual current ability.

Number two: growing steaks. No large scale infrastructure exists to do this. People like the way things are. People don't buy GM food, they aren't going to jump on this too quickly. It is a technology in it's infancy. Give it time, you sound like a child moaning because things aren't happening quite as fast as you like.

Number three: Space travel. I agree, it's a mighty shame that space programs are getting cut all over the place. I want to go to Mars as much as the next guy. I want Star Trek to be as real as much as the next guy. But unless some fairly major overhauls in the fundamentals of physics take place, it isn't going to happen. I'm sorry (and I really am) but it just isn't. Not within your lifetime, anyway.

Also: a scientist who lies is no longer a scientist. As people have said, you do not falsify data. You seek the truth, and the reason. Doing what you propose would have the potential to discredit the entire scientific community. Which would be really, really bad. You for sure do not want people to stop listening to science.

Number four: the many different shapes and sizes of dogs is due to a long, long period of selective breeding, complete with health problems that come with it. It wasn't a process of picking out genes or whatever (which is super difficult in controlling things like size of a very complex mammal, by the way). To do it with other animals would require a similar process, one with millions of animals taking many years. And a rather brutal process at that. And then let's not forget the genetic diseases that come with any pure-breed. I do not personally know, but the genome of a dog may support the differences in phenotype that can be exhibited. Such differences may not be possible with other species (granted, this is somewhat conjecture, but it is still possible).

So please, Bob, think before you speak next time. To me, a some-what educated scientist and engineer, you sound unabashedly ignorant and demanding. Granted, there is the possibility that this was a joke, and I'm sure people will urge me to take it as such. But please, do a little reading up before you start.

 

[aquarius87]

This was the best episode so far !

A friend of mine showed me a documentary about a chicken battery.
Kept saying how unnatural it is, and we should close em all-together.
After explaining him there's NO WAY a few domesticated chickens in the backyard could supply the whole world of hard needed eggs, my friend still stood with his point of (as he said) science ruining the world.

Later I read an article about the first egg "created" without a chicken ever getting involved :O
I told my friend, and also about the "science engineered meat"...get this: he'd much rather die than eat unnatural food :<

I'm all for the future (w00t green chicks ) but there's just no way to please everyone :$

 

[Prof. Monkeypox]

I'd complain that you don't seem to "get" how science works if I wasn't so convinced that was part of the joke. So... good job, I guess?

 

[Gluzzbung]

I love meat and am pretty handy with a grill, but I am totally on board for cultured meat. Raising and slaughtering livestock for calories is a really inefficient use of resources and if there's a cheaper way that uses less real estate and less slaughter to make meat that tastes the same and offers the same nutritional benefits (or better) we should all be in favour of it. Heck, Taco Bell admitted their meat is like 1/3 real beef to 2/3 soy already, so it's not like the taste actually matters to the average fast-food junkie.

Hate to say it, but the reason we're still on Earth is because any type of bacteria on another planet would kill everyone it touched, most likely.

I love H.G. Wells, but his understanding of biology is a century old. Why would bacteria evolve to prey on organisms from a biosphere on a completely alien planet? It makes no evolutionary sense.

While they wouldn't specifically be evolved to prey on us, we must assume that the basic fundamentals of life; oxygen, food, water, heat, are still apparant, and so the bacteria would be drawn to us. Our bleach and disinfectant may not even do anything to it. Also, out immune system would be completely ill prepared to tackle whatever infection beset us, whether it is the local cold or something more like a planet wide equivilent of MRSA that we cannot counter.

There is a 99.9% possibility that at least part of their evolutionary timeline has no connection with us and so each would be unprepared to counter the other. It would be irresponcible of us to send people to another planet only to die themselves and kill the planets population with the diseases they brought.

 

[wolf thing]

Hate to say it, but the reason we're still on Earth is because any type of bacteria on another planet would kill everyone it touched, most likely.

no its not, not at all. think space suit. and then think about getting to those planets. and rethink what you just said.

So you think people would be able to construct a steller space station, on an alien planet, and keep it air tight so no bacteria could get in? That's unreasonable and what do you clean the space suit with? Even if it is possible, which I highly doubt to the degree of certainty, it would be completely uneconomical because of the amount you would need to take and how frequently you would need to take it.

you do know there a space station above us right now, where people live for years at a time, in space, where there is not atmosphere at all. i think you need to stop and do a bit of thinking.

 

[unlimitedwin]

As a Science student in University studying Astrophysics and Biology, I can give tell you the actual basic reasons none of these are commonplace.



[HEADING=2]1) Jetpacks:[/HEADING]

Far too energy inefficient with current technology.
We simply do not have the resources to run these on a large scale.

Personal Jetpacks exist, as do flying cars, the issue is providing an efficient energy source in terms of space required for fuel, price of fuel and energy output.



[HEADING=2]2) Cultured Meat:[/HEADING]

Religion and the related "not what God intended" morality.
Like it or not, religion does legitimately hold back science, for better or worse.

There are also plenty of non-religious factors to the issue born of ignorance of the science, i.e. meat being dangerous to consume as it might change our genes or cause other defects. They may be factually wrong, but they can be loud...


[HEADING=2]3) Space Travel:[/HEADING]

Same issue as with Jetpacks: Energy source.

Our planet earth simply does not contain the amount of resources necessary for large scale space travel with current technology.

Fusion technology (same reaction that powers the Sun (and Ironman for that matter...)) is the current main hope for achieving this efficiency, but we are still MANY years away from seeing fusion reactors successfully scaled down to manageable sizes.


[HEADING=2]4) Small Animals:[/HEADING]

Smaller brain = less intelligence.

A creature that requires greater intelligence to survive would die if it were miniature.

There are lots of other biological issues with resizing animals.

Lets just put it down to being cruel, stupid and impractical.

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

Hate to say it, but the reason we're still on Earth is because any type of bacteria on another planet would kill everyone it touched, most likely.

Science!

Hey, science guys, we need you to answer a few questions.

Watch Video

Theres no life outside earth thats even reachable by us. Most likely. Mars has no life.

Jetpacks exist, the meat growing technology doesnt produce meat on a large enough scale AT ALL as it needs nutrient paste and a framework to be built for it to grow around and it takes ages to perfect the technology. Space is expensive and theres nothing in space worth getting, why lie to send us somewhere hard to reach, hard to supply and with no real resources?

Why would you train a bear at all? Wolves, which we bred to make dogs are usefull even as wolves. We can tame wolves. Not tame as in fit for a single mother but good for a hunting pet? Damn right. We decided to breed those wolves for OTHER usefull traits like size, speed and smell. Bears have no traits worth having at all, not tamable, large, dangerous, dont hunt food we eat well, greedy, no pack mentality, will NOT obey leaders for that reason ect... so having one in the first place is useless, they only thing you CAN do is selectively breed it. Which is wastefull since for the mean time its dangerous and useless. There. Any more questions?