The Finacial Death Of Science?

[MindOverMatter2]

I was reading a fictional book once which had a scientific theme. It spoke of an age where scientific discovery comes to a grinding halt because it will become too expensive, taking up to much resources, to perform the necessary experiments. Thus we will forever fall short of a T.O.E - a theory of everything due to financial problems. Is this a likely scenario?

Is science becoming too expensive? How much of a loss would this be if science became obsolete as a practical solution to the worlds problems?

 

[wanstronian]

I was reading a fictional book once which had a scientific theme. It spoke of an age where scientific discovery comes to a grinding halt because it will become too expensive, taking up to much resources, to perform the necessary experiments. Thus we will forever fall short of a T.O.E - a theory of everything due to financial problems. Is this a likely scenario?

Is science becoming too expensive? How much of a loss would this be if science became obsolete as a practical solution to the worlds problems?

Anecdotal news items I’ve heard over the last few months indicate that much government funding of science in the UK and US is being withdrawn. I don’t know about the rest of the world - again, anecdotally China seems set to pick up the baton.

As for the potential impact of science becoming “obsolete” (read: too expensive to perform), I reckon we’re done for.

 

[Barbkw]

Which field of science?

Medical science will propably prevail - unless government takes over health care and kills the initiative. Which it might. England is an example of that.

 

[Anselm33]

Long ago (60 years) and far away (actually in Cambridge, Mass), when federal funds were not as abundant I remember going to Radio Shack and buying parts (from my $1200/year graduate fellowship) for an electric discharge set up I was constructing for my thesis research. We used surplus (from the war) microwave equipment for our spectrometers, and this was the case even though my thesis director was a big gun in science. I don’t think it would be a bad thing were funds to dry up. We’d eliminate a lot of the phony, politically correct, environmentally oriented (“green”) projects that masquerade as research.

 

[edwest2]

No need to fear. If you read the sponsorship listings at the end of science research releases, the military is heavily involved. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, creator of ARPAnet, now known as the internet, is behind a lot of practical advances that eventually trickle down to civilians.

Military work in artificial prosthetics is turning into robotic arms controlled by human thought.

There will be no shortage of such work since human assets will soon be fighting alongside unmanned, remotely operated vehicles and in some cases, fully autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles. Better that a drone goes down in combat than a piloted aircraft. Cheaper, in the long run, too.

GPS is convenient and can be lifesaving for civilians, but it also helps munitions land within a few feet of their targets. It may be that humanoid robots land on Mars before men do. It would save on fuel and food and water storage, not to mention our susceptibility to radiation exposure.

God bless,
Ed