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Letters | Why ‘pouring billions into a black hole’ has been a bargain for the world
- To achieve things that are not yet possible, scientists have to invent new methods
- Space science attracts the kind of impossible dreamers who have excited generations, and have changed and shaped our world
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Why you can trust SCMP
In your “Back to Business” column on April 13, you questioned the use of space science, and argued that the money would be better spent on other research and on infrastructure (“Why pour billions into a black hole when worthier causes exist at home?”, April 4).
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Hong Kong has ambitions to launch a small satellite to search for dark matter. Why do it? There are three main reasons.
The first is curiosity: the wish to know more about the world and our place in it. Space science captures the imagination, as is clear from the massive interest in the first-ever image of a black hole (taken at surprisingly low cost).
The second reason comes from the unexpected side benefits. Space science and particle physics aim to do things that are not yet possible. To do so, scientists and engineers invent new ways of doing things. The wireless on your laptop was developed by radio astronomers. The CCD image sensors in your camera were developed for astronomy. Particle physics invented the touch screen – and the internet. And because these were developed for science, they became open for everyone to use.
How many businesses depend on them for their existence today? How different would it have been if the internet had been invented – and patented – by Google!
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