Still Untitled: The Adam Savage Project #10 – Space – 8/28/2012

14 thoughts on “Still Untitled: The Adam Savage Project #10 – Space – 8/28/2012”

1. Not pursuing an engineering degree has been one of my greatest regrets. And now that I am wrapping up my undergrad, I’m thinking what’s four more years to be able to do something awesome for the rest of my life?

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2. Used to work in military Aeronautics, still dismayed that so much money is spent on war and weapons while so little is spent on science or engineering or just creating useful non destructive things in general. I would say no engineer with dirty hands is bored, the ones who have to do all the paper work are completely out of their gourd.

   p.s I wonder what was edited out during Will’s moment of Spinoffs Tourettes.

   p.p.s. foo-co

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3. I don’t know if it’s the fact I’m not living in the US, or that the people I’ve manage to make some sort of contact with after leaving high school are nerds, but a lot of the people I know are undertaking an engineering degree, but even then, they mostly seem okay with the idea of having contributed to the design to a bridge or something and don’t really aspire to much more.

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4. The unfortunate thing about cutting NASA’s funds (besides all the other reasons detailed on this show) is the fact that almost all planetary and space science research/grant money comes from NASA’s budget. This means that when the budget gets cut, people get fired. There is no secondary source of funding. Happily, Dr. Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute, former NASA Associate Administrator, and one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people, has a start-up non-profit called Uwingu that seeks to change the current funding paradigm.

   Dr. Stern, along with many others, hopes to create a company that will sell various products (they have been hinting at a space related video game) to the general public, and then use the proceeds to fund under budgeted space science research. As Dr. Pamela Gay points out, a few tens of thousands of dollars will keep 3-4 undergraduates on the payroll for a year, and with any luck, Uwingu will be able to generate many times that amount once they get up and running. While Uwingu will not be able to compare to NASA’s budget, the funds they generate can help ameliorate the problems created by the ever changing NASA budget.

   I am not associated with Uwingu, but I do believe whole heartedly in it’s mission. I wouldn’t mention it normally, but, as these three point out, space research and associated tech has had a huge impact on our modern life. If congress is unwilling to solve the problem, then it’s up to us to solve it for them.

   http://www.indiegogo.com/p/180221 (Uwingu’s Indiegogo page)

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5. So there were three men on that flight. Neal of course, Buzz, yes, and Michael Collins. Bring up the name Michael Collins in relation to moon landing and space program and you get a lot of blank stares.

   He held the fort in orbit around the moon while Neal and Buzz had all the fun. Do not forget Michael Collins.

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6. Excellent discussion gentlemen, this was a treat to listen to.

   I think all of the opinions expressed here were spot-on, and I found myself imagining what we could accomplish as a species if everyone could agree on these things… but stop, that thought is too beautiful.

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7. I love the bit on Adam’s TED-ED talk. Another TED talk that does a similar demonstration (this time measuring the speed of sound using a tape-measure) is one by Clifford Stoll, which is amazing and can be found here http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/clifford_stoll_on_everything.html

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8. 17:04 – Excellent point.

   I’d be about the same age as you Will, and Computer Studies, Maths, Physics and Chemistry were all taught to me by jaded, cranky, intimidating middle aged men who made the classroom experience quite unpleasant – there was never a sense of wonder, nor the potential for applying the material we learned to a fulfilling career.

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9. 17:04 – Excellent point.

   I’d be about the same age as you Will, and Computer Studies, Maths, Physics and Chemistry were all taught to me by jaded, cranky, intimidating middle aged men who made the classroom experience quite unpleasant – there was never a sense of wonder, nor the potential for applying the material we learned to a fulfilling career.

   It’s a rare breed of professor who can keep enthusiasm for the material going after decades of teaching. It’ll grind just about everyone down teaching essentially the same things to class after class year after year. There are some out there though. I encountered maybe two of them during my time at uni.

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10. yes, its certainly a good argument for cooler ways of teaching, for both teacher and student. Further to what I mentioned initially, the scary dudes I had shouldn’t have even been teachers.

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11. The Hyneman delved too greedily and too deep. You know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-dum… shadow and flame.

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12. Balrog vs. Hyneman? My money is on the Hyneman, he does have a Mithril-shirt after all, not even the blackest of dragons can tarnish it’s shine.

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13. Dude, stop talking about what you’re going to call “the cave” or “the podcast” in the beginning of every god damn episode!

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14. time to go back to school…

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