Mission planned to probe Uranus

[Cyberia]

Mission planned to probe Uranus
http://www.skymania.com/wp/2010/12/mission-planned-to-probe-uranus.html

British space scientists are leading plans to send a probe to explore giant ice planet Uranus. They have put forward a detailed proposal to the European Space Agency to launch a joint mission with NASA to the distant world, 1.8 billion miles from the sun.
Uranus imaged by the Hubble space telescope in 1998

It would give scientists their first close-up views of Uranus since NASA’s Voyager 2 flew past and captured fleeting pictures 25 years ago.

[Mr. Blackwell]

Really cool space exploration aside...you just loved being able to say those words in the title didn't you...   -_-

[Nick]

Sometimes it is just too easy.

[Cyberia]

 

[12 Monkeys]

too late the priest already probed Uranus

[Backspace]

Makes a great present for your 50th birthday 

[pingnak]

Urectum!
http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?title=smelloscope&videoId=156616

[Noman Peopled]

Man, I used to know about all new space probe launches. Now I don't. It must be senility setting in.
Isn't there a probe on the way to Pluto en route since ten years back or something?
//edit: ha, I remembered correctly. For a given value of the term at least. My brain doesn't always feil me (yet).
New Horizons, started in 2006, scheduled arrival July 2015. It's supposed to map Pluto before its atmosphere freezes again - the probe will arrive 150 days before the dwarf planet is closest to the sun, a point which it reaches every 232 years or so.

[kin hell]

“It is thought that something the size of Mars or Earth hit Uranus early in the solar system and tilted it into its side, and that may have caused a massive loss of primordial heat.”

I automatically want to know how, preferably with diagrams.

You'd think a collision of that size would add heat.

Of course who's to say if a ?heated? planetary atmosphere didn't skew/vent off into space leaving an suddenly extremely reduced pressure and act like a giant planetary scale ultra efficient fridge freezing that cold-hole solid.

[Samuelxcs]

If there is no life or resources on it what's the point?

[One Above All]

If there is no life or resources on it what's the point?

What's the point of learning anything? Because we can, we want to and it doesn't do any harm.

[Samuelxcs]

What's the point of learning anything? Because we can, we want to and it doesn't do any harm.

Because we 'can'? People do even horrible things because they 'can'. It would be more useful to learn about planets that are more inhabitable for us, like this planet is, rather than learning about a huge rock far away that would not be of any use to us at all. I could kill a lot of people, because I 'can'. I am a good person though, I hate killing. Learning about an uninhabitable planet that we can only learn about for some reason is very different to killing. Maybe our  space technology is not advanced enough to build a ship that can transport people to other planets with other life on it. At least it lets us learn things. It would be better if the time and money used on learning about this uninhabitable planet were used for people suffering in poverty and stopping wars instead.

[pianodwarf]

If there is no life or resources on it what's the point?

There is no "point" to learning about the world around us.  It is not a means to something else, it is an end unto itself.

[One Above All]

<snip>

I suggest you re-read my post.

[Samuelxcs]

There is no "point" to learning about the world around us.  It is not a means to something else, it is an end unto itself.

If there is no "point", people can make points. A 'reason to live', so they can do something while they exist. If there is no good reason for our existence, and we exist meaninglessly, it would be better not to exist at all. Death wouldn't change much, but it would be better for us.

[Samuelxcs]

I suggest you re-read my post.

I read it the first time, there is no 'point' in doing things just because we 'can. If we want to and it does no harm, that is fine, as long as the other problems in the world are being solved, learning about lifeless planets wouldn't be too bad.

[One Above All]

I suggest you re-read my post.

I read it the first time, there is no 'point' in doing things just because we 'can. If we want to and it does no harm, that is fine, as long as the other problems in the world are being solved, learning about lifeless planets wouldn't be too bad.

So it appears you didn't read my post, as I specifically state:

What's the point of learning anything? Because we can, we want to and it doesn't do any harm.

[pianodwarf]

If there is no "point", people can make points. A 'reason to live', so they can do something while they exist. If there is no good reason for our existence, and we exist meaninglessly, it would be better not to exist at all. Death wouldn't change much, but it would be better for us.

If we never made any effort to learn about the world around us, we would still be living in caves.  Is that enough of a "point" for you?

[Samuelxcs]

If we never made any effort to learn about the world around us, we would still be living in caves.  Is that enough of a "point" for you?

That is a good point, but we don't really need technology. It just helps us learn about stuff, but to what end? It is good to learn about the world around us, but learning about a different planet is quite different.

[One Above All]

If we never made any effort to learn about the world around us, we would still be living in caves.  Is that enough of a "point" for you?

That is a good point, but we don't really need technology. It just helps us learn about stuff, but to what end? It is good to learn about the world around us, but learning about a different planet is quite different.

If you think so, give me all your stuff and go live in a cave. I would appreciate all your stuff and you get to prove we don't need technology.

Note: Don't forget that anything you create is technology. Fire is included, unless it happens naturally (lightning strikes, for example).

[pianodwarf]

That is a good point, but we don't really need technology.

You've got to be kidding me.

It just helps us learn about stuff, but to what end?

Asked and answered.

It is good to learn about the world around us, but learning about a different planet is quite different.

Actually, we have no idea which discoveries will prove to be useful and which ones won't.  Or which non-useful discoveries will lead to useful discoveries.  When Einstein first formulated his General Theory of Relativity, practical applications were probably not on his mind or anyone else's.  Keep that in mind the next time you use the GPS unit in your car.

[Samuelxcs]

So it appears you didn't read my post, as I specifically state:

What's the point of learning anything? Because we can, we want to and it doesn't do any harm.

It doesn't do any harm? It wastes time. People don't like having their time wasted. If I wanted to learn about what someone else is doing, I don't go to them and ask for no good reason. They could reply with a question like "Why do you want to know?" Me: "I just want to learn". Other person: "Go to school!" That would be more meaningful than learning about rocks.

If someone walked into someone 's house and stayed there, without doing anything, wouldn't that be doing any harm?

[One Above All]

It doesn't do any harm? It wastes time. People don't like having their time wasted.

I forgot your time is worth its weight in gold.[1]

If I wanted to learn about what someone else is doing, I don't go to them and ask for no good reason. They could reply with a question like "Why do you want to know?" Me: "I just want to learn". Other person: "Go to school!" That would be more meaningful than learning about rocks.

But without this "meaningless research", there would be no schools. There wouldn't even be anything to teach in the first place. You complain about how this is meaningless, but you reap its benefits. I'll repeat myself just for you:

If you think so, give me all your stuff and go live in a cave. I would appreciate all your stuff and you get to prove we don't need technology.

Note: Don't forget that anything you create is technology. Fire is included, unless it happens naturally (lightning strikes, for example).

If someone walked into someone 's house and stayed there, without doing anything, wouldn't that be doing any harm?

That does cause harm. It causes psychological distress to the people having their home invaded, for one.

1.	Yes, I know time is weightless. It's a joke.

[Samuelxcs]

But without this "meaningless research", there would be no schools. There wouldn't even be anything to teach in the first place. You reap the benefits.

I never chose to have the benefits of technology, they were forced on me by the people around me.

If you think so, give me all your stuff and go live in a cave. I would appreciate all your stuff and you get to prove we don't need technology.

I would if it were possible. Travelling quickly to the part of the world you live in would require technology, unless I could walk there, but time could be wasted.

That does cause harm. It causes psychological distress to the people having their home invaded, for one.

Of course it does, but that distress may cause harm to the invader who might have violence used against them by the home owner. A lot of people use violence needlessly.

[One Above All]

I never chose to have the benefits of technology, they were forced on me by the people around me.

Sell all your possessions and give to the poor.

I would if it were possible. Travelling quickly to the part of the world you live in would require technology, unless I could walk there, but time could be wasted.

Now you're just creating obstacles on purpose. You have no problem saying that the benefits of technology were "forced" on you (which implies that you don't want them), but when it comes to using technology for just a few more hours in order to live without it, you can't do it and instead choose[1] to live with it for the rest of your life.
I believe that behaviour is best described as "hypocritical".
PS: And you couldn't walk over here, unless you're Jesus.

Of course it does, but that distress may cause harm to the invader who might have violence used against them by the home owner. A lot of people use violence needlessly.

So now you're arguing that it does cause harm, even though two posts ago you were arguing it didn't?

1.	Yes, choose. I offered you a way out, you rejected it.

[Samuelxcs]

It only causes harm if it makes someone in distress hurts the invader. I could live without it, but I would have to kill for food. If I killed, I would be arrested, killing is illegal in this country, if I killed a lot of people, I would be killed too with the death penalty. I could survive without technology if I weren't chased by the police.

[jetson]

Samuelxcs...

Have you ever described yourself as a nihilist?  Have you ever read any of Wayne Holland's essays or books?  I'm just curious...

[One Above All]

It only causes harm if it makes someone in distress hurts the invader. I could live without it, but I would have to kill for food. If I killed, I would be arrested, killing is illegal in this country, if I killed a lot of people, I would be killed too with the death penalty. I could survive without technology if I weren't chased by the police.

So now you can't live without technology. Wonderful.
PS: Only murder (one human killing another) is illegal. You could hunt animals or go vegan. Your choice.
EDIT: Causing distress is, in itself, a form of harm.

[Samuelxcs]

Samuelxcs...

Have you ever described yourself as a nihilist?  Have you ever read any of Wayne Holland's essays or books?  I'm just curious...

No. I have never read any of those books, I have never described myself as a nihilist either.