Have you ever wondered why we invest billions of dollars in exploring the Universe while we have so many problems on Earth? From climate change to global pandemics, energy and water crises, and more, humanity faces a seemingly endless array of challenges. But what if I told you that exploring the mysteries of the Universe through basic research can yield practical benefits for humanity in the short and long term? In this article, written for us by FreeAstroScience.com, we will delve into the hidden benefits of basic research and explore how each push of the frontiers of astrophysics has led to tangible benefits for our society.
The Value of Basic Research
But where does scientific research not directly related to these crises go? As beautiful and enlightening as the recent James Webb Space Telescope images are, astronomy and astrophysics will not prevent the rising seas.
So, what is the importance of studying and researching the Universe in depth? Why invest billions of dollars in astronomical studies while we have many problems on Earth?
It is a question that has been asked in various incarnations throughout history for many centuries.
When we delve into the mysteries of the Universe, we are embarking on what is known as 'basic research.' This type of exploration, while often driven by curiosity, can also yield practical benefits. It's not just about satisfying our thirst for knowledge; it's about uncovering new technologies, solutions, and understandings that can address the very real problems we face on Earth.
Suppose satiating curiosity was the only benefit of these activities. In that case, it might be easy to argue that it is a frivolous waste of resources to spend so much money on an enterprise that has no practical application to the substantive problems we face. Simply acquiring knowledge for its own sake, although it might be an intellectually noble way to spend one's time, will not help humanity either in the short or long term.
At least, that is the standard argument people present against the value of basic research without predictable applications.
But let's take a closer look at basic research and see if it really, even if conducted solely for its own sake, doesn't help humanity in some remarkable way.
Galaxies come in many different morphologies, including spirals, ellipticals, rings, irregulars, and other various types and subtypes. With Hubble, the most distant galaxies were visible only as blobs that could not be resolved. With JWST, however, their types, sizes, and abundances can be tracked, measured, and classified in cosmic time and position. Credits : NASA, ESA, CSA and STScI; NASA/ESA/Hubble (STScI); composite by E. Siegel
The Example of CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC)
One of the world's most expensive and often criticized experiments today is CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC). It has cost humanity more than ten billion dollars to build, with ever-increasing energy costs to keep it operational. It has been derided as a disappointment to anyone who hoped it might find new particles that would take us beyond the Standard Model. Instead, it found the Higgs boson and nothing else that had not been discovered before, even though it measured those previously discovered particles in previously unseen abundances, composite configurations, and greater precision than ever before.
Even if the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) were to cease making new discoveries, it would be incorrect to say that it hasn't already enriched humanity. The LHC, despite its critics, has paved the way for numerous technological advancements. From detector technology to precision-controlled high-field electromagnets, to advances in data management and information transmission capabilities, each push of the frontiers of particle physics has led to tangible benefits for our society.
The World Wide Web, a technology that has revolutionized our lives, was born out of the need to address some of these concerns more than 30 years ago at CERN. The same technological advances that make modern LHC experiments possible will undoubtedly yield practical dividends in the years and decades to come. This is a testament to the long-term benefits of investing in basic research, even when the immediate applications may not be apparent.
The interior of the LHC, where protons cross at 299,792,455 m/s, just 3 m/s from the speed of light. Particle accelerators such as the LHC consist of sections of accelerating cavities, where electric fields are applied to accelerate the particles inside, as well as portions of the ring curvature, where magnetic fields are applied to direct the fast-moving particles toward the next accelerating cavity or a collision point. - Credits : Maximilien Brice and Julien Marius Ordan, CERN
The Legacy of the Apollo Program
In spaceflight, many anti-poverty workers have been among the biggest critics of the Apollo program. "With so much suffering on Earth," they generally ask, "why should we invest in going to something with no immediate practical benefit to those most in need on our planet?"
And again, this, from a certain point of view, has some truth. There were and still are problems here on Earth-war, hunger, inequality, injustice, pollution, etc. - that going to the Moon did not solve at all. Although it might be interesting from a scientific point of view to send humans to the Moon, investigate the lunar surface, install scientifically valuable equipment there, conduct experiments, and bring back samples to Earth, it is not as if the Apollo program helped us solve the problems on Earth.
However, the Apollo program led to many useful derived technologies whose economic benefit (what investors call ROI: return on investment) far exceeded the cumulative amount we spent on it. When you talk to people about technologies derived from the Apollo program, they can usually point to Teflon and the space pen, but a considerable number of everyday technologies that have improved our lives have come as a direct result of that investment. We could not have predicted them in advance, but here is a partial list:
- freeze-dried foods,
- cooling suits (from race car drivers to medical patients),
- recycling of body fluids (improved kidney dialysis),
- improved foam insulation (prevents pipes from freezing),
- fireproof fabrics (revolutionized firefighting equipment),
- improvements in water purification,
- metalized foil insulation (for home heating/cooling efficiency),
- hazardous gas monitoring,
- stadium domes/coverings,
- improvements in earthquake simulations and stress tests,
- solar panels,
- the automatic implantable defibrillator,
as well as many others. However, one story has always stuck me from the Apollo era, and it comes courtesy of Ernst Stuhlinger, who was NASA's associate director of science when humans were taking their first steps on the lunar surface.
Stuhlinger received a letter from a concerned humanitarian aid nun, Sister Mary Jucunda, who was outraged that Stuhlinger would suggest spending so much money on an attempt to send humans to Mars. With all the suffering in the world, she wondered why she should invest in this kind of science.
Stuhlinger responded by telling a story about his home country (Germany) from hundreds of years earlier. He spoke of life in feudal Germany, specifically in a region ruled by a benevolent but eccentric count. The Count kept his people relatively well-fed and safe from invaders, but he was also scientifically curious.
He was thrilled when he was shown that one of his citizens was tinkering with mass-produced optical lenses to magnify significantly what the human eye could see unaided. For the first time, humans were discovering what we now know as the microscopic world: the world of germs, cells, and other entities that are too small to be visible to the naked eye. The Count gave this man a place in his court and continued to employ and encourage him in his investigative efforts.
Then, the fortunes of the Count region changed. A plague struck, and many people suffered. There was not enough food, and the disease began to spread. The Earl resolved to devote most of his resources to feeding and treating his people. Still, despite public appeals to stop wasting resources by funding the eccentric lens maker, the Earl refused.
"I give you all I can afford," the Count told the people, "but I will also support this man and his work because I know that one day something will come of it!"
Indeed, something did come of it, although it was outside the scope of the Count's life or the lens maker's life: the microscope. The most incredible tool we have ever developed in biology and medicine came about because someone was willing to invest in exploring the unknown. The benefits to future generations were much more remarkable because a small amount of resources was invested not to address an immediate crisis but for the long-term benefit of all humanity.
There is never a guarantee that what we find will be helpful in the future, and it is often impossible to predict what kinds of practical applications will emerge each time we observe the Universe in ways never seen before. But that is often where the most extraordinary advances await.
When we discovered electromagnetism, we had no way of knowing that it would lead to radio, television, and the entire telecommunications industry. When we discovered quantum mechanics, we had no way of knowing that it would lead to the transistor, the electronic computer, and all modern electronics. When we found nuclear physics and the secret contained in the atom, we could not have imagined that it would lead to medical cancer therapies and diagnostic tools such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines. No doubt, although it may be difficult to predict what they will be, investing in basic research at the frontiers of science is bound to pay off in the future in ways that are virtually unimaginable today.
Yet another reason entirely unrelated to the downstream technological benefits that might accrue from investing in science is that we should pursue such ends: all of society benefits when we are collectively inspired. We cannot spend all our time and resources thinking exclusively about mundane, terrestrial concerns, as events on Earth often divide us from one another. But a glance into the depths of space always reminds us of the same great truth. There is an extraordinary and vast universe out there, and in all of it, Earth is the only place we have ever discovered that is friendly to life forms like ours.
But there is another truth that touches on a different aspect of the problem but never stated is essential to discuss: if we stopped funding basic research and instead devoted those resources to the immediate problems we deem "most important," these paltry scientific investments, even if redirected, would be woefully insufficient to solve the issues at hand.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, the importance of basic research in exploring the mysteries of the Universe cannot be overstated. As science enthusiasts, we must continue to support these endeavors, even when the immediate applications may not be apparent. Each push of the frontiers of astrophysics can lead to tangible benefits for our society. As we continue to explore the Universe, we may uncover new technologies, solutions, and understandings that can address the very real problems we face on Earth. So, let's keep exploring and discovering the hidden benefits of basic research.
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