Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Very Large Array

I've always wanted to go visit the the VLA in New Mexico. I consider radio telescopes to be modern wonders of the world and much more grand in scope than any of what we call the Seven. Don't get me wrong, hanging gardens, pyramids, and massive statues are swell, and surely they were great achievements of the time but their aspirations were constrained by the limits of human knowledge at that point. These were civilizations that had not yet grasped the non-uniqueness of intelligence and life, and humanity was an accepted concept; the VLA seems a poignant indication of beings that are beginning to accept fundamental aspects of the universe and their own derivative biology. I think it's good we turn our eyes outwards and begin to ask and expect answers to questions that are larger than our own lifespans. It is one REALLY big universe and we are one tiny planet.


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