The world's largest airborne observatory was supposed to be parked in Seattle this week, so thousands of scientists attending the "Super Bowl of Astronomy" could behold this marvel: a Boeing 747 outfitted with a massive telescope used to study the fundamental mysteries of the universe.Yeeeeeaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...
But conference-goers will not be able to see NASA's space-exploring plane. Its visit to the 233rd Meeting of the American Astronomical Society was canceled, one of a growing list of scientific casualties of the partial government shutdown now stretching into its third week.
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...the shutdown's impact on science stretches well beyond the empty chairs at this week's conferences, said Keith Seitter, executive director of the American Meteorological Society. It means some of the nation's smartest scientific minds are sitting at home, not doing science, for weeks, with no clear end in sight.
"That's difficult to recover from," said Seitter. "We'll be seeing ripple effects from this for a long time."
"...sitting at home, not doing science..." and yadda, yadda, yadda. Tragic.
"...rippling effects from this for a long time." Oh! Teh Fucking Draa-mah!
They "can't see the NASA plane." Yes, the world awaits the invention of Virtual Reality or some kind of device that allows you to view places, people and things without having to be physically present.
It's a shame they have no viable methods to communicate with each other during the government shut down. Alone, sitting in silence, with Chester Cheetah Cheetos. All those equations and algorithms popping in their heads and no one to bounce it off of. Somebody should really do something about this. Clearly, the government shut down must end.
In a related issue, president of the World Bank resigns early. 9 News:
World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim has unexpectedly resigned, more than three years before his term ends in 2022, amid differences with the Trump administration over climate change and the need for more development resources.
Kim, nominated by former US President Barack Obama for two five-year terms, had pushed financing for green energy projects and largely dropped support for coal power investments, but had avoided public clashes with the Trump administration, which has made reviving the US coal sector a priority.
