I can only apologise to my readership, and one is assuming that they are out there somewhere in the ether, that I have not posted any new news on this blog in what seems like eons. Suffice to say that a change in hardware, and the re-development of the applications that I use to develop my blog entries has taken its toll on my ability to note down my thoughts. However, a full service is resuming so here is the next instalment of the ongoing Electric Circus Blog.
The UK government has yet again cut funding for space exploration and science. The Science and Technology Facilities Council has cut funding to the following projects:
- The twin 8 metre Gemini telescope and its search for extra solar planets.
- The Isaac Newton telescope and its search for extra solar planets.
- The International Linear Collider particle accelerator development.
- High Energy gamma-ray astronomy regarding solar emissions and their effects on the earth.
The main reason for cutting these projects budgets is the overspend on the physical buildings associated with the Diamond Light Source project in Didcot. This project is designed to use high energy particles, focused on samples of material, to produce test results on the composition of those materials and the effects that the particles are having on the samples. Although I agree in part that the UK is not sufficiently rich enough to support manned space flight, I do feel that we are concentrating too much on supply of aerospace components and not enough on practical research. The STFC has stated that the cost of running the new facility at Didcot has meant a cut in funding for other projects by approximately £80 million. These cuts will directly affect more theoretical research through a 25% reduction in grants to physicists and astronomers over the next year. According to the New Scientist Magazine, these cuts "come at a time when the UK is trying to encourage more young people to pursue careers in the physical sciences". ergo, if there are additional cuts to funding research, then the brightest pupils will not apply for research posts in the UK and will as per the last 50 years continue the brain drain into continental Europe and the USA. It is imperative that the UK builds a strong pool of highly educated astronomers, physicists, chemists, molecular Biologists and engineers. This will provide the UK with the ability to extend our reach into space and also contribute to the economy through the results of spin off from the research projects that the UK is so good at exploiting.
The president of the Royal Astronomical Society was quoted as saying "The Government needs to recognise that astrophysics, space science and solar system science make a direct contribution to the UK economy through spin-off and knowledge transfer on time-scales which can be surprisingly short. The students and postgraduates that we train are highly skilled and sought after by industry and the financial sector. Astrophysics and particle physics are major attractors of students, including international students, into university physics courses. For example, my Physics Department at Imperial College receives 40% of its research funding from astrophysics, space science and particle physics and 90% of our students said that these fields were the reason they chose to study physics. Astronomy and space also play an important role in attracting school-children towards science".
I couldn't agree more. The full report is available here.
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