Didn’t the greatest advancements in science occur during a time when it was more of a personal hobby (19th and early 20th centuries)?
Aren't we at a time when progress is quite slow (end 20th and early 21st centuries with big teams and a lot of funding)?
jleyank•3h ago
Theoretical physics perhaps, but molecular biology or some other wet squishy science, no. Experiments can cost $$. This funding is for basic research and staff training, two things industry is allergic to.
throw0101d•1h ago
> Didn’t the greatest advancements in science occur during a time when it was more of a personal hobby (19th and early 20th centuries)?
Perhaps, but there was a lot of low-hanging fruit (as a sibling comment mentions).
Biology then was taking a cup of pond water and putting it under a microscope. Biology now is gene sequencing and using HPC clusters to search through FASTA files.
JPLeRouzic•3h ago
Aren't we at a time when progress is quite slow (end 20th and early 21st centuries with big teams and a lot of funding)?
jleyank•3h ago
throw0101d•1h ago
Perhaps, but there was a lot of low-hanging fruit (as a sibling comment mentions).
Biology then was taking a cup of pond water and putting it under a microscope. Biology now is gene sequencing and using HPC clusters to search through FASTA files.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FASTA_format
What kind of new discoveries are available to backyard astronomers versus using JWST data?