How Much For Half The Planet...

Image Source: First link, first paragraph

Topics: Diversity in Science, Existentialism, Humor, Science Fiction, Star Trek

I use a derivation of TOS novel, "How Much for Just the Planet?" in the title of this post. Captain Kirk and some Klingons were in brinkmanship (United Federation of Planets = USA; Klingons = Soviets - Cold War, got it?) over Dilithium Crystals (an important commodity in 23rd Century economy for the whole warp drive thing). Lithium exists; dilithium just sounded uber cool, I think. Zephram Cochran apparently did it with good old Earth tech and a CD from Steppenwolf. The article reminded me of it.

The NASA endeavor at its essence ultimately is to avoid a H.E.L.E. - better known as a human extinction level event - a term I was introduced to in the miniseries Heroes Reborn, and the dizzying pseudo paradoxes of teleportation, time travel, self-cloning, telepathy and consciously occupying video games. Er...it has to do with EVOs - a group of humans with evolutionary extraordinary powers, and like most science fiction/modern myth asks questions about humans, humanity, xenophobia and society similar to the X-men (a metaphor for African Americans during the Civil Rights Movement):  Charles Xavier née Martin Luther King; Magneto, Malcolm X.

As I'm apt to ask (I did mentally in "Interstellar"): who flies off to the Moon, Mars or Alpha Centauri for the species to survive; who goes to the other half of the planet for the species to survive? And, where exactly is the other half of the planet that's "desirable," and protected/isolated from the effects of climate change?

It may boil down sadly to: 1. Who has trained in a STEM field; 2. Who can afford it.

Edward O. Wilson sees mass extinction of species “among the deadliest threats that humanity has imposed on itself.”

Invoking the kilometers-wide object that struck Earth some 66 million years ago, Edward O. Wilson calls the extinction rate humans are imposing in the biosphere “the equivalent of a Chicxulub-sized asteroid strike played out over several human generations.” His 32nd book, Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life, comes out this month. The New York Times and other media have begun reporting the solution it advocates: reserving half the planet to let other species survive and flourish.

Claudia Dreifus writes for the Times’s science section and teaches at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. In an Audubon Magazine piece, she reminded readers about Wilson’s scientific and public stature:

At 86, Edward Osborne Wilson, Harvard University research professor emeritus of comparative zoology, is among the most famous scientists of our time. Only Jane Goodall and Stephen Hawking can draw a larger crowd. Over the decades he’s made his mark on evolutionary biology, entomology, environmentalism, and literature. In all there have been 31 books, two of which, On Human Nature and The Ants, received the Pulitzer Prize.

She added that he’s widely accepted as “one of the greatest researchers, theorists, naturalists, and authors of our time,” is “known as the father of the concepts of sociobiology and biodiversity,” and is “highly celebrated for his lifetime of environmental advocacy.” Concerning the forthcoming book, she explained that it’s “his answer to the disaster at hand: a reimagined world in which humans retreat to areas comprising one half of the planet’s landmass.” She continued: “The rest is to be left to the 10 million species inhabiting Earth in a kind of giant national park. In human-free zones, Wilson believes, many endangered species would recover and their extinction would, most likely, be averted.”

Physics Today:
Media coverage begins for a book that calls for setting aside half the planet
Steven T. Corneliussen