Scientists to Unveil 'Major Discovery' at Astrophysics Center Monday

[Red Iron Crown]

Given the landscape of society these days though, I think the odds of discoveries having any beneficial impact on everyday life is considerably less. Any major breakthrough means that someone out there who has a lot of power, risks to lose a boatload of money as a result of the discovery. And that someone will do anything they can to make sure that it never gets anywhere.

Today's society is no different from past societies in that respect. Any disruptive technology threatens people and companies whose business is built on the older methods, yet those new technologies eventually gain traction. The sewing machine is an excellent example of this.

[78stonewobble]

On monday?

I hate teasers... -..-

[Red Iron Crown]

It's gravity wave evidence of cosmic inflation. Link

[Streetwind]

That's amazing!

[vger]

Today's society is no different from past societies in that respect. Any disruptive technology threatens people and companies whose business is built on the older methods, yet those new technologies eventually gain traction. The sewing machine is an excellent example of this.

Well, in some ways that's true. We definitely have a lot more problems getting improvements into society than we used to. Just imagine what the world would be like today if the patent system had existed at the dawn of human industry when a process for making fire was developed. Or simple machines. Owch.

[Red Iron Crown]

Well, in some ways that's true. We definitely have a lot more problems getting improvements into society than we used to. Just imagine what the world would be like today if the patent system had existed at the dawn of human industry when a process for making fire was developed. Or simple machines. Owch.

I invite you to examine how much progress we've made since patents were introduced compared to before we had patents. Patents encourage the development of new technologies, because there is a greater financial incentive to do so.

Patents aren't like copyright, the exclusivity period is actually reasonable.

[m4v]

I invite you to examine how much progress we've made since patents were introduced compared to before we had patents. Patents encourage the development of new technologies, because there is a greater financial incentive to do so.

Patents aren't like copyright, the exclusivity period is actually reasonable.

You don't seem to be aware of patent trolls then.

[Red Iron Crown]

You don't seem to be aware of patent trolls then.

Oh I'm aware of and despise them. And I think patent law could use some tweaking to get them under control. But I also think that the net effect of patents on society is positive.

Patent trolls make headlines because of their sleazy business model, but they are a minority of patent holders. The majority of them are the people or companies that actually developed something useful and want to prevent others from profiting immediately from their R&D. But those aren't headline grabbers, that's just business as usual.

Now software and design patents, those are just nonsense.

[How2FoldSoup]

Why are we talking about patents when we discovered direct evidence of gravity waves! It's the gravioli! It's science! Get excited! Good thing the Kerbals never invented patents or they never would've gotten to building a rocket. I for one touched on gravity waves after reading it and it's awesome! In my opinion, a century ago we discovered radio astronomy that lead to discoveries we could not have imagined. I wonder and dream of what gravity wave astronomy will reveal to us about the cosmos. As a physics major looking for something to do with my major it also seems like a great field to pioneer. Come'on guys get excited!

*grumbles about patents*

[Red Iron Crown]

Why are we talking about patents when we discovered direct evidence of gravity waves! It's the gravioli! It's science! Get excited! Good thing the Kerbals never invented patents or they never would've gotten to building a rocket. I for one touched on gravity waves after reading it and it's awesome! In my opinion, a century ago we discovered radio astronomy that lead to discoveries we could not have imagined. I wonder and dream of what gravity wave astronomy will reveal to us about the cosmos. As a physics major looking for something to do with my major it also seems like a great field to pioneer. Come'on guys get excited!

You're right, this is definitely a big deal. At the rate we're discovering things about the fundamentals of the universe, I'm starting to believe that maybe I'll live to see a workable Unified Field Theory.