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I found ultra-pure quantum crystals in an abandoned mine in the Atacama desert

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Re: I found ultra-pure quantum crystals in an abandoned mine in the Atacama desert

#41

Post by jerojero »

I was arguing with a Chilean friend who moved a few years ago to the USA. He was telling me how Chile doesn't do good science. I challenged his claim saying Chile actually had great scientists that were severely underfunded (Chile's investment in science and research is ~0.4% of the GDP versus the OECD average of ~2.7%).

I think it's sort of a big consensus with people that have never been involved in science work, in Chile, that science is sort of a "lazy-man" type of work. Chilean universities put a lot of emphasis in foundational science research. It should be the industry, in my opinion, that helps bridge the gaps between foundational research and applied science. But the major industries in Chile don't need to do that, why put money into R&D when you can already be a billion-dollar industry by exporting rocks. Chile's main export is not actually copper, it's rocks that have copper in them. We (I'm Chilean) export the rocks and buy back the copper cables.

Recently the newly elected president criticized foundational research saying it doesn't "turn into jobs" and instead "ends up in an expensive book abandoned in a library". It really reminded me of my friend's words, it's the attitude of someone that doesn't understand the importance of foundational science.

This research is interesting, although the article is quite technical, and I'm very happy to see the involvement of Chilean scientists in it.

Re: I found ultra-pure quantum crystals in an abandoned mine in the Atacama desert

#44

Post by Zardoz84 »

jerojero wrote: post #41

I was arguing with a Chilean friend who moved a few years ago to the USA. He was telling me how Chile doesn't do good science. I challenged his claim saying Chile actually had great scientists that were severely underfunded (Chile's investment in science and research is ~0.4% of the GDP versus the OECD average of ~2.7%). I think it's sort of a big consensus with people that have never been involved in science work, i…

¿Para que inventar nosotros ? Que ellos ya lo inventan. - A Spanish politician in the first years of XX century to a Spanish inventor working with early radios.

Re: I found ultra-pure quantum crystals in an abandoned mine in the Atacama desert

#45

Post by cogman10 »

jerojero wrote: post #41

I was arguing with a Chilean friend who moved a few years ago to the USA. He was telling me how Chile doesn't do good science. I challenged his claim saying Chile actually had great scientists that were severely underfunded (Chile's investment in science and research is ~0.4% of the GDP versus the OECD average of ~2.7%). I think it's sort of a big consensus with people that have never been involved in science work, i…

That's actually a bit wild that Chile isn't refining or smelting copper.

Is it because there's not the energy capacity to run smelters? I thought Chili had a pretty abundant energy grid (mostly hydro as I recall).

Re: I found ultra-pure quantum crystals in an abandoned mine in the Atacama desert

#46

Post by igleria »

jerojero wrote: post #41

I was arguing with a Chilean friend who moved a few years ago to the USA. He was telling me how Chile doesn't do good science. I challenged his claim saying Chile actually had great scientists that were severely underfunded (Chile's investment in science and research is ~0.4% of the GDP versus the OECD average of ~2.7%). I think it's sort of a big consensus with people that have never been involved in science work, i…

> Recently the newly elected president criticized foundational research saying it doesn't "turn into jobs" and instead "ends up in an expensive book abandoned in a library"

Guess what the other far right president of the region says (Argentina's). Makes me sad.

Re: I found ultra-pure quantum crystals in an abandoned mine in the Atacama desert

#47

Post by kakacik »

NitpickLawyer wrote: post #31
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That ol' Silurian Hypothesis is fun, but, knowing how damn smart birds are, it's not inconceivable that the theropods could have become advanced enough to be at least tool-users. Of course, now, we know they probably had as much similarity to lizards as we do. Another interesting thought experiment is an octopus civilization. They are probably smart enough to have also developed along those lines. Depending on what t…

> that it might only take a couple of million years, to completely wipe all traces of even an advanced, mechanized civilization. It depends who comes searching. u235 has a half-life of ~700m years, so finding it in enough places (i.e. rocket silos, even if underground) and obviously processed into spheres, would raise some advanced alien eyebrows. There's also a chance that some things we left on the Moon / in high o…

Items degrade but what often remains is imprint of it in surrounding material, that over time becomes rock. We dumped enough shit all around us that is too smooth/right angled/whatever to look like natural product. If anybody digs enough, they will find enough evidence, direct or indirect.

That is, till all currently-up tectonic plates submerge for melting. But since they don't move by same speed, some of it will probably remain around till sun inflates and scorches surface or even absorbs Earth. That will be probably it, melted surface will hide or destroy all of it. But thats what, 1 billion years in future?

Re: I found ultra-pure quantum crystals in an abandoned mine in the Atacama desert

#50

Post by Mtinie »

Tade0 wrote: post #19
nntwozz wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If humanity suddenly died tomorrow the world would be littered with handy rectangular glass pieces all over the world. Alien archeologists would have a field day figuring out what they were for.

Shame that dopant drift would render the chips inoperable eventually. But if the Antikythera Mechanism is anything to go by, I think they would at least figure out it was an electronic communication device.

“…used for religious purposes and/or tribal rituals.” (Far-future Archeologist, Zarb-7854)

Which, joking aside, isn’t too far from the truth.

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