Digging for Dollars
I loved your special issue regarding human exploration ("The New Age of Exploration," 12.12). Reading the stories about those unique people was very inspiring.
The biggest mistake people make when they ask the government to fund research is thinking that the research will be performed as they envision. Asking for government support is like making an unnecessary deal with the devil. History shows that our lives are improved when people are free to spend their money as they see fit. Anyone who wants real exploration to take place should call for the government to get out of the way.
Park Burrets
Germantown, Tennessee
Atomic Mission to Mars
In "5 Ways to Get to Mars" (12.12) Michael Behar left out Project Orion, a rocket powered by externally detonated nuclear bombs that was developed in the 1950s to fly to Saturn; it would have been able to take off from Earth's surface. The project was killed not by technical hurdles but by NASA politics and the nuclear test ban treaty of 1963. Maybe Orion was too radical for its time, but it nevertheless represents the only propulsion method that we could start developing tomorrow to get a sizable crew of explorers and their gear to Mars. What else are we going to do with our nuclear arsenal?
David Schanzle
Belmont, Massachusetts
Bill Stone's Cave Quest
After I read "To Hell and Back" (12.12), I felt pride that our species could produce such a man - not that I would or could trade places with him. Bill Stone is a classic tragic hero.
David Sugarman
Flushing, New York
Jeffrey M. O'Brien's piece gave me goose bumps more than once. Good stuff!
Joel Johnson
Brooklyn, New York
Fishing Expedition
Re: "The New Atlantis" (12.12): Let's pretend we want to harvest some valuable materials right where they are emitted from Earth's crust. All we need to do is lure industry into spending billions on a deepwater habitat and mining systems.
Let's get real. We in the US neither allow mining to thrive nor develop replacement resources for those mined out, and you publish an article that says, "Hey, come on down to the ocean floor to do some mining!" I don't think you'll get any takers.
Craig L. McKenzie
Ridgecrest, California
NASA's Next Steps
Burt Rutan says, "It's time for NASA to get out of manned space travel and concentrate on its core strength" ("After the X Prize," 12.12). Unfortunately, NASA's core strength is killing astronauts in batches of seven and keeping the door to space closed. The agency has attacked every private space transport venture in sight. It has destroyed the lives of astronauts as well as many entrepreneurs. NASA hasn't been to the moon in 30 years, has no capacity to create economic opportunity, and is simply a bunch of looters using public money to support middle-class clock-watchers. To paraphrase Cato, "NASA delenda est."
Jim Davidson
Houston, Texas
Road Sign of the Times
Several towns in my area feature some of the traffic ideas presented in "Roads Gone Wild" (12.12) - not by design, but by neglect. Unfortunately, the results are not as positive as one might imagine. People drive down the middle of roads without marked lanes. Intersections without signs or lights are arenas for games of chicken. Hand signals are used only after a traffic altercation.
It seems the article suggests we use a large retailer's parking lot as a model: cars and people sharing space and no clear rules about traffic flow. Who wants to drive through 20 miles of Wal-Mart parking lot to get home from work?
Peter Oxley
Emmett, Idaho
�Viva la Biotecnolog�a!
Thanks, Douglas Starr, for showing that Cuba works ("The Cuban Biotech Revolution," 12.12). The 40-year-old trade embargo against Cuba has done nothing but good for the Cubans. Like the US, Cuba has high literacy and low infant mortality rates, and, as Starr has reported, they even do pharma the right way! Instead of waiting on hordes of ugly Americans for tips, Cubans have sustained a society based on cooperation and equality, even in the shadow of the largest bully on the planet.
Jerry F. Lusa
Glastonbury, Connecticut
Douglas Starr's article praises Castro and Cuba and denigrates the US. I guess Starr would rather live in a country with no freedom than be in the US. I hear about US-hating professors dominating college campuses; thank you for providing such a shining example of the malaise. Shame on you!
Fred Fisher
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
What's Wrong With Nerds
I take issue with Paul Graham's thesis (View, "Why Nerds Are Unpopular," 12.12). "A" was my only grade in any subject. My vocabulary was laced with three-syllable words, and the local librarian was a good friend. Yet I was popular. When I reached dating age, a guy would need to call me by Tuesday if he even hoped for a date on Saturday. I was brainy enough to dress like popular kids, to keep my vocabulary under wraps while with those who couldn't understand it, to study batting averages when courting a jock. It was a snap to figure out what people needed in order to like me. It was not a choice of either studying or partying. Smart kids can do both.
Shoshana Ginzburg
New York, New York
I'm surprised that someone who claims to value "being smart" as much as Paul Graham would want their name on something so thoroughly anecdotal. There is a deep well of psychological research on the subject of popularity and intelligence that the generalizations made in his article. I wonder if it occurred to him that so-called nerds see a correlation between being smart and being unpopular because it's the only way they have of accounting for no one liking them? Whether it's coming from artists, programmers, or kids in middle school, nothing rings quite so pathetically with the desire to be liked and appreciated as declaring you're disliked for your own superiority.
Andrew Carlson
New York, New York
Down to Brass Attacks
Re: Wired Tools (12.12): Turntable reviews are fine. Vinyl versus CD comparisons … not exactly timely, but OK. But magical brass vibration dampers for my hi-fi? Please, get yourself a source of objective, skeptical commentary with a grounding in electrical engineering. Otherwise I may use your first "splurge" review of a $1,000 audio cable as stationary for a request to cancel my subscription. But aside from the audiophile pseudoscience, keep up the good work!
Tom Lee
Washington, DC
Undo
• Polar opposites: Lake Vostok is in Antarctica, not Siberia ("NASA's Germbuster," 12.12).
• Over, Robin: The Batmobile and Communicator toys featured in Wired Tools (12.12) are made by Mattel.
• Copy that: "30 Under $30" (12.12) pictured the Grundig 300PE shortwave radio instead of the Mini 100PE.
• Factor this: "The Mathematics of Murphy's Law" (12.12.) misspelled the name of Phillip Obayda.
