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Lamont Weekly Report – July 8,
2005
OFFICE
OF THE DIRECTOR
P.O. Box 1000, 61 Route 9W Palisades, New York 10964
<> REPORT SUMMARY <>
– Letter from the Director –
____________________________________
<> LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR
The July 1st edition of Science magazine presents
an intriguing "survey of our scientific ignorance"
in the form of 25 major (and 100 additional) questions - questions
that "scientists have a good shot at answering over the
next 25 years". It is an attempt by the Editorial Board
of Science to identify humankind's critical knowledge gaps.
It is interesting reading. How does Earth's interior work?
How hot will the greenhouse world be? How and where did life
on earth arise? - all questions in the top 25 for which we
feel some significant ownership here at Lamont. Other lesser
questions however (e.g. How do general anesthetics work?)
are hard to comprehend in the same context (You mean we don't
know?).
I spent Thursday in Denver for the inaugural
meeting of the Ocean Council - a newly formed leadership group
tasked with overseeing, over the next 2-3 years, the successful
merger of the two non-profit corporations in DC that work
for, and represent, the ocean community - JOI and CORE. Given
that this was the first meeting, this was a very successful.
It is viewed as critical to get this new unified structure
in place as the task of management of the various ocean observatory
initiatives grows in breadth and complexity.
When I was an undergraduate at London University
(too many moons ago) I used to ride the No 30 bus from Putney
to South Kensington every morning. So it was particularly
painful, yesterday morning, to see the pictures of a No 30
bus with its roof blown off. And to realize the dismaying
inevitability that it will happen again. Solutions to this
insanity do not lie in the implementation of increased security,
or the exercise of military power. Neither approach a solution
to the motivating factors. The image of an English policeman,
who traditionally is unarmed, carrying a machine gun, is a
sad and troubling motif for the perversities of this first
decade of the 21st century.
But then, I philosophize too much…
They say it will stop raining tonight, so have
a wonderful summer weekend. In the end being happy is all
that counts - right Bruno?
– Mike
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