Powering the Future: Funding for Basic Research in Science and Technology

CNN's Fareed Zakaria's GPS program
"Moonshots for 21st Century,"explores
an international collaboration (ITER)
to test nuclear fusion as a new energy source.

"Maybe we will one day have a conversation with souls in some high-tech library," mused  Dr. Michio Kakia, a theoretical physicist and futurist who works on mapping the human brain (interview with GPS's Fareed Zakahria, CNN, March 15, 2015).

I'm a died-in-the-wool Liberal Arts relic from the 1950s and 60s, but I was blown away by CNN's Fareed Zakaria's special GPS show, "Moonshots for the 21st Century."  It's a powerful reminder that what's going on beyond the headlines is as important, if not more important, than what the media chooses to cover.

The show explores all kinds of recent advances in science and technology: NASA's plans for sending astronauts to Mars. "Hypersonic flights."  The development of  the Bio-Assembly and Bio-printer to create a new human heart. Intel's work on the microchip and the ongoing computer revolution,  The human genome project. Harvesting the energy of nuclear fusion. The mappng of the human brain and the power of the mind.

These are just a few of the awesome scientific and technological innovations and solutions that will have amazing commercial and real-life applications. "These research and development projects will change our world," Fareed stresses.

www.livescience.com
This chart shows that funding for government
research has increased in dollars but declined
 as a percentage of Gross National Product
(GNP)

He interviews some fascinating people. Charles Bolden, NASA administrator; Dr. Stuart Williams ,Cardiovascular Institute at the University of Louisille; scientists Gunther Jameschitz, Mark Henderson, Robert Mercer and Michio Kakia. Their research, individually and collectively, is on the cutting edge of human knowledge. Amazing projects. Amazing discoveries. Amazing potential for real-life applications.

The show's message is obvious: The US government needs to increase funding for basic research and development in science and technology. It's not about profit; it's a matter of the well-being of planet earth and its inhabitants.

The Federal budget is incomprehensible to most of us, but it seems to come down to a matter of values.  War vs. peace; military funding vs. social services; tax breaks for the wealthy or opportunities for the poor, unemployed, marginalized;  billions for weapons of war vs. a pittance for Peace Corps.

I'm usually arguing for more funding for the arts and humanities, for public broadcasting, for artists and writers.  Fareed's investigation brings us to the science side of the equation, and it is compelling. "Moonshots for the 21st Century" provides a strong case for increased government support for basic research in science. And frankly, I think it's a better bet than increased corporate funding where the bottom line often trumps the well-being of humankind and the environment.