Friday, February 16, 2007
Is space exploration worth the cost?
Yes, I believe that space exploration is worth the cost. Many criticiseit wastes of time and money. But I suppose space exploration is good trigger to improve the quality of our life. To support this idea, there is one reason here.We'll make an effort to achieve space exploration. It'd bear good fruit for not only space exploration but also other field. In other word, it has spreading effect. Let's take semiconductor chips as example.Semiconductor chips used in space craft should work under harsh condition -- temperature hot and extremely cold. It's a big challenge to design robust chip which works properly. This kind of effort enhances the quality. It can also eventually contribute to the public good and improve our lives. In conclusion, we can receive huge benefit from space exploration.
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May I post another topic?
Would nuclear power be the next generation energy source?
Currently we are living in very unique era in which we are heavily dependent on fossil fuel. But the deposit of the fossil fuel is so limited, in the long run, maybe in very near future, we are going to run out of it.
So as a next step, we have to find another energy source. Nuclear power is one possibility, but as you know, nuclear power is quite a dangerous technology, so I do not think it would hold the public support for long time.
Looking around the current situation, receiving the effect of Kyoto protocol, many electricity companies in mostly industrialized countries are rushing in getting uranium. The internatioal price for this chemical element No.92 has been shooting up. Thinking this situation, it would possibly be true that the nuclear power would be more widely used for at least another decade. But the more nuclear power generation the electricity companies conduct, the more public concerns and opposition would rise.
Nuclear fission is quite a difficult reaction to control. Besides the level of our current technology for making machinery is not quite enough. So many parts that consist of the nuclear reactor have been outsourced to small or midlle-sized companies, which in many cases do not have sufficient skill in its production. This trend has been caused in pursuit of reducing production cost. So everything relating nuclear power plant is under this trend! Everything is made up of so so level parts to save cost! How are workers? Have they received adequate education? If so, then why did Tokaimura nuclear critical accident occur? The story that nuclear power plant is theoritically safe and making it actually safe is totally another story! In this situation, even exeperts can not predict what happens next. Sometimes control rods in the reactor do not work well, sometimes leakage of radioactive water from the pipes occur due to corrision. Sometimes computers act up, and the worst, human errors really occur. Engineers are just human beings like us, who sometimes forget the right procedures. Sometimes they skip significant step, then the nuclear power plant goes wild, and it can be catastrophic!
We tend to foget the aspect of human errors, but since it is so crucial point, we should bear it in mind.
So in my personal opinion, people should choose another way to get energy, and I believe it would also be public preference. Another better choice may be biofuel.
Biofuel, one form of renewable energy, is under the development. One example of biofuel is ethanol. If you use somekind of catalyst in its production, it is not so efficient, resulting in higher price than gasoline. But I do believe in very near future, some chemists would develop better process for it, reducing production cost, and these biofuels like ethanol would almost totally replace gasoline and even more than half of nuclear power generation.
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