I agree, Prof Firestein has some great insights on time! I guess farmers even in ancient times relied on cyclic cycles of light and dark. Or maybe they relied on others for timekeeping like roosters that have a cyclic clock built in that helps them anticipate sunrise. Ancient Egyptians used sundials or shadow clocks which somewhat permitted one to measure the passage of hours. It's interesting to see how timekeeping technology has evolved over time.

This is a great questions Chase. I would think maybe in some fields scientific process may slow down. Petroleum engineering for example. The world will still be somewhat heavily dependent on oil for a long time, maybe the next 30+ years but as we transition to other renewable energy sources, this career and research in this field may die out.

The most illuminating part of this article is the part where readers can actually relate to. The discussion on the Covid-19 pandemic. These are prime examples of uncertainty we've been living in for years now, whether that be the actual transmission of the disease, the effectiveness of masks, timeline for vaccine distribution, variants etc. There is so much uncertainty involved here which the readers can relate to. Uncertainty about the upcoming academic year widespread. Will it be hybrid? Part in person? All in person? Who knows

This is a great question. Before learning any physics, or astrophysics principles in school all my "background" came form science fiction films and books. As long as we hold these biases aside if we pursue research in the filed, I wouldn't see anything wrong with this sort of creativity.

Hi Daniel, Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I think if you have many economists, they would tell you that economic forecasting has always been a flawed science. How often have they warned us of recessions? A small change in a variable here and there can make predictions extremely complex and lead to huge problems. I was reading an article talking about how we fail to rate the economists who provide us with the forecasts on world-impacting decisions and how there should be some metrics to rate their reliability. Neil

You bring up a great point, Andrew. With the rise of these genetic testing kits and DNA startups, more and more people will want to learn about interpret their genetic data which may lead to an increased need for genetic counseling. It may be dangerous for people to misinterpret their results without some sort of healthcare professional that can contextualize your personal and family health history.

Zev, you bring up a great point on why China is so much more eager to address climate change. Severe air pollution obviously has serious adverse impacts on human health and by default the CCP has declared a war on air pollution and implemented a comprehensive government program to tackle it. Polluted air is obviously no good for business and because they can actually feel tangible effects among their population, they are more inclined to address it, unlike many in the United States.