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W-K 666 Send message Joined: 18 May 99 Posts: 19367 Credit: 40,757,560 RAC: 67 |
Picked this up in the Times World-leading telescopes face being shut down to save £2.5m |
Taurus Send message Joined: 3 Sep 07 Posts: 324 Credit: 114,815 RAC: 0 |
Picked this up in the Times World-leading telescopes face being shut down to save £2.5m Phew....thought for a second they were shutting down Aricebo... |
W-K 666 Send message Joined: 18 May 99 Posts: 19367 Credit: 40,757,560 RAC: 67 |
Picked this up in the Times World-leading telescopes face being shut down to save £2.5m The funding for Arecibo is under threat as well, unfortunately, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arecibo_Observatory#Funding_issues, or google Arecibo funding. |
Dr. C.E.T.I. Send message Joined: 29 Feb 00 Posts: 16019 Credit: 794,685 RAC: 0 |
. . . 'ave no fear re: Arecibo - the use for NEO's (NASA) will keep iT up & runnin' for a very long time (promise) BOINC Wiki . . . Science Status Page . . . |
ECT Send message Joined: 16 Jun 07 Posts: 329 Credit: 614,787 RAC: 0 |
Picked this up in the Times World-leading telescopes face being shut down to save £2.5m If only I was Bill Gates..... |
RandyC Send message Joined: 20 Oct 99 Posts: 714 Credit: 1,704,345 RAC: 0 |
Picked this up in the Times World-leading telescopes face being shut down to save £2.5m Radio news this am says Warren Buffet is now richest, not Gates. |
W-K 666 Send message Joined: 18 May 99 Posts: 19367 Credit: 40,757,560 RAC: 67 |
I wrote to my local Member of Parliment (MP) about this story and have received this reply. Hi Andy |
Taurus Send message Joined: 3 Sep 07 Posts: 324 Credit: 114,815 RAC: 0 |
I wrote to my local Member of Parliment (MP) about this story and have received this reply. Pretty cool. We don't often get answers like that here in the USA. ;) |
AndyW Send message Joined: 23 Oct 02 Posts: 5862 Credit: 10,957,677 RAC: 18 |
It doesn't very often happen here in the UK either! His local MP must be one that gives a... I hope the Government don't shut down Jodrell to save a poxy £2.5m In the grand scheme of things it is NOTHING. Our Government probably spend 10 times that on tea and biscuits for their many non productive meetings. Look what the Iraq war has cost - or the ID Card scheme that no one here wants. Honestly...Couldn't run a good session in a brewery this lot. |
Odysseus Send message Joined: 26 Jul 99 Posts: 1808 Credit: 6,701,347 RAC: 6 |
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W-K 666 Send message Joined: 18 May 99 Posts: 19367 Credit: 40,757,560 RAC: 67 |
UK citizens can sign a petition. (I would, but I’m not, so I can’t.) Thanks for that, I was just about to post the same link. |
AndyW Send message Joined: 23 Oct 02 Posts: 5862 Credit: 10,957,677 RAC: 18 |
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Richard Haselgrove Send message Joined: 4 Jul 99 Posts: 14679 Credit: 200,643,578 RAC: 874 |
(I would, but I’m not, so I can’t.) So did I. 334 signatures to date. |
John McCallum Send message Joined: 5 Dec 04 Posts: 879 Credit: 599,458 RAC: 8 |
And I.Total now stands at....402 Old enough to know better(but)still young enough not to care |
Iona Send message Joined: 12 Jul 07 Posts: 790 Credit: 22,438,118 RAC: 0 |
I was quite amazed, when I saw this on the BBC News site - it is so insane, that you couldn't make it up! Now standing at 521 Don't take life too seriously, as you'll never come out of it alive! |
Richard Haselgrove Send message Joined: 4 Jul 99 Posts: 14679 Credit: 200,643,578 RAC: 874 |
At the risk of having this whole thread relocated into the Politics message board (where Blurf has already locked the discussion), a significant part of the problem is that the British Government has developed a habit of devolving detailed funding decisions to arms-length Agencies, Regulators and Contractors. They do the actual dirty deed, and the elected politicians (to whom the petition is directed) wash their hands of the whole dirty business. Worse, standards of public accountability and scrutiny don't apply in the same way to the afore-mentioned 'Agencies, Regulators and Contractors': many financial decisions are deemed "commercial in confidence", thus side-stepping the Freedom of Information Act. In this case, if I read it correctly, the Government has made a reduced block grant to the 'Science & Technology Facilities Council', and left them to wield the axe. The best possible interpretation is that the STFC have made a deliberately provocative proposal to close an iconic, high visibility site, to demonstrate the imbecility of trying to fund a quart of projects from a pint-sized pot. The closure proposal is imbecilic, because apart from anything else Jodrell Bank has Grade I Listed status (the national equivalent of a World Heritage Site, or similar): it would be illegal to demolish the structure, or even to fail to maintain it. We must resist any attempt to divert responsibility to the Science & Technology Facilities Council: all representations should be made direct to the Government, Ministers, and our elected Members of Parliament. Sign the Petition! |
Sirius B Send message Joined: 26 Dec 00 Posts: 24909 Credit: 3,081,182 RAC: 7 |
Just signed - Now standing at 567. Here's a suggestion for the politicians - STOP fiddling your expenses & take a pay cut. That way there will be enough funds to keep Jodrell Bank going for at least a 100 years! |
Arthur Adams Send message Joined: 13 Oct 99 Posts: 1 Credit: 4,964,495 RAC: 0 |
There are actually 2 petitions on the same site which have been started by different people. I don't think it's a problem if people sign both of them, so I've done just that. The first has the least signatures at 332 and can be found at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/RadioAstronomy/ The second currently has 875 signatures and can be found at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/jodrellfunding/ |
ECT Send message Joined: 16 Jun 07 Posts: 329 Credit: 614,787 RAC: 0 |
Picked this up in the Times World-leading telescopes face being shut down to save £2.5m But Buffets fortune will be left to none other then William Henry Gates III. |
RandyC Send message Joined: 20 Oct 99 Posts: 714 Credit: 1,704,345 RAC: 0 |
Picked this up in the Times World-leading telescopes face being shut down to save £2.5m Well, actually to Gate's Charity Foundation. |
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