3 million dollar projector : Dynamics of Cats

Adler is a very nice planetarium, really, I visited them during "Pale Blue Dot III", and they deserve a Universarium IX like the Hayden or Beijing planetariums.

It is a jolly nice projector and not to be proxmired. This was a very silly thing for McCain to do.

Jotman has some more

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But entirely in line with the "Republican War on Science" as Chris Mooney terms it.

Posted by: Ian | October 9, 2008 9:10 AM

Yeah, the notion that it promises to be a money maker (an investement at several levels), seems lost on people. The idea that top notch science educators should have top notch equipment is just so...Unamerican. Heheh. It IS the planetarium, people. What a bargain!

Posted by: Bing | October 9, 2008 9:16 AM

Posted by: Bing | October 9, 2008 9:24 AM

Yes, Obama should have nailed McCain to the wall for this. McCain clearly is not in favor of producing the next generation of scientists who will invent technology that will lead to energy independence, increased security and economic development. Obama missed a great chance to pounce on McCain. I don't know why science blogs (esp. more influential bloggers like PZ, haven't nailed McCain on this more harshly)

Posted by: randy | October 9, 2008 9:42 AM

I agree this should have been brought up more, especially since McCain has (now) explicitly slammed this projector expense 3 times now, which does put it as `anti-science education', rather than some one-off gaffe. A high quality projector (that Adler would need, obviously) does cost a lot of money! We just had a ~1/2 million dollar [no, not an earmark :)] projector installed 3 years back (for a smaller planetarium!), and you get a beautiful, very realistic view of what a *dark* sky can look like, which is great for many people in an urban area who do not get the chance very often to see a truly dark sky.

I must admit I was kinda wondering what a 3 million dollar overhead projector would look like...encrusted with diamonds and sapphires. Oy

Posted by: Pat Durrell | October 9, 2008 1:29 PM

I don't know why science blogs (esp. more influential bloggers like PZ, haven't nailed McCain on this more harshly)

Bad Astronomy and Cosmic Variance both blogged it.

For an alternate view on the value of science education, here's clips from John McCain's responses at Sciencedebate 2008

As President, I will ---
Eliminate wasteful earmarks in order to allocate funds for science and technology investments;
Grow public understanding and popularity of mathematics and science by reforming mathematics and science education in schools;
...
Less than 20 percent of our undergraduate students obtaining degrees in math or science, and the number of computer science majors have fallen by half over the last eight years. America must address these trends in education and training if it hopes to compete successfully.
...
We must fill the pipeline to our colleges and universities with students prepared for the rigors of advanced engineering, math, science and technology degrees.
...

Posted by: Reginald Selkirk | October 11, 2008 5:01 PM