NASA Puts the Earth Up For Adoption (cnn.com) 60
An anonymous reader shares a report: Wondering how to show that special planet some affection this Earth Day? Adopt it. NASA has sectioned off 64,000 individual pieces of Earth to be "adopted" by supporters on their website. The pieces are about 55 miles wide and assigned randomly. Similar to adopting a highway or naming a star, participants do not get legal or property rights to their section. So whether you get the 55-mile section that contains the Taj Mahal or the one that is square in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, you benefit the same.
Re:What's the carbon cost of this "initiative"? (Score:4, Insightful)
I donno about the cost, but I expect that a lot better return on that cost will be borne by this initiative than your post will generate, both in relative and absolute terms.
Re: (Score:1)
It's sad to see what has become of Slashdot these days. The GP's comment makes a good point about the hidden costs of pointless activism such as this, especially when it's environmentalist activism that ends up harming the environment. Yet for some inexplicable reason that insightful comment is modded to -1. Your comment, on the other hand, is nothing but useless snark. Yet it was modded up to 3. I suppose none of this matters, though. The GP is right: environmentalists are often their own worst enemy. They
Re: (Score:3)
I would mod this up if I had the points.
Though you left out :
Charging their Phones, and cars. The lights and utilities and things left running while they weren't using them like refridgerators and the people and power that run the airlines, the harmful effect and cost of producing the above said items.
It's actually much worse than that even.
Re: (Score:2)
Touchy little guy aren't you?
Would those above comments have hit a little too close to home?
I don't see where race has anything to do with this since I see all nationalities doing it. But since you seem so smug and racist lets go into more detail:
How much environmental damage is caused by mass open-pit mining of the rare earth minerals it takes to build a smartphone, a battery of any capacity, Lithium or Lead Acid? The Burial and associated leeching of those materials back into the environment they were dis
Re: (Score:2)
I see someone's hopped on the social justice 'intersectionality' bandwagon. If you hate white men that much, maybe you should just shut off your electricity altogether.
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Cost vs. benefit... You and GP deem it as pointless, but educating people about climate change and getting governments to align is worth the net cost. The only way you can get world governments on track with the program is to fly delegates out to these places. Simply existing contributes to GW and environmental impact, but that's a cost I think we should all be willing to accept. Pointing out hypocrisy where none exists makes you and the OP look foolish. That's why you you got downvoted.
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Unlikely. NASA should focus less on political activism and more on engineering a long term plan for a permanent, productive presence elsewhere in the solar system. If we're going to keep the organization around then that is the role they should play. Semantic arguments over the word 'planet' are as completely unproductive as this stunt.
MIB (Score:2)
I picked Area 51, but some strange people in suits came to my door, smashed my laptop, and demanded I give them the area.
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Actual link to NASA Page....... (Score:5, Informative)
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Combat global warming (Score:1)
I miss the days... (Score:2, Offtopic)
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If you believe the mainstream media.
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If you believe the mainstream media.
Are you implying that they didn't fly to the moon, or that they did have time for such nonsense?
Re: (Score:3)
Yeah, when the federal government was spending more than 4% of its budget on the Apollo program.
Come to think of it, I wouldn't mind some military money being shifted to NASA. There's no sense in firing a several million dollar missile to take out a $200 quadcopter. Make the military figure out how to economically deal with those real yet inexpenive threats.
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NASA has always had time for such nonsense. The only difference is now they have an internet site which allows the public to get in on the nonsense.
Do all US companies overbook? (Score:5, Funny)
Once the adoptions fill up, they will be reassigned to allow everyone the opportunity to celebrate their own little corner of the Earth.
Just hope that your randomly assigned slot isn't double-booked with a NASA employee or else you could end up being beaten up and forcibly removed from the Earth.
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According to NASA [nasa.gov]: "Our goal is to have the entire planet adopted by Earth Day, April 22. Once all 64,000 pieces are adopted, we'll start again from the top, so everyone who wants to participate will be able to."
So, basically, we're going to sell something off that we don't own and you don't get and once we've sold them all we're going to sell them again? Fucking brilliant!
I predict disappointment (Score:2)
Oh, cool! I can't wait to see if I got something neat!
Oh, yeah. Ocean.
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Wondering how to show some affection towards NASA? Adopt it. I have sectioned off 64,000 individual pieces of NASA to be "adopted" by supporters on slashdot. The pieces are assigned randomly. Similar to adopting a highway or naming a star, participants do not get legal or property rights to their section. So whether you get launch pad 39b or some marshy shoreline, you benefit the same.
What a crock of sh*t.
SpaceX Shares (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
The Chinese would immediately swoop in and buy a 51% share. Within a year a chinese company would be offering re-usable boosters for less.
Wanted: A piece of America... (Score:2)
...Got a piece of Russia, thanks Nasa! _ . _
Expect disappointment! (Score:2)
Considering the fact that two thirds of the earth is covered in water, you have an excellent chance of adopting a bunch of ocean!
Stupid (Score:1)
Who would have thought that the stupidest thing I've read all day would be from NASA. Assigning someone a patch of earth that will get reassigned based on demand that a person can't do anything with and is probably geographically distant and thus can provide no benefit to. Don't you guys have some rocket ships to build or something right now?
Bored @ NASA? (Score:2)
Similar to adopting a section of highway? (Score:3)
When you adopt a section of highway you are expected to pick up litter. Are we expected to clean up the section of Gaia we adopt?
What right does NASA have to adopt out sections of Gaia?
I'll take France! (Score:2)
Not what I was expecting (Score:3)
When I read the title I thought NASA was advertising Earth for adoption by aliens, after it had been neglected by its native inhabitants. That actually makes more sense :-P
Adoptive Earth Parent Overlords (Score:2)
the tables have turned! (Score:1)