Dr. Victoria GrinbergMay 13

I have a bit of time on my hands, so let's do another 24h round of #AskAnAstrophysicist, but this time it's a thematic one.

⭐ What do you want to ask an astrophysicist about stars? ⭐

(I am a professional astrophysicist, part of whose work concerns itself with high mass stars & their winds and I've also taught a variety of astro university courses)

Boosts welcome. I may not be able to reply to all in case of many questions.

#SciComm #WissKomm

Show threadCorinna (versiffte Göre)May 13

@vicgrinberg i have a rather metaphysical question that has been torturing me a while. What's the purpose of doing all this great science out there in space, when we are just destroying our very own and only spaceship at the same time?

I am really struggling to find sense in my plasma phenomena thesis given the state of the world.

Show threadDr. Victoria GrinbergMay 13

@Nephele to me, doing science is like doing art, it's deeply human. The first humans pressed their ocher red hands onto walls of caves and it still touches me. The same way science and trying to understand the world touches something deep in the human soul. When we stop doing art and trying to understand the world (so doing science), we stop being human.

And *hugs* it's hard times...

Show threadBenjamin KnispelMay 14

@vicgrinberg Yes, so very much this!

When doing outreach I regularly get similar questions, mostly from non-scientists with a business background. They try very hard (and fail) to see the “benefit” in business terms of fundamental research. It's not the point why we do science. And on a more personal note it still sometimes baffles me just how different people's world views can be.

@Nephele

Show threadCorinna (versiffte Göre)
@benknispel @vicgrinberg i mean, I don't know if my findings will ever be of use or if mankind just destroys itself before that... That's the problem with any fundamental stuff today.
May 14 at 7:02amWeb
Show threadDr. Victoria GrinbergMay 14
@Nephele @benknispel but that's the whole thing for me, it's not about the use, it's about the fact of doing that makes us human...
Show threadCorinna (versiffte Göre)May 14
@vicgrinberg @benknispel yes, but still i want my work to have a positive impact on humanity. A colleague of mine switched from plasma stuff to the impact of the millions of new satellites burning in the upper atmosphere. Now he shares the fate of ignorance by policymakers with climatologists.
I feel like understanding things for its own sake is no longer valued in our society, and that makes it so hard.
Show threadDr. Victoria GrinbergMay 14
@Nephele @benknispel I can't make you feel different about your work - I can only describe why to me it makes sense. People arw different and for some, the immediate effect is more important than others (I also need immediate impact, but mostly in the form of enabling others - I get that from supervising students and managing our postdocs). There are people like @leo who had a permanent astro position and now works in climate and energy policy. It isn't easy, but he seems happy in the new job!