As a person who spent some time studying Astrophysics, namely space physics, and chaos theory. You can do a lot with it outside of just "studying the planets":

Rocket guidance systems
Satellite health monitor and positioning
GPS systems
EMI/RF analysis
Physical Chemistry (and spectroscopy of course)
Anything Math related (!)
Literature
Robotics
Music
Puppetry

Just to name a few things... and yes... I've done all of them in some aspect of my career....

Perhaps SpaceX will prove to be very reliable, but they aren't there yet.

There's 50% of the problem. SpaceX can test all they want to proven launch worthiness, but it how they handle problems with their systems that the customer is looking at--which they have minimal experience in compared to the ULA. It's the [stupid] man-years advertisement.

Now the other 50% is that DoD likely loves their current political and economic arrangement they have with ULA, so changing that will ripple to all suppliers... and has nothing to do with saving cash but some manager's year end bonus.

FCC: can't make a decision on net neutrality. Lobbyists (big telcos) make it for them.

FAA: can't make a decision on small done policy. Lobbyists (defense contractors) make it for them.

SEC/FDIC: no regs for HFT. Lobbyists (banks) make it for them.

DOT: stalling on self driving cards and electric infrastructure. Lobbyists (auto, oil&gas) make it for them.

FDA: pot regs.... Nuff said...

See the pattern here?

"The Internet has acted as a great equalizer"
Maybe at the macro scale (continent size), but at a country scale (micro?), aka USA for example:
I don't know about that. Unemployment is higher, education is less effective, and my salary is not keeping up with inflation. Sur I have more free time, but instead waste it on surfing, apps, FB, and really: inefficient research [on the Internet]. All during the 2002-2012 period.

While the rich can afford multiple higher $$$ cars, say in the multimillion dollar range, I can only afford a Honda Civic, not much different from 1998.

New technologies have left Detroit behind.

OK, let's get started. I've had this dream for more than a decade now. and I've asked you all to share with me. In six months we begin construction... of Delta City. where Old Detroit now stands. I grew up in Old Detroit.... as a child I played in its streets.... those same streets have become a breeding ground for crime and social decay. Before we employ the 2 million workers that will breathe life into this city again we must pacify Old Detroit. Although shifts in the tax structure have created an economy ideal for corporate growth, community services, in this case law enforcement, have suffered. I think it's time we gave something back. Dick?

Fellow executives... it gives me great pleasure to introduce you to the future of law enforcement. ED 209. ....

Except ED 209 will be a General Atomics Predator.

"different operating systems in under a year."

Yep, no different from MS, Qualcomm, or Intel.

"What's your longest-lasting, hardest-working device?"

Wacom stylus pen for my wacom tablet.It's stretching what's technical, but it is technical compared to a pencil.

Then again, then there's my 45yr old frig (was hi tech then).

"United States political and finance industry leadership has recently been dominated by people associated with Harvard and Yale."

Explains why did study was conducted by Princeton. Those Ivy leagues are like competing children, which most of this country's political system has become: an bunch of ranting, whining children with access to a lot of cash and dreams.

"would be virtually impossible at sea."

Ah, use of those famous last words I see......

Aside from Internet access, drone companies really offer something real to sell. The tech from the drone industry can be applied to smartphones (and vice versa with drones), IoT, research, space exploration (and vice versa), manufacturing, transportation, logistics and such. More than any computer graphics company or LCD nowadays when it comes to new tech.

That's compared to back in the 2001's: pets.com, Boo.com, Broadcast.com, GovWorks.com, InfoSpace, microstrategy, etc...

Now, Google buying up all the robotics companies I would be concerned, as Robotics have been a holy grail for decades. Maybe drones will make that real. It's a wise splurge if anything... but an investment.

Google isn't waiting for D.C. to turn on them; they are lobbying to "manage their relationship" with the Federal government. So is Facebook.

where do you all think these valley companies are getting their funding from? Investments from Wall Street--and that screams shady in itself where gov't loves to inject itself to either skim cash on the deal, fee-by-death, or there's my next job!

You'll need those lobbyists day one once you take Wall Street cash.

And the FAA reinstated their guidelines soon after and is appealing. So we're back to a month ago.

There's something about teaching vs 'doing'.

Yes, you can teach anyone (a coal miner) to code, but will be do it well and will he like doing it? Realistically (from my experience in training folks to code) no on the latter two cases.

Guys, money is free speech.

And LIRC bribery usually involves talking to someone first....

It's not there are less things to discover, but the reason NatGeo exists. As a Fox property, it need to help the bottom line: hence, sensational science is what they are looking for.

In this world of 10sec blog explanations of DNA formation, 1min youtube videos describing string theory and watered down Odyssey's (I'm talking to you Cosmos, Seth and Neil). There are more science discoveries out there... only if reporters take a little more time than glancing at their smart phone to write up the next science story based on some VC's press release of some cool silicon valley startup using science.