Or maybe not use hyperlinks? I mean, if I want to warn people about www.crazyscammer.com, why would I need to make it into a clickable link? I don't. Now he gets linked from NYTimes. Well done.

Could you supply a source on the "[...]image processing centre which is a common form of blindness"? As far as I know, and yes IAAMD, eye-related conditions are by far the most common cause of blindness, whereas cortical blindness represents only a small fraction of the total blind population (significant, no doubt).

Close, but not what I need - I need something to give my brain some memory!

While I'm all for the governments embracing modern tools and technology, developing an app for a selected brand of phones to help motorcyclists - that's just ridiculous.

TFA makes a point that "It's very likely that not all of the government's iPhone apps were well-conceived -- but neither are all of the private sector apps in the App Store". But the private ones are not funded with our tax money! It's alarming that the author does not see the difference. Let private parties make ridiculously absurd applications that only two people in the world have use for. Let them make apps that NO-ONE needs or wants. But the government does not have this liberty, the government does not have any of its own money or resources.

If there is demand for an app that acts as a warning light for motorists, let someone make and sell it, let people compete for whose is the best.

Dear government, you are (almost) always ineffective and always expensive. Please remember that and stick with doing your real job.

It is always so exciting to watch the launch. I find the Shuttle very aesthetic, one of the most beautiful pieces of technology, its shape is more appealing than airplanes. I will be sad to see them go. My favorite is Discovery; she flew both of the "return-to-flight" mission and for some reason seems to be the leader of the pack. :) But Atlantis also has an impressive record, it will be retirement well deserved.

From NASA.gov: "Atlantis lifted off on its maiden voyage on Oct. 3, 1985, on mission 51-J. Later missions included the launch of the Magellan probe to Venus on STS-30 in May 1989, Galileo interplanetary probe to Jupiter on STS-34 in October 1989, the first shuttle docking to the Mir Space Station on STS-71 in June1995 and the final Hubble servicing mission on STS-125 in May 2009. Atlantis is named after a two-masted sailing ship that was operated for the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute from 1930 to 1966. STS-132 is Atlantis’ 32nd flight and its 11th flight Shuttle Atlantis to the station"

What? How does the chase for more megapixels in your Nth generation iPhone help Africa? How does this decadence we now live help those living in poverty? How did you come to the conclusion that by "concerned with comfort and entertainment" I meant feeding or helping the poor or that I would ever object to that?

But coming back to the merit - the emphasis on applied research has caused humans to lose the drive to move towards greater goals. Without trying to reach for the stars (figuratively speaking now) there will be no cheaper and better medicines or better fertilizers for Africa. In medicine, we still reap the benefits of basic research from the seventies. I bet those guys heard their own share of "why don't you do something useful instead?" in their days.

"my-rocket-car-is-bigger-than-your-rocket-car nonsense" is exactly what I was objecting to. It's what we have today.

It is very sad that the two records come from 1969 and 1974. We have not been keeping the pace for quite some time. We used to have civilian supersonic jets, we used to be able to go to the Moon, we are about to lose the shuttle... Humankind is more concerned with comfort and entertainment these days.

While I see you point, I have to disagree. In your extreme logic noone can ever be forced to do anything. Because when it comes to it, you can always refuse (and die).

My friend is a very skilled surgeon - which may be one of the reasons why he feels that hands-on would be better in many cases. And he's not "doing nothing". He's an out-spoken critic and opponent of overuse of the technology and he's actually trying fairly hard to overturn the hospital's decision. Admittedly, not to the point of losig his job.

I applaud your life if you really have the clear consciousness to call people who make compromises cowards.