They might well have been right about Mars too, if not for the anti-progress think-of-the-children movement that has effectively stalled nuclear development throughout the west.

Even sustainable base-load fusion might have been a reality today if we'd just had the will to keep the project funded. Yet it will never be properly funded because we'd obviously prefer to fight over fossil fuels (for all our lip-service to environmentalism). And for what reason? Because nuclear.

I don't know about you but I don't tend to conflate religious nonsense with the actual scientific method, which is what we're discussing. I also think that dismissing scientific opinion as 'groupthink' is less than wise given what science has managed to achieve in its time. Science demonstrably works. On the other hand, some of us are still waiting for Jesus, right?

I suggest you don't rely on scientific opinion if you are skeptical - go look at the results and judge for yourself. I think you'll find their collective confidence stems from the enormous breadth of peer-reviewed study across multiple disciplines that all point to the same conclusion.

Mmm, yeah, can't think why. The evidence, perhaps?

Scientists are seldom 'supremely confident' but when they are, that alone should tell you something.

Is it really very likely that this fact escaped the scientists who chose the site?

Obtaining clear readings free from local influence would seem to be a rather important part of their work. Why wouldn't they have considered all possible factors when they come up with their shortlist of suitable locations?

It's like talking to an autistic six year-old except without that level of sophistication.

Here's a sure-fire way to avoid getting trolled, APK: stop behaving like an arsehole. Try it on for size. Even if it doesn't do what says on the tin, the rest of us will get some peace for a while.

Fuck off APK, take your off-topic stalking somewhere else. Nobody cares what you think JC did and you've been told plenty of times that we are sick of your sniveling.

Post something on-topic or go away.

What kind of comparison is that?

The technology behind the Blackbird topped out at about the speed you mention. The technology that has made this scramjet possible is just getting started at mach 5.1.

If that doesn't convince you, bear in mind that at this level even the difference between mach 5.0 and 5.1 is rather considerable, much like the difference in required engine power between 300kph and 350kph.

BWAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAA

Any sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from awesomity.

The issues with the US education system do not appear to be the result of insufficient funding.

An honest opinion I agree wholeheartedly with and kudos for having the guts to say it here.

Nothing gets done, but massive amounts of money changes hands in a watered-down form of corruption. As you say, greedy selfish assholes.

Maybe a little meta-analysis is in order; this behaviour stands in the way of anything we want to achieve as a species and costs us precious time.

"Take some personal responsibility" I agree, I may not be able to correct our busted system but I'm not about to contribute to the problem.

Investors solve the Chicken and Egg problem.

Specifically, investors who have a vision for the future and feel that you and your company are on a path leading to that future (or could be, with some guidance); they solve the Chicken and Egg problem.

It doesn't always take money to make money. But sometimes it does.

Seriously, that's all you managed to take from Dune?

Besides, Herbert is merely depicting human machinations and scheming such as that which he saw in his time, such as that which we see in our times and such as that which we may expect to see 10,191 years after we've lost count.

I'm fascinated by this. I'm a pretty glass-is-half-empty kind of person (sorry about that) but I couldn't imagine being able to do a hundredth of the things I'd want to do if I am to spend the rest of my life working. I'm only talking tinkering with stuff on a normal living wage, nothing that requires a million bucks.

I could spend the first four days of every week just lurking Wikipedia, even though it's been in my bookmarks since not long after it started.

The world is utterly enthralling and deeply fascinating.

Yeah, our population level is just nuts right now and as you say, everyone is endowed with the god-given right to sprog another human being or three into the world. It's no wonder we're over seven billion with such a self-defeating mindset.

Yet the problem is not insurmountable. Well-known effects such as the natural slowing of population growth that comes with decreased infant mortality can be used to good effect. If we want a stable population throughout the world we need to take the same approach to clean water and modern health services that we employed to deal with the disease epidemics. In 2013 it seems a reasonable ideal to believe (for example) that everyone everywhere deserves inexpensive access to fresh drinking water. That would be a significant investment in Humanity that I believe would eventually deliver incalculable returns.