Why is Science Currently Gambling with Our Planet?

I have just read today that 'NASA Selects Target Crater for Lunar Impact'. Surely impacting an explosive device into the heavenly body so important to our blue planet cannot be a good idea. I mean, who knows, I mean who knows %100 what the result of this experiment will be? Could the orbit of the moon be altered? Maybe the tides altered? Nobody really knows for sure!

We have the Large Hadron Collider, which we are told is safe, any risks being tiny. But there are still risks. I'm assured that the risk of a black hole engulfing our planet is infinitesimal, but are they really sure? 'The same black holes are created and destroyed every day in our upper atmosphere by cosmic radiation' - the party line, but is that the same as being created under a mountain in Switzerland? Who really knows if they will be destroyed in a fraction of a second, for sure?

Humans have multiplied and spread like a virus over the earth, so much so that the only way we can feed ourselves is by Genetically Modifying the food chain:

A genetic gamble?

Humans have been unwittingly altering the genetic makeup of animals and plants for thousands of years through selective breeding. But this process, which involves the natural exchange of thousands of genes in each crossing, is very slow and can only occur within a single species.

Genetic engineering allows this process to be accelerated by adding genetic material, very often from another species, directly into an organism's genome. A range of techniques are us

The use of GMOs has been highly controversial. Concerns centre around four areas: ethical opposition to GM technology on principle, because it is seen as "playing God"; concern that there may be adverse, long-term consequences to environmental or human health; worries that GM technology rests in the hands of a few multinational companies; and, finally, issues of equity, with the cost of modified crops being beyond the reach of those who most need them.

And that isn't to mention recent developments in the field of medicine:

Creation of 'three-parent babies' moves closer

The prospect of a human baby with three biological parents has moved closer after scientists created monkeys using a technique that one day could stop children from inheriting severe genetic diseases.

The birth of four healthy macaque monkeys in the US offers the strongest evidence yet that DNA can be transplanted safely from one egg to another to correct genetic defects that damage health.

The successful experiment in a close human relative suggests that it should be possible within a few years to use the method to help women who carry genetic disorders to avoid passing them to their children.

So I put it to you: Why are we gambling with this planet? At what point did the scientists of the world decide that it was worth the risks to push the boundaries of our knowledge?

What has changed? is there something on the horizon that makes these scientific risks worth while? Are we doomed anyway so what the heck?

Your thoughts?

Kiwifoot



[edit on 14-9-2009 by kiwifoot]

We're never satisfied. We always want more. Bigger, faster, stronger, smarter, smaller, more potent...it would seem we owe a heck of a lot of innovation and quality of life to this same quest for improvement or modification that will probably ultimately spell our end.

reply to post by KSPigpen


I do believe you're right, mankind's greed knows no bounds. What strikes me about this is the risks these scientists are willing to take, for quite frankly not that great a reward. I mean, is it really worth RISKING the world to find a few sub atomic particles? Okay I realise there maybe a few useful technologies developed from it but then again there may not, and they might kill us all!