Space travel is in all our interests, so let’s carry on
IT NEVER fails to amaze me that any attempt made by humanity to escape this tiny planet of ours or investigate our minuscule neighbourhood in this vast universe is always ridiculed.
The usual cry is why not spend that money on this or that other more ‘noble cause’.
Firstly, billions of dollars are being invested by pharmaceutical corporations into all types of drug production on a rolling basis.
Money is not the problem – it is the complexity of the challenges.
One could ethically argue about the health of the rich being prioritised over the well-being of the poor by the trade in profitdriven monopoly licences.
Secondly, trillions of dollars are being poured into the annual destructive arms race which may eventually cause the end of life on planet Earth.
Whether it be a future virus, and I doubt it will be Covid-19, an asteroid impact or human overpopulation and pollution, we will eventually have to move off this planet to survive.
Since the Apollo missions, it has been evident that the return on space exploration investment has been very generous, with many beneficial spin-offs that may eventually include saving humanity.
One interesting theory is that life on Earth could actually have originated on Mars and arrived here by meteorite in microbial form, but I suppose all the sceptics would suggest that is of no interest either.
COLM DUNNE, Co. Meath.
Tuned in to Sarah
IT SEEMS a shame to hear that the excellent Sarah McInerney may be removed from the Today programme on RTÉ radio.
I do not always agree with her but, at present, I consider the Today programme the best on Irish morning radio.
If Sarah is removed, I for one will again be changing the dial.
MIKE BOURKE, Limerick.
Keep the Gate open
I HAVE just heard that the Gate Theatre is to remain closed until some unknown date in 2021.
This is an unbelievable piece of news. The board of directors should be ashamed of their decision and must take steps to reverse this edict. Micheál Mac Liammóir and Hilton Edwards must be turning in their graves.
Does anyone remember Lord and Lady Longford standing on the pavement outside the Gate collecting money from the citizens passing by? They did so at a time when money was scarce but they had courage.
DES KERINS, by email.
Carry on smiling
WITH everyone wearing face masks, might we forget what a smile looks like?
If the smile is natural, rather than faked, don’t worry.
In the first few seconds when we meet a stranger, survival traffic lights in our brains judge them with absolute precision based on their face, voice, body language and pheromones.
If there is a sincere smile behind the mask, then we will intuitively sense it.
H. BEYNON, by email.
Best ways to shop
THERE seems to be an air of inevitability about the eventual dominance of online shopping.
But the traditional main street, out-of-town shopping centres and online can easily co-exist.
It’s been said that the dominance of online shopping has been brought forward five years by Covid-19, leading to job losses in the retail sector.
I remember going from shop to shop as a child with my grandparents. It would be a shame if this way of shopping became extinct.
WILLIAM JOHNSON, by email.
Y oh Y is town misspelt?
IN my travels through Co. Monaghan and Armagh I notice that some of the directional official road signage pointing the way to the town of Castleblayney, fails to display the first Y in its script.
While all the official mapping and signage on the national routes give mention to both Ys, I’m just wondering as to where the absent Y has eloped to after leaving ‘Castleblaney’. Did it go astraY at a Y junction.
DENIS O’HIGGINS, Monaghan.
Stop importing Covid!
THE two main points of entry to this country are the airports and the ports, and both are gateways that have not been policed or closed during this pandemic.
Now, 46,000 tourists have gained entry in a three-week period. No serious questions are asked, and no serious restrictions are put on movement. And the Covid-19 cases have been on the rise, so no surprise there.
The Government, in almost all of the handling of the virus, have been very forward-thinking and forthright. But they have failed to properly protect the country, with the stupidity of letting people from nations with very high case counts and deaths enter here, and practically with an apology for the delay. This needs to stop immediately.
PAUL BUTTERLY Rush, Co. Dublin.