A lot of the science fiction that I grew up reading was written when we still thought that Venus might be an oceanic planet.
Earth is a stunningly lovely planet for so many reasons. Among these is the wondrous presence of curious, artful, inventive humanity.
Even cynical, selfish people will realize, one way or the other, that it's not in their self-interest to act in self-destructive ways.
Fixing global warming is more important than astronomy.
Humans are possessed, to some degree, with the power of foresight. Yet we so often learn things the hard way, through disaster.
I think chemists always think they know more than they know, because nature has a lot of possible pathways it can try.
I think Pluto has to be considered among the places in the solar system that are possible homes for life.
I think the best SF writers are very aware of what we, in the scientific community, are doing, thinking, and discovering.
I will defend the NASA Earth Science Division with everything I've got.
I'd been politically active ever since my parents wheeled me in a stroller in a 'ban the bomb' march in Boston in 1963.
I'm a strong advocate of new missions to Venus.
It turns out one of my dad's best friends was Carl Sagan when I was little. They were both Harvard professors.
It's quite possible there's as much lightning on Venus as on Earth.
Mars does not belong to 'America,' nor to Earth, nor to human beings.
My high-school friends and I felt part of a community of smart, forward-looking space and technology freaks.
The story of our species is one of overcoming existential risk through new forms of cooperation and innovation.
Radiation is one of the important factors in evolution. It causes mutation, and some level of mutation is actually good for evolution.
We don't know that Venus had oceans, but there's every reason to believe it did.
