Dear Volunteers, we are not friends, I don't know anyone of you but I feel extremely proud as a member of this philanthropic organization and proud about everyone of you, together we are going to turn the world to a better world defeating illnesses and solving complex problems for the entire people.

I wish happiness to all of you.

Gylmar

[Insert "it's a conspiracy!" meme]
Trying to convince deniers will only add fuel to the fire. Also....

You can have that for free

Hello Volunteers of World Community Grid,
hello WCG-Techs and all other people behind the project!

as a member and WCG-Team Captain of SETI.Germany, it is always a great pleasure to contribute unused computer power to this project. SETI.Germany is a partner of this great project for years now and with the beginning of the 5th birthday of WCG our team organizes the annual birthday challenge, so teams can show their community power to power up the contribution to this project.
I like being a scientist that way and having interaction with people thinking the same way!

In addition to the scientific benefit, the community and the fun of challenges are our top priorities. The current development and dominance of teams with coin-based intentions and less community interaction makes me sad. Even if the scientific benefit increased, the personal touch and community interaction of Volunteer Computing would get lost.

Please, keep in mind, that active communities with discussions about the work and the science is worth more than any coin.

I know, World Community Grid always have the priority in personal interaction and support. This is one reason, I spend my computer power mostly to this project.

Many thanks to the WCG-Techs who all are doing this great job and keep this project running!

And: If you like joining the birthday party... 3 days left!! Inform your team captain!
https://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/team/chall...lenge.do?challengeId=9145
or our special challenge website with hourly updated stats on https://www.seti-germany.de/wcg/1_en_Welcome.html

why I support science research work ？ I will tell you the following science story.


In 1970, Sister Zambia Mary Jucunda wrote to Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger and asked: There are so many children on the planet who can't eat, how can he be willing to spend billions of dollars on projects far away on Mars. Stuhlinger quickly wrote back to Sister Jucunda, and his sincere reply was followed by NASA's title "Why explore the universe." .....


In 1970, Sister Zambia Mary Jucunda wrote a letter to Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger, who became the Deputy Director of Science at NASA's Marshall Space Navigation Center for his original research in the Mars Tour. In the letter, Sister Mary Jucunda asked: There are so many children on the planet who can't eat, how can he be willing to spend billions of dollars for projects far away on Mars.

Stuhlinger quickly sent a letter to Sister Jucunda, along with a photo entitled “The Earth Rising”, which was shot by astronaut William Anders on the lunar orbit in 1968 (in the photo) You can see the ground of the moon). His sincere reply was subsequently published by NASA under the heading "Why explore the universe."



May 6, 1970

Dear Mary Jucunda, Sister:

Every day, I receive a lot of similar letters, but this one touches me the most, because it comes from a compassionate soul full of spirit of inquiry. I will do my best to answer your question.

First of all, allow me to express deep respect to you and your brave sisters. You are dedicated to the noblest cause of mankind: helping fellow citizens in trouble.

In the letter, you asked me why I still spend billions of dollars on the current flight to the Mars in the face of death threats to children due to hunger. I know that you definitely don't want the answer like this: "Oh, I didn't know that there are children who are starving to death. Well, from now on, pause all space projects until the children eat and say." I have already understood the child's famine problem long before I learned about the technology of the Mars trip. Moreover, like many of my friends, I think that at this moment, we should begin a great expedition to the moon, Mars and even other planets. In the long run, I think that the exploration of space projects will help solve humanity more than the various debates and quarrels that are only year after year, or even the various assistance programs that have been delayed after the compromise. The various crises currently facing.

Before detailing how our space program can help solve the crisis on the ground, I want to briefly tell a real story. It was 400 years ago that there was an earl in a small German town. He is a kind-hearted person who donated a large part of his income to the poor in the town. This is very admirable, because there were many poor people in the Middle Ages, and at that time there was a plague that swept across the country. One day, the count met a strange person. He had a workbench and a small laboratory in his house. He worked hard during the day and concentrated on hours of research every night. He grinds the small piece of glass into a lens, and then puts the polished lens into the lens barrel to observe small objects. The count was fascinated by this little invention that could not be seen before. He invited the geek to live in his castle as a guest of the Earl, and then he can concentrate on all the time to study these optics.

However, the people in the town were very angry when they learned that the count spent money on such a weirdo and his useless gadgets. "We are still suffering from the plague," they complained. "And he is the idler. "I don’t want to spend money with his useless hobbies!" The Earl was unmoved after hearing it. "I will help everyone as much as possible," he said. "But I will continue to fund this person and his work. I am sure that there will be There will be a return in one day."

Sure enough, his work won a rich return: the microscope. The invention of the microscope brought unprecedented development to medicine, and the research and its results have eliminated the plague and other infectious diseases that have been ravaged in most parts of the world.

The end result of the count for the support of this research invention has greatly reduced the suffering of mankind, which is far more than simply using the money to relieve those who have suffered from the plague.

We are currently facing similar problems. The US President’s annual budget totals $200 billion. The money will be used for medical, education, welfare, urban construction, highways, transportation, overseas aid, defense, environmental protection, technology, agriculture, and many other projects at home and abroad. This year, 1.6% of the budget will be used to explore the universe. These costs will be spent on Apollo's plans, other small projects covering astrophysics, deep space astronomy, space biology, planetary exploration engineering, and earth resource engineering. And space engineering technology. To cover the cost of these space projects, an average US taxpayer with an annual income of $10,000 needs to pay about $30 to space, and the remaining $9,970 can be used for general living expenses, recreation, savings, other taxes, etc. pin.


Maybe you will ask: "Why don't you take out $5 or $3 or $1 from the taxpayer's $30 for space to help hungry children?" To answer this question, I need to briefly explain our country's economy. How it works, other countries are similar situations. The government consists of several departments (such as the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Public Welfare, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of National Defense, etc.) and several institutions (National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, etc.). And the organization to develop a corresponding annual budget according to its own functions, and strictly enforced to deal with the supervision of the State Council, while also coping with the pressure from the budget department and the president on its economic benefits. When the funds are eventually allocated by Congress, they will be strictly applied to the projects approved in the budget.

Obviously, the projects included in NASA's budget are related to aerospace. Budget projects that are not approved by Congress will not receive financial support, and will naturally not be taxed unless there are other departments whose budget covers the project, thereby spending money that is not allocated to space projects. From this brief explanation, it can be seen that in order to assist the hungry children or increase the amount of assistance in the existing foreign aid projects in the United States, it is necessary to first submit a budget by the relevant department and then approve it by the National Assembly.

I would like to ask if I agree with the government to implement a similar policy. My personal opinion is absolutely in favor. I don't mind paying a little more tax every year to help hungry children, no matter where they are.

I believe my friends will share the same attitude. However, things can't be easily achieved simply by canceling the plan to sail to Mars. In contrast, I even think that through space projects, we can contribute to alleviating and ultimately solving the problem of poverty and hunger on the planet. The key to solving the problem of hunger is two parts: the production of food and the distribution of food. The agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries and other large-scale production activities involved in the production of food are highly efficient and productive in some parts of the world, while in some areas the production is seriously insufficient. High-tech means such as irrigation management, use of fertilizers, weather forecasting, yield assessment, programmed planting, farmland selection, crop habits and tillage time selection, crop surveys and harvesting programs can significantly increase land productivity.

The artificial earth satellite is undoubtedly the most powerful tool for improving these two key issues. In the orbit away from the ground, the satellite can scan a large area of ​​land in a short period of time, and can simultaneously observe a number of indicators needed to calculate the growth of crops, soil, drought, rain and snow, etc., and can broadcast this information. Go to the ground receiving station for further processing. Satellite systems equipped with land resource sensors and corresponding agricultural procedures have proven to provide billions of dollars in annual crop yields, even for the simplest models.

How to distribute food to those in need is another brand new problem. The key is not the capacity of the ship, but the international cooperation. The rulers of small countries are hard to make accurate judgments about the input of large quantities of food from big countries. They are afraid that the accompanying food will also have the influence of foreign forces on their dominance. I am afraid that the problem of hunger cannot be solved efficiently before the gap between countries is eliminated. I don't think that the space program can make a miracle overnight. However, exploring the universe helps to push the problem in a good direction.

Take the recent Apollo 13 accident as an example. When the astronauts were in the critical atmosphere re-entry period, in order to ensure the smooth communication, the Soviet Union closed all the broadcasting communications in the same frequency band used by the Apollo spacecraft. At the same time, ships were sent to the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean for the first time to search and rescue. If the astronaut's rescue capsule landed near the Russian ship, the Russian personnel would rescue them like the domestic astronauts returning from space. Similarly, if the Russian spacecraft encounters a similar emergency, the United States will certainly not hesitate to provide assistance.

Monitoring and analysis through satellites to increase food production and improve the efficiency of food distribution by improving international relations are just two aspects of improving the quality of human life through space programs. Below I would like to introduce two other important roles: to promote the development of science and technology and to improve the scientific literacy of a generation.

The moon landing project requires unprecedented precision and reliability in history. Faced with such demanding requirements, we are looking for new materials, new methods; developing better engineering systems; using more reliable manufacturing processes; making instruments work longer; and even exploring new laws of nature.

These new technologies invented for the moon can also be used for engineering projects on the ground. Every year, there are about a thousand new technologies developed from space projects that are used in everyday life. These technologies create better kitchen utensils and farm equipment, better sewing machines and radios, better ships and planes. More accurate weather forecasts and storm warnings, better communication facilities, better medical equipment, and even better everyday gadgets. You might ask why you first design the life support system for the astronauts' lunar modules, rather than first creating audio-visual reading devices for hearing-impaired patients. The answer is simple: when solving engineering problems, important technological breakthroughs are often not directly obtained from the beginning, but from the ability to inspire a strong sense of innovation, able to ignite imagination and firm action, and the ability to integrate all resources. A challenging goal.

Space travel is undoubtedly a challenging business. Sailing to Mars does not directly provide food to solve the famine problem. However, the vast amount of new technologies and methods it brings can be used outside of the Mars project, which will generate several times the original cost.

If we want people to live better and better, in addition to the need for new technologies, we still need new progress in basic science. Including physics and chemistry, biology and physiology, especially medicine, to look after human health, dealing with hunger, disease, food and water pollution, and environmental pollution.

We need more young people to invest in science, and we need to give more help to talented scientists who are committed to scientific research. Always have challenging research projects and ensure that you have adequate resources to support the project. I would like to reiterate that the space program is a catalyst for technological progress and provides excellent and practical opportunities for academic research, including research on the moon and other planets, physics and astronomy, biology and medical science. It has a growing number of exciting research topics in the scientific community, and human beings have been able to see the magnificent landscape of the universe; for it, new technologies and new methods are emerging.

Of all the activities controlled and funded by the US government, the space program is undoubtedly the most eye-catching and controversial, even though it accounts for only 1.6% of the total budget and less than three-thousandths of the gross national product. As a driver and catalyst for new technologies, the Space Project has conducted a number of basic science studies, and its status is destined to be different from other activities. In a sense, the impact of the space program on society is equivalent to the war activities 3-4 years ago.

If the country no longer competes with bombers and long-range missiles and replaces the performance of the mooncraft, it will avoid much war! The wise winners will be full of hope, and the losers will not have to suffer the pain, no longer plant the seeds of hatred, no longer bring war of revenge.

Although the space project we studied is far from the Earth, it has extended the human vision to the moon, to the sun, to the planet, to the distant stars, but astronomers pay more attention to the earth than all the above. The space project brings not only the improvement of the quality of life provided by those new technologies, but with the deepening of the study of the universe, the deeper our gratitude to the earth, to life and to humanity itself. Space exploration makes the earth a better place.



The photo sent by the letter is the scene of the Earth taken on the lunar orbit of Apollo 8 on Christmas Day 1968. Among the various results that the space program can bring, this photo is perhaps the most valuable one. It broadens the horizons of human beings, allowing us to intuitively feel that the earth is such a beautiful and precious island in the vast universe, while letting us realize that the earth is our only home, leaving the earth is the ridiculous and cold outer space. . No matter how limited people know about the Earth before, how inadequate is the understanding of the serious consequences of destroying the ecological balance. After this photo was published, in the face of the grim situation facing humanity, such as environmental pollution, hunger, poverty, excessive urbanization, food problems, water resources, population issues, etc., we are calling on everyone to face these serious problems. More and more calls are coming. People suddenly expressed concern about their own problems, not to mention the initial space exploration projects that are currently underway, and the new perspectives they bring about their own homes.

Space exploration not only provides humans with a mirror to look at themselves, it also brings us new technologies, new challenges and enterprising spirits, and an optimistic and confident attitude in the face of severe real problems. I believe that what humans have learned from the universe fully demonstrates Albert Schweitzer's famous saying: "I am worried about the future, but still full of hope."


I would like to extend my most sincere respect to you and your children!

Your sincerity

Ernst Stallinger

Deputy Director of Science.

Here's another response from a volunteer in Europe, used with permission:

Along with giving money regularly to a particular research field or caring organisation, I find very useful and grateful to participate directly-even with low means on a daily basis-to scientific research.
With WCG many projects can be chosen and you donate without realizing it.
Congratulations to WCG, the techs and the scientists. You have all our support.