How do you feel about President Clintons push to revive the Strategic Defense Initiative (“Star Wars”)?
I argued strongly against Star Wars when President Reagan first proposed it. I have not changed my opinion. At best it is a great waste of money. It could not work as originally foreseen. What scientific problems are you working on now? I am studying how pressure waves trigger supernovas – sudden, brilliant flare-ups of stars. I am also working on detecting gravitational waves – ripples in the fabric of space and time produced by violent events in the distant universe – with the upcoming Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory. If you hadn’t become a scientist, what would you have done? I would have worked in a bank or an investment firm. ========================================================= …But Will They Do Windows? We’d all be knee-deep in sewage if it weren’t for bacteria that break down ammonia, one of the most common and noxious waste products. And a novel bacterium found in the Dutch town of Delft could make the job a lot easier. Ordinary bacteria digest ammoni
