Each telescope, whether it's on earth or in space, is designed to do a particular kind of science. You can build a telescope, that's one thing, but it'll probably be lacking in something else. When scientists are thinking about constructing these future telescopes and weighing them against the current benefit of the hubble or the web? Are any of them asking the question of, like, why? Is it just like a self evident question that we would want to understand more and see further and build better telescopes? Or is it just sort of like trying to accumulate more knowledge for knowledg's sake? Just trying to understand who we are and where we came from?
To look into deep space is to look back in time. With the upcoming launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, scientists hope to see “cosmic dawn,” a period long ago when the first starlight transformed the universe. But what happened before cosmic dawn? The Webb can’t tell us, though future telescopes could.
For more, go to http://vox.com/unexplainable
It’s a great place to sign up for our newsletter, view show transcripts, and read more about the topics on our show.
Also, email us! unexplainable@vox.com
We read every email.
Support Unexplainable by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices