After the talks we had a few minutes to enjoy drinks in the Lodgings, followed by dinner in Hall at 7:15pm. Just before dinner, there was be a brief presentation by Professor Frank Close on the case for and against manned space flight to Moon and Mars. During dinner, we all had lively discussions in smaller groups on the raised topic. Over port, coffee and chocolates, some students presented the main conclusions they or their discussion group had.
While many chemists thought travel to Mars could turn out to be a big seller, the mathematicians were more sceptic. Physicians didn't have faith in robotics and thought manned space was just unavoidable, while the engineers pointed out you should get basic information using robots before risking lives on problematic missions. Earth scientists pointed out that the benefit of examining Mars was invaluable - comparing reaching the moon versus Mars to crossing a lake versus the Atlantic ocean and hence being able to discover a totally new world, of course with its risks. A main conclusion represented by many was that we might not know of what use our findings on Mars will have - but that this is exactly what we always encounter with research. If we know what was coming, we wouldn't have discover it anymore.

This evening was a great event for finding out what others with related subjects were doing and discussing a controversial topic, along the way getting to know some new faces. On Thursday, February 23rd the next Family Subject Dinner is taking place, this time for everyone teaching, researching and studying in the fields of economics, politics, philosophy, history, law and management studies.

Sara Adams