RCM: "Scientists this week revealed the first image ever made of a black hole, something that was previously thought to be unseeable. But now, we have a picture of it – thanks to capitalism."
"The picture of a black hole – a dying star that has collapsed inward under the pressure of its own weight – 53 million light years from Earth was assembled from data gathered by eight radio telescopes around the world, linked together two years ago to form one giant telescope. And why were radio telescopes invented in the first place? Because a private-sector company needed them to address a commercial problem."
"As a result of its ground-breaking work, nine Nobel Prizes and four Turing Awards have been given to scientists for work completed at Bell Laboratories."
"Make no mistake, Nokia Bell Labs is very much a creature of capitalism. It was part of Western Electric Company when it was purchased in the late 19th century by AT&T. The laboratory is the think tank for Nokia, and continues to exist because it helps the company make a profit. The radio telescope’s relationship to profitability ultimately led to the photos of the black hole, more than a century after Albert Einstein theorized of their existence."
