What I wrote at the Wall Street Journal, some Feynman videos, and a must see article from EDGE.

EDGE - THIS IS FANTASTIC - SCIENCE STUFF - CONVERSATIONS - VIDEOS
EDGE: 2016 : WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER THE MOST INTERESTING RECENT [SCIENTIFIC] NEWS? WHAT MAKES IT IMPORTANT?
YOUTUBE VIDEO - 5 MINUTES - RICHARD FEYNMAN - THE FEYNMAN SERIES - Beauty - ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC - BEYOND PERFECT
THE FEYNMAN SERIES - ALL FIVE YOUTUBE VIDEOS - ALL EXCELLENT

WSJ: a handful of large-brained primates on an insignificant planet have created machines that let them understand the world, at every scale, and let them change it too, for good or ill.

Another comment: "if this planet were insignificant"

Light pollution prevents people from seeing how vast the universe is. When I lived in rural Illinois I could see 1000's of stars. What I saw was a tiny fraction of the solar systems in our galaxy. There are billions of galaxies out there. Earth is equal to one grain of sand in the Sahara Desert.

"let us know when science finds intelligent life"

Scientists have found some planets in other solar systems that could support life. Because of the huge distances between stars we might never know where life is but look at the vastness of the universe and how easily life got a foothold on Earth.

"I can't believe the special stories that have been made up about our relationship to the universe at large because they seem to be too simple, too local, too provincial. The earth, he came to the earth, one of the aspects of god came to the earth mind you, and look at what's out there. It isn't in proportion."

-- Richard Feynman

http://bit.ly/1bxYM5x

From the Wall Street Journal article this just got added to my list of favorite quotes:
"The biggest news of all is that a handful of large-brained primates on an insignificant planet have created machines that let them understand the world, at every scale, and let them change it too, for good or ill."