In light of everyone losing their minds over the great high resolution JWST images, what’s the functional application of this new information? Considering that we are so far away from even the closest star that interstellar travel is extremely unlikely, how does this new information help us?

Question

Let me state for the record that **I am not trolling**, and I am blown away by the imagery as much as the next person.
But what can we do with this new information? Where does it take us? How does it help us?

What’s next?

In: 262

Answer 1

We can learn much more about how the universe formed, how the earliest galaxies formed, and what (relatively) nearby exoplanets are made of and what atmospheres they have. You increase scientific knowledge *first,* and figure out what if anything to do with that information *second.*