Galactic questions

Recently it has dawned on me, like the sun at the end of a moonless night, that I know not nearly enough about the wondrous galaxy we are moving in and the other star systems that inhabit the universe it flys in. It has gradually become apparent to me that I should really make an effort to gain a greater understanding of it, its properties and its apparently eternal movement. It is disturbing that such a thing as this universe, which possibly holds all the information about the very formation of the situation we as a race find ourselves in, could become so ably ignored. A major problem of course being the common thread that is trotted out by many along the lines of 'we have it all figured out'. In fact, we certainly do not. We have idea's, idea's based on factual information that has been witnessed after the fact. Carl Sagan himself, in his 'Cosmos', says, 'maybe infinite'. We cannot understand this as mortal beings. We find ourselves with 'evidence' that something has occurred, and then try to piece this 'evidence' into a picture through calculations based on what we can measure and see. A big problem for science at present is the supposed existence of 'dark matter', that which we cannot measure and see. And yet this is not a big story for the world's media. Or for humanity at large, is that not strange to you at all? Why do we no longer look with incredible wonder to the heavens? Because we have figured it all out? It is to me absolutely laughable to suggest that we are anywhere close to having it figured out. The research must continue.