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re: It's just stupid how big space is and how small Earth is
Posted on 9/15/14 at 9:57 pm to K9
Posted on 9/15/14 at 9:57 pm to K9
quote:
calling bullshite on the fitting all the planets between here and the moon
Had to check, because that sounded wrong to me, too.
Earth to Moon: 238900 miles
Planet diameters, in miles
Mercury 3032
Venus 7521
Earth 7918
Mars 4212
Jupiter 86881
Saturn 72367
Uranus 31518
Neptune 30599
Total: 244048
So he's wrong, but not by much. If you take Earth out then he's correct.
This post was edited on 9/15/14 at 9:58 pm
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Posted on 9/15/14 at 9:59 pm to finestfirst79
Never realized the moon was that far away. Really makes the moon missions that much more impressive. 
And a preemptive shuddup to ST. Yes, the moon landings actually happened.
And a preemptive shuddup to ST. Yes, the moon landings actually happened.
Posted on 9/15/14 at 10:00 pm to finestfirst79
well i think you got to take out Earth because it said they were putting them in between earth and the moon...so i guess it is true..fricking nuts
Posted on 9/15/14 at 10:14 pm to CheeseburgerEddie
quote:
Sure there are tons if stars and planets, but what are the odds of the building blocks of life being placed in the same place in the right order under the proper conditions without some cosmic disaster fricking everything up.
They're very good if we recognize that life is the result of chemical evolution. I recommend the first two-thirds of Life beyond Earth : the intelligent earthling's guide to life in the universe(Feinberg and Shapiro). It was published in 1980 but the chemistry discussed is timeless and very understandable.
Posted on 9/15/14 at 10:16 pm to Kentucker
No matter how chemicals mix you can't get life from non life. A rock can't just sprout fins and start swimming.
Posted on 9/15/14 at 10:19 pm to KSGamecock
quote:
No matter how chemicals mix you can't get life from non life. A rock can't just sprout fins and start swimming.
No, it can't. Chemical evolution doesn't work that way. I want to share a short TED video with you that will illustrate what chemical evolution is. Stand by.
Posted on 9/15/14 at 10:36 pm to Kentucker
quote:
Okay, here is the video to which I was referring. I hope you enjoy it.
Well that was 15 boobless minutes I'll never get back.
Posted on 9/15/14 at 10:38 pm to Vols&Shaft83
quote:
boobless minutes
purposeless minutes, is what I say.
Posted on 9/15/14 at 10:39 pm to Gradual_Stroke
quote:
1. The Sun is a typical star, and relatively young. There are billions of stars in the galaxy that are billions of years older.
2. Almost surely, some of these stars will have Earth-like planets.
3. Assuming the Earth is typical, some of these planets may develop intelligent life.
4. Some of these civilizations may develop interstellar travel, a technology Earth is investigating even now (such as the 100 Year Starship).
5. Even at the slow pace of currently envisioned interstellar travel, the galaxy can be completely colonized in a few tens of millions of years.
According to this line of thinking, the Earth should already have been colonized, or at least visited.
But no convincing evidence of this exists. Furthermore, no confirmed signs of intelligence elsewhere have yet been spotted in our galaxy or elsewhere in the observable universe.
Where is everybody?
This keeps me up at night. The silence from the stars is overwhelming. Suffocating. The longer I think about it, the more horrifying it gets. Are we alone?
Given the number of stars and planets in the known universe, it is virtually a statistical impossibility that life in some form doesnt exist elsewhere. The odds of there being no life anywhere else are lower than the odds of winning the Texas state lottery four times in the same calendar year with the same numbers in the same order every time.
In other words, for all intents and purposes, there is life somewhere and probably lots of somewheres.
Posted on 9/15/14 at 10:44 pm to Gradual_Stroke
quote:
But shouldn't we be bombarded with their signals? Floating relics of their space-craft or space-trash? Something? Anything? We haven't even discovered micro-organisms from outside of Earth, let alone complex multicellular spacemen.
It's eerie.
It is possible that it is physically impossible to travel the distances required for contact in the lifespan of any sentient organism. There may be no way to do, no matter how technologically advanced a civilization becomes.
As far as we know, it is impossible to construct a square circle. It may just not be possible to travel the distances required.
Posted on 9/15/14 at 10:47 pm to K9
quote:
well i think you got to take out Earth because it said they were putting them in between earth and the moon...so i guess it is true..fricking nuts
It's also worth mentioning that depending on orbit, Earth and the moon are between 225,622 to 252,088 miles apart.
So even with Earth added, the average distance still fits all the planets.
Posted on 9/15/14 at 10:49 pm to Vols&Shaft83
quote:
Well that was 15 boobless minutes I'll never get back.
This video is about how boobs came to be. They're just a chemical chain reaction. You could probably cook some up of your own.
Posted on 9/15/14 at 10:52 pm to Roger Klarvin
I was right there with ya until...
Wut?
The folks excited about the possibilities need to find a map of the galaxy illustrating how far our radio signals have reached since first broadcast. I've seen it but am not bothering to look it up. It's hella depressing. Until Zefram Cochrane comes along it's all just a fun brain exercise.
quote:
As far as we know, it is impossible to construct a square circle.
Wut?
The folks excited about the possibilities need to find a map of the galaxy illustrating how far our radio signals have reached since first broadcast. I've seen it but am not bothering to look it up. It's hella depressing. Until Zefram Cochrane comes along it's all just a fun brain exercise.
Posted on 9/15/14 at 10:55 pm to Roger Klarvin
quote:
It is possible that it is physically impossible to travel the distances required for contact in the lifespan of any sentient organism. There may be no way to do, no matter how technologically advanced a civilization becomes.
That's a defeatist attitude. Sentience isn't necessarily limited to organic-based creatures. The next step in the evolution of sentience on earth is likely to be artificial intelligence. A.I. will not have the physical limitations of organic creatures that evolved here.
Posted on 9/15/14 at 10:59 pm to finestfirst79
quote:
The folks excited about the possibilities need to find a map of the galaxy illustrating how far our radio signals have reached since first broadcast. I've seen it but am not bothering to look it up. It's hella depressing. Until Zefram Cochrane comes along it's all just a fun brain exercise.
Radio signals from earth are about 100 light years out and have passed about 10,000 stars. The galaxy is about 100,000 light years wide and contains approximately 200-400,000,000,000 stars, depending on which source for this data you respect.
This post was edited on 9/15/14 at 11:00 pm
Posted on 9/15/14 at 11:02 pm to Kentucker
Umm...
ETA: Not arguing with you, but I think there are a lot of folks who don't understand how massive the problem is.
ETA: Not arguing with you, but I think there are a lot of folks who don't understand how massive the problem is.
This post was edited on 9/15/14 at 11:04 pm
Posted on 9/15/14 at 11:24 pm to Gradual_Stroke
quote:
1. The Sun is a typical star, and relatively young. There are billions of stars in the galaxy that are billions of years older.
Sol is not a typical star. Red Dwarf stars vastly out-number any other star type.
quote:
2. Almost surely, some of these stars will have Earth-like planets.
Earth-sized exoplanets are not the best candidates for life, in fact. "Super-earths," which are 2-3 times the mass of our world are much more plentiful and are more likely to have water and other necessary chemicals for life than do earth size exoplanets.
quote:
3. Assuming the Earth is typical, some of these planets may develop intelligent life.
Our only example casts doubt upon that proposal. Single-cell life originated on earth 3.8 billion years ago. However, it took 3 billion years for multicellular life to appear. Sentient lifeforms, us, appeared about 200,000 years ago. By our example, intelligent life is much more unlikely than simpler lifeforms.
quote:
4. Some of these civilizations may develop interstellar travel, a technology Earth is investigating even now (such as the 100 Year Starship).
In my opinion, we cannot traverse space in our present forms. We must either become cyborgs or create A.I. to travel away from our solar system.
quote:
5. Even at the slow pace of currently envisioned interstellar travel, the galaxy can be completely colonized in a few tens of millions of years.
Maybe, but I don't think colonize is the right word. It's just too big even for exploration without some new physics.
This post was edited on 9/15/14 at 11:24 pm
Posted on 9/15/14 at 11:34 pm to finestfirst79
quote:
ETA: Not arguing with you, but I think there are a lot of folks who don't understand how massive the problem is.
Agreed. Humans just aren't wired to fathom a distance of 100,000 light years, much less the 13.7 billion light years the most ancient light has travelled to our eyes.
That's why math exists. It is a language we can understand and, accordingly, fathom the seemingly impossible nature of the universe, or multiverse if you accept String Theory as I do.
Posted on 9/16/14 at 8:57 am to finestfirst79
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