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re: It's just stupid how big space is and how small Earth is

Posted on 9/15/14 at 11:24 pm to
Posted by Kentucker
Cincinnati, KY
Member since Apr 2013
19351 posts
Posted on 9/15/14 at 11:24 pm to
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.

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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.

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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
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