View Full Version : Aliens
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7658797.stm
I've always been fascinated by the notion of extra terrestrial life, and considering our nearest star is over 4 light years away, I personally think it is silly to think we are alone in the universe.
If you consider there are approximately 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy and each of these stars may have a small solar system with say 8 planets and there are approx 140 billion galaxies in visible space which is approx 14 billion light years in each direction and then some unknown massive distance beyond that we we cannot see, and the fact that all the distant galaxies are moving away from us. The chances are actually so astronomically small that we are alone as to be pointless to consider them.
The biggest problem is that we cannot travel at the speed of light and that means without some kind of Star Trek shizzle we will never travel out of our own solar system. Shame. :(
According to Einstein we can never travel at the speed of light nor over take it. Which is again, a shame. My understanding of the science is VERY ropey, but I think the only way to do it (theoretically of course) would be to literally disappear from one point in the universe and instantaneously appear at another point. It is encouraging that this is how it works in Battlestar Galactica :D Clearly the writers of Stargate got it all wrong :p
Anyway, thats my lunch time musing triggered by that article.
Metalface Mark
08-10-2008, 14:18
This thread has a lack of aliens in it.
I shall rectify this.
http://lifestylescribe.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/aliens.jpg
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7658797.stm
I've always been fascinated by the notion of extra terrestrial life, and considering our nearest star is over 4 light years away, I personally think it is silly to think we are alone in the universe.
If you consider there are approximately 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy and each of these stars may have a small solar system with say 8 planets and there are approx 140 billion galaxies in visible space which is approx 14 billion light years in each direction and then some unknown massive distance beyond that we we cannot see, and the fact that all the distant galaxies are moving away from us. The chances are actually so astronomically small that we are alone as to be pointless to consider them.
The biggest problem is that we cannot travel at the speed of light and that means without some kind of Star Trek shizzle we will never travel out of our own solar system. Shame. :(
According to Einstein we can never travel at the speed of light nor over take it. Which is again, a shame. My understanding of the science is VERY ropey, but I think the only way to do it (theoretically of course) would be to literally disappear from one point in the universe and instantaneously appear at another point. It is encouraging that this is how it works in Battlestar Galactica :D Clearly the writers of Stargate got it all wrong :p
Anyway, thats my lunch time musing triggered by that article.
I live in eternal hope that some of the science we put faith in does end up to be disproved. If we take the notion that we may have been visited but we can't make the visit doesn't that say our science is limited or flawed
I used to believe that life of some sort could be abundant through the Universe but after watching the excellent documentary series EARTH I now realise what a massive accident it was and how millions of things in the right order needed it to happen.
Von Smallhausen
08-10-2008, 19:38
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7658797.stm
I've always been fascinated by the notion of extra terrestrial life, and considering our nearest star is over 4 light years away, I personally think it is silly to think we are alone in the universe.
If you consider there are approximately 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy and each of these stars may have a small solar system with say 8 planets and there are approx 140 billion galaxies in visible space which is approx 14 billion light years in each direction and then some unknown massive distance beyond that we we cannot see, and the fact that all the distant galaxies are moving away from us. The chances are actually so astronomically small that we are alone as to be pointless to consider them.
The biggest problem is that we cannot travel at the speed of light and that means without some kind of Star Trek shizzle we will never travel out of our own solar system. Shame. :(
According to Einstein we can never travel at the speed of light nor over take it. Which is again, a shame. My understanding of the science is VERY ropey, but I think the only way to do it (theoretically of course) would be to literally disappear from one point in the universe and instantaneously appear at another point. It is encouraging that this is how it works in Battlestar Galactica :D Clearly the writers of Stargate got it all wrong :p
Anyway, thats my lunch time musing triggered by that article.
Then you make the mountain come to muhammad, at least that's how I see it and how I see it progressing in the far future.
Einstein proved that you cannot go faster than light and if it were possible then time would be massively distorted.
Gravity distorts time as it does with black holes. Will it be possible to harness gravity and distort space time enabling you to travel faster than light without breaking the light barrier ?
I see the universe as being too vast to assume that we are alone and if we are visited as people suggest we have been the the technology needed far exceeds our own.
I used to believe that life of some sort could be abundant through the Universe but after watching the excellent documentary series EARTH I now realise what a massive accident it was and how millions of things in the right order needed it to happen.
I agree it was a brilliant series, but it is based on our perception of "life". If you accept that the very bedrock of our understanding of the Universe it still not complete, then anything becomes possible. What if there were substances that are not solid, liquid or gaseous by nature? Or solar systems where meteorological conditions result in a plethora of new elements that we've never encountered before? What if an atom doesn't necessarily only contain protons, neutrons and electrons in another galaxy? Certain subatomic particles such as quarks and electrons come into and go out of existence without any cause - science has witnessed and documented this, but it's too far-fectehd to think it is only possible that it has happened hrere in our microscopically tiny corner of the Milky Way..
It would be nice to think that we aren't the only "living" creatures in the whole of space, but at the moment I'm not 100% convinced.
Miss_Lainey
09-10-2008, 19:31
It is encouraging that this is how it works in Battlestar Galactica :D Clearly the writers of Stargate got it all wrong :p
Anyway, thats my lunch time musing triggered by that article.
I shall comment when i have decided whether my allegiance is with Apollo or Mitchell
Don't ruin the story, I'm only on Season 2!
Miss_Lainey
09-10-2008, 20:16
Of what?
Um.. Battlestar Galactica?
Miss_Lainey
09-10-2008, 20:23
Ah, Mitchell is a Stargate reference!
I'm not spoiling :)
Ahhhh sorry with you now. Girl + internet + sci-fi? Your are a LIAR! Such a thing does not exist.
Cam Mitchell is nothing compared to Jack.
This indicates that maybe Einstein isn't always right.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7661311.stm
I'd be suprised if we don't one way gain the ability to travel to other stars be it via some 'warp' system or 'hyperspace' as employed by things like Stargate, B5 (I think?), and even Star Wars. Just maybe not in my lifetime :(
A Place of Light
09-10-2008, 23:47
Folding is where it's at.....allegedly.
Why would they come here though? If you were an alien, would you bother?
Perhaps it's worth mentioning that theory of mine which I like to tell anyone who will listen...
In galactic terms the earth is actually quite an interesting place for one reason - the fact that we have a quite spectacular event which occurs frequently. I'm talking of course about a total solar eclipse and as Wiki says:
"Spectacular solar eclipses are an extreme rarity within the universe at large. They are seen on Earth because of a fortuitous combination of circumstances that are statistically very improbable. Even on Earth, spectacular eclipses of the type familiar to people today are a temporary (on a geological time scale) phenomenon. Many millions of years in the past, the Moon was too close to the Earth to precisely occult the Sun as it does during eclipses today; and many millions of years in the future, it will be too far away to do so."
It makes sense then, that if someone on the other side of the galaxy were to say there's no reason to visit Earth, another person might say, hang on, isn't Earth that planet with a reasonable atmosphere that has a regular, predictable occurrence of what they call a total solar eclipse?
If that were true, that the Earth was regarded by aliens from across our galaxy, or even other galaxies, as of paticular significance, I guess it would make sense that sightings of alien spacecraft would increase in number around the time of a solar eclipse.
And guess what?
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/479318/ufo_appears_during_a_solar_eclipse_in_mexico/
:cool: :D
Ahhhh sorry with you now. Girl + internet + sci-fi? Your are a LIAR! Such a thing does not exist.
Cam Mitchell is nothing compared to Jack.
My girlfriend's favourite movie is Dune, she doesn't post on forums though.
I'd always thought that there had to be at least some form of life out there but it tends to be the case that people think any species we encounter would be more advanced than us. What if our planet was the first to see life? Imagine in 1000 years time we fold space to greet some weird primitive cavefreaks?
Miss_Lainey
11-10-2008, 07:50
Ahhhh sorry with you now. Girl + internet + sci-fi? Your are a LIAR! Such a thing does not exist.
Cam Mitchell is nothing compared to Jack.
Maybe I'm an Alien!
Jack does beat Cam hands down, however, I am a girl and I have a bit of a weak spot for Ben Browder :)
A Place of Light
11-10-2008, 18:39
@ phykell.
"They" would choose to come here because, unlike well over 99.9% of the other heavenly bodies, we've been broadcasting proof that intelligent life exists here.
Folding is where it's at.....allegedly.
SETI surely?
Ha-ha a DC joke!!
Maybe I'm an Alien!
Jack does beat Cam hands down.
I agree. MacGyver > Mr Astronaut that finds a talking ship.
Btw,
http://files.txsi.co.uk/dsc080452_thumb.jpg (http://files.txsi.co.uk/dsc080452.jpg)
A Place of Light
12-10-2008, 13:50
SETI surely?
Ha-ha a DC joke!!
Oh dear, lol.
:D
LeperousDust
12-10-2008, 14:26
Folding is where it's at.....allegedly.
It's all about using the right dimensions to get where you want to go. Folding one dimensions on itself or using the dimension above (5th/6th) means you can instantly move from one point to another in a completely non linear fashion as viewed from the dimension below.
See the 10th dimension (http://www.tenthdimension.com/flash2.php)
It's all about using the right dimensions to get where you want to go. Folding one dimensions on itself or using the dimension above (5th/6th) means you can instantly move from one point to another in a completely non linear fashion as viewed from the dimension below.
See the 10th dimension (http://www.tenthdimension.com/flash2.php)
You make it sound easy.
Sadly the problem is that the curvature of space time (expressed as a tensor) is proportional to the energy density at that point. To 'bend' any dimension to the extent that significant distances become travellable requires an energy density greater than anything known to man.
You make it sound easy.
Sadly the problem is that the curvature of space time (expressed as a tensor) is proportional to the energy density at that point. To 'bend' any dimension to the extent that significant distances become travellable requires an energy density greater than anything known to man.
According to current scientific belief ;)
According to current scientific belief ;)
Sadly the curvature of spacetime in the presence of mass/energy is experimentally proven, so even if GR turns out to be a crock, any replacement *has* to have the same results in that area.
"They" would choose to come here because, unlike well over 99.9% of the other heavenly bodies, we've been broadcasting proof that intelligent life exists here.
Thats assuming that in the bigger picture we would be descibed as 'inteliigent life'. I would hope not tbh.
Calvin of Calvin And Hobbes had it on the money I reckon - 'I think the surest sign that there is intelligent life out there in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.'
:)
@ phykell.
"They" would choose to come here because, unlike well over 99.9% of the other heavenly bodies, we've been broadcasting proof that intelligent life exists here.
That's a bit of a stretch! You've got absolutely no proof that the 99.9% you discount have *never* broadcasted anything. The distances are so vast that perhaps the signals simply haven't reached us yet. Certainly, the relatively tiny amount of time we've been able to broadcast signals, and the vast distances involved, means that our signals will only have reached a tiny fraction of the visible stars. Consequently, the chances our signals have reached a planet populated by an intelligent species capable of intercepting and interpreting them is at best slim.
A Place of Light
13-10-2008, 23:47
That's a bit of a stretch! You've got absolutely no proof that the 99.9% you discount have *never* broadcasted anything. The distances are so vast that perhaps the signals simply haven't reached us yet. Certainly, the relatively tiny amount of time we've been able to broadcast signals, and the vast distances involved, means that our signals will only have reached a tiny fraction of the visible stars. Consequently, the chances our signals have reached a planet populated by an intelligent species capable of intercepting and interpreting them is at best slim.
But, if there were able to come here in the first place then it would mean that our signals wouldn't need to have reached their planet, would it?
Any beings capable of coming here would, as they certainly wouldn't be anything resembling local neighbours, have to be considerably more advanced than we are. It follows that once that level of advancement has been acheived then it's likely they would've begun to explore "out there", and as I said earlier "they" would be from somewhere that's a loooong way from here. Our broadcasts could and would be intercepted en route.
But, if there were able to come here in the first place then it would mean that our signals wouldn't need to have reached their planet, would it?
Any beings capable of coming here would, as they certainly wouldn't be anything resembling local neighbours, have to be considerably more advanced than we are. It follows that once that level of advancement has been acheived then it's likely they would've begun to explore "out there", and as I said earlier "they" would be from somewhere that's a loooong way from here. Our broadcasts could and would be intercepted en route.
But without our signals reaching them, how would they know we were here? Also, who's to say that the speed of light would be a barrier to more advanced beings?
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