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Message
Is it impossible to travel to another solar system?
Posted on 4/8/14 at 9:27 am
Posted on 4/8/14 at 9:27 am
This is why I believe we will never encounter aliens:
The universe is ever expanding and distances are getting longer and not shorter.
Life lasts a finite amount of time and if we are unable to leave this planet and format another in our solar system we will be gone soon. I believe we are lucky to have lasted as long as we have without a huge hunk of rock or other space anamoly destroying us. The odds of sustained life lasting on any planet for an extended period of time are miniscule.
As far as we know light is the fastest thng in the universe, I am not taking into consideration unproven theories like parallel dimensions, and even if we were able to travel at light speed we would not be able to reach another inhabitable planet in anything close to a human lifetime.
With all of that being said I do believe there is likely life on other planets but I believe they are likely limited by the same restraints as we are so it is unlikely they will ever be able to travel here. I do accept that there may well be faster forms of travel that we do not yet understand but even if they do what are the odds of us mastering that travel before we go extinct? Space is a dangerous place and life is fleeting anywhere that it exists. I just don't think any life has the time to discover how to travel to other inhabitable planets even if it exists.
Remember that just because we would all like to be able to travel to another solar system does not mean that it is possible. The universe is not here to accomodate our wishes and just because we exist does not mean that we are capable of seeing everything existence has to offer.
Do you agree or disagree with my thoughts? I enjoy discussions like this and look forward to your responses.
The universe is ever expanding and distances are getting longer and not shorter.
Life lasts a finite amount of time and if we are unable to leave this planet and format another in our solar system we will be gone soon. I believe we are lucky to have lasted as long as we have without a huge hunk of rock or other space anamoly destroying us. The odds of sustained life lasting on any planet for an extended period of time are miniscule.
As far as we know light is the fastest thng in the universe, I am not taking into consideration unproven theories like parallel dimensions, and even if we were able to travel at light speed we would not be able to reach another inhabitable planet in anything close to a human lifetime.
With all of that being said I do believe there is likely life on other planets but I believe they are likely limited by the same restraints as we are so it is unlikely they will ever be able to travel here. I do accept that there may well be faster forms of travel that we do not yet understand but even if they do what are the odds of us mastering that travel before we go extinct? Space is a dangerous place and life is fleeting anywhere that it exists. I just don't think any life has the time to discover how to travel to other inhabitable planets even if it exists.
Remember that just because we would all like to be able to travel to another solar system does not mean that it is possible. The universe is not here to accomodate our wishes and just because we exist does not mean that we are capable of seeing everything existence has to offer.
Do you agree or disagree with my thoughts? I enjoy discussions like this and look forward to your responses.
Posted on 4/8/14 at 9:29 am to DanTiger
nothing is impossible
Some of the smartest people who are alive and have worked with the government claim that we have the technology to travel these distances, but it's not being used for the right purposes.
Some of the smartest people who are alive and have worked with the government claim that we have the technology to travel these distances, but it's not being used for the right purposes.
Posted on 4/8/14 at 9:31 am to DanTiger
Warp Speed is faster than light.
The idea is, that we would develop a way to bend empty space to travel through it quicker.
Odds of life lasting are miniscule. But when you have a quarillion solar systems, it's more than possible that there are millions if not billions of inhabited planets.
The idea is, that we would develop a way to bend empty space to travel through it quicker.
Odds of life lasting are miniscule. But when you have a quarillion solar systems, it's more than possible that there are millions if not billions of inhabited planets.
Posted on 4/8/14 at 9:31 am to Austin Cajun
quote:
Some of the smartest people who are alive and have worked with the government claim that we have the technology to travel these distances, but it's not being used for the right purposes.
Link?
Posted on 4/8/14 at 9:31 am to DanTiger
quote:
The universe is ever expanding
yes
quote:
distances are getting longer and not shorter.
Not between all objects within the universe.
Posted on 4/8/14 at 9:31 am to Austin Cajun
quote:The Vulcans said we aren't ready yet.
Some of the smartest people who are alive and have worked with the government claim that we have the technology to travel these distances, but it's not being used for the right purposes.
Posted on 4/8/14 at 9:32 am to DanTiger
What do you think about that idea that time nearly stops when traveling at the speed of light?
This post was edited on 4/8/14 at 9:33 am
Posted on 4/8/14 at 9:33 am to Napoleon
Posted on 4/8/14 at 9:35 am to DanTiger
I think it is possible to travel that far, but would never come back.
I think that if man ever sets foot on Mars, they will never return to Earth.
I think that if man ever sets foot on Mars, they will never return to Earth.
Posted on 4/8/14 at 9:35 am to DanTiger
quote:
As far as we know light is the fastest thng in the universe
Not necessarily.
Photons themselves may emit faster than light particles. We're only beginning to understand the particle level below immediate sub-atomic. Although our exploration may be limited due to our own 'size' it appears that everything is made of something smaller. A more fundamental understanding of what goes on down there may make many of these challenges seem minor - over time.
In any event, many of the right questions are known and scientific pursuits in those directions are being followed. It is only a question of time and engineering, although we may be 100s of years away from overcoming the obstacles to interstellar travel, I think the species survives to reach that point.
If we don't kill ourselves, first.
Posted on 4/8/14 at 9:35 am to DanTiger
I hope it happens...Space travel is probably one of the greatest feats man has achieved during our existence
Posted on 4/8/14 at 9:37 am to Displaced
quote:
What do you think about that idea that time nearly stops when traveling at the speed of light?
It is basically fact according to the Lorentz time dilation equation. Obviously in order to travel at light speed one must become light. I just don't see us getting there before we go extinct.
Posted on 4/8/14 at 9:37 am to DanTiger
The universe is expanding between galaxies, not within them.
As soon as we are able to colonize other planets our chances of long term survival go way up.
Space is becoming less dangerous over time. So if not us, someone/something will.
As soon as we are able to colonize other planets our chances of long term survival go way up.
Space is becoming less dangerous over time. So if not us, someone/something will.
Posted on 4/8/14 at 9:37 am to Ace Midnight
quote:so say we all
I think the species survives to reach that point.
If we don't kill ourselves, first.
Posted on 4/8/14 at 9:39 am to DanTiger
quote:
Life lasts a finite amount of time and if we are unable to leave this planet and format another in our solar system we will be gone soon
do you have any basis for this? if humans can escape this solar system we will have very good chances to continue existing as a race for the foreseeable future. hell, if we can just escape earth we can double our chances.
quote:
and even if we were able to travel at light speed we would not be able to reach another inhabitable planet in anything close to a human lifetime.
that is not actually true when you consider time dilation from travelling at speeds approaching light speed.
quote:
Space is a dangerous place and life is fleeting anywhere that it exists. I just don't think any life has the time to discover how to travel to other inhabitable planets even if it exists.
anything to back this up at all besides a feeling?
another note: travelling faster than light speed appears to violate causality, so personally i've filed that one away under: forget about it.
Posted on 4/8/14 at 9:39 am to DanTiger
According to special relativity, time stops at the speed of light. It may take millions of years to travel somewhere at the speed of light but it would be of no consequence to you other than you wouldn't be able to return to Earth for millions of Earth years.
Even with that, that assumes a brute force propulsion as the only form of space travel. With the alien activity that has been present on this planet for thousands of years, there is obviously a solution to this problem and it is probably a more elegant design than just pushing an object to the speed of light.
Even with that, that assumes a brute force propulsion as the only form of space travel. With the alien activity that has been present on this planet for thousands of years, there is obviously a solution to this problem and it is probably a more elegant design than just pushing an object to the speed of light.
This post was edited on 4/8/14 at 9:40 am
Posted on 4/8/14 at 9:41 am to tom
quote:
As soon as we are able to colonize other planets our chances of long term survival go way up.
I am a believer in panspermia so I believe we were already colonized but not intentionally.
Posted on 4/8/14 at 9:43 am to notsince98
quote:
With the alien activity that has been present on this planet for thousands of years,
Posted on 4/8/14 at 9:44 am to DanTiger
quote:
Do you agree or disagree with my thoughts?
completely disagree.
I'll go point by point.
quote:
The universe is ever expanding and distances are getting longer and not shorter.
Yes, the universe is expanding, but our galaxy is not expanding and some other galaxies are actually moving towards us.
quote:
Life lasts a finite amount of time and if we are unable to leave this planet and format another in our solar system we will be gone soon. I believe we are lucky to have lasted as long as we have without a huge hunk of rock or other space anamoly destroying us. The odds of sustained life lasting on any planet for an extended period of time are miniscule.
Again true, but look at the time frames for the last extinction. The Cretaceous Period lasted from 145 million years ago to 66 million years ago. So if this period is around the same length, we have 14 million years to go. Since something like 99% of all human knowledge was discovered in the last 200 years, imagine what we will be able to do in another 1000 years, 10,000 years, 100,000 years, etc.
quote:
As far as we know light is the fastest thng in the universe, I am not taking into consideration unproven theories like parallel dimensions, and even if we were able to travel at light speed we would not be able to reach another inhabitable planet in anything close to a human lifetime.
FTL is going to be a reality. Maybe not for another millennia, but we will get there. Read up on an Alcubierre drive.
quote:
With all of that being said I do believe there is likely life on other planets but I believe they are likely limited by the same restraints as we are so it is unlikely they will ever be able to travel here. I do accept that there may well be faster forms of travel that we do not yet understand but even if they do what are the odds of us mastering that travel before we go extinct? Space is a dangerous place and life is fleeting anywhere that it exists. I just don't think any life has the time to discover how to travel to other inhabitable planets even if it exists.
Refer back to the previous two.
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