5 ms·
The center of the galaxy is 32,000 light years away. 32,000 years will have passed at the center of the galaxy by the time you get there in your 3.2 second jou
by snarfy 10y ago
The center of the galaxy is 32,000 light years away. 32,000 years will have passed at the center of the galaxy by the time you get there in your 3.2 second journey. If you then turn around and go back, another 32,000 years will have passed before you get home.
It might feel more like time travel than space travel.
- andy_ppp 10y agoThat's why it's called space-time right...
- 3pt14159 10y agoThis is one of my theories about why there isn't any alien life around. There is some party far in the future with a beacon or message that shouts "JOIN US HERE IN THE MIDDLE OF GALAXY R345Q2 10 BILLION YEARS IN THE FUTURE!" After about 10 thousand years of hearing the beacon and being alone we finally get restless and just build a couple thousand giant spaceships and join the rest of the universe in the most cosmopolitan place ever.
- vslira 10y agoIt's not a party, it's a restaurant :)
- sevenless 10y ago> This is one of my theories about why there isn't any alien life around. Do we need a theory on this yet? I mean... out of all the planets we've explored reasonably thoroughly so far, 100% have had life at some point.
- sreya 10y agoI've not heard that Mars had life at some point in its history. In fact I've not heard mention of any planets hosting life in their past, do you have some sources that you can point me to?
- scrumper 10y agoIt's about the definition of 'reasonably thoroughly'. We haven't explored much of Mars, having covered only single digit square kilometers up close (and most of that geologically).
- 3pt14159 10y agoUh, yeah? Von Neumann machines should be everywhere by now; yet there is no evidence of them.
- kamaal 10y agoLife yes. Intelligent life, no. Intelligence might not even bet he end goal of evolution even life is very common, intelligence might not be.
- zxexz 10y agoHuh, this is a really fun thought experiment. Does anyone know any scifi books that explores this (or a similar) concept?
- akshayn 10y agoAs vslira alluded: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Restaurant_at_the_End_of_the_Universe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Restaurant_at_the_End_of_t...
- zxexz 10y agoOh, I've read that five part 'trilogy' several times :) I guess I should have said... Douglas Adams' books have been a major fixture of my life since I was 12. He really was ahead of his time. Actually I don't think said time he was metaphorically ahead of has come yet :)
- nwah1 10y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Restaurant_at_the_End_of_the_Universe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Restaurant_at_the_End_of_t...
- bla2 10y ago"A Fire Upon the Deep" explores a related concept.
- dcherman 10y agoWhat I've always found interesting (not sure if there's a name for this) is kind of the idea that if you made such a trip, you might find by the time you arrive there in 3.2 seconds, the rest of humanity has figured out true FTL travel with the technology that was developed during those 32,000 years. As a result, you arrive in what might be the equivalent of a horse and buggy at the center of the galaxy versus what everyone else is riding around in.
- dogma1138 10y agoThere was an Episode in Andromeda that dealt with that same thing. There was also an point in that episode since the FTL method they used was tethered to massive objects and hence only allowed for travel from on star system to another (or from one galaxy to another) the old fashioned non FTL method allowed them to explore many more things than with FTL travel the downside that 10,000's years would pass for everyone else every time they take a trip.
- grymoire1 10y agoLots of science fiction stories have this concept, but usually they talk about Slower-than-light, multi-generational space ships that takes centuries to reach the next star, only to find that during the last 100+ years, the destination planet has already been settled by humanity.
- kamaal 10y agoThe wealthiest leave early thinking they might be getting the best and the first. Poorer people leaving later get better and faster transit. The only advantage of leaving early is the guarantee of getting a transit, instead of waiting for a better one to arrive later and find you got nothing at all.