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I want him to be right about these potential alien artifacts. I'm glad we are least investigating them. I understand that it's vastly more likely that these thi
by rnk 4y ago
I want him to be right about these potential alien artifacts. I'm glad we are least investigating them. I understand that it's vastly more likely that these things he's been arguing about recently are just uninteresting objects. But let's at least check them out.
- eloff 4y agoI agree it's very unlikely that it's something of artificial origin, but if it's just a rock it's far from uninteresting. It would be the first material recovered from outside our own solar system. It could be surprising in all kinds of ways.
- XorNot 4y agoPositive confirmation that physics and chemistry works similar elsewhere to how it does in our solar system is a big deal. We suspect it does, but having material in hand from somewhere else is a huge additional data point.
- pryelluw 4y agoThat’s something I hadn’t considered. Quite valuable understanding!
- cronix 4y agoYes, it would be very interesting if there was a material in it that hasn't been discovered yet. I imagine there are conditions out there, way out there, that bring forth conditions that aren't available here that could create new things not seen here.
- rnk 4y agoThis is a fascinating area. Of we do have "materials" here that came from outside of our solar system because we all contain atoms with higher atomic numbers than helium, like carbon, oxygen etc, that have been through multiple solar "cycles" that gradually make higher atomic number atoms as stars go through the ages. So you and I are both made of matter that came that way, from outside the solar system. Of course it's different if we have rocks or some such that we could tell came directly out of the solar system, and not assembled directly here.
- cronix 4y agoWell no gold was formed on earth. It all comes from stars. I'm more meaning things that would be uncommon in the universe, like perhaps being very close to a pulsar for millions of years.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- throwoutway 4y agoWhy would physics be different in a neighboring system? Are there theories here? And if it enters our system, wouldn’t it be bound to our physics? How could you even know it was different before?
- bilsbie 4y agoIt seems to me that we know so little about the universe that we can’t say if it’s likely or unlikely.
- joe_the_user 4y agoNot that I think an alien artifact is likely either but an interesting question is whether we could recognize such an artifact if we found - especially if we found nothing but basically twisted wreckage.
- pmontra 4y agoLet's suppose we shoot a piece of steel in space and after one billion year it splashes into an alien ocean. Natives take it ashore. Would they be able to understand that after all the exposure to radiation and possible collisions it's not only a lump of iron, carbon and a few other elements but something made by people somewhere else? Would it look like a normal meteor or its composition and structure is different?
- guerrilla 4y agoNot an expert but I'm pretty sure it'd be easily identifiable as artificial because of the uniform composition and regular grain structure in steel. I think it would not only be clear that it was refined because of purity but also that it was far more regular than something natural. [1] 1. https://youtu.be/uG35D_euM-0 https://youtu.be/uG35D_euM-0
- bnegreve 4y agoSome crystals are very regular. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal#/media/File:Ho-Mg-ZnQuasicrystal.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal#/media/File:Ho-Mg-ZnQu...
- vardump 4y agoThere might be a different isotope signature, that might give its origin away.
- Sporktacular 4y agoIf it appeared worthy of analysis.