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Interesting idea. To me, exoplanet surveys are one of the most exciting forms of science. I can think of no other thing that would bring us closer to understan

by nawgz 4y ago

Interesting idea. To me, exoplanet surveys are one of the most exciting forms of science. I can think of no other thing that would bring us closer to understanding whether or not life does exist in our universe beyond us. I've long held that it does, but it feels to me that belief is practically religious, completely unfounded. Combined with the fact that I think no other event will impact our world for the better more than knowing this universe has other life... I have my fingers crossed for the giant ground-based teles they listed at the end. Godspeed

throwaway743 4y ago
I'm gonna get downvoted to hell, but watch the doc, The Phenomenon. It's pretty damn convincing. As you said, yeah it's a leap of faith without (at least publicly available) empirical evidence, but who cares. It's fun thinking about the possibilities of others out there, interacting, and sharing with them. Even better if they share their tech so we can travel distances off and away from this crumbling rock. In any case, I believe we've already been contacted, at least since nuke testing, and that the US andnother govs have recovered craft that are handled by contractors. Watch the doc. It's not woo woo crap. I mean Harry Reid is in it and he implies a lot to say thr least. Here's a link, just use uBlock to get rid of the ads https://www1.kk01.net/movie/the-phenomenon-66483 https://www1.kk01.net/movie/the-phenomenon-66483
- sammalloy 4y ago
  I’m familiar with the so-called evidence you’re discussing. The thing is, there’s no reputable, authoritative source that will go on record right now saying we are positively being visited by aliens. Nobody seems to know exactly what the phenomenon is, if it really does exist. More to the point, the notion of aliens themselves could very well be a culture-bound idea, just like angels and demons and fairies and spirits. We just don’t know. It could very well turn out to be propaganda and disinformation that hides something else entirely.
denton-scratch 4y ago
> one of the most exciting forms of science. Not to me, I'm afraid. Suppose we detect CO2, methane and ammonia in the atmosphere of some exoplanet tens of lightyears away. Hell, suppose we detect definite evidence of life. What difference is that going to make to anything? We couldn't launch a probe that could get there in a lifetime, going at half the speed of light. We certainly couldn't get the probe back again. You'd need a generation ship to get people there. I'm quite sure there's life out there. I'm also fairly sure that very little of the life out there is organised for (or interested in) interstellar travel; and for most destinations, that life would have evolved by the time of arrival, and the space-traveller would be something that can only live in space. A civilisation that can build a rocket has existed on Earth for only a few decades, and might only last a few decades longer. We could certainly send a probe to Proxima Centauri. Our great-grandchildren could record the results, if they'd spent two lifetimes keeping the probe in contact and under control (fairly boring astronomy career: maintain contact with a spaceship that was launched before you were born, and won't arrive before your grandchildren have died).
- floxy 4y ago
  I'd still like to look at them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQFqDKRAROI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQFqDKRAROI https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.08421 https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.08421

by nawgz 4y ago

throwaway743 4y ago

I'm gonna get downvoted to hell, but watch the doc, The Phenomenon. It's pretty damn convincing. As you said, yeah it's a leap of faith without (at least publicly available) empirical evidence, but who cares. It's fun thinking about the possibilities of others out there, interacting, and sharing with them. Even better if they share their tech so we can travel distances off and away from this crumbling rock. In any case, I believe we've already been contacted, at least since nuke testing, and that the US andnother govs have recovered craft that are handled by contractors. Watch the doc. It's not woo woo crap. I mean Harry Reid is in it and he implies a lot to say thr least. Here's a link, just use uBlock to get rid of the ads https://www1.kk01.net/movie/the-phenomenon-66483 https://www1.kk01.net/movie/the-phenomenon-66483

sammalloy 4y ago
I’m familiar with the so-called evidence you’re discussing. The thing is, there’s no reputable, authoritative source that will go on record right now saying we are positively being visited by aliens. Nobody seems to know exactly what the phenomenon is, if it really does exist. More to the point, the notion of aliens themselves could very well be a culture-bound idea, just like angels and demons and fairies and spirits. We just don’t know. It could very well turn out to be propaganda and disinformation that hides something else entirely.

denton-scratch 4y ago

> one of the most exciting forms of science. Not to me, I'm afraid. Suppose we detect CO2, methane and ammonia in the atmosphere of some exoplanet tens of lightyears away. Hell, suppose we detect definite evidence of life. What difference is that going to make to anything? We couldn't launch a probe that could get there in a lifetime, going at half the speed of light. We certainly couldn't get the probe back again. You'd need a generation ship to get people there. I'm quite sure there's life out there. I'm also fairly sure that very little of the life out there is organised for (or interested in) interstellar travel; and for most destinations, that life would have evolved by the time of arrival, and the space-traveller would be something that can only live in space. A civilisation that can build a rocket has existed on Earth for only a few decades, and might only last a few decades longer. We could certainly send a probe to Proxima Centauri. Our great-grandchildren could record the results, if they'd spent two lifetimes keeping the probe in contact and under control (fairly boring astronomy career: maintain contact with a spaceship that was launched before you were born, and won't arrive before your grandchildren have died).

floxy 4y ago
I'd still like to look at them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQFqDKRAROI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQFqDKRAROI https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.08421 https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.08421