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> The planet’s rings, in other words, are new phenomena, arising (and potentially even disappearing) in what amounts to a blink of an eye in cosmic terms. If t
by djmips 3y ago
> The planet’s rings, in other words, are new phenomena, arising (and potentially even disappearing) in what amounts to a blink of an eye in cosmic terms.
If the universe is ~14 billion years, 400 million is only 1/35th. A person blinks thousands of times a day and maybe 400 million times in their lifetime. I don't really know but is 400 million years really a blink of an eye in cosmic terms?
- dexwiz 3y agoShould read “in what amounts to a quick commute in cosmic terms”.
- ant6n 3y agoMore like a year in the life of the cosmos.
- Sharlin 3y ago400 My is almost 10% of the age of the Solar System. Definitely not a blink of an eye.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- jmac01 3y agoA human blink takes about 0.1s. And spends roughly 75 years alive. Blink/s/min/hr/day/years= 0.1/60/60/24/365/75 = ~4*e-11 ratio of blinks to years alive Age of universe is 14Byears 14,000,000,000 * 4*e-11 = 0.59 years. A cosmic blink is about 7months
- heavenlyblue 3y agoThanks that's actually an amazing perspective. Universe, after all - isn't that old if you think about it.
- mongol 3y agoEspecially not in relation to how old it is expected to become
- slashdev 3y agoThat’s one possibility for the Fermi paradox. We might just be the first technological civilization in our neighborhood. A trillion years from now this place might be packed with them (red dwarf stars, the most common type of star live about two trillion years, unlike our hotter, larger star.)
- Maursault 3y ago> Age of universe is 14Byears It's age now. What will its age be when it is the relative equivalent of a 75yo human? A cosmic blink will be far longer than 7 months.
- disconcision 3y agoi don't think there really is such a relative equivalency. the universe according to best current understanding doesn't have anything which resembles human death to demarcate a lifetime. you could say 'heat death' but i dont think thats a strong comparison because, very much unlike human death, its a state which is approached asymptotically; the universe at heat death will look very much like the universe half way to, or even a millionth of the way to
- JoeyJoJoJr 3y agoThe total lifetime of the universe will be hundreds of trillions of years, which is perhaps a better scale to compare against.
- timeagain 3y agoFor reference, the Appalachian mountains are older than this.
- logdap 3y ago[dead]
- mock-possum 3y agoSharks are older. That’s the one I always like to pull out - if prehistoric sharks had telescopes with which to search the night sky, they would have seen Saturn without its rings.