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Tangential, but really looking forward to what Europa Clipper[0] finds in its flybys. The delay in communication makes ambitious manoeuvres challenging - perha

Tangential, but really looking forward to what Europa Clipper[0] finds in its flybys. The delay in communication makes ambitious manoeuvres challenging - perhaps advances in AI (and by extension robotics) helps build much more autonomous space rovers. This could enable us, for example, to evaluate the samples by sending wet microscopes with the rover itself. [0]: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/europa-clipper/ https://science.nasa.gov/mission/europa-clipper/

root-parent 3mo ago
Too much radiation for anything close to Jupiter. You will find life on Venus clouds and in Titan.... Everybody looking at the wrong targets. Mars is a dead, radiation cooked, burned, poisonous place. Forget about it, leave it to the trillionaires.
- ceejayoz 3mo ago
  > Too much radiation for anything close to Jupiter. Europa's water is an excellent radiation shield.
- isomorphic_duck 3mo ago
  I am not an astrophysicist, but I have read that the thick layer of ice is supposed to protect the miles-deep ocean against radiation, which might harbour life.
timmg 3mo ago
Tangential to your tangential: The era of AI makes me realize that if we ever get visited by aliens: it will probably not be actual aliens -- just an AI probe. And the idea of it really intrigues me. Imagine some LLM that is many generations ahead of Fable -- but from a different world -- visiting us. It would be amazing. And it would likely be better at figuring out how to communicate with us (than the human-equivalent might). We need some new sci fi movies like that!
- mbil 3mo ago
  You might like Blindsight by Peter Watts
  - GolfPopper 3mo ago
    There's a fan-made short film/trailer for Blindsight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkR2hnXR0SM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkR2hnXR0SM Also, "just an AI probe" and "It would be amazing" in the context of Blindsight... <insert mad laughter>.
- lelanthran 3mo ago
  > Imagine some LLM that is many generations ahead of Fable -- but from a different world -- visiting us. It would be amazing. Why? Why would you expect it to be any more benevolent or any less murderous than the actual aliens visiting? Presumably it would be trained on their values, not ours.
  - timmg 3mo ago
    I wouldn't expect it to be less murderous than the aliens themselves. That wasn't my point at all. I'd expect it to contain all their knowledge and be able to live "forever". But I generally wouldn't expect aliens to be "murderous" at all. Why send a group or probe lightyears away just to kill or enslave a primitive species? If they have the ability to do that, we wouldn't really have anything of interest for them.
    - clickety_clack 3mo ago
      At most points in time resources are scarce and not all life can be supported. At those times beings with a tendency to say “them” will give way to beings who most strongly assert “us”.
      - mapontosevenths 3mo ago
        The scarcity view of life is so deeply ingrained in some of us that its become an entire world view. Some folks cant even imagine a post scarcity society. Try though. Space is mind blowingly large and anything with the ability to traverse interstellar space alteady has access to unlimited resources and energy, likely closer than us. We live in a tiny backwater of the galaxy. We literally have nothing of value to such a civilization. Gold and diamonds a just more rocks to any serious space faring civilizations. Energy is also unlimited and free. Unless they find us delicious our only value would likely be an exchange of knowledge.

root-parent 3mo ago

Too much radiation for anything close to Jupiter. You will find life on Venus clouds and in Titan.... Everybody looking at the wrong targets. Mars is a dead, radiation cooked, burned, poisonous place. Forget about it, leave it to the trillionaires.

ceejayoz 3mo ago
> Too much radiation for anything close to Jupiter. Europa's water is an excellent radiation shield.
isomorphic_duck 3mo ago
I am not an astrophysicist, but I have read that the thick layer of ice is supposed to protect the miles-deep ocean against radiation, which might harbour life.

timmg 3mo ago

Tangential to your tangential: The era of AI makes me realize that if we ever get visited by aliens: it will probably not be actual aliens -- just an AI probe. And the idea of it really intrigues me. Imagine some LLM that is many generations ahead of Fable -- but from a different world -- visiting us. It would be amazing. And it would likely be better at figuring out how to communicate with us (than the human-equivalent might). We need some new sci fi movies like that!

mbil 3mo ago
You might like Blindsight by Peter Watts
- GolfPopper 3mo ago
  There's a fan-made short film/trailer for Blindsight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkR2hnXR0SM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkR2hnXR0SM Also, "just an AI probe" and "It would be amazing" in the context of Blindsight... <insert mad laughter>.
lelanthran 3mo ago
> Imagine some LLM that is many generations ahead of Fable -- but from a different world -- visiting us. It would be amazing. Why? Why would you expect it to be any more benevolent or any less murderous than the actual aliens visiting? Presumably it would be trained on their values, not ours.
- timmg 3mo ago
  I wouldn't expect it to be less murderous than the aliens themselves. That wasn't my point at all. I'd expect it to contain all their knowledge and be able to live "forever". But I generally wouldn't expect aliens to be "murderous" at all. Why send a group or probe lightyears away just to kill or enslave a primitive species? If they have the ability to do that, we wouldn't really have anything of interest for them.
  - clickety_clack 3mo ago
    At most points in time resources are scarce and not all life can be supported. At those times beings with a tendency to say “them” will give way to beings who most strongly assert “us”.
    - mapontosevenths 3mo ago
      The scarcity view of life is so deeply ingrained in some of us that its become an entire world view. Some folks cant even imagine a post scarcity society. Try though. Space is mind blowingly large and anything with the ability to traverse interstellar space alteady has access to unlimited resources and energy, likely closer than us. We live in a tiny backwater of the galaxy. We literally have nothing of value to such a civilization. Gold and diamonds a just more rocks to any serious space faring civilizations. Energy is also unlimited and free. Unless they find us delicious our only value would likely be an exchange of knowledge.