4 ms·

This doesn't leave you awestruck? http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0803/lh95_hst_big.jpg http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0803/lh95_hst_big.jpg I remember lookin

by dm2 13y ago

This doesn't leave you awestruck? http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0803/lh95_hst_big.jpg http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/0803/lh95_hst_big.jpg I remember looking at that picture a while ago and thinking that it sucks that we'll never get to visit any of those million/billion/unlimited planets. Maybe in 1000 years they will be able to jump between planets with ease, but I don't think anyone alive today will ever be able to set foot on anything except Earth, the Moon, and Mars.

sliverstorm 13y ago
I think the point is that, as a kid, no. Because children are still developing their abstract thinking skills, stars are just pretty lights. They might "know" that stars are other suns with other planets, but they have even more trouble truly grasping that than you or I- and even I struggle sometimes to "see" the planets and suns amongst the twinkly lights.
untog 13y ago
Honestly? No. It doesn't. It's very pretty, but it's very abstract. The fact that hidden in there somewhere is a planet very similar to the one I know and love isn't apparent. Yes, I am capable of imagining such things, but it's a pipe dream compared to actual photos of a real landing.
- dm2 13y ago
  I might be wrong, but I don't think those are individual planets. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but all of those represent solar systems, and that means that each one has the possibility to have at least one planet orbiting it with conditions similar to Earth. Yes, it's a pipe dream, but 150 years ago, so was a metal vehicle (of weight ranging from 50 pounds to hundreds of tons) that can go 100 MPH by filling it up with oil/coal/hydrogen/corn juice/electricity, or bombs that can go to the other side of the planet and detonate with a force destructive enough to melt large cities instantly. Instant learning requires pretty abstract thinking but it's being done today. We're just beginning to under the basics of quantum physics, who knows what possibilities that field will open up. Nanobots and terminator style machines are pretty close to being reality. Artificial intelligence (and whatever awesome abilities come with that) is almost a reality. Our current and incomplete understanding of physics (and quantum physics) only SUGGEST that we absolutely can't jump between stars with ease, so it might not be 100% a pipe-dream.

by dm2 13y ago

sliverstorm 13y ago

I think the point is that, as a kid, no. Because children are still developing their abstract thinking skills, stars are just pretty lights. They might "know" that stars are other suns with other planets, but they have even more trouble truly grasping that than you or I- and even I struggle sometimes to "see" the planets and suns amongst the twinkly lights.

untog 13y ago

Honestly? No. It doesn't. It's very pretty, but it's very abstract. The fact that hidden in there somewhere is a planet very similar to the one I know and love isn't apparent. Yes, I am capable of imagining such things, but it's a pipe dream compared to actual photos of a real landing.

dm2 13y ago
I might be wrong, but I don't think those are individual planets. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but all of those represent solar systems, and that means that each one has the possibility to have at least one planet orbiting it with conditions similar to Earth. Yes, it's a pipe dream, but 150 years ago, so was a metal vehicle (of weight ranging from 50 pounds to hundreds of tons) that can go 100 MPH by filling it up with oil/coal/hydrogen/corn juice/electricity, or bombs that can go to the other side of the planet and detonate with a force destructive enough to melt large cities instantly. Instant learning requires pretty abstract thinking but it's being done today. We're just beginning to under the basics of quantum physics, who knows what possibilities that field will open up. Nanobots and terminator style machines are pretty close to being reality. Artificial intelligence (and whatever awesome abilities come with that) is almost a reality. Our current and incomplete understanding of physics (and quantum physics) only SUGGEST that we absolutely can't jump between stars with ease, so it might not be 100% a pipe-dream.