5 ms·

This is what's so crazy about technology. Whatever we can imagine, we can make happen, no matter how crazy it sounds. Our descendants 1,000 years from now wil

This is what's so crazy about technology. Whatever we can imagine, we can make happen, no matter how crazy it sounds. Our descendants 1,000 years from now will probably be able to observe everything we are doing today. If you asked me how yesterday, I wouldn't have a clue. But today, this article shows me one way to do it. Imagine the other possibilities yet to be discovered.

deleted 12y ago
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jcoffland 12y ago
This is a common view point which kind of irritates me. It leads to a lot of false assumptions and gullibility with regards to pop science. What about time travel, teleportation or travel to the nearest star system? All things well with in reach of our imagination and far from our ability.
- k__ 12y ago
  I don't think it is impossible per se, but we put our time and resources in other things, so it won't happen.
  - jcoffland 12y ago
    We will see none of these things in our lifetime nor is it likely to happen in the next 1000 years. I challenge you to read up on what it would take to reach Proxima Centauri. Small amounts of time travel happen all the time. Significant forward time travel is physically possible, as is interstellar travel, but unobtainable by humans. Pop science has tried to make us think teleportation is possible through quantum entanglement but that has been proven false. I would love it if we could do any of these things but it's just not reasonable to think it will happen. I believe this sort of gullibility stems from not really understanding what we have achieved. If our current achievements seem like magic then anything seems possible. Mankind's achievements are impressive to mankind but we're also a bunch of self-aggrandizing egotists. Hopefully no one else is watching. http://earthsky.org/space/alpha-centauri-travel-time http://earthsky.org/space/alpha-centauri-travel-time
    - meric 12y ago
      If you travel close enough to c it wouldn't take very long to the astronaut to get to Proxima Centauri. It's very far from our capability but you're saying it won't happen in the next thousand years? It sounds like someone in 1200 A.D saying it's impossible for humanity calculate PI to the 100,000th digit within the next 1000 years. I'm forward time travelling, and have traveled over twenty years in my life time, at a rate of 1 second per second and that's significant enough for me. :)
      - quanticle 12y ago
        There's a big difference between "it's possible" and "it will happen". I mean, look at air travel for example. Supersonic air travel has been possible since the '70s. But it doesn't happen because it's not cost effective, and the benefit from it never outweighed the cost. I think it's possible that we can to send a human consciousness (physical astronaut, uploaded mind, etc.) to Proxima Centauri in a thousand years. But will we? "It would be amazing", as it turns out, isn't actually a very strong justification for doing anything.
        porsupah 12y ago
        Doesn't happen now, because the sole craft was eventually retired. (Rather spitefully, too, with BA refusing to cede any to Virgin) There is, nonetheless, Skylon under development, though dreadfully underfunded. If it actually works as expected, SABRE will be a quite remarkable innovation. So far, it's all looking good, including the particularly gnarly issue of cooling the incoming air in extremely little time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SABRE_(rocket_engine) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SABRE_(rocket_engine)
        jcoffland 12y ago
        re: SABRE, there's no air in space.
    - pdonis 12y ago
      > Small amounts of time travel happen all the time. What are you referring to here?
thanatosmin 12y ago
Yes, there are many ways in which cutting edge science seems indistinguishable from limitless magic. As a scientist though, this perspective requires ignoring that nearly all my time requires attempts to overcome physical limitations. Sure, these things may be possible, but they require overcoming many currently impossible limits.
kiba 12y ago
As long it is logically possible, we can make it happen. But you won't violate the laws of thermodynamic no matter how hard you try.
- sixQuarks 12y ago
  Never say never. There's speculation of a multi-verse, and in some universes, nature's laws are random and different from this one. There could be a universe where the laws of thermodynamics is different, and there may be a way to tap into that universe.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

jcoffland 12y ago

This is a common view point which kind of irritates me. It leads to a lot of false assumptions and gullibility with regards to pop science. What about time travel, teleportation or travel to the nearest star system? All things well with in reach of our imagination and far from our ability.

k__ 12y ago
I don't think it is impossible per se, but we put our time and resources in other things, so it won't happen.
- jcoffland 12y ago
  We will see none of these things in our lifetime nor is it likely to happen in the next 1000 years. I challenge you to read up on what it would take to reach Proxima Centauri. Small amounts of time travel happen all the time. Significant forward time travel is physically possible, as is interstellar travel, but unobtainable by humans. Pop science has tried to make us think teleportation is possible through quantum entanglement but that has been proven false. I would love it if we could do any of these things but it's just not reasonable to think it will happen. I believe this sort of gullibility stems from not really understanding what we have achieved. If our current achievements seem like magic then anything seems possible. Mankind's achievements are impressive to mankind but we're also a bunch of self-aggrandizing egotists. Hopefully no one else is watching. http://earthsky.org/space/alpha-centauri-travel-time http://earthsky.org/space/alpha-centauri-travel-time
  - meric 12y ago
    If you travel close enough to c it wouldn't take very long to the astronaut to get to Proxima Centauri. It's very far from our capability but you're saying it won't happen in the next thousand years? It sounds like someone in 1200 A.D saying it's impossible for humanity calculate PI to the 100,000th digit within the next 1000 years. I'm forward time travelling, and have traveled over twenty years in my life time, at a rate of 1 second per second and that's significant enough for me. :)
    - quanticle 12y ago
      There's a big difference between "it's possible" and "it will happen". I mean, look at air travel for example. Supersonic air travel has been possible since the '70s. But it doesn't happen because it's not cost effective, and the benefit from it never outweighed the cost. I think it's possible that we can to send a human consciousness (physical astronaut, uploaded mind, etc.) to Proxima Centauri in a thousand years. But will we? "It would be amazing", as it turns out, isn't actually a very strong justification for doing anything.
      - porsupah 12y ago
        Doesn't happen now, because the sole craft was eventually retired. (Rather spitefully, too, with BA refusing to cede any to Virgin) There is, nonetheless, Skylon under development, though dreadfully underfunded. If it actually works as expected, SABRE will be a quite remarkable innovation. So far, it's all looking good, including the particularly gnarly issue of cooling the incoming air in extremely little time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SABRE_(rocket_engine) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SABRE_(rocket_engine)
        jcoffland 12y ago
        re: SABRE, there's no air in space.
  - pdonis 12y ago
    > Small amounts of time travel happen all the time. What are you referring to here?

thanatosmin 12y ago

Yes, there are many ways in which cutting edge science seems indistinguishable from limitless magic. As a scientist though, this perspective requires ignoring that nearly all my time requires attempts to overcome physical limitations. Sure, these things may be possible, but they require overcoming many currently impossible limits.

kiba 12y ago

As long it is logically possible, we can make it happen. But you won't violate the laws of thermodynamic no matter how hard you try.

sixQuarks 12y ago
Never say never. There's speculation of a multi-verse, and in some universes, nature's laws are random and different from this one. There could be a universe where the laws of thermodynamics is different, and there may be a way to tap into that universe.