Originally Posted By TomSawyer NASA announced that they've discovered 715 more planets orbiting other stars, doubling the number already known. Many are not much larger than Earth and exist in the "Cinderella Zone" where water would be liquid on the planetary surface. This is awesome stuff, but it's starting to feel crowded. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/nasa-kepler-telescope-doubles-number-of-known-planets-outside-solar-system/2014/02/26/e83af186-9ee0-11e3-9ba6-800d1192d08b_story.html?hpid=z1">http://www.washingtonpost.com/...?hpid=z1</a>
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance I know, that's what I love about space. It's awesome and terrifying.
Originally Posted By ecdc <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://i.imgur.com/e9DJjCo.jpg">http://i.imgur.com/e9DJjCo.jpg</a>
Originally Posted By fkurucz The sad thing is that we will most likely never visit any of these worlds, since as far as we know, faster than light travel isn't possible. Of course that means that possible alien baddies won't be able to drop by either. Unmanned probes are a possibility, though I really doubt that any government or corporation would fund a probe that would potentially take hundreds of years to reach its target.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 "Unmanned probes are a possibility, though I really doubt that any government or corporation would fund a probe that would potentially take hundreds of years to reach its target." Some enterprising billionaire might though. Although it would be difficult to future-proof it, so that in several hundred years, whatever it has found is actually discernible by scientists then.
Originally Posted By TomSawyer I think that it's inevitable that we'll at least send unmanned probes some day. The technology already exists for much of what we'd need for that kind of mission as long as we aren't trying to send anything living. We could at least get something into orbit around one of these worlds. It's going to be a long game, though, with a vision and dedication that stretches across decades if not centuries. There's just too much to learn for us not to do it.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 And, even things designed for short missions end up lasting long past their expiration date (see Mars Rover). So, designing something to last hundreds of years might end up lasting well past that even. I can't even imagine the data it would send back!
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 Cool, I wonder if this is going to be like a DC Comics thing were there were multiple earths. Like Superman and Batman were the bad guys on one planet and Lex Luthor and the Joker were the good guys.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder DDMAN, you ever read the comic strip Candorville? You should, you're the main character, Lemont.
Originally Posted By utahjosh ecdc, Isn't is great that the creator of the universe loves us and wants us to become like him?
Originally Posted By ecdc >>Isn't is great that the creator of the universe loves us and wants us to become like him?<< I think if there is a creator of the universe (and that's a big if), he would care about a million other things before he cares about whether women wear knee-length shorts or whether I had a cup of coffee this morning or, yes, whether a fifteen year old boy discovering sex masturbates. Josh, even though enjoyment of Disneyland and the state we live in is about all we have in common, I've always thought you seem like a really good guy who's earnest and well intentioned. And I think there are things deep within LDS theology and culture that could compel exceptional moral behavior and practice, such as equality of women, earth stewardship, value of life, etc. Unfortunately, the culture instead obsesses over the lowest hanging fruit imaginable, drawing a line in the sand over silly current standards, then abandoning them when they fall out of fashion. At the turn of the 20th century, it was denunciation of dancing that now is seen as acceptable by the church. In the 20s, disliking movies that are now seen as wholesome. There's a million examples. If the creator of the universe wants us to become like him, I sure wish he'd speak up about issues beyond modesty, masturbation, and who two people choose to love.
Originally Posted By fkurucz I think it would take a very enlightened and forward looking society to fund a mission that might not yield data for hundreds of years. Based on what I see in the world, I doubt anyone would do it. Imagine if we launched a probe that would take 400 years to reach its target. There might not be a USA or a space agency anymore by the time it gets there. And if the nation-state is indeed replaced by the corporate-state as some are predicting, then I know we really can forget about it, since it would add nothing to the corporate bottom line.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 "And if the nation-state is indeed replaced by the corporate-state as some are predicting, then I know we really can forget about it, since it would add nothing to the corporate bottom line." Unless the findings led to the discovery of another habitable planet they could exploit.
Originally Posted By TomSawyer The initial investment would be big, but the ongoing journey wouldn't cost a whole lot. There's no way that you could control the ship at those distances, so you'd have to make it autonomous and you'd have to be damn sure that it could maneuver itself to send a signal back home. So with an autonomous ship it'll keep sending signals and whoever is on earth could still receive and interpret those signals. It's science - what ever countries or organizations are in power is irrelevant. That signals will still be sent and anyone with the right gear will be able to receive them.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***Many are not much larger than Earth and exist in the "Cinderella Zone"*** Sure that's not the "Goldilocks Zone"? I'll say one thing, the fact that we've found so many that it hardly seems rare is fairly disquieting because, well, where IS everybody? It really seems weird we've not heard a peep (weirdo's in pickup trucks on lonely roads notwithstanding). I'm beginning to subscribe to the theory that we really *are* pretty horrid, and we've been quaranteened as a planet and a species - they're just waiting for us to do ourselves in one way or the other so they can get the nice prime real estate (though even *that* doesn't seem all that enviable given this article!).
Originally Posted By TomSawyer Messed up my fairy tales. Crap. Of all of the species on earth, only one is capable of designing deep space probes and communicating with them across vast distances. I think life is probably very common on those worlds where conditions are right, but technology isn't. Tyson has a great article on the topic at <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.haydenplanetarium.org/tyson/read/1996/09/01/the-search-for-life-in-the-universe">http://www.haydenplanetarium.o...universe</a> He points out that of the estimated 10 billion species that have ever existed on earth only one was technologically advanced enough to broadcast to and receive signals from space. If a species doesn't need advanced communication or technology as a survival advantage then nature won't favor it. If species on other worlds don't ever use technology to compete with others for resources and survival the great arms race that humanity has been in since the first rocks were banged together would ever get launched. The processes and reactions needed for abiogenesis are common but the need for technology as a survival mechanism is not.
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>Unless the findings led to the discovery of another habitable planet they could exploit.<< And how would we do that without Faster Than Light speed? Even if we decided to colonize such a world, it would be a one way trip. There wouldn't even be real time communications with such a colony, simple messages could take years, if not decades from the closest star systems. And there would be no commerce or trade with them. And even if FTL were possible, would it be economically viable for trade? Given the short term, "gotta make the numbers this quarter" nature of businesses, there would be nothing in extra solar colonization for them. I know this is depicted in SciFi all the time, but without FTL (which may very well be impossible) colonizing extra solar worlds will be all but impossible. Also worth considering: just because a planet is in the goldilocks zone and it's the right size doesn't mean it's inhabitable. Mars and Venus are goldilocks worlds and they are both utterly uninhabitable. >>I'll say one thing, the fact that we've found so many that it hardly seems rare is fairly disquieting because, well, where IS everybody?<< Enrico Fermi asked this same question. The most likely answers are: 1) We are alone. 2) We are not alone, but most civilizations end up destroying themselves. 3) We are not alone, but interstellar travel is impractical if not outright impossible because there is no FTL travel Fermi did an interesting calculation. He assumed that FTL was impossible and that we would have to crawl our way between the stars. To make a long story short. he estimated that if non-FTL travel between the stars was feasible, then the human race would be able to colonize the Galaxy in about 5 million years. Since the Galaxy is much older than that, he reasoned that other races would have risen before us an colonized the entire Galaxy themselves. That we are here proves that didn't happen. Asimov used this premise for his Foundation series of stories (we colonize the Galaxy and never find intelligent life). He was very troubled by the lack of contact with alien races and came up with an explanation for their lack of presence in the Foundation series universe: Earth was special and unique.
