Spark wrote:
For a useless, purely theoretical branch of physics that soaked up the time and effort of some of the finest minds in the world for many years despite being obvious it could have no use whatsoever...
1910's-1920's quantum mechanics.
Oh... wait.
Why so obtuse about people discussing something you don't care about?Uzique wrote:
people that keep raving on about these planets are fucking retarded
21st century space-science is apparently a polite term for 'complete fucking speculation'
i preferred it in the 1970's when all the sci-fi naivety was at least a little bit charming
This. Plus the planet's rotation gives it very hot days and cold nights. Stories like are infinitely more interesting than politics, even if they're out of reach.Kmar wrote:
It's not about getting there. Also, just because the planet is in the "habital zone" it does not mean the planet is habitable, or even very Earthlike.Uzique wrote:
oh yeah great job guys we found an earth clone
everyone hop aboard the bus, we'll be there in about 2.3 million years
i hope the humans there have put the kettle on. gonna be dying for a cuppa by the end of that coachtrip.
The Stars My DestinationUzique wrote:
gonna be dying for a cuppa by the end of that coachtrip.
Last edited by burnzz (2010-10-01 20:09:25)
The Lewis & Clark expedition was also criticized for being ahead of what America was 'ready for.'dayarath wrote:
Uzique does have a point, modern science is flying way out of reach of what we can actually do and what would be useful information.. I know that huge projects such as trying to find life on other planets will at some point make progress in the engineering world that will be passed down to civillian life, but it doesn't actually help us get anywhere.
All it really does is soak up money and operation time on expensive equipment... the question of where life is and what it looks like doesn't have relevance to our situation. It probably won't have relevance to our situation for atleast another century. It's not even really relevant to the field of astrophysics.
I don't think cern is a waste of time though, gravity is one hell of a big deal.
It is a bit optimistic today.. but the technologies needed to consider interstellar travel would require that we study and learn about them centuries in advance. You may be of the belief that we will be all be dead long before we get there, which is fine. But the human race has never given up on trying to understand. Giving up because we plan on being dead is not something most scientist are willing to do. I would be more inclined to agree with you if it was true that the study of exoplanets, cosmic evolution, etc.. was seriously impacting and interfering with life on earth today. But it simply is not. For the most part it is benefiting it.dayarath wrote:
Don't get me wrong I'm totally for answering questions about life but I'd say take it one step at a time, research on other planets is fine but trying to find life X lightyears away seems a bit too optimistic. F.ex. they're taking a microscope, looking at a cell but trying to concentrate on an area too small to actually see in detail, because they can't zoom in far enough. It's kind of a pointless quest, and it won't really offer something of scientific value.
It's simply singling out the planets who we think might be habitable, because that's all they're really able to say.
Improving our speed in space travel is something that many other projects already try to achieve, actually everyone involving themselves with objects outside of our solar system has an interest in increasing our speed.Kmar wrote:
It is a bit optimistic today.. but the technologies needed to consider interstellar travel would require that we study and learn about them centuries in advance. You may be of the belief that we will be all be dead long before we get there, which is fine. But the human race has never given up on trying to understand. Giving up because we plan on being dead is not something most scientist are willing to do. I would be more inclined to agree with you if it was true that the study of exoplanets, cosmic evolution, etc.. was seriously impacting and interfering with life on earth today. But it simply is not. For the most part it is benefiting it.
find solar system, determine intensity of star, determine type of star, determine if there are planets, see in what kind of circle the planets go round the star, determine type of planets, determine habitable zone, determine planet and type in habitable zone.Spark wrote:
I think you are vastly overestimating the amount of effort that goes into the habitable planet search.
Yea, the gravitational slingshot has been used since the mid-70's (Mariner 10). It's useful in exploring our local system. I don't think it will be enough on it's own to get us to interstellar travel.I like how they're doing it with sattelites tbh.. simply using planets' gravity as a slingshot, some of those are going 50.000 km/h. It's free and works great.
and that will be a great achievement.Acerider wrote:
Although the distance to that planet is immense, as kmar said, we have not by any chance discovered all the planets and solar systems in the galaxy, or universe, due to the vast amount. It's entirely possible that there is a closer solar system to us with the ability to host earth like life. And there is also the possibility that we might discover life that thrives in conditions we find hostile, with a different genetic makeup. It's very likely that the life we discover first will be very different from any we ever know. We probably won't find life we can relate to until we explore a planet with an earth like environment, like the one recently found.
Yes, but that concern is a lot like worrying that the core of the planet will cool significantly because people use geothermal energy. The energy 'reservoir' is soooo big that you'd need some very VERY big ships. Like, within a few orders of magnitude of the planet's mass. If mankind can manage to build even a 10^14 kg ship, about 10 orders of magnitude smaller in mass than the earth, I'd like to think we would have a better way to propel that ship than to leech orbital energy...lolTrotskygrad wrote:
and that will be a great achievement.Acerider wrote:
Although the distance to that planet is immense, as kmar said, we have not by any chance discovered all the planets and solar systems in the galaxy, or universe, due to the vast amount. It's entirely possible that there is a closer solar system to us with the ability to host earth like life. And there is also the possibility that we might discover life that thrives in conditions we find hostile, with a different genetic makeup. It's very likely that the life we discover first will be very different from any we ever know. We probably won't find life we can relate to until we explore a planet with an earth like environment, like the one recently found.
Oh and gravitational slingshots are not REALLY free, they slow down the planet a fractional fractional fractional amount... Might be a problem if we start using it a LOT for very BIG ships
Pinnacle of mankinds engineering?SenorToenails wrote:
Yes, but that concern is a lot like worrying that the core of the planet will cool significantly because people use geothermal energy. The energy 'reservoir' is soooo big that you'd need some very VERY big ships. Like, within a few orders of magnitude of the planet's mass. If mankind can manage to build even a 10^14 kg ship, about 10 orders of magnitude smaller in mass than the earth, I'd like to think we would have a better way to propel that ship than to leech orbital energy...lolTrotskygrad wrote:
and that will be a great achievement.Acerider wrote:
Although the distance to that planet is immense, as kmar said, we have not by any chance discovered all the planets and solar systems in the galaxy, or universe, due to the vast amount. It's entirely possible that there is a closer solar system to us with the ability to host earth like life. And there is also the possibility that we might discover life that thrives in conditions we find hostile, with a different genetic makeup. It's very likely that the life we discover first will be very different from any we ever know. We probably won't find life we can relate to until we explore a planet with an earth like environment, like the one recently found.
Oh and gravitational slingshots are not REALLY free, they slow down the planet a fractional fractional fractional amount... Might be a problem if we start using it a LOT for very BIG ships
For reference, the ISS is about 10^5 kg, not that I am implying it will be the pinnacle of mankind's space engineering.
Last edited by Acerider (2010-10-07 08:36:11)
Combining that with my mental image for a gravitational slingshot is priceless.Acerider wrote:
Pinnacle of mankinds engineering?SenorToenails wrote:
Yes, but that concern is a lot like worrying that the core of the planet will cool significantly because people use geothermal energy. The energy 'reservoir' is soooo big that you'd need some very VERY big ships. Like, within a few orders of magnitude of the planet's mass. If mankind can manage to build even a 10^14 kg ship, about 10 orders of magnitude smaller in mass than the earth, I'd like to think we would have a better way to propel that ship than to leech orbital energy...lolTrotskygrad wrote:
and that will be a great achievement.
Oh and gravitational slingshots are not REALLY free, they slow down the planet a fractional fractional fractional amount... Might be a problem if we start using it a LOT for very BIG ships
For reference, the ISS is about 10^5 kg, not that I am implying it will be the pinnacle of mankind's space engineering.
http://www.physicsguides.com/images/deathstar.jpg
We'd also need to make sure our ships were light enough to be able to use a form of propulsion for steering.
yeah lolpresidentsheep wrote:
Combining that with my mental image for a gravitational slingshot is priceless.Acerider wrote:
Pinnacle of mankinds engineering?SenorToenails wrote:
Yes, but that concern is a lot like worrying that the core of the planet will cool significantly because people use geothermal energy. The energy 'reservoir' is soooo big that you'd need some very VERY big ships. Like, within a few orders of magnitude of the planet's mass. If mankind can manage to build even a 10^14 kg ship, about 10 orders of magnitude smaller in mass than the earth, I'd like to think we would have a better way to propel that ship than to leech orbital energy...lol
For reference, the ISS is about 10^5 kg, not that I am implying it will be the pinnacle of mankind's space engineering.
http://www.physicsguides.com/images/deathstar.jpg
We'd also need to make sure our ships were light enough to be able to use a form of propulsion for steering.
Canada I think has asian carp too. We'd probably also be dragged into this thing. Yeah, Senor, it'll probably end up in wasted tax dollars as usual.SenorToenails wrote:
Well, when they can work on that sea mussel infestation in the great lakes, then I will believe they can actually do something about the carp. Until then, it'll probably be a spectacular waste of tax dollars.
Uhh, you do realize that the asian carp is in the great lakes, of which 4 are shared between the US and Canada? By definition, it's a shared problem.Acerider wrote:
Canada I think has asian carp too. We'd probably also be dragged into this thing. Yeah, Senor, it'll probably end up in wasted tax dollars as usual.SenorToenails wrote:
Well, when they can work on that sea mussel infestation in the great lakes, then I will believe they can actually do something about the carp. Until then, it'll probably be a spectacular waste of tax dollars.
