light year away...

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bluedragoon85

bluedragoon85

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Can you guys seriously absorb the fact that other solar systems, and galaxies are light years away from us? I mean, we will never reach a solar system in our life time, unless of course you live to be 100 years of age, which is fkn rare... I don't know, i've been drinking and thinking about this stuff cause i've been reading about this stuff cause it's really interesting, but it's crazy... we are but a a speck of dust in this universe... the thought that other people (aliens) are thinking the same thing is crazy... it's almost impossible alien intelligence doesn't exit, because the universe is pretty much infinite as far as we know...

I feel like I'm sinking into a a dream... the closest star to our sun is over 4 light years in distance... that is freaking crazy... and I'm here, I should fkn be able to like warp speed or something like that and say, hey what's up neighbor that is over 4 light years distance from me... how's the weather? how's the fkn mundane weather that isn't so mundane on this corner of the galaxy... I don't know, it's to much to absorb... i guess I will just stick to this, cause thinking beyond will blow my fkn brain to pieces, it's just to much...
 
When you ponder the vastness of space (which, quite frankly our brains cannot grasp) you realize how infinetly small we are.....
 
Have you ever tried to think about where the universe actually ends? Apparently it is unknown if it is finite or infinite. If it is finite, what is at the edge of it? Pretty trippy stuff to think about. I have pondered it before and it definetly screws with your head. It would be pretty cool to be around when and if (big if in my opinion) we every reach another planet in another solar system.
 
Now try working the other direction into the microscopic world around us...

Or...

It's a bit like how a lot more is known about some areas of the cosmos than the bottom of the oceans here on our own planet...
 
its also crazy to think there is stuff out there that we cannot see because it is so far away that the light has not hit us yet
 
If the earth is the size of a pea, the sun is the size of a 3' beach ball about 100 yards away.

If we want to do any serious space travel we're going to need a fraggin huge spaceship. Maybe we could use Pluto? It's not a planet any more.
 
Would be awesome to see some serious space travel during my time... Just imagine being able to witness the first manned expedition to mars, and beyond... crazy stuff
 
Or a transmogrifier.

Calvin_the_Frog.gif
 
If the earth is the size of a pea, the sun is the size of a 3' beach ball about 100 yards away
Click to expand...
With this scale in mind; set that pea on the ground (it's the Earth, be gentle!) and start walking... about 1 mile along you should run into Pluto. Watch out that you don't step on Pluto, you'll need a micrometer to measure it since it's only about 0.02 inches in diameter.

Now keep walking... You have another 6,000+ miles before you run into the next star!!!

I'll keep a candle lit for ya.
Excuse me while a pull another beer.
:mug:

- Mike
 
It's true, Carl Sagan's Cosmos series is one of my favorite shows.

Yes, we're just specks. But this speck of life is all I've got, so I'm going to max it out.
 
The next star is so far away that we'd need to reproduce aboard the starship along the way, or go cryogenic. Which option sounds more fun to you?

Anyway, the size of space is not that big a deal after you invent an FTL drive.
 
It's true, Carl Sagan's Cosmos series is one of my favorite shows.
Click to expand...

I wish there were more hardcore science shows like this on TV. The Universe is OK, but it's kinda grade school. I want a miniseries on dark matter, or a whole season on quantum physics.
 
mattmcl said:
I wish there were more hardcore science shows like this on TV. The Universe is OK, but it's kinda grade school. I want a miniseries on dark matter, or a whole season on quantum physics.
Click to expand...

I'd love to see something like this as well. I enjoy The Universe, but it is usually pretty elementary. There are a number of good videos available on youtube that go into more detail.

As for the scale of things, you're right - it is absolutely amazing.

[youtube]BS88G5WBcfQ[/youtube]
 
And that's just the 'space' aspect but the 'time' aspect is equally mindboggling. Advanced civilizations, way more advanced than us, could have come and went many times over in this universe.

What if we knew that our planet was going to end relatively soon? What could/would we do? Perhaps build some sort of spacecraft and load it with certain hardy forms of primitive life such that we could send it on a several-hundred (if not several-thousand) year trip in an effort to 'seed' that planet with life? Maybe that's what happened to earth billions of years ago. OK...maybe that's a stretch.:p
 
I always hate thinking about this stuff...makes my head explode from thinking too hard :rolleyes:

What always gets me is thinking about just how small humans...or even our planet is in the grand scheme of things. We're just miniscule molecules and atoms in the big picture - then start thinking about the individual atoms that make us up and our planet! Just how infinitely small THOSE are...and compare that to the vastness of the universe as a whole...

I just don't think it's possible to understand and realize the total number of atoms in the universe. Can the number even be written? Surely there is no comparison for us to comprehend the vastness of their numbers...I just looked up how many atoms (approximate) every human is made up of...it's 7x10^27...that's a 7 with 27 zeroes after it...then multiply that by 6 billion...and that's just the atoms for HUMANS on a SINGLE planet in the ENTIRE universe!

OK I think I see smoke now...
 
SpanishCastleAle said:
And that's just the 'space' aspect but the 'time' aspect is equally mindboggling. Advanced civilizations, way more advanced than us, could have come and went many times over in this universe.

What if we knew that our planet was going to end relatively soon? What could/would we do? Perhaps build some sort of spacecraft and load it with certain hardy forms of primitive life such that we could send it on a several-hundred (if not several-thousand) year trip in an effort to 'seed' that planet with life? Maybe that's what happened to earth billions of years ago. OK...maybe that's a stretch.:p
Click to expand...

Interesting thing to think about. Here's a question for ya. What good does it do humans to seed another planet with primitive life such as bacteria? Let's say that we even had a target planet in mind (or a moon) and where able to nail it, once we're all dead, it doesn't really matter. I know it sounds Nihilist but I do think that our value on human life is only relevant in the context of the living. In the minutes preceding a complete extinction event such as a meteor impact or our sun dying, I wouldn't feel the least bit of comfort knowing a yeast spore is on its way to a planet, even if the planet was made of 50% maltose.
 
Bobby_M said:
Interesting thing to think about. Here's a question for ya. What good does it do humans to seed another planet with primitive life such as bacteria? Let's say that we even had a target planet in mind (or a moon) and where able to nail it, once we're all dead, it doesn't really matter. I know it sounds Nihilist but I do think that our value on human life is only relevant in the context of the living. In the minutes preceding a complete extinction event such as a meteor impact or our sun dying, I wouldn't feel the least bit of comfort knowing a yeast spore is on its way to a planet, even if the planet was made of 50% maltose.
Click to expand...
I dunno...the thought of a new civilization, making beer, billions of years in the future because we seeded Maltosia with Chico yeast just sounds kinda cool.
 
Homercidal said:
The next star is so far away that we'd need to reproduce aboard the starship along the way, or go cryogenic. Which option sounds more fun to you?

Anyway, the size of space is not that big a deal after you invent an FTL drive.
Click to expand...

Relativity saves us there, just get the ship up close to the speed of light and you'll be at the next star before ya know it.
 
This reminds me of that trippy chapter in one of Papazian's books about wort blobs floating in space, each picking up a different yeast and becoming a different beer, or something like that.

-Steve
 
bluedragoon85 said:
Can you guys seriously absorb the fact that other solar systems, and galaxies are light years away from us? I mean, we will never reach a solar system in our life time, unless of course you live to be 100 years of age, which is fkn rare... I don't know, i've been drinking and thinking about this stuff cause i've been reading about this stuff cause it's really interesting, but it's crazy... we are but a a speck of dust in this universe... the thought that other people (aliens) are thinking the same thing is crazy... it's almost impossible alien intelligence doesn't exit, because the universe is pretty much infinite as far as we know...

I feel like I'm sinking into a a dream... the closest star to our sun is over 4 light years in distance... that is freaking crazy... and I'm here, I should fkn be able to like warp speed or something like that and say, hey what's up neighbor that is over 4 light years distance from me... how's the weather? how's the fkn mundane weather that isn't so mundane on this corner of the galaxy... I don't know, it's to much to absorb... i guess I will just stick to this, cause thinking beyond will blow my fkn brain to pieces, it's just to much...
Click to expand...




Yes. I also firmley believe there is other intelligent life out there. There is a photo around the net from Nasa that shows 1/100 of 1% of our sky and its literally filled with hundreds of galaxies in various states of existence. To believe otherwise is asinine.
 
Skins_Brew said:
Have you ever tried to think about where the universe actually ends? Apparently it is unknown if it is finite or infinite. If it is finite, what is at the edge of it? Pretty trippy stuff to think about. I have pondered it before and it definetly screws with your head. It would be pretty cool to be around when and if (big if in my opinion) we every reach another planet in another solar system.
Click to expand...

Its both yet neither. Universe is still expanding, so its edge is always moving.
 
If we want to do any serious space travel we're going to need a fraggin huge spaceship. Maybe we could use Pluto? It's not a planet any more.
Click to expand...

Pluto, it's not just for telescopin' anymore
 

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