JWST Launches Today

[Mito Man]

I’m more blown away by how a telescope can detect various gases on a planet 120 light years away

Edit - I guess the reverse would also be true. As aliens scan their skies and look out to the abyss, they will eventually come across the pale blue dot and detect methane and say they’ve found intelligent life. Although that’s still up for debate I guess *paaaarp*

[duncs500]

I've always said that what with the sheer number of stars and planets in the universe, the chances of at least some of them containing life, and some of _them_ containing intelligent life, are unfeasible small. It's just a matter of time till we detect them.

My opinion is that life is relatively abundant in the universe, but technologically advance life is much less likely. If you think about how long we've been able to go to space relative to the age of the planet or universe it is a miniscule fraction, and in all liklihood we will destroy ourselves in another miniscule fraction of time. So to find another species with that capability existing in the same time is quite a low probability relative to the number of available planets. More likely they either have existed and gone, or we're an early one.

For context, even in the case of this planet we're seeing it 120 years ago and that is close in terms of the universe. Maybe there's someone out there now but they're too far away so we can't see them for 1000 years, or we see them now but by the time we send out a signal they may have long been extinct.

[mik]

For context, even in the case of this planet we're seeing it 120 years ago and that is close in terms of the universe.

You may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's etc etc.

And what do we do when we get there?

Rough calculations:
> Accelerate towards them at 1G for 1yr (reaching about 80% speed of light)
> Travel (weightless) for around 150yrs.
> Deccelerate at 1G for 1yr.

So either we are putting people into cryogenic sleep for that period, in which case it'd be like slave-traders from the late 1800's arriving there today in order to represent us now, or the people meeting this new life are 1st or 2nd generation descendants of the intrepid explorers/warmongers who left earth, who would arrive fully ready to apologise for the intents of the original mission, and bemoan how many earth resources were wasted on it.

And then you have the same again to bring something back....

[RobYob]

Keep on accelerating to 999% of c and the original crew will get there in a couple of months.

I'd like to think the solution to the Fermi paradox isn't the dark forest hypothesis (ie. Shoot first).

Given how hardy life on Earth is I wouldn't be surprised if it turns up in Martian rocks or the seas of Europa.

I'm not sure where you'll find intelligent life

[duncs500]

Alcubierre drive FTW. Just that pesky negative mass we need to sort out.

[dinny_g]

So either we are putting people into cryogenic sleep for that period, in which case it'd be like slave-traders from the late 1800's arriving there today in order to represent us now...

I get sad when I think of the Voyager Probes for this very reason - some distant civilization is going to find it, get in contact and mention the Male and Female forms on the Plaque.

Our future selves will say "Two Genders?? Sorry, that's not ours mate - keep searching"...

[Marv]

Amazing pics of Uranus released a few days ago

[Simon]

My wife says it doesn't look like that.

<snigger>

[jamcg]

Amazing pics of Uranus released a few days ago

Looks like the sun does shine out of my ass. Wait until I tell the wife

[Mito Man]

Amazing pics of Uranus released a few days ago

Looks like the sun does shine out of my ass. Wait until I tell the wife

Why is it gaping?

[Beany]

If I had any photoshop skills, I'd put the goatse hands on there.


But I don't. But some of you will know exactly what I mean. And the rest of you? Do NOT google that from work.

[Mito Man]

Can’t you ask AI to do it?

[RobYob]

Can’t you ask AI to do it?

Skynet decided our fate in a microsecond...

[Mito Man]

Well I'm now in front of my laptop so gave this a go. Typing 'Uranus Goatse' got me a warning and threat that my account would be suspended so I then searched for terms along the lines of 'Uranus being pulled apart by two fists'