Former astronaut: Man not alone in universe

unbelievablenes (real word?) aside, the star trek back in time premise is as overused as the farm boy who is the chosen one is the only person who can save the world from the dark lord cliche used in fantasy.

Anybody who watches Big Bang Theory remember a couple of weeks ago when Leonard turns off the TV playing the Classic ST: DS9/ST: TOS Trouble With Tribbles Episode pissing off Sheldon? I would be pissed too. Terry Ferrel In a blue butt length miniskirt is in fact all the proof i need that a God does exist.
 
darrenf said:
I'm sure your kidding, but I don't look at ANY of these shows as a crystal ball. But, now you are really making me rethink what future I prefer??

[
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DUDE

your.gif


:D
 
PGT said:
DUDE

your.gif


:D
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LOVE your graphic! HOWEVER, it doesn't explain what the difference is. OK, today's English lesson.....:buck:

"YOUR" indicates possession. Example: Your flight is departing in 30 minutes. You wear your uniform well.


"YOU'RE" is the contraction for the words "you are". Example: You're a fabulous pilot. You're a poopy head.

Class dismissed. Maybe we'll (contraction for "we will" ;)) review the uses of "to" and "too" sometime soon. :)
 
According to the Kardashev scale, we're a long way from becoming a Type 1 civilization, a civilization that can fully harness the energy of an entire planet. We're still infants. There are many requirements for a planet to harbor life (eg size, distance etc), but the Drake equation tells us there may be around 10 'advanced' civilizations that exist or may have existed in the Milky Way. We're definitely not alone.

"The vast distances that separate the stars are providential. Beings and worlds are quarantined from one another. The quarantine is lifted only for those with sufficient self-knowledge and judgement to have safely traveled from star to star."
 
poser765 said:
Who says lightspeed can't be exceeded?
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This has always sat wrong with me as well. The sound "barrier" was supposedly a wall that couldn't be broken, too. Then technology caught up with it. Relativity and quantum mechanics have a lot of contradictory aspects, so which is right? We simply just don't know yet. If quantum mechanics is correct, light speed is a "barrier" the same way the speed of sound was a barrier. If relativity is correct, then it's impossible to go past it, only approach it. I'm a firm believer that eventually, we'll discover the unified theory that meshes the two aspects. That'll put us a step closer.
 
kellwolf said:
This has always sat wrong with me as well. The sound "barrier" was supposedly a wall that couldn't be broken, too. Then technology caught up with it. Relativity and quantum mechanics have a lot of contradictory aspects, so which is right? We simply just don't know yet. If quantum mechanics is correct, light speed is a "barrier" the same way the speed of sound was a barrier. If relativity is correct, then it's impossible to go past it, only approach it. I'm a firm believer that eventually, we'll discover the unified theory that meshes the two aspects. That'll put us a step closer.
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It seems to me that you also argued against quantum mechanics based on "philosophy". A T said, nobody ever thought that the "sound barrier" was a "barrier".
 
poser765 said:
Really not to be "that guy" but only because I NEVER post anything first and i want to bask in my success...
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Haha, My bad man. I though i read all the post beforehand. I thought i was pulling something truly unique from the depths of my knowledge (ie wikipedia):D. YOu can have all the kudos.

-Matt
 
poser765 said:
Agreed, however you have to think about this question on the right scale. Example....Lets just say 10% of whatever. out of 10 that's just one. out of a thousand that's 100! What's 10% of a billion? What's 10% of billionS? So depending on the scale "extremely improbable" could be in the range of millions, billions or more! All about scale. "ROUGH" estimates place around 100 billion stars in our galaxy.

Who says lightspeed can't be exceeded? Oh that's right...a man who lived several decades before men ever even went into space. Am I saying Albert was wrong? No, i'm just saying for a man saying something so definitive, his knowledge on the Universe is FAR from total. To assume relativity is an absolute is arrogant to the extreme...Only a Sith deals in absolutes (nerd reference on purpose). Look to history. We were certain the universe was geocentric, that the earth was flat, women can't play sports, and as a pilot we would make hundreds of thousands of dollars. How many of those were proven wrong?

I guess the only real points I have is that

1. it's very arrogant to assume we know everything about the universe and that our "laws" can't be wrong or limited, and

2. Dealing with a galactic scale or bigger, improbable is still a very big number. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation
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The Drake Equation is useless. Every variable is based on best guesses, not true numbers.

poser765 said:
Just like the answer 15 years ago was yes you can make $250,000 as an airline pilot.
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Um, lots of air line pilots still make over $250k. Well over $250k.

MikeD said:
[sidebar]

As a Trek fan, what's your take on the upcoming Star Trek movie?

Me? I'm still trying to get into it.....

[/sidebar]
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Just doesn't seem right to me. I'll keep watching my TOS movie DVDs.
 
ATN_Pilot said:
The Drake Equation is useless. Every variable is based on best guesses, not true numbers.



Um, lots of air line pilots still make over $250k. Well over $250k.



Just doesn't seem right to me. I'll keep watching my TOS movie DVDs.
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Yes, the Drake Equation is useless, but only to a strictly scientific viewpoint. My post was not meant as a critical proof of aliens by means of scientific method, but more of a philosophical observation about the topic. That particular theme of my post seemed to have been missed by a few people. I guess writing is not my best means of communication.
<O:p</O:p

The drake equation is not useless however when simply discussing probability...hell, with the broad abstracted point i was trying to make, best guesses, or even worst guesses are enough to validate the drake equation.<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p

To summarize, the more Chances, the more it is possible. So if you have a LOT of chances that still leaves a potential for a lot of possible. Notice the intentional overuse of abstractions? <O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p

Being a low time CFI I can't conceive of making 250k plus nor any of my coworkers. Does that mean that I can state fact that pilots never make more than that much money? No it's just beyond what I have experienced. It’s just Outside of my realm of knowledge.<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p

Also the pilot bit was more of a joke and less a point to be debated.<O:p</O:p
 
kellwolf said:
Relativity and quantum mechanics have a lot of contradictory aspects, so which is right?
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To answer this you have to ask which relativity -Special (without gravity) or General (with gravity)? Special relativity, which first imposed the speed of light limit, has been consistent with quantum mechanics for more than 50 years (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_field_theory). So in that sense both are correct!

Now general relativity and quantum mechanics...I guess there's hope of finding exciting new knowledge here!:nana2:
 
I know the drake equation is completely BS in that all the variables are based off of guesses but I still think it is still fun to mess around with.
 
poser765 said:
Yes, the Drake Equation is useless, but only to a strictly scientific viewpoint. My post was not meant as a critical proof of aliens by means of scientific method, but more of a philosophical observation about the topic. That particular theme of my post seemed to have been missed by a few people. I guess writing is not my best means of communication.
<O:p</O:p

The drake equation is not useless however when simply discussing probability...hell, with the broad abstracted point i was trying to make, best guesses, or even worst guesses are enough to validate the drake equation.<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p

To summarize, the more Chances, the more it is possible. So if you have a LOT of chances that still leaves a potential for a lot of possible. Notice the intentional overuse of abstractions? <O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p

Being a low time CFI I can't conceive of making 250k plus nor any of my coworkers. Does that mean that I can state fact that pilots never make more than that much money? No it's just beyond what I have experienced. It’s just Outside of my realm of knowledge.<O:p</O:p
<O:p</O:p

Also the pilot bit was more of a joke and less a point to be debated.<O:p</O:p
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hmm apparently copy and pasted from Office generates a few very strange formating errors. Interesting.
 
You guys brought up a good point. We are a civilization that is in its infancy, yet we have latched onto the idea that the speed of light is the speed limit in the universe.


I would never say I or probably anyone alive today is smarter or more in tune with physics than Einstein, BUT with our knowledge being so young and our understanding of physics being so basic (in the grand scheme of things), I don't think we can say the speed of light is the absolute speed limit with 100% assurance.
 
kellwolf said:
If quantum mechanics is correct, light speed is a "barrier" the same way the speed of sound was a barrier. If relativity is correct, then it's impossible to go past it, only approach it. I'm a firm believer that eventually, we'll discover the unified theory that meshes the two aspects. That'll put us a step closer.
Click to expand...

Actually, I apologize, I think that it was your old roommate who argued against quantum mechanics!
 
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