Is Stephen Hawking Right?

Discussion in 'General Science & Technology' started by KilljoyKlown, Jul 14, 2011.

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  1. sifreak21 Valued Senior Member

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    LOL, troll fail of epic proportions
     
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  3. NMSquirrel OCD ADHD THC IMO UR12 Valued Senior Member

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    its a logical conclusion..when is the question, if we ever get it together as a species (not just more laws) we can eliminate certain conditions that would lead to such..

    how long would it take till colonization is possible from discovering an earth like planet?(once we spot one,how soon can we move there?)

    How many ppl would colonize?
    i think it would have a beneficial effect on the earth and its citizens, and as such should be put on priority.(once an earth like planet is discovered that is..)
     
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  5. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    The link below has a nice picture of a asteroid and it's less appealing than the moon.

    http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/18jul_dawn4/
     
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  7. ElectricFetus Sanity going, going, gone Valued Senior Member

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  8. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    Smaller, less gravity, plus I hear the view is better on the moon.
     
  9. Gustav Banned Banned

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    pardon
    what were your premises again? our demise is predicated on...?



    and what roughly would that entail?
     
  10. phlogistician Banned Banned

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    You just cannot know that. If aliens arrived on Earth and saw Dinosaurs, they might think the Earth was unlikely to produce intelligent life,... but it did, once the dinosaurs were swept aside. This is your problem, you fail to see that if Humans were swept away, that the next step could be even better!

    That's a pretty hideous attitude.
     
  11. ElectricFetus Sanity going, going, gone Valued Senior Member

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    less gravity is a good thing, less fuel to expend, as for a view how does aesthetics count?
     
  12. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    More radiation that humans get exposed to as well. They aren't protected with the magnetic field on the moon as they are here so they will be in great peril working on the moon surface.
     
  13. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    Have you ever considered maybe humans came about because some aliens tinkered with our world in the past? Good thing those aliens didn't have your attitude or we might not be here now.

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  14. scheherazade Northern Horse Whisperer Valued Senior Member

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    The original premise of this thread is that our future hope of survival lies in space and that if we can survive the next 200 years, our species should be past the tipping point.

    Hawking also admits to being an optimist.

    I likewise am an optimistic person and perhaps lacking in imagination, as I tend toward the pragmatic and seeking solutions for small problems err they become larger.

    With our present technology, the investment in energy and resources to advance the space exodus or Moon/Mars biosphere seems impractical and then there is the matter of maintenance and self-sufficiency.

    If we cannot address these concerns on a planet with all of the amenities, I find it difficult to contemplate succeeding in space for a considerable length of time yet. It seems far more practical to turn our attention toward maintaining the ability of this planet to maintain itself and sustain biodiversity through conservation measures across the board, including taking responsibility for our population growth.

    Like any species which expands beyond the carrying capacity of it's habitat, we shall be contained by disease, starvation and the violence of our own kind. In the north, when the rabbit population suffers it's cyclic die-off, the many predators who depend on the rabbit either disperse into other areas, fighting for a toe-hold, starve or are killed by other hungry predators.

    When the rabbits are gone, the wolf will eat wolf.

    I'm not suggesting that we won't colonize space at some point in the future, merely that our timing is not very good for such contemplation. Time to put the Star Trek books aside for a while and deal with the reality that is now.

    The Roman Empire, once the mightiest on the planet collapsed. Any chance that the current empire might do likewise? Would it matter? There's always another waiting to step up to the plate.

    As getting into space, and staying there, will require global co-operation, IMO, these rumblings on the surface are going to have an effect on Hawkings projection that space is where the future lies.

    We're not talking about a weekend hike here. Hey, you can't hardly get a plumber on this planet, just think about the problems finding one 'off-side'.

    That will surely be when the proverbial hits the rotational.

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  15. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    A little practical pessimism, I like that. The need to get out there and expand our resources might actually be what helps unite this world. But more likely it will be international crime that forces the world into more cooperation.

    I don't see why we can't do all of these things at the same time. Some resources for space and some for fixing at home problems making progress in all areas but in smaller increments over more time.
     
  16. scheherazade Northern Horse Whisperer Valued Senior Member

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    It would be prudent to keep more than one iron in the fire, I agree. Incremental progress on multiple fronts is usually the preferred Modus operandi yet I suggest we might have to pick up the pace a bit, as we have been too busy stroking our own egos with the novelty of the new toys of technology.

    The path of least resistance is ever taken by energy, and by humans. It's only natural that we will be in denial until our backs are against the wall, or at least most of them will be. There are some who do not follow the lemmings.....





    I'm not knocking the desire for more recreational time and means to amuse ourselves, simply pointing out that we have made diddly for progress on the global problems that have been with us seemingly forever.
     
  17. billvon Valued Senior Member

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    I have a strong feeling that if you (or someone in your family) were sick you would go to a doctor, rather than "leaving evolution alone to do what it does, and not interfering."

    Depends on the kind of life. We're capable of coexisting with a great many forms of life, especially if they are so alien that there is no potential competition for food, energy etc.

    Rats are fairly intelligent. But again, I have a feeling if they were running around your house, you wouldn't have much problem killing them.
     
  18. Mrs.Lucysnow Valued Senior Member

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    I don't know. 200 years is a long time and there is so much that can go wrong before then. I think Hawking is just being optimistic.
     
  19. NMSquirrel OCD ADHD THC IMO UR12 Valued Senior Member

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    global population mainly..(yes, i blame the bible..Ie.. 'go forth and multiply')

    an act of God? an alien invasion? maybe colonization of space..
     
  20. lightgigantic Banned Banned

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    I thought it was obvious.

    One of the reasons that space research is getting peanuts is because there are more dire concerns on the table.
     
  21. phlogistician Banned Banned

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    Not seriously. Because it doesn't solve any problem of how the alien life form came to be intelligent, and just puts one more step in the regressive path, but adds nothing. You just have to entertain the idea that we could be the most advanced life form in the Universe at present, and you have no reason to believe your scenario to be true. It's a rather pathetic excuse to use to trample on an alien planet, to be honest.
     
  22. phlogistician Banned Banned

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    Evolution has nothing to do with healthcare. WTF? are you talking about.

    And also capable of destroying entire species. What's your point, that we won't fuck _everything_ up?

    Why are you using terrestrial examples when the problem I have is with us fucking with a different planet?
     
  23. Vulgaris Registered Member

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    Building an infrastructure where a product can generally be recycled through its consituents will help alot. The problem so far has been that we've never really have had to do this, and therefore our production/consumption is a linear process - from resource to product to consumption to dump. Now, after just 50 years of this insane process, we already have to make changes or we'll run out of resources because it's all just thrown into the dumps or our water instead, where it's difficult to re-sample. Let's do like mother nature and do it the cyclic way, then maybe we'll have enough resources to last those 200 years more (that's a long time compared to the speed with which we're destroying and consuming right now!).

    I foresee waste dump mines. Big companies mining for valuable materials in our old dumps.. how interesting the future will be.

    /Vulg
     
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