Space and the Universe

[Emasher]

I don't even think it's possible. The moment you set foot in another time you've altered it and therefore have created a completely unpredictable future. The Simpsons had a Halloween episode where Homer went back in time, sneezed and killed all the dinosaurs lol.

 

But since you're going back in time, you would have already done whatever you would have done back during that time, so any changes you would have made should have already been made back then.

[Dannyboy-the-Dane]

There are a number of theories regarding time travel and "changing" the past, presuming it's even possible. In one theory, every choice splits the timeline, meaning there are an infinite number of alternate timelines. If you were to go back and change the past, you would simply end up in a different timeline than the one you let. Another theory operates only with a single timeline, and as such it's impossible to change the past. If you were to travel back, everything you do while in the past would have already happened, meaning that the timeline is effectively set in stone.

[Diageo]

I don't think travelling into the past is possible.

But to say we'll never find other forms of life is not necessarily true. Surely not in our lifetime, but eventually we will be advanced enough to find it.

[Dannyboy-the-Dane]

Surely if time travel to the past is possible then... it's already happened?

 

So we'd already know?

 

Therefore... it's not possible.

I remember reading that if we ever learn to travel backwards in time, it'll be through some sort of wormhole-like invention. As such, we'll never be able to go further back in time than when the machine was first turned on.

[Grazza]

I do believe eventually energy will not be an issue. There is a theory of "Perpetual Motion" - the basic idea is opposing magnets create constant energy - but no one can do it successfully. It's funny, because it seems like something that could be solved, but it hasn't happened yet.

 

As for the Theory of Relativity, I believe aliens would have to visit us before we know if it's an unsurpassable barrier or not. Einstein was a genius amongst men, but it's not inconceivable that a being with multiple times the brain capacity of a human would solve it.

 

If it can't be solved, aliens will never be able to visit us (or us them). If it can be solved, I don't see why it wasn't solved millions of years ago by an advanced civilisation, and thus they could have been visiting us since the Earth was formed.

[ViPeR]

I don't see why it wasn't solved millions of years ago by an advanced civilisation, and thus they could have been visiting us since the Earth was formed.

 

If they're that advanced they're probably wise enough to realise any contact right now would cause anarchy. It also would increase the potential of us gaining control of their technology jumping our civilisation further than it's meant to. I bet it's like Men In Black where we've come so close to being destroyed by an alien race and haven't even realised :p

[Grazza]

If they're that advanced they're probably wise enough to realise any contact right now would cause anarchy. It also would increase the potential of us gaining control of their technology jumping our civilisation further than it's meant to. I bet it's like Men In Black where we've come so close to being destroyed by an alien race and haven't even realised :p

 

They probably do realise it causes panic, yes! I can only think this reason - fear - is the explanation for people scoffing at UFO reports so much.

 

I'm not saying UFOs are alien (after all, I don't know what's in them or even if they're actually manned craft), but highly qualified people continue to make extraordinary claims about UFOs they've seen (including last week), and the masses prefer to either ignore it completely or write it off as some sort of hoax, despite that explanation not fitting.

[Dannyboy-the-Dane]

What an amazing episode that was. One thing was the brilliant content, but the humour and personality of Mr Hawking himself added so much to the experience.

[Mokong]

Going back to the Earth-like planet that was found, does nobody find it somewhat coincidental that this comes just after the UN mentioned that "Alien Ambassador" position? Plus didn't the Vatican do a (quite) u-turn a while ago when some high up Astronomer Priest said life could exisist on planets other than Earth somewhere out there. (yet still stupid enough to suggest he would baptise an Alien if they arrrived here... yeah they advanced so far to be able to travel the stars yet they would believe the son of God was sent to out planet and also died for their sins too... likely if they did believe in a God, if there was no Jesus figure on their planet they'd prolly be pissed God choose us when they were obviously around longer than us or they would likely force their religion on us, chances any would convert to any of ours is zero [/crazy church rant])

 

 

If it can't be solved, aliens will never be able to visit us (or us them). If it can be solved, I don't see why it wasn't solved millions of years ago by an advanced civilisation, and thus they could have been visiting us since the Earth was formed.

 

Whose to say they haven't done so in the past?

Ever heard of the Ancient Astronaut theory? They just haven't been here recently... or they have but see we're at a point where they must keep a distance from personal contact for now.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronaut

 

If you look at a lot of ancient paintings/carvings/figurines etc from different ancient earth cultures you'll likely come across something that could be described as depicting someone in a spacesuit or in some cases something that is humanoid but not human. Plus there's all those pictures in places like South America on the ground that can only be seen from the sky and such... whats that all about?

[Dannyboy-the-Dane]

I love "conspiracy" theories like this! I'm not sure I believe that many of them, but I find them endlessly fascinating.

[ViPeR]

The growth of our entire civilisation could be an alien experiment lol, to what end I don't know.

[Diageo]

The growth of our entire civilisation could be an alien experiment lol, to what end I don't know.

Maybe examine how their civilisation could have started.

 

I don't really believe in those things though.

[Grazza]

What an amazing episode that was. One thing was the brilliant content, but the humour and personality of Mr Hawking himself added so much to the experience.

 

Yes indeed, I love his dry wit. Now I've seen all three of them, I enjoyed the aliens one the most (because I admit that's what I'm most interested in) and found the time travel one to be an excellent programme, but it hurt my head. Last night's, though, was terrifying and apocalyptic!

 

Going back to the Earth-like planet that was found, does nobody find it somewhat coincidental that this comes just after the UN mentioned that "Alien Ambassador" position? Plus didn't the Vatican do a (quite) u-turn a while ago when some high up Astronomer Priest said life could exisist on planets other than Earth somewhere out there.

 

It does make me wonder, especially the widely-reported stories, such as the UN Ambassador, the Vatican and the Earth-like planet, because if the authorities wanted to get us used to something, they'd make sure it was widely-reported. Also, it seems like every time I sign out of email, there's a UFO story. It does make me wonder if someone's trying to tell us something.

 

In the '90s I was actually sceptical about UFOs, as I assumed they were all secret aircraft. However, I've been particularly interested in the wave of claims I've heard in the last few years, including declassified MoD files (incidentally, it's remarkable that this year's were the last ever. Incredibly, the MoD will no longer have a UFO Desk or release the reports. Suspicious in itself, I think...)

 

Something quite incredible happened last week. Although not widely-reported, I find these claims incredible. Everyone involved and all the incidents are well-known and go back decades, so it can't be written-off as a hoax. For whatever reason, someone, somewhere wants us to believe USAF personnel saw UFOs they believed to be extra-terrestrial.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1315479/Aliens-interfered-weapons-UFOs-deactivating-nuclear-missiles.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/ufo/8026971/Aliens-have-deactivated-British-and-US-nuclear-missiles-say-US-military-pilots.html

 

If you look at a lot of ancient paintings/carvings/figurines etc from different ancient earth cultures you'll likely come across something that could be described as depicting someone in a spacesuit or in some cases something that is humanoid but not human. Plus there's all those pictures in places like South America on the ground that can only be seen from the sky and such... whats that all about?

 

The Nazca lines can be explained, I think, by the ancients thinking spirits would be able to see the drawings from above. Furthermore, I disagree with those who would say Stonehenge, the Pyramids and the Easter Island statues were beyond the technology of those who built them - we know how all of them were built. However, it's an interesting theory and I don't totally write it off. After all, seen on a big scale, there is no reason aliens couldn't have visited us thousands of years ago - if interstellar travel is possible, that is.

[MoogleViper]

In the '90s I was actually sceptical about UFOs, as I assumed they were all secret aircraft. However, I've been particularly interested in the wave of claims I've heard in the last few years, including declassified MoD files (incidentally, it's remarkable that this year's were the last ever. Incredibly, the MoD will no longer have a UFO Desk or release the reports. Suspicious in itself, I think...)

 

Thinking that they were secret aircraft wouldn't be being sceptical about UFOs.

[Grazza]

Thinking that they were secret aircraft wouldn't be being sceptical about UFOs.

 

OK, OK, but they'd be known to Earth authorities. I meant "sceptical that UFOs were anything beyond current Earth technology".

[MoogleViper]

OK, OK, but they'd be known to Earth authorities. I meant "sceptical that UFOs were anything beyond current Earth technology".

 

Ah fair enough. I does annoy me when people think that UFO = alien spaceship.

[Dannyboy-the-Dane]

Mr Hawking himself said it best in the alien episode: If the government really knows about aliens and is keeping it a secret, they're much, much better at it than they seem to be at anything else.

[Grazza]

Mr Hawking himself said it best in the alien episode: If the government really knows about aliens and is keeping it a secret, they're much, much better at it than they seem to be at anything else.

 

Maybe they aren't good at keeping it secret. Maybe it does constantly get leaked, but no one believes it. I'm half sure that if Barack Obama announced tomorrow that aliens were visiting, most people would pretend he hadn't said anything and just talk about football.

 

There are certainly lots of alien stories recently. This from the Telegraph:

 

Mission to search for alien life in outer atmosphere

 

Life from outer space could be surviving on the outer fringes of the Earth's atmosphere, according to scientists who are to launch a mission to search for bacteria that could be living there.

 

By Richard Gray, Science Correspondent

Published: 9:00PM BST 02 Oct 2010

 

In science fiction films the search for aliens involves travelling across the galaxy to planets millions of miles away.

 

But scientists believe they could be close to discovering alien life forms much closer to home – on the outer fringes of Earth's atmosphere.

 

British scientists, working with the European Space Agency, will this week launch a balloon carrying instruments to search the stratosphere for bacteria and other microorganisms.

 

They believe there could be species capable of surviving in the high levels of radiation, extreme cold and near vacuum found on the edge of space.

 

The organisms could be entirely new to science and may even have been brought here from outer space by hitching a ride on asteroids or comets.

 

If they succeed, it would be the first time alien life had been captured and would lend substantial weight to theories that all life on Earth was brought here from elsewhere in the galaxy.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/8038639/Mission-to-search-for-alien-life-in-outer-atmosphere.html

[Jimbob]

So in theory, we are all aliens.

 

I knew there was something fishy with the neighbours.

[Goafer]

The power of 10 video is pretty impressive. The parody version is even better:

 

[Retro_Link]

Total Lunar Eclipse tomorrow morning around 6.30... hopefully the skies won't be full of snow cloud.

[Jimbob]

Total Lunar Eclipse tomorrow morning around 6.30... hopefully the skies won't be full of snow cloud.

 

Hope not, would be nice to be able to see it.

[Sméagol]

Total Lunar Eclipse tomorrow morning around 6.30... hopefully the skies won't be full of snow cloud.

Looked up the details' date=' apparently, we won't be able to see it here in the Netherlands (just part of it).

 

But for anyone interested in space and / or pretty pictures:

 

[YOUTUBE']W2VygftZSCs[/YOUTUBE]

 

Also:

 

[some guy tweeting pictures from outer space (the ISS to be precise)]

 

And:

 

[Transcripts from early space missions]

[Serebii]

Total Lunar Eclipse tomorrow morning around 6.30... hopefully the skies won't be full of snow cloud.

You'll need to have an unobstruced view though as it'll be very low when it reaches totality at around 8:15 ZULU...almost on the horizon. Best to go to the cliffs or on top of a high building to see it.

 

I do believe eventually energy will not be an issue. There is a theory of "Perpetual Motion" - the basic idea is opposing magnets create constant energy - but no one can do it successfully. It's funny' date=' because it seems like something that could be solved, but it hasn't happened yet.

 

As for the Theory of Relativity, I believe aliens would have to visit us before we know if it's an unsurpassable barrier or not. Einstein was a genius amongst men, but it's not inconceivable that a being with multiple times the brain capacity of a human would solve it.

 

If it can't be solved, aliens will never be able to visit us (or us them). If it can be solved, I don't see why it wasn't solved millions of years ago by an advanced civilisation, and thus they could have been visiting us since the Earth was formed.[/quote']

 

You need to realise one of the keywords of your statement is Theory. We cannot take our science and our scientists theories as fact. They're observations and hypotheses, so while yes they may be on to something, it's equally, if not even more likely that they are absolutely and utterly wrong. Most scientific theory and "fact" is then revise and corrected within 50 years.

 

It's somewhat arrogant of humans to think that, just because we haven't worked out a way to do something, that it's impossible. It's the "speed of sound" thing all over again. They said it was impossible to break, they said it'd kill people. They were wrong.

I know that this was from 2 months ago, but it needed saying.

Edited December 20, 2010 by Serebii
Automerged Doublepost

[Dannyboy-the-Dane]

Managed to catch the lunar eclipse yesterday morning. I believe the total eclipse began at 8:35 CET.