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Do you think aliens will ever land?

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Greshym_Shorkan
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20 Jan 2010, 3:48 pm

Wouldn't it be neat if they took the initiative? And like, didn't try to take us over? :lol:



ruveyn
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20 Jan 2010, 4:24 pm

From where would they come? And how would they get here. No ponderable massive object can attain the speed of light starting from rest in their frame of reference.

ruveyn



TheOddGoat
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20 Jan 2010, 4:33 pm

We already have fossilized alien bacteria.

They landed post mortem.

Does this count?



Fuzzy
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20 Jan 2010, 6:21 pm

TheOddGoat wrote:
We already have fossilized alien bacteria.

They landed post mortem.

Does this count?


The AH84 asteroid 1?

Its refuted...


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dddhgg
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20 Jan 2010, 6:33 pm

ruveyn wrote:
From where would they come? And how would they get here. No ponderable massive object can attain the speed of light starting from rest in their frame of reference.

ruveyn


An interstellar spacecraft wouldn't need to travel at speed of light if the beings on board had a very long lifespan, or some means of cryogenic preservation, or the will to make it a multi-generational project. Let's say the beings from Gliese 581c, provided there is life possible there, had a spaceship that could travel at c/10, which I think is feasible for a technologically advanced civilization. It would take them 200 years to get here. But for a being with a lifespan of ~1000 years (also not unimaginable; some trees and other organisms on earth can do this) this is quite doable I suppose.

Just take it easy, and one day the cosmos will be yours.


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TheOddGoat
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20 Jan 2010, 7:15 pm

Fuzzy wrote:
TheOddGoat wrote:
We already have fossilized alien bacteria.

They landed post mortem.

Does this count?


The AH84 asteroid 1?

Its refuted...


Lame, I didn't follow it fully then.

You have a link to the rest of the story somewhere?



zer0netgain
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20 Jan 2010, 7:16 pm

ruveyn wrote:
From where would they come? And how would they get here. No ponderable massive object can attain the speed of light starting from rest in their frame of reference.


Only according to Eisenstein physics. For all we know there are tricks to get around that problem we haven't discovered yet.

Besides, how do you know we aren't already here. 8) :lol:



Fuzzy
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20 Jan 2010, 7:32 pm

TheOddGoat wrote:
Fuzzy wrote:
TheOddGoat wrote:
We already have fossilized alien bacteria.

They landed post mortem.

Does this count?


The AH84 asteroid 1?

Its refuted...


Lame, I didn't follow it fully then.

You have a link to the rest of the story somewhere?


Nope, sorry.

I do hope that when they find life it is a bit more spectacular. I hope it will shock humanity into becoming more unified.


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Sand
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20 Jan 2010, 8:17 pm

They've already landed and are working at McDonalds and Walmart.



techstepgenr8tion
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20 Jan 2010, 8:55 pm

If a race has the advancement of mind and technology to fly from one edge of the universe to another in a matter of a couple hours or weeks; why would they want anything to do with us? I sure as heck wouldn't if I were them.


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nickn3ro
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20 Jan 2010, 9:36 pm

it would be cool to meet aliens and stuff(not from another country) but who says once they land we wont become their pets or itll be like mars attacks



Sand
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20 Jan 2010, 9:52 pm

nickn3ro wrote:
it would be cool to meet aliens and stuff(not from another country) but who says once they land we wont become their pets or itll be like mars attacks


Pets is a nice concept. A quick snack is more likely.



Fuzzy
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21 Jan 2010, 12:13 am

Sand wrote:
nickn3ro wrote:
it would be cool to meet aliens and stuff(not from another country) but who says once they land we wont become their pets or itll be like mars attacks


Pets is a nice concept. A quick snack is more likely.


More likely we would be poisonous to them as they are to us. Imagine the cross species viruses? Dead cowboys and injuns everywhere.


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Greshym_Shorkan
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21 Jan 2010, 12:24 am

zer0netgain wrote:
ruveyn wrote:
From where would they come? And how would they get here. No ponderable massive object can attain the speed of light starting from rest in their frame of reference.


Only according to Eisenstein physics. For all we know there are tricks to get around that problem we haven't discovered yet.

Besides, how do you know we aren't already here. 8) :lol:


I wonder the same thing. We seem to think that our current knowledge is the be all and end all of what is possible. Think only 500 years ago, and what life is like now compared to then. People couldn't have imagined what we can do now. Give us another 1500 years, there's no telling what we'll discover about the natural world and it's laws.



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21 Jan 2010, 12:51 am

Greshym_Shorkan wrote:
zer0netgain wrote:
ruveyn wrote:
From where would they come? And how would they get here. No ponderable massive object can attain the speed of light starting from rest in their frame of reference.


Only according to Eisenstein physics. For all we know there are tricks to get around that problem we haven't discovered yet.

Besides, how do you know we aren't already here. 8) :lol:


I wonder the same thing. We seem to think that our current knowledge is the be all and end all of what is possible. Think only 500 years ago, and what life is like now compared to then. People couldn't have imagined what we can do now. Give us another 1500 years, there's no telling what we'll discover about the natural world and it's laws.


We might discover that there is no life at all anywhere else or that the Sun is on the point of blowing up or that rats are basically more intelligent than humans and they will build robots to use humans as slaves or for rats to use as experimental subjects in their laboratories or that dog droppings are more delicious than breakfast cereal and far more nourishing. There are unimaginable wonders to come.



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21 Jan 2010, 4:45 am

dddhgg wrote:
ruveyn wrote:
From where would they come? And how would they get here. No ponderable massive object can attain the speed of light starting from rest in their frame of reference.

ruveyn


An interstellar spacecraft wouldn't need to travel at speed of light if the beings on board had a very long lifespan, or some means of cryogenic preservation, or the will to make it a multi-generational project. Let's say the beings from Gliese 581c, provided there is life possible there, had a spaceship that could travel at c/10, which I think is feasible for a technologically advanced civilization. It would take them 200 years to get here. But for a being with a lifespan of ~1000 years (also not unimaginable; some trees and other organisms on earth can do this) this is quite doable I suppose.

Just take it easy, and one day the cosmos will be yours.


Yes, such interstellar travel is possible even with our current technology. Back in the 1970's even, when Project Daedalus was being considered. The two main reasons why we aren't already out there are (1) current economy, and (2) cost versus benefit (known financial returns). Also, to some extent, I think the scientific community in general has shifted too far away from the observable universe. There is so much grant money spent on research into origins and biology, but barely any being spent on continuing our advance into space. The Columbia accident slowed things down a bit in terms of public interest, which can partially account for such laxity in regard to this endeavor. But, such is still possible under current technology. The interest in space needs to be regained. Not necessarily the alien aspect of that, though that would certainly be interesting, but just space travel and tourism itself. Wouldn't it be awesome to take a month long space cruise to Mars and actually set foot on another planet? Wouldn't it be awesome to explore the wonders of this solar system? Or even further? But here we sit, while we contemplate our navels.