Undefeated Steak Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 Space is awesome. Nothing blows my mind quite like the thought of infinite time, space and the universe. Quick question: If human civilisation were to survive long enough, would there reach a point where we could know everything possible about the universe, or would there be parts of it that even, theoretically speaking, billions of years down the line, the human brain and whatever technology we developed would reach a limit and we wouldn't be able to work other parts out? Â This is one of the best images I've seen on the internet. It's a time lapse taken from the Hubble Space Telescope and features some of the oldest galaxies in the universe. Remember just how big a galaxy is (our solar system is about .0032% the size of our galaxy, the Milky Way). Travelling at the speed of light, it would take around 3.2 years to cross the solar system. It would take around 100,000 to travel the diameter of the Milky Way. The known universe is around 156 billion light years wide. Â Anyway, said image: Â Â Â For those wanting to gain an appreciation of what travelling to Mars from Earth would be like in the form of pixels, click here... Â http://www.distancetomars.com/ Â Within one (admittedly generous) lifetime, we've gone from accomplishing the first earth flight, to landing on the moon, to landing a probe on a comet. Mental. Â Space is also cool because you can think about theories without having to wear a tinfoil hat or watch out for the fluoride in your toothpaste. Any other space fans on here? Â Â Â Â Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members GlennCullen Posted December 4, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted December 4, 2014 I find space completely fascinating. The sheer size of the galaxy, combined with how minuscule we are within it, is absolutely mind blowing. Â In terms of other forms of life, my view is that there are thousands of other planets containing relatively comparable species to ours, but we're all confined to our own solar systems, barely able to get past our own moons. It's both overwhelming and frustrating to think about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Undefeated Steak Posted December 4, 2014 Author Share Posted December 4, 2014 I think once a civilisation can work out how to use antimatter then they've cracked it. That's when you can start travelling at near light speed with barely any extra energy needed. In a universe which contains billion of galaxies, with each one of those containing billions of stars, it's hard to argue against other forms of life being out there. If given enough time and resources, I think humans could eventually control most parts of the earth (weather, tides, volcanoes etc.) It wouldn't surprise me if there are far more advanced civilisations out there who can do much more than that, such as control their moons and perhaps even suns and galaxies. Â The really mind blowing part is when you imagine the possibilities that there can be more universes than this. What's to say there aren't an almost infinite number of universes in other dimensions and time frames? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sphinx Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 A Short History of Nearly Everything fucking blew my mind when I started reading it as a teen. I feel I need to delve back into space stuff again. Â There's a theory that I can get behind that my brother once told me. If you imagine 2D people in a 2D world, and a 3D sphere coming into that world, they wouldn't be able to comprehend it as it's outside the realm of their understanding. I think there could be extra-terrestial life that we don't understand and so we can't see it yet. Not saying they're already here, but they aren't going to be like the common image of a Martian either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Coconut Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 I think once a civilisation can work out how to use antimatter then they've cracked it. That's when you can start travelling at near light speed  Even at near-light speed it would take the astronauts 5-6 years to get to the nearest star. That's only counting their time too. The time that would pass on earth would render the expedition pretty useless. If we really want to explore anything outside of our solar system we need to find a way of bending the rules rather than just going faster.   There's a theory that I can get behind that my brother once told me. If you imagine 2D people in a 2D world, and a 3D sphere coming into that world, they wouldn't be able to comprehend it as it's outside the realm of their understanding. I think there could be extra-terrestial life that we don't understand and so we can't see it yet. Not saying they're already here, but they aren't going to be like the common image of a Martian either.  The 2D people would comprehend 2 of the dimensions, so they would comprehend it as a circle, rather than a sphere. If there were multi-dimensional beings amongst us, I reckon we would've spotted them jumping in and out of 'existence'.  Edit - Yeah, space! It's fucking great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Space is just too fucking big, and the current theories suggest that there are LOAD of universes as well, created from black holes. Â Going anywhere will be impossible without some fundamental re-evaluations of our current understanding of the laws of physics. Â Also, we've really stalled in our forward progress! Â If you think that we entered space in the 50s, landed on the moon in the 60s, and haven't been back to the moon since 1972... Â We don't even have spacecraft as good, in some respects, as the Space Shuttle any more! Â It's always going to be incredibly, unsustainably expensive so without the huge will of a country like 60s US, things just won't move forward. Â I'm hoping China will take the lead and start doing some cool shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members SpursRiot2012 Posted December 6, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted December 6, 2014 Seeing the launch of Orion earlier was cool and dismaying in equal measure. Fucking rockets aren't going to get us anywhere worth going to. Sending people to Mars just for the sake of saying we did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Undefeated Steak Posted December 23, 2014 Author Share Posted December 23, 2014  The sun as taken from NASA's NuStar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members FLips Posted December 23, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted December 23, 2014 Well, fuck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Thunderplex Posted December 23, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted December 23, 2014 I start thinking about space and I get a headache. The fact that we can look at a star that's possibly been dead millions of years, may have had planets, may have had life that no longer exists, and that someone may be looking at our sun In The same way in millions of years, blows my mind, as does the concept of it never ending. Incredible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members SpursRiot2012 Posted December 23, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted December 23, 2014 And then you try explaining that to your boss when he's berating you about your sickness absences and it doesn't seem to cut any ice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Wretch Posted December 23, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted December 23, 2014 I start thinking about space and I get a headache. The fact that we can look at a star that's possibly been dead millions of years, may have had planets, may have had life that no longer exists, and that someone may be looking at our sun In The same way in millions of years, blows my mind, as does the concept of it never ending. Incredible.Humans haven't yet evolved to the point where we can understand just how big the universe really is, which is why we all get headaches when we stop and think about it. We're all too stupid to understand it. Same thing for how old the universe is too. We've evolved to think of time relative to our own lifetimes. So anyone who claims to truly understand how big or how old the universe is is a dirty rotten liar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Undefeated Steak Posted December 23, 2014 Author Share Posted December 23, 2014 I did put this in the OP but I'm gonna post it again because it's really worth checking out and ties in with the 'how big is the universe' question. A simulation of how long it would take to get to Mars travelling at 3x the speed of light. Â http://www.distancetomars.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Surf Digby Posted December 23, 2014 Paid Members Share Posted December 23, 2014 So anyone who claims to truly understand how big or how old the universe is is a dirty rotten liar.I go along with the definition in The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, and that suits me fine. "Bigger than the biggest thing ever, and then some". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Surf Digby Posted January 21, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted January 21, 2015 What's this? It's a 1.5 billion megapixel image that NASA's released for us to play with. Â http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1502a/zoomable/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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