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Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]

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Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]

#441

Post by monk_e_boy »

ElComradio wrote: post #330
dudus wrote: post #277

Watching live the announcement and presentation by Elon on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1YxNYiyALg Where the hell did they get this audience from? Is this hosted on a frat house with some academic invites? There's a dude jokingly saying that burning man felt like mars with a lot of shit and no water, there's a guy plugging his comic book, there's a guy making a joke on how we should send Michael Cera to Mars, a g…

Well, this is coming from a guy who apparently thinks the height of subversive humor is naming cars to spell SEX and sending people into fits of giggles that it's called the BFR. A frat house environment does not seem all that out of place in this context.

Isn't that just a part of having a personality? In the planning stages you give something a silly name and it kinda sticks, especially when it's the big boss who came up with the name.

Kinda like the "heart of gold" -- it tickles Elon.

Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]

#442

Post by neaden »

ythl wrote: post #411
weatherlight wrote: post #398

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously, this 1000x. if we are going to survive the next millennia, we need to get off this rock.

I still think it's many, many orders of magnitude easier to survive on a messed up earth than on a fresh Mars or Venus.

There is pretty much nothing we can do to this planet to make it less habitable then Mars short of filling it with self sustaining death robot armies set to kill all humans or something. Incredibly severe global warming? Still a better temperature then mars. Nuclear Winter? Still can breathe the atmosphere.

Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]

#443

Post by kchoudhu »

wyager wrote: post #425
kchoudhu wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just finished reading these books for what seems like the millionth time, and Mr. Musk hasn't even begun to answer the questions they raise. What is the legal structure going to be on the 1MM person colony? Who gets to go? What are the transplants allowed to do there? Who rules? Who do the rulers answer to? Are we going to Terraform Mars? If yes, under whose auspices and with what restrictions? FTR: this is Elon Mu…

> Who gets to go? According to Musk, whoever pays. > Who rules? Not to be flippant, but who cares? The worst case scenario is that we repeat British colonialism and the martians overthrow the despotic earth government in a few generations. Same as always, the colony is too far away for the motherland to effectively maintain control. The important thing is getting humans to Mars; all the short-term stuff is important,…

> Whoever pays

So Mars is going to be a colony of the developed world elite.

> Who cares

A million people generate is not short term or small scale. Property rights, criminal law and all of these other things that make civilization civilization will need to be hashed before we get out there.

> Musk clearly wants to

This is pristine, unspoiled nature we're talking about. There are immense ecological concerns here that aren't simply mitigated by Musk throwing cash at the problem.

Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]

#444

Post by detritus »

dudus wrote: post #277

Watching live the announcement and presentation by Elon on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1YxNYiyALg Where the hell did they get this audience from? Is this hosted on a frat house with some academic invites? There's a dude jokingly saying that burning man felt like mars with a lot of shit and no water, there's a guy plugging his comic book, there's a guy making a joke on how we should send Michael Cera to Mars, a g…

Thank you, yes - utterly! And, dare I say it, half of them sounded stoned too (and I'm a smoker)

He says mid-way through he'd gloss over detail and leave technical questions until the end, and what did we get..?

I feel so bad for the guy in that regard.

Let's hope the seed is planted - that's all that Musk has fundamentally wanted anyway.

Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]

#445

Post by wyager »

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #86
kamaal wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>The earth isn't the problem It is. If you are yet not convinced, you might want to take a look at how many species go extinct every day. There are a many threats to human existence beyond human behavior and preparing for them is a good move forward.

Or you know...discovered [1] Also, show me the species on other planets. Far as we know there aren't any and none of the planets seem to be habitable. Stop living in fantasy land. [1] http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/new-animal-species

> and none of the planets seem to be habitable.

You surely don't mean that no other planets could be used to sustain life with technological assistance?

Mars has water, accessible nitrogen (HNO3), carbon (CO2), hydrogen (H2O), oxygen (all of the above)... technologically assisted humans could absolutely inhabit mars.

Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]

#447

Post by cs702 »

To the US Federal Government:

PLEASE. FUND. THIS.

Loan the money to SpaceX, or partner with private investors, or increase NASA's budget and have NASA pay for it. Just make it happen.

Even if this project fails, the benefits from having a lot of smart people trying to get to and establish a colony on Mars will pay dividends for a long time.

Please make it happen!

Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]

#448

Post by cududa »

goatlover wrote: post #254
lloeki wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So why are you upset with this one and not all those others? I'd venture that's because it somehow silently challenges the humanocentric point of view that many (unconsciously, mostly) hold onto. Why would anyone seemingly cling so much onto that pale blue dot unless it's held as deeply special in some way?

Because we don't have access to another pale blue dot. Turning Venus, Mars or one of the gas giant moons into a livable planet in any way comparable to Earth is a gigantic long term undertaking.

Who cares if it's a long term undertaking? The people capable of bringing about something. So miraculous won't be looking to achieve it all or see the fruits of their labor in their lifetime - a start contrast to the 12-30 month timelines that most modern software projects follow..

Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]

#449

Post by CalRobert »

martindevans wrote: post #377
dcposch wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just an idea: sentiment analysis has gotten pretty accurate. What if HN included sentiment in the sort algorithm? The post score you see would stay the same (upvotes minus downvotes). You'd just multiply the sort score by, for example, 1.25 for posts positive in tone and 0.8 for posts with negative tone. So if two comments have about the same number of upvotes, the nicer one appears higher up. Criticism or disapprova…

That presumes that the negative comments are always the ones derailing the discussion. For example: "I think these questions at IAC are great, it's good that people get a chance to at a technical conference" "Wtf is with these stupid questions at IAC? They should be asking about "

Hah, you just described the sheer drivel which is comments on LinkedIn stories. Good point - contentious and _well presented_ negative arguments are still helpful.

Re: Making Humans a Multiplanetary Species [video]

#450

Post by pavanlimo »

Florin_Andrei wrote: post #371
wmccullough wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're my hero! This attitude is why I quit regularly contributing to this site. Any time any single person does something positive, some armchair "expert" comes out the woodworks to tell you how it won't work or can't work.

> Any time any single person does something positive, some armchair "expert" comes out the woodworks to tell you how it won't work or can't work. All public forums go bad once they reach a certain size. Since everything is on a gaussian curve (fat mediocre middle, and two asymptotes, one for greatness, the other for the opposite end), it's just pure statistics that junk comments will start creeping in once the popula…

Comment sounds like another armchair "expert" opinion to me :-)
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