Ok, let's assume we find a warm, watery planet like Earth's within ~20 light years, and we figure out a way to travel >= 50% the speed of light, making it somewhat reasonable to get there. If the planet's gravity is greater than 10% different from Earth's, or its Day/Night cycle is much different from Earth's, wouldn't it still be a nightmare to live on. Anatomically modern humans have lived on Earth for 200,000 year…
Four Earth-sized planets detected orbiting the nearest sun-like star
51–60 of 305 posts
Re: Four Earth-sized planets detected orbiting the nearest sun-like star
#52Key line to mitigate disappointment: "The outer two planets around tau Ceti are likely to be candidate habitable worlds, although a massive debris disc around the star probably reduces their habitability due to intensive bombardment by asteroids and comets."
Re: Four Earth-sized planets detected orbiting the nearest sun-like star
#53Ok, let's assume we find a warm, watery planet like Earth's within ~20 light years, and we figure out a way to travel >= 50% the speed of light, making it somewhat reasonable to get there. If the planet's gravity is greater than 10% different from Earth's, or its Day/Night cycle is much different from Earth's, wouldn't it still be a nightmare to live on. Anatomically modern humans have lived on Earth for 200,000 year…
Why would gravity be the problem? There are people that weigh twice the weight of other people same height. I guess very low gravity could affect calcium in the bones and there could be other various effects. But people are life and life is adaptable. Day/night cycle? It varies greatly on earth too. Also one person's nightmare is just life for some other.
This isn't the same thing at all.
Growing up in a high gravity environment would definitely alter your growth. We've also seen that it leads to fluid imbalance, cardiovascular issues and general fatigue
Re: Four Earth-sized planets detected orbiting the nearest sun-like star
#54Ok, let's assume we find a warm, watery planet like Earth's within ~20 light years, and we figure out a way to travel >= 50% the speed of light, making it somewhat reasonable to get there. If the planet's gravity is greater than 10% different from Earth's, or its Day/Night cycle is much different from Earth's, wouldn't it still be a nightmare to live on. Anatomically modern humans have lived on Earth for 200,000 year…
Why would gravity be the problem? There are people that weigh twice the weight of other people same height. I guess very low gravity could affect calcium in the bones and there could be other various effects. But people are life and life is adaptable. Day/night cycle? It varies greatly on earth too. Also one person's nightmare is just life for some other.
Re: Four Earth-sized planets detected orbiting the nearest sun-like star
#55Ok, let's assume we find a warm, watery planet like Earth's within ~20 light years, and we figure out a way to travel >= 50% the speed of light, making it somewhat reasonable to get there. If the planet's gravity is greater than 10% different from Earth's, or its Day/Night cycle is much different from Earth's, wouldn't it still be a nightmare to live on. Anatomically modern humans have lived on Earth for 200,000 year…
In other words, you'd almost definitely have to send a generation ship. Which means you'd have to have already figured things like artificial gravity, giving birth and raising children in space, etc. It wouldn't be too hard to imagine taking earth values for day/night and gravity, and then gradually over 50 years adjusting them so that, by the time you arrive, you'd have acclimatized to those values on the new world.
Also, nuclear sub crews live 18 hour days, so it's definitely doable.
Re: Four Earth-sized planets detected orbiting the nearest sun-like star
#56The fastest spacecraft ever built would take 4000 years to travel one light year.
In 4000 years we can build way way more faster ships and catch up to those poor guys launched a centuries earlier just because they thought they are fast enough :) On the serious side, we only need antimatter and the drive problem is kind of solved (yes, I might be the one in the good enough ship :)).
If it got down under a year maybe, but predicting what might happen if we invent FTL is a job for people who are deliberately making things up.
Re: Four Earth-sized planets detected orbiting the nearest sun-like star
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why would gravity be the problem? There are people that weigh twice the weight of other people same height. I guess very low gravity could affect calcium in the bones and there could be other various effects. But people are life and life is adaptable. Day/night cycle? It varies greatly on earth too. Also one person's nightmare is just life for some other.
> There are people that weigh twice the weight of other people This isn't the same thing at all. Growing up in a high gravity environment would definitely alter your growth. We've also seen that it leads to fluid imbalance, cardiovascular issues and general fatigue
Sounds pretty much the same as obesity to me.
Re: Four Earth-sized planets detected orbiting the nearest sun-like star
#58Ok, let's assume we find a warm, watery planet like Earth's within ~20 light years, and we figure out a way to travel >= 50% the speed of light, making it somewhat reasonable to get there. If the planet's gravity is greater than 10% different from Earth's, or its Day/Night cycle is much different from Earth's, wouldn't it still be a nightmare to live on. Anatomically modern humans have lived on Earth for 200,000 year…
Maybe someone knowledgeable in this space can tell me, but is a planet's atmospheric pressure reliably proportional to its mass?
Re: Four Earth-sized planets detected orbiting the nearest sun-like star
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
With the EMdrive it'll take around 150 years (give or take a century), so it's within the realm of possibility if we can engineer a ship with shielding that can last that long. The mission becomes an order of a magnitude more difficult if you want to put a viable human population on it... watch Pandorum for one scenario.... perhaps it's best to send a seed ship (as written about in the excellent SF story by Pamela Sa…
Give or take a century? So you're saying that the range could be 50-250 years?
Re: Four Earth-sized planets detected orbiting the nearest sun-like star
#60Ok, let's assume we find a warm, watery planet like Earth's within ~20 light years, and we figure out a way to travel >= 50% the speed of light, making it somewhat reasonable to get there. If the planet's gravity is greater than 10% different from Earth's, or its Day/Night cycle is much different from Earth's, wouldn't it still be a nightmare to live on. Anatomically modern humans have lived on Earth for 200,000 year…
I'm sure it wouldn't be easy, but humans have proven to be very adaptable.
to conditions on Earth