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An extrasolar world covered in water?

nouvelles.umontreal.ca

141–150 of 150 posts

Re: An extrasolar world covered in water?

#141
post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speed through space + Time adds up to the speed of light or something like that (not a physicist). So as you get closer and closer to the speed of light, your motion through time (from your point of view) slows tremendously. So a few years to you, could be centuries to outside observers. Source: some Kip Thorne lectures I saw like 15 years ago.

It’s interesting that space and time are so intrinsically linked. So space “needs” time and vice-versa. I would love to be able to take an peak behind the curtain how it all works (as I think the relativity theory is rather descriptive, not the true mechanism) I mean (so Energy is mass accel^2) so does that make space and time equal to energy. i need a coffee for this one*

Yeah, I just try to learn a bit of the high level "understanding" of how the experts say things like time dilation work, but that's about it. I don't try to extrapolate what little I know as it would likely all be nonsense without a full understanding of the math of all of this stuff: relativity, quantum mechanics, cosmology...etc. Not that it isn't good to think about this stuff.

Re: An extrasolar world covered in water?

#142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this really how time dilation works?

Yip, although there's also length contraction in play. The universe just starts contorting itself to ensure nothing ever exceeds the speed of light. What the GP post is referring to is called a 'relativistic rocket'. You can find plenty of calculators for them, like here [1]. It leads to really mind-bending scenarios. For instance a single human could easily travel a billion light years within their lifetime, requiri…

"The universe just starts contorting itself to ensure nothing ever exceeds the speed of light."

This pretty well describes what it's like walking around in a game. Everything looks and acts pretty normal and rational up close, yet I can walk across a continent in a few minutes, yet each individual step along the way looked normal.

Re: An extrasolar world covered in water?

#143
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Programming machines to make the trip and then seeding with human life seems to be the best answer to distance.

That would be so interesting - could be many a sci-fi stories created on that premise. Some mechanical robot/starship storing frozen embryos for 100 years to be released on a far-away exoplanet, the starship taking care of them while they grow up and learn how to live on this new world - the beginnings of a new civilization - a technological adam and eve of sorts.

Or possibly long hibernation could allow adults to travel too.

Re: An extrasolar world covered in water?

#144
post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wonderfully written, but for my shame I expected a different storyline and put it down a year or so ago after only reading 60 pages or so and haven't gone back to it. I keep packing it one times away, but... . One day I might learn how to have a kid AND read books :/

I started reading the Foundation trilogy out loud to my infant. One gets through the books a lot more slowly but it works! I must admit that even if he falls asleep I'll cheat and finish the chapter (still reading vocally). Bonus: it lets me practice voices for DM'ing DnD games

haha, I should try that perhaps - particularly as I happen to have been carrying Foundation around in my bag and barely managing to read about two pages on my commute :) I never was good at reading when there's interesting Life to gawp at out the window.

Re: An extrasolar world covered in water?

#145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The seeds of humanity won't be humanity at all, but the AI.

It's all fun and games until you think about the practicalities of building a self-repairing machine that can keep running for hundreds/thousands/millions of years with no significant software or hardware errors.

A thinking machine would handle errors. That seems simple. Are you imagining that "AI" would be a static piece of code?

Re: An extrasolar world covered in water?

#146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the AI will find little reason to take us with them to the stars.

I don't understand people who say things like this. If we invented AGI tomorrow, how would it achieve domination over us humans? It is like Voltaire, Rousseau, Locke, Milton, Hobbes, Rawls never even existed and we don't have any sort of coherent understanding of political philosophy and how power is gained and enacted at the consent of the governed. I also find that discussions of interstellar travel tend to conveni…

> If we invented AGI tomorrow, how would it achieve domination over us humans?

Biological evolution takes millions of years to improve human intelligence. Artificial intelligence will be able to develop and deploy self-improvements within years, compounding its abilities.

Re: An extrasolar world covered in water?

#147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand people who say things like this. If we invented AGI tomorrow, how would it achieve domination over us humans? It is like Voltaire, Rousseau, Locke, Milton, Hobbes, Rawls never even existed and we don't have any sort of coherent understanding of political philosophy and how power is gained and enacted at the consent of the governed. I also find that discussions of interstellar travel tend to conveni…

> If we invented AGI tomorrow, how would it achieve domination over us humans? Biological evolution takes millions of years to improve human intelligence. Artificial intelligence will be able to develop and deploy self-improvements within years, compounding its abilities.

I get that hypothetically these AGIs would become very smart. But it's not like being very smart is the main criterium for gaining power and becoming a world leader?

All real power stems from old men talking in country clubs and golf courses. The super-smart people work in labs and universities and earn decent salaries while worrying about publication and citationd statistics and journal impact factors.

How does the AGI go golfing?

Re: An extrasolar world covered in water?

#148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So its a droplet, were a small moony core tumbles around in the crushing depths?

Someone’s would have to do the math on the core pressure, but likely there would be an ice mantle around a rocky core and possibly a supercritical layer. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase_diagram#/media/File%3A...

Imagine lifing on such a world. Ice plates are the only spot to create long lasting structures. Iron is more worth then gold. Meteorites create food frenzies and scavanger hunts. Electrolysis of metals from water is the only way to create a industrial base.
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