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First atmosphere found on Earth-like planet in habitable zone of distant star

bbc.com

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Re: First atmosphere found on Earth-like planet in habitable zone of distant star

#171

Post by eightysixfour »

throw4847285 wrote: post #167

I'm always so alienated (sorry) by the excitement around things like this. People start fantasizing about FTL and space arks and there is just no evidence that any of that is possible, desirable, effective, anything really. I know I'm a killjoy, but I do think there's something negative about the impact of science fiction on engineers. Like, the people who tend (no offense) to be the most literal, black and white thi…

> Like, the people who tend (no offense) to be the most literal, black and white thinkers get exposed to art and instead of processing it as the output of human creativity, they start to imagine that it's desirable or even real.

Why can't you process their fantasizing about it as an output of human creativity?

Re: First atmosphere found on Earth-like planet in habitable zone of distant star

#172

Post by ourmandave »

creesch wrote: post #144
jimbokun wrote: post #2

48 light years is in our back yard. Close enough that we could probably develop a probe to get there in the next few centuries and check it out. What are the current popular candidates for propulsion systems capable of accelerating to near the speed of light?

Just going to recycle this comment I made in reply to an almost identical comment as yours. I don't think you folks realize how big space actually is. The speed of light is 1079 252 848 km/h, the fastest space craft ever made was the Parker Solar probe (using a sling shot) clocking in at 692 000 km/h. So at that speed it would take, 1559 years to travel one light year. This planet sits at a distance of 48 light years…

Seriously even the nearest star is 6,200+ years at Parker probe speed.

Re: First atmosphere found on Earth-like planet in habitable zone of distant star

#173

Post by chrsw »

ClumsyPilot wrote: post #169
throw4847285 wrote: post #167

I'm always so alienated (sorry) by the excitement around things like this. People start fantasizing about FTL and space arks and there is just no evidence that any of that is possible, desirable, effective, anything really. I know I'm a killjoy, but I do think there's something negative about the impact of science fiction on engineers. Like, the people who tend (no offense) to be the most literal, black and white thi…

There is too much fantasy about distant habitable planet and not enough about making a planet in solar system habitable or building artificial habitats The second is likely easier than the first

Not just likely easier. Far easier. They're so far apart on any reasonable effort scale that the comparison is basically meaningless.

Re: First atmosphere found on Earth-like planet in habitable zone of distant star

#175

Post by whimsicalism »

throw4847285 wrote: post #167

I'm always so alienated (sorry) by the excitement around things like this. People start fantasizing about FTL and space arks and there is just no evidence that any of that is possible, desirable, effective, anything really. I know I'm a killjoy, but I do think there's something negative about the impact of science fiction on engineers. Like, the people who tend (no offense) to be the most literal, black and white thi…

there is clear reason why this would be desirable for many, the others - sure.

Re: First atmosphere found on Earth-like planet in habitable zone of distant star

#176

Post by throw4847285 »

eightysixfour wrote: post #171
throw4847285 wrote: post #167

I'm always so alienated (sorry) by the excitement around things like this. People start fantasizing about FTL and space arks and there is just no evidence that any of that is possible, desirable, effective, anything really. I know I'm a killjoy, but I do think there's something negative about the impact of science fiction on engineers. Like, the people who tend (no offense) to be the most literal, black and white thi…

> Like, the people who tend (no offense) to be the most literal, black and white thinkers get exposed to art and instead of processing it as the output of human creativity, they start to imagine that it's desirable or even real. Why can't you process their fantasizing about it as an output of human creativity?

No, it doesn't seem very creative to me.

I don't think I've ever sounded so cynical in my life, but something about the way sci-fi fandom bleeds into real science really makes me deeply uncomfortable.

Re: First atmosphere found on Earth-like planet in habitable zone of distant star

#177

Post by whimsicalism »

throw4847285 wrote: post #176
eightysixfour wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Like, the people who tend (no offense) to be the most literal, black and white thinkers get exposed to art and instead of processing it as the output of human creativity, they start to imagine that it's desirable or even real. Why can't you process their fantasizing about it as an output of human creativity?

No, it doesn't seem very creative to me. I don't think I've ever sounded so cynical in my life, but something about the way sci-fi fandom bleeds into real science really makes me deeply uncomfortable.

cynicism and critique are comfortable positions imo. i appreciate the relatively newfound cultural shift back towards earnestness (although i can already feel the pendulum starting to swing back)

Re: First atmosphere found on Earth-like planet in habitable zone of distant star

#178

Post by ant6n »

hparadiz wrote: post #106
neom wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great in depth youtube video on this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go-50Dpzs20

This requires sending something to at least about 548 AU and then effect falls off from there but anything you send that far will be going at a velocity that would keep it going. You would be in effective range for some time but basically you'd need to keep sending satellites to that distance in order to keep using the technique. You'd also want to send them into different directions in order to image different parts…

It’s basically imaging one exoplanet per satellite. Would be good to figure out a way to slow down at 500 AU. In order to maximize the time for observation.

Re: First atmosphere found on Earth-like planet in habitable zone of distant star

#179

Post by throw4847285 »

whimsicalism wrote: post #177
throw4847285 wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it doesn't seem very creative to me. I don't think I've ever sounded so cynical in my life, but something about the way sci-fi fandom bleeds into real science really makes me deeply uncomfortable.

cynicism and critique are comfortable positions imo. i appreciate the relatively newfound cultural shift back towards earnestness (although i can already feel the pendulum starting to swing back)

I generally see myself as an earnest person, but some kinds of earnestness read as cynical to me.

Re: First atmosphere found on Earth-like planet in habitable zone of distant star

#180

Post by eightysixfour »

throw4847285 wrote: post #176
eightysixfour wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Like, the people who tend (no offense) to be the most literal, black and white thinkers get exposed to art and instead of processing it as the output of human creativity, they start to imagine that it's desirable or even real. Why can't you process their fantasizing about it as an output of human creativity?

No, it doesn't seem very creative to me. I don't think I've ever sounded so cynical in my life, but something about the way sci-fi fandom bleeds into real science really makes me deeply uncomfortable.

> No, it doesn't seem very creative to me.

You don't think exploring a problem/possibility space (heh) that is probably unobtainable is an effort in creativity?

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