Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

NASA’s Kepler Mission Discovers Bigger, Older Cousin to Earth

nasa.gov

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

211–220 of 307 posts

Re: NASA’s Kepler Mission Discovers Bigger, Older Cousin to Earth

#211

Post by ChuckMcM »

phantarch wrote: post #5

At 2 billion years older than Earth, I can't begin to imagine what kinds of things could possibly be living on this planet. Given, of course, that it's got the right ingredients for life to arise. What if it's suffered huge extinctions recently? What if there's a domineering species out to conquer the planet just like humans? What if there's a society there more sophisticated than us? It's a very exciting discovery.

If I were writing a science fiction story there would be primitive villages on higher inland areas, and partially submerged technologically advanced cities on the coastlines :-)

But what I find most amusing is that when I was a kid "science" was saying "but we don't know if any other star even has a planet!" and to me as a kid it seemed preposterous that other stars wouldn't have planets. And now of course we know that pretty much ever star has at least some planets. The unusual case is no planets.

Similarly with life, it seems ridiculous to think that somehow this planet at this time was the only place anywhere that sentience emerged. So it really makes me wonder, why the heck aren't we already talking with them?

What is it that keeps intelligent life that originated on other planets from communicating with the intelligent life living on this planet? Why won't they talk to us?

Re: NASA’s Kepler Mission Discovers Bigger, Older Cousin to Earth

#212

Post by fosk »

SneakerXZ wrote: post #161
phantarch wrote: post #5

At 2 billion years older than Earth, I can't begin to imagine what kinds of things could possibly be living on this planet. Given, of course, that it's got the right ingredients for life to arise. What if it's suffered huge extinctions recently? What if there's a domineering species out to conquer the planet just like humans? What if there's a society there more sophisticated than us? It's a very exciting discovery.

I am surprised more people don't believe all this is just a trick because we base everything on our knowledge what if something out there is tricking us? We see the universe through a telescope and other sensors. But if something puts something in front of it, you will see different reality. It is like if you use binoculars and I put a fake image in front of you, you could start believing there is something else. It…

Why was this comment down voted? It's another point of view in the conversation, which I find valuable.

If you have facts to prove him wrong, feel free to reply and publish them.

Re: NASA’s Kepler Mission Discovers Bigger, Older Cousin to Earth

#213

Post by _karthikj »

Things like this boosts my thoughts of life out there living alone, discovering/inventing everything from scratch over and over. While we pride ourselves on passing the knowledge generation by generation to be where we are now, imagine if we could learn/share it beyond our planet, solar system, galaxies.... Long way to go!!

Re: NASA’s Kepler Mission Discovers Bigger, Older Cousin to Earth

#214

Post by morsch »

omonra wrote: post #206
morsch wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That seems like a silly thing to get greatly irritated about.

Imagine if all the great Scottish scientists were referred to as 'the English'. That might piss some people off.

I'm sure some people track these sort of tribal affiliations between inhabitants of the British isles over the course of a millenium, too, but again I'd consider it a silly thing to get riled up about.

Re: NASA’s Kepler Mission Discovers Bigger, Older Cousin to Earth

#215

Post by olq »

_karthikj wrote: post #213

Things like this boosts my thoughts of life out there living alone, discovering/inventing everything from scratch over and over. While we pride ourselves on passing the knowledge generation by generation to be where we are now, imagine if we could learn/share it beyond our planet, solar system, galaxies.... Long way to go!!

I wonder if we'll abide the prime directive when the day comes ;)

Re: NASA’s Kepler Mission Discovers Bigger, Older Cousin to Earth

#216

Post by cdz0675 »

Today NASA, apparently experiencing hard times with budget [1], announces "let's say" just found exoplanet. With pictures. Awesome high res pictures, reposted by every media in the world, of an object 1400ly away from Earth. Oh, uhm... of an object as it was back in 1875.

Photoshop? Sure. For popularization? I wouldn't say. Begging for money? Yeah, more buzz, more money. From whom?

2 days ago Yuri Milner, Russian oligarch and media magnat, announced 100M$ financement of mission to discover new life. Literally 1 person got all this money - Stephen Hawking.

Another 100M$, Yura? Davai, at least now you know where to fly!

[1]: http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2014/03/05/nasa_bud...

Re: NASA’s Kepler Mission Discovers Bigger, Older Cousin to Earth

#217

Post by krapp »

olq wrote: post #215
_karthikj wrote: post #213

Things like this boosts my thoughts of life out there living alone, discovering/inventing everything from scratch over and over. While we pride ourselves on passing the knowledge generation by generation to be where we are now, imagine if we could learn/share it beyond our planet, solar system, galaxies.... Long way to go!!

I wonder if we'll abide the prime directive when the day comes ;)

The prime directive is fiction, so probably not.

Re: NASA’s Kepler Mission Discovers Bigger, Older Cousin to Earth

#218

Post by tbabb »

phantarch wrote: post #5

At 2 billion years older than Earth, I can't begin to imagine what kinds of things could possibly be living on this planet. Given, of course, that it's got the right ingredients for life to arise. What if it's suffered huge extinctions recently? What if there's a domineering species out to conquer the planet just like humans? What if there's a society there more sophisticated than us? It's a very exciting discovery.

With a larger planet, they may have been inescapably bound to the surface for their world for millions of years by the tyranny of the rocket equation.

Re: NASA’s Kepler Mission Discovers Bigger, Older Cousin to Earth

#220

Post by krapp »

evilduck wrote: post #195
logicfiction wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plausible, but what would be explanations for sending ourselves back to the stone age instead of carry advanced knowledge along?

Maybe they tried and failed? Maybe they arrived on a sterile Earth 3.6 billion years ago with supplies and huge tomes of knowledge, promptly died off within a couple hundred years of arrival, tectonic movement subsumed their landing ship and all other physical records of their existence here and we're all just descendants of their gut flora?

All of this has happened before, and will happen again.
Post reply on HN