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Stephen Hawking and Yuri Milner Announce $100M Initiative to Seek ET

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101–110 of 237 posts

Re: Stephen Hawking and Yuri Milner Announce $100M Initiative to Seek ET

#101
post #4

Hawking wants to find them, but seemingly not reveal ourselves... http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/apr/26/stephen...

Didn't we lose that battle when we sent the Voyager with the Golden Record [1] that carries the exact coordinates [0] (with respect to nearest stars) to the origin of the spacecraft. Voyager 1 and 2 both carry with them a 12-inch golden phonograph record that contains pictures and sounds of Earth along with symbolic directions on the cover for playing the record and data detailing the location of our planet. The reco…

Wouldn't worry, that's not going anywhere interesting for thousands of years. Any aliens near enough to intercept that aren't going to need the return address to find us. Our radios signals will give us away long before that probe.

Re: Stephen Hawking and Yuri Milner Announce $100M Initiative to Seek ET

#102
post #4

Hawking wants to find them, but seemingly not reveal ourselves... http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/apr/26/stephen...

Didn't we lose that battle when we sent the Voyager with the Golden Record [1] that carries the exact coordinates [0] (with respect to nearest stars) to the origin of the spacecraft. Voyager 1 and 2 both carry with them a 12-inch golden phonograph record that contains pictures and sounds of Earth along with symbolic directions on the cover for playing the record and data detailing the location of our planet. The reco…

No, I'm pretty sure we lost it well before that when we started spewing radio signals. Voyager is a minuscule speck travelling in a single direction at a snail's pace, while those radio signals are racing across enormous swaths of space at the speed of light.

Re: Stephen Hawking and Yuri Milner Announce $100M Initiative to Seek ET

#103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, agree to disagree. The average person doesn't really care if there is or isn't water on mars, or if someone spent millions of their dollars taking a photo of pluto. Year after year the news reports another big experiement which cost millions to setup, and which claims to "give us answers as to how the universe was created". I just couldn't be less interested. It's rich people (Or taxpayer funded people) playing…

That's actually exactly my philosophy [1]. I agree with each of your examples (water on mars, photos of Pluto, early-universe cosmology). Nonetheless, the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence is in a completely different league. The random guys on the street will not only care about this tremendously, he will care for the same correct reasons that scientists care . [1] Minus the part about it being a waste of t…

So we find out there's some creatures on Pluto that are roughly the same as frogs. How does that impact anyones life? It'd be an interesting fact, and maybe fun if we could move some over here as pets, but beyond that, it's a colossal waste of energy and money.

Re: Stephen Hawking and Yuri Milner Announce $100M Initiative to Seek ET

#104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is definitely, indisputably worth millions of dollars to know that.

Well, agree to disagree. The average person doesn't really care if there is or isn't water on mars, or if someone spent millions of their dollars taking a photo of pluto. Year after year the news reports another big experiement which cost millions to setup, and which claims to "give us answers as to how the universe was created". I just couldn't be less interested. It's rich people (Or taxpayer funded people) playing…

Space travel and exploration have directly resulting in many commercial products, which themselves have generated billions in revenue and tens of thousands of jobs (if not more).

Not only is your statement disappointing to hear from anyone presuming to be technically literate, it is objectively wrong.

Re: Stephen Hawking and Yuri Milner Announce $100M Initiative to Seek ET

#105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Didn't we lose that battle when we sent the Voyager with the Golden Record [1] that carries the exact coordinates [0] (with respect to nearest stars) to the origin of the spacecraft. Voyager 1 and 2 both carry with them a 12-inch golden phonograph record that contains pictures and sounds of Earth along with symbolic directions on the cover for playing the record and data detailing the location of our planet. The reco…

No, I'm pretty sure we lost it well before that when we started spewing radio signals. Voyager is a minuscule speck travelling in a single direction at a snail's pace, while those radio signals are racing across enormous swaths of space at the speed of light.

How about nuclear tests and explosions? Would that be drawing curiosity?

Re: Stephen Hawking and Yuri Milner Announce $100M Initiative to Seek ET

#106
post #99

One of my favorite topics is the Fermi Paradox and consequently the Great Filter (which someone already discussed). One of my favorite explanations is that there are other ET out there but they are two engrossed with their own entertainment to "give a fuck" ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox#They_tend_to_iso... ). I find it amusing and ironic while also seriously consider it a possibility. From wikipedia:…

That feels like too much assumption to me. The scenario described well by Michio Kaku is the only one that seems probable to me.

"Lets say we have an ant hill in the middle of the forest. And right next to the ant hill, they're building a ten-lane super-highway. And the question is 'Would the ants be able to understand what a ten-lane super-highway is? Would the ants be able to understand the technology and the intentions of the beings building the highway next to them?"

So it's not that we can't pick up the signals from other worlds using our technology, it's that we can't even comprehend what the beings from Planet X are or what they're trying to do. It's so beyond us that even if they really wanted to enlighten us, it would be like trying to teach ants about the internet."

Re: Stephen Hawking and Yuri Milner Announce $100M Initiative to Seek ET

#107
post #87
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There might also be the small problem of actually building the fusion engine first. I don't think that's something we're really able to do right now, is it?

I am glad you asked: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_%28nuclear_propu... - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Longshot - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Daedalus - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini-Mag_Orion

Three of those are fission, not fusion. And Daedalus looks more like a very high level concept, without the actual tech to accomplish it.

Re: Stephen Hawking and Yuri Milner Announce $100M Initiative to Seek ET

#108
post #14

I wish someone would instead come up with a project to really capture the public's attention about space exploration. More interest means more funding. The U.S. Budget is measured in billions. The New Horizons project, for example, only cost $700 million. The Lunar X Prize might have been that project but it doesn't seem to be making progress: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Lunar_X_Prize http://lunar.xprize.o…

Hi, I'm a member of one of the GLXP teams. There is progress. But it's hard and mostly invisible to the outside world. Basically we are small teams catching up to what governments or larger companies are doing. It takes time.

1. Tech development: It requires changes in thinking, tools, procedures etc. Perhaps harder than tech itself is to acquire the required mindset.

2. Legal: Space law is fun but complex once it goes into the details. US laws like ITAR (now a bit milder than before) haunt us. Plus plenty of other laws.

3. Funding: It's hard to make business cases for a (literal) moonshot. Sponsorship and payload are the main revenue sources, but most teams don't succeed. Their story (or presentation) is not exciting or convincing, their team is not adequate (skills, mentality, manpower), so they don't get sponsors, investors, or customers. Or they're just in a country where risk is not rewarded or capital is absent.

4. Launch: Finding the right rocket is important; it influences spacecraft design. Then negotiating a contract and sticking to it. Many hurdles. And it's expensive before the launch. Launch is the biggest cost center.

5. Politics: XPRIZE Foundation is a US org, so US law and politics determine much of what you (not) do, e.g. avoid tech or people from blacklisted countries. Or when geopolitics kicks in and the rocket in another country suddenly or potentially becomes unavailable.

And much more. So we're making progress. But it's not something we talk about much.

I just realize that I wrote the five points above in a kind of negative tone. They're not. E.g. once you have the required mindset, you're filled with nearly unshakable certainty about what you do and why. Laws are solved problems--or when they work on them, they make open problems pretty clear. The pressure to find business cases makes you think hard about what is possible and economical at what time, you start to see a roadmap of doable things until you reach your goal; after all to kickstart private space is one of the GLXP's intentions. The launch sector is a funny business, you meet interesting people and it gives you insights into one of the greatest filters that still stops humanity from going into space at large scales. Politics is not always a burden, it can also be a source of support and goodwill; e.g. if you align interests and avoid stepping on the wrong toes, it can be very helpful.

So, yeah, space is hard. But we're getting there.

Re: Stephen Hawking and Yuri Milner Announce $100M Initiative to Seek ET

#109

If we really believe in scientific progress, then we must accept that, compared to some time in the future, our current understanding of the Universe is akin to people thinking the world was flat some time in the past. Maybe the Universe's scale compared to our physical form has a purpose. Maybe it's intended to not be traversed physcally. Maybe that's the most obvious conclusion an intelligent life form might draw f…

Maybe we were not supposed to cross the Sea. Maybe the reason we did not have wings is so that we do fly across nations. Maybe the reason we are different skin color and speak different languages is so that we remain each in our clan.

Or maybe, the Creator just said "let me see how far these guys will go?"

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