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Where did all the starships go?

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Re: Where did all the starships go?

#281

Post by imtringued »

jacquesm wrote: post #267
lukan wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or building a very big spaceship and have generations live on it until they reach the end of the journey.

Hence eco-systems, yes. But that's probably a harder problem than radiation shielding + hibernation. You'd still need the radiation shielding but it would be far, far more of it (because non-local). These are interesting problems to think about, right now they are solidly SF but dragons are and always will be fantasy because physics says they can't exist in the way they are described. But you can't 100% rule out that…

Dragons are fantasy but drakes are real. The thorny devil looks super cool.

Re: Where did all the starships go?

#282

Post by jacquesm »

imtringued wrote: post #281
jacquesm wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hence eco-systems, yes. But that's probably a harder problem than radiation shielding + hibernation. You'd still need the radiation shielding but it would be far, far more of it (because non-local). These are interesting problems to think about, right now they are solidly SF but dragons are and always will be fantasy because physics says they can't exist in the way they are described. But you can't 100% rule out that…

Dragons are fantasy but drakes are real. The thorny devil looks super cool.

There's one creature that knows how to dress sharply.

Re: Where did all the starships go?

#283

Post by fc417fc802 »

jacquesm wrote: post #267
lukan wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or building a very big spaceship and have generations live on it until they reach the end of the journey.

Hence eco-systems, yes. But that's probably a harder problem than radiation shielding + hibernation. You'd still need the radiation shielding but it would be far, far more of it (because non-local). These are interesting problems to think about, right now they are solidly SF but dragons are and always will be fantasy because physics says they can't exist in the way they are described. But you can't 100% rule out that…

> physics says they can't exist in the way they are described

If we assume advanced genetic as well as bio engineering that admits the possibility of self reproducing cybernetic organisms that closely match many or all of the key characteristics. I'm not sure it's actually a cyborg if the lineage is fully independent without involving any technology external to the species but I use the term there because that's the easiest way to communicate the idea.

Re: Where did all the starships go?

#284

Post by fc417fc802 »

imtringued wrote: post #281
jacquesm wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hence eco-systems, yes. But that's probably a harder problem than radiation shielding + hibernation. You'd still need the radiation shielding but it would be far, far more of it (because non-local). These are interesting problems to think about, right now they are solidly SF but dragons are and always will be fantasy because physics says they can't exist in the way they are described. But you can't 100% rule out that…

Dragons are fantasy but drakes are real. The thorny devil looks super cool.

Slap some wings on that and you have a legitimate dragon. I don't know about riding it though.

Re: Where did all the starships go?

#285

Post by generic92034 »

tialaramex wrote: post #170
nine_k wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interstellar space contains neutral hydrogen atoms. Hitting a spaceship, they would produce electromagnetic radiation. When the collision speed goes past about 0.25c, the radiation becomes hard gamma rays which are dangerous to living things, and cannot be efficiently shielded against. At this speed, the time dilation is slightly above 3%, so you're still not going to reach even Alpha Centauri in one human lifetime,…

Right, we are never leaving. We should get comfortable here, and take better care of the only habitable planet, rather than doing insane things and justifying that as "Don't worry, we'll make Mars habitable" and other silliness.

Well, things like the eventual expansion of our own star or the probability of a sizeable asteroid/comet hitting earth tells me, that we should at least keep thinking about leaving. Even if the current tech is nowhere near good enough.

Re: Where did all the starships go?

#286

Post by bluescrn »

satvikpendem wrote: post #265
bot403 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure your point. It's fiction. Are we closer to finding dragons, faeries, or magic? Visiting remote planets is as unlikely as riding a dragon. But both make for great stories.

> Visiting remote planets is as unlikely as riding a dragon No, because one is theoretically impossible while the other is theoretically possible.

Creating some sort of genetically-engineered dinosaur-derived ‘dragon’ may be more plausible than actually reaching another star system. It’s not going to breathe fire though.

Re: Where did all the starships go?

#287

Post by imtringued »

Alex-Programs wrote: post #32
chasil wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, we've realized the scientific reality that traveling faster than light is likely impossible, and the vast distances to other habitable planets would mean tens of thousands of years of travel even with the most efficient technology. Interstellar space is also hostile to life, and any life present at the destination will not use the same DNA coding for protein (if gene expression even works that way). We also do…

This is motivated pessimism. We knew in the 50s that breaking the speed of light was highly unlikely. We dreamed of the stars anyway. Now we refuse to dream, or to even attempt to solve the problems (a common pattern when discussing spaceflight is people who are blatantly searching for problems, rather than solutions), because we are pessimistic, devoid of imagination, and seek to legitimise our collective depression…

That would only rule out stories based on interstellar travel, which is a tiny subset of what you can do in space. After all, you'll just end up inside another solar system that won't be much different from ours. The planets will be in different orbits but there will most likely be an asteroid belt and the effects of temperature will remain the same even if the planets are in different temperature ranges from our planets.

If earth is big enough for fantasy, then the solar system is plenty big enough for science fiction.

If you wanted to watch hard science fiction I would recommend watching anthrofuturism on YouTube who focuses exclusively on the moon.

Re: Where did all the starships go?

#288

Post by fc417fc802 »

coldtea wrote: post #181
krapp wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Dragon" as a classification is odd, because when you look at every kind of mythological creature that gets classified as such nowadays, sometimes from cultures that wouldn't have recognized the concept, you find that they have little in common beyond some vaguely reptilian vibe and being scary. And I'm sorry but that thing is too goofy looking to be considered a dragon.

That's begging the question. We don't need to look "at every kind of mythological creature that gets classified as such nowadays" from "cultures that wouldn't have recognized the concept". One could stick on those classified as such in western culture - which is where the fantasy novel about dragons and knights and spells and the rest are based on. And in there, dragons have quite specific characteristic and vibes, a…

But if we do expand the set under consideration then I'd suggest they do in fact have specific things in common. Large flying carnivorous reptiles. That won't cover all the various edge cases but I think it describes the vast majority of the popular usage of the term.

That definition would imply that sufficiently large flying dinosaurs qualify as dragons. And at least personally I think I agree with that conclusion. Dragons aren't purely fantasy, they're merely extinct (and never breathed fire IRL).

Re: Where did all the starships go?

#289

Post by LightBug1 »

Starships are exciting to see in real life, but absolutely boring in fiction now and overall generally leave me with a distinctly disgusting aftertaste.

Whereas once Starships were a sign of an exciting story, or perhaps hope and optimism ... now they're just the sole purview of wanker tr/billionaires.

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