biffer Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 On 7/18/2020 at 2:46 PM, phart said: https://getpocket.com/explore/item/a-new-theory-on-why-we-haven-t-found-aliens-yet?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-en-GB I love that one of the authors says “I don’t think this is very likely either” 😂 My personal opinion, at the moment is that life might be very common, but the huge majority of it will be single called, primordial soup style life. On earth, it took a few hundred million years for life to occur, but it then took two and a half billion years to make the step from single celled to multi celled life. When that step happened, the diversity of life forms went crazy. Loads of cycles of dominant life forms, then when something with the potential for intelligence arrived, it only took a few million years, a blink of an eye to get technological. So I suspect the big jump is single to multi cell. If that’s the case, there will be system after system which has primordial oceans, but virtually no advanced civilisations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biffer Posted September 16, 2020 Share Posted September 16, 2020 So, you know that whole ‘we’re all living in a computer simulation’ idea? Turns out that the code needed to get quantum computers to work is the same as the corrections needed in the hologram attic theory of space time, where space and time are illusions caused by the corrections which keep quantum dimensions stable. https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-space-and-time-could-be-a-quantum-error-correcting-code-20190103/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orraloon Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 9 hours ago, biffer said: So, you know that whole ‘we’re all living in a computer simulation’ idea? Turns out that the code needed to get quantum computers to work is the same as the corrections needed in the hologram attic theory of space time, where space and time are illusions caused by the corrections which keep quantum dimensions stable. https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-space-and-time-could-be-a-quantum-error-correcting-code-20190103/ Once we are smart enough to discover how it works, is that when they just destroy us with some virus or other, then they build a new one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phart Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 10 hours ago, biffer said: So, you know that whole ‘we’re all living in a computer simulation’ idea? Turns out that the code needed to get quantum computers to work is the same as the corrections needed in the hologram attic theory of space time, where space and time are illusions caused by the corrections which keep quantum dimensions stable. https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-space-and-time-could-be-a-quantum-error-correcting-code-20190103/ Man checking all the links and their links sends you down a rabbit hole. I forgot what i started watching! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biffer Posted September 18, 2020 Share Posted September 18, 2020 On 9/17/2020 at 7:36 AM, Orraloon said: Once we are smart enough to discover how it works, is that when they just destroy us with some virus or other, then they build a new one? That's an interesting question. It would depend on their ethical stance. There are ongoing discussions on whether, if an AI achieves sentience, we have the right to turn it off. That also drives what we might be able to do with simulations as computing power expands - should we construct self aware 'consciousness' within a computer programme which has free will within the limited constraints of that environment, only to destroy it once we have finished with our own interests? What's the difference between that and creting pseudo humans with limited life spans for other experiments? A similar thing could apply to whoever wrote our code, if it were to be the case that we're just a simulation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phart Posted September 18, 2020 Share Posted September 18, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, biffer said: That's an interesting question. It would depend on their ethical stance. There are ongoing discussions on whether, if an AI achieves sentience, we have the right to turn it off. That also drives what we might be able to do with simulations as computing power expands - should we construct self aware 'consciousness' within a computer programme which has free will within the limited constraints of that environment, only to destroy it once we have finished with our own interests? What's the difference between that and creting pseudo humans with limited life spans for other experiments? A similar thing could apply to whoever wrote our code, if it were to be the case that we're just a simulation. Voyager 1 has crossed the 14 billion miles away mark this week https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status/ Edited September 18, 2020 by phart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk Posted September 18, 2020 Share Posted September 18, 2020 8 hours ago, phart said: Voyager 1 has crossed the 14 billion miles away mark this week https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/status/ What is the purpose of this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phart Posted September 19, 2020 Share Posted September 19, 2020 8 hours ago, Kirk said: What is the purpose of this? Voayger 1 was sent to explore the outer solar system. That web page just gives it's tracking numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk Posted September 19, 2020 Share Posted September 19, 2020 1 hour ago, phart said: Voayger 1 was sent to explore the outer solar system. That web page just gives it's tracking numbers. I tried to look it up what it's actually doing, just curious. I take it it's not sending photos or anything back? I also read it's gonna run out by about 2025? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orraloon Posted September 19, 2020 Share Posted September 19, 2020 25 minutes ago, Kirk said: I tried to look it up what it's actually doing, just curious. I take it it's not sending photos or anything back? I also read it's gonna run out by about 2025? The original mission of Voyagers 1 and 2 was to explore Jupiter and Saturn but they are still sending back data as they continue their journey into interstellar space. Considering that these spacecraft were launched in 1977, I think that is pretty impressive. https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grim Jim Posted September 19, 2020 Share Posted September 19, 2020 13 hours ago, Kirk said: I tried to look it up what it's actually doing, just curious. I take it it's not sending photos or anything back? I also read it's gonna run out by about 2025? As a wean, I used to collect Brooke Bond cards as my folks drank their tea. One set was on space vehicles. Apollo was all the rage then. The last few cards were just cartoons of future projects such as the voyager series. As As the years rolled by, the images of the planets and their moons from Voyagers and others have been an absolute joy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biffer Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 On 9/19/2020 at 9:28 AM, Orraloon said: The original mission of Voyagers 1 and 2 was to explore Jupiter and Saturn but they are still sending back data as they continue their journey into interstellar space. Considering that these spacecraft were launched in 1977, I think that is pretty impressive. https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/ Yeah, the Voyager 1 completed its primary mission in 1980, Voyager 2 in 1989 (even though Voyager 2 was launched first). But these missions are built with significant redundancy where possible, so all the kit just keeps working, for more than 40 years now. So seeing as they were still going, it made sense to keep using them for opportunistic measurements, like trying to identify at what distance the suns particle emission is balanced by the general particle flow outside our solar system. A lot of these missions go way past their original projected lifetime, for example the Hubble telescope is way past it’s projected lifetime but we might still get another ten years out of it so long as nothing critical fails. My favourites though are the Spirit and Opportunity rovers on Mars. They were originally designed for a 90 day mission starting in January 2004. Opportunity finally lost contact in June 2018, having pootled around on the surface of Mars for 5111 days (Mars days that is, equal to 5498 earth days). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirk Posted September 21, 2020 Share Posted September 21, 2020 On 9/19/2020 at 9:28 AM, Orraloon said: The original mission of Voyagers 1 and 2 was to explore Jupiter and Saturn but they are still sending back data as they continue their journey into interstellar space. Considering that these spacecraft were launched in 1977, I think that is pretty impressive. https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/ Aye it's pretty impressive, just genuinely had nae idea what they were all about. Never been that interested in space etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exile Posted September 22, 2020 Share Posted September 22, 2020 7 hours ago, biffer said: Yeah, the Voyager 1 completed its primary mission in 1980, Voyager 2 in 1989 (even though Voyager 2 was launched first). But these missions are built with significant redundancy where possible, so all the kit just keeps working, for more than 40 years now. So seeing as they were still going, it made sense to keep using them for opportunistic measurements, like trying to identify at what distance the suns particle emission is balanced by the general particle flow outside our solar system. A lot of these missions go way past their original projected lifetime, for example the Hubble telescope is way past it’s projected lifetime but we might still get another ten years out of it so long as nothing critical fails. My favourites though are the Spirit and Opportunity rovers on Mars. They were originally designed for a 90 day mission starting in January 2004. Opportunity finally lost contact in June 2018, having pootled around on the surface of Mars for 5111 days (Mars days that is, equal to 5498 earth days). Imagine still using a phone, camera, computer from 1977... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biffer Posted September 22, 2020 Share Posted September 22, 2020 (edited) 8 hours ago, exile said: Imagine still using a phone, camera, computer from 1977... It's probably even earlier than that, when you take into account build time, testing time etc, it's maybe 1973! These missions, and similar ones, were key in driving things like the development of digital cameras. Edited September 22, 2020 by biffer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phart Posted October 6, 2020 Share Posted October 6, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phart Posted October 27, 2020 Share Posted October 27, 2020 That's water been found on the moon https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-54666328 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toepoke Posted October 27, 2020 Author Share Posted October 27, 2020 Bit of a job to extract it though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phart Posted November 3, 2020 Share Posted November 3, 2020 https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-contacts-voyager-2-using-upgraded-deep-space-network-dish NASA Contacts Voyager 2 Using Upgraded Deep Space Network Dish Bet Voyager was like need to put more distance between us! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exile Posted November 3, 2020 Share Posted November 3, 2020 For our round earthers to enjoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phart Posted November 3, 2020 Share Posted November 3, 2020 46 minutes ago, exile said: For our round earthers to enjoy I was in Kenya in February out in the middle of nowhere and it's amazing to look up and see the cosmos with no light pollution. You really understand why so many of our ancestors had such rich culture about it. Breathtaking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phart Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/watch-japan-hayabusa2-mission-deliver-ryugu-asteroid-samples-earth-live-stream-today-2020-12-05/ A Japanese capsule returned to Earth on Saturday carrying a special delivery: the first rock samples from beneath the surface of an asteroid. When it plummeted to Earth, the capsule provided a stunning show above the Australian outback, streaking across the sky as a dazzling fireball. Project manager Yuichi Tsuda called the mission a "rare event in human history." It marks just the second time pristine, untouched material directly from an asteroid has been brought back to Earth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phart Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phart Posted December 15, 2020 Share Posted December 15, 2020 Great conjunction' of Jupiter and Saturn will form a 'Christmas Star' on the winter solstice By Doris Elin Urrutia 4 days ago Jupiter and Saturn will have their closest encounter in almost 400 years on the solstice (Dec. 21). https://www.space.com/great-conjunction-jupiter-saturn-explained Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phart Posted December 20, 2020 Share Posted December 20, 2020 Mercury in front of the Sun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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