Why not? That the universe is expanding doesn't mean the distance between a given pair of galaxies is increasing. For example, our local group of galaxies are all moving towards a common point called the Great Attractor. The nearby Andromeda galaxy is predicted to collide with the Milky Way in a few billion years, and is getting closer at more than a hundred kilometres per second IIRC, so it would obviously be possible to get to it if you wanted to. I'm sure it's far longer than a million years. That's almost nothing on astronomical timescales. If you search around a bit, you should find the timescale for it's expansion into a red giant generally given at around 5 billion years, at which point it will become large enough to swallow up the Earth. I always thought that was pretty amazing to think of. As for advanced technology, remember we're only a couple of hundred years away from thinking the Earth was the centre of the universe. I don't think we can come close to imagining what might be possible after a million years of technological improvement. I doubt there's a limit to how advanced you can get, and if there is one I'm damn sure we're nowhere near it and won't be for a long time.
You are only limited by the creativity of your people. Actually there is evidence that simple life has evolved with out what we consider being needed for life. For all we know Aliens may eat rock and drink acid.
Who knows? Maybe in time, we will be able to travel at speeds greater than light. I know Einstein's relativity theories say we can't but then again Einstein's theories aren't perfect. They can't incorporate quantum theories for one. Once we understand universal physics to the point where we can unify all theories into one (M theory maybe?) then maybe it'll be possible. At which point we would greatly improve our chances of meeting any extra terrestial life out there.
i still don't understand the whole picking up radio signals hasn't it occured that no one but we use radio signals
I really don't think you can say we will never come in contact with anything, and you can't assume that just because they are advanced they will overpopulate there planet. Just because that's what we do. They could totally different, you can't look at everything with a Human's point of view. Did you ever think that not everyhing is like us
The whole idea comes from this apparently widespread assumption that other species will develop along the same lines we did. It doesn't seem very likely. On the other hand, you'd have to imagine that any technologically capable species would sooner or later start exploring the electromagnetic spectrum as we have done, and so I don't think we are or will be unique in our use of radio.
wow roca and I posted almost the same thing simultaneously...if there were ever proof of aliens, this is it!
The big mistake this thread has is that everyone is assuming all of our theories and science is right Old thinking is being shattered all the time and replaced with new thinking... The most cliche example is that we once thought the world was flat, or that everything in the universe would revolve around earth, not the other way In 200 years from now, more of our 'yeah this is the truth' thinking will have been shattered by evolution. The speed of light is just something humans invented to rationalize something, nobody can really say whether or not it's impossible to break the speed of light. We broke the speed of sound so why not light too? Science & religion aside, common sense will be the best answer to that
Some would say that aliens are amungst us......looks to see if my "phone home" machine has been detected.
i never thought were right. we're just born selfish and tend to think that everything has to be like us. like roca said, we don't have any proof that they're exactly like us (same elements needed, adaptations, inteligence, etc). anything and everything is possible in this world probably, there are no limitations. it's also possible that we're living in an alien-controlled and monitored universe, we might be in a test tube or a tiny flask or even a vacuum cleaner who knows. we're even pretty sure there are lifeforms currently residing and evolving in one of Jupiter's moons (was it Io?). if memory serves correctly, it's the only other landmass in our solar system with a body of liquid water. i think goofus maximus has a good point too, all that radio signal is gonna get mishmashed by all the stars and wrinkles in space time and black holes and such. even if they don't use FM frequencies, their technology (spaceships, vision machines, sound machines, etc) will probably emit some kind of electromagnetic wave that we can pick up and radio signal is just one of many of them. or maybe something we don't even know about?
That's why I said in my first post That's about exactly what I said in my last post. Just in fewer words. I feel vindicated.
// this thread is like - standing in the back of an elevator, listening to 3 corporate executives talk about computer viruses... complaining how they leap from system to system with super hypoallergenic powers to morph into people viruses then hyper-speratically jump from terminal to terminal using LXIRSIS9291.291nan PORTS. As I read through this thread I was very patient and read through all the material... I just think some people should research the optic before posting such a strong ignorant opinion
so do you think we're ever gonna come into contact with aliens? what is your stance on this? i don't think there are much opinions in this thread because it's gotta be backed up with fact/theory/knowledge?
100% True You should all read Radical Evolution. Its only been out 2 months now but its amazing. DARPA and the DSO are both Defence offices. They fund nearly everything that seems to have an ounce of merit, but sounds too good, or out there to be true. All in the name of defence. They're the reason NASA was invented, to defend us from evil Russia's dangerous space program which was going to spy on us. Im nearly positive right now they have multiple programs running on interstellar travel. ---------------------------------- And on breaking the speed of light, I dont see why not. With reflective sails, and space being frictionless. With the right conditions you could potentially gain speed perpetually. And then assuming you could reach the speed of light with conventional boosters, and then once you reach that speed, use a sort of after-burner, why couldn't you have broken that spectrum? You wouldnt have much working against you except the ghost of einstien. I think its all a matter of time before we make a HUGE breakthrough in this. Things of this scale rarely come in small breakthroughs. And it will probably be a floodgate effect.
That wouldn't work. Space isn't a perfect vacuum - the faster you go the more you need to worry about particles hitting your ship. And solar sails aren't going to give you much thrust a few light years out into interstellar space. The lightspeed barrier is not not not the same as the sound barrier. Please, go read up on the physics involved (try Wikipedia). Objects moving closer and closer to lightspeed gain mass - an object with mass moving at the speed of light would have infinite mass, and so would require an infinite amount of energy to get there. That's why only things with no mass (eg electromagnetic waves) travel at lightspeed, and that's why accelerating something past it isn't possible. You could potentially get very close to it though. There are other rather strange effects that occur at near light speeds - search for information on time dilation and Lorentz contraction. Einstein said that the speed of light is a global constant, and these effects are the result. Time dilation has been verified using atomic clocks in planes IIRC, and particle accelerators have to be designed to deal with the mass of particles increasing as they accelerate. If we ever do find a way to travel FTL, I don't think it'll be by strapping a big engine onto something. Or maybe we could do what they did on Futurama, and increase the speed of light to make things more convenient
i don't think mankind will ever perform fusion or travel faster than the speed of light at the speed we're progressing... just a thought...
Please O Wise One, enlighten us with your enlightening enlightenment. :roll: At least the folks here are trying to expand their minds. By the way, who can say that anyone here is wrong? Doing research is all fine and dandy--hell I've done plenty of my own--but no one knows what the absolute truths of this universe are. All anyone has is educated guesses based on theories that are ever changing.
what happened on futurama is the dark matter actually produces so much energy, it moved the universe rather than the spaceship faster than the speed of light. I dunno anyway its a damn cartoon. anyway. If you are travelling at teh speed of light, and you turn on the headlights, what happens? anyway people should read some stuff by hawkings. he is good shit.
According to Einstein, you won't see anything different than you normally would ie, you'll see the light flash ahead of you.
you would see something different, you would see the flash yes, but no headlight beams like you would normally, because the light cannot travel faster than light forward
But that breaks Eisntein's theory of special relativity. According to his theory, the person travelling at the speed of light would see the beam of light flashing out ahead of him as it would at slower speeds. An observer watching the person fly past at the speed of light, however would see the person keeping up with the light. It all depends on the frame of reference and making sure that the velocity remains constant.
