Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
1.5 X10 (9th) X 3 X 10 (12th)= 4.5 X 10 (21st power) km if traveling at light speed
better pack a lunch
This why it is very unlikely that we ever have, or ever will, be visited by aliens. If the signal was one from a civilization and that civilization could travel at the speed of light, the chances would be high that IF they visited here, their civilization and or planet would no longer exist upon return. As they approach the speed of light, time would slow relative to their home planet, so a far greater amount of time would have elapsed at "home".
Given that the "trip" would take 1.5 billion years, it is unlikely that any organism could have enough provisions for the many generations required to reach us. One thought proposed is to have robots staff a ship and, using an artificial womb, "create humans" by combining sperm and egg in the artificial womb when the ship arrived at a suitable planet. Said "children" would be raised by robot parents and then colonize the planet when they reach adulthood.
Further, our planet is relatively small. The power to generate an escape velocity will increase by the square of the radius of the planet, such that on a large planet, there may not be enough energy resources to create a necessary escape velocity to exit the atmosphere. They may be very advanced, but living on a "big" planet would preclude space travel.
Lastly, given that all living organisms have a limited life span, the only "things" that could reach us would be machines or microbots. These would have to be self replicating/repairing bots, as, of course, even machinery that is relatively idol will deteriorate over time.
The radiation that one would need to shield is enormous. Any substance on such a ship (organic or not) would be subjected to immense radiation exposure, which is not conducive to longevity. Further, traveling near the speed of light, a small dust speck in space would have enormous momentum and would destroy a ship if there was a "collision". Of course, there are infinite "dust specks" in space.
I find the amount of thought and effort you've invested into this endeavor to be both highly interesting and highly disturbing.
Actually, it's a little more complicated than that. Once you approach the speed of light, time slows down for you (and your vehicle, including its time-keeping mechanisms), so much so that once you reach 99.999% of the speed of light you could circumnavigate the known universe in less than 75 years, your time.
However, time doesn't slow down for the rest of the universe, so, measuring things in Earth-years, by the time they got here 1.5 billion years would have passed, but they would have aged by only 15 years or so. Then, by the time they got back home most likely their home star will have burned out, because 3.0 billion years will have passed, even though they aged by only 30 years or so.
This is nothing new, and not evidence at all for extraterrestrial life. Most people would put their money on the fact that the waves are coming from nothing but a young magnetar:
Is it wise to try and contact what ever's out there. Personally I think we are best off leaving the unkown alone, as we don't know what we are dealing with if such signals are from some type of life form.
If it's over 1.5 billion light years away then it will have no effect on Earth whatsoever, not to mention the fact that the signals being observed are equally as old.
The likely explanation is that it's coming from a Gamma Ray Burst triggered by a powerful supernova.
For comparison, the extent of human reach, lies currently with the two Voyagers that just recently entered interstellar space. It would take Voyager 1 well over 10 000 years to reach the nearest star Proxima Centauri.
Status:
"“If a thing loves, it is infinite.”"
(set 2 days ago)
Location: Great Britain
27,178 posts, read 13,461,836 times
Reputation: 19487
Quote:
Originally Posted by Milky Way Resident
If it's over 1.5 billion light years away then it will have no effect on Earth whatsoever, not to mention the fact that the signals being observed are equally as old.
The likely explanation is that it's coming from a Gamma Ray Burst triggered by a powerful supernova.
For comparison, the extent of human reach, lies currently with the two Voyagers that just recently entered interstellar space. It would take Voyager 1 well over 10 000 years to reach the nearest star Proxima Centauri.
They want the orange one.
We should just give him to them, and they will leave us in peace.
Last edited by Brave New World; 01-10-2019 at 05:09 AM..
I think we all need to up our Sci-fi game, gotta get on hawkeye's level.
A worthy endeavour that should be at the basic level in secondary schooling so idiots could not argue with proven science based merely upon some page of the bible being interpreted by rigid zealots...….and succeeding!
Wouldn't it be wonderful to not have to deal with the natural tendency for the human species to resist learning about the unknown to them.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
