Never heard or thought of this before.
I am reading "When the Heavens Went on Sale" a new book on some of the new rocket and satellite companies. Very little on SpaceX-more on the newer, smaller companies in the field.
It is the most "rocket-sciencey" (at a very simplistic and lay level of course) book that I think I have read.
One of the main guys said the good news is that we can even be talking about such things (rockets and so forth) because if the earth was just a bit larger with a bit stronger gravity we simply could not go to Space.
So, we might be in a sweet spot where the earth is just small enough that we can make it to Space, but civilizations on slightly larger planets might not be able to make that jump.
A Possible Reason for No Alien Sightings
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mrkelley23
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Re: A Possible Reason for No Alien Sightings
Two things: 1) it is difficult to overstate how many "sweet spots" we occupy. Size, distance from the Sun, magnetic fields, etc. 2) But those "sweet spots" really only apply to narrow definitions of life as we know it. There could be life forms on other planets that are far, far different than us.
The main difficulty is still the vast distances involved.
The main difficulty is still the vast distances involved.
For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled. -- Richard Feynman
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Spock
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Re: A Possible Reason for No Alien Sightings
Yeah, the issues with distance suck.mrkelley23 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 06, 2023 9:51 pmTwo things: 1) it is difficult to overstate how many "sweet spots" we occupy. Size, distance from the Sun, magnetic fields, etc. 2) But those "sweet spots" really only apply to narrow definitions of life as we know it. There could be life forms on other planets that are far, far different than us.
The main difficulty is still the vast distances involved.
This book doesn't touch anything beyond the moon (so far) and has mostly dealt with small new companies with smaller rockets putting small satellites in low earth orbit.
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tlynn78
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Re: A Possible Reason for No Alien Sightings
Dammit. I was really counting on having options...
To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead. -Thomas Paine
You can ignore reality, but you can't ignore the consequences of ignoring reality. -Ayn Rand
Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities. -Voltaire
You can ignore reality, but you can't ignore the consequences of ignoring reality. -Ayn Rand
Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities. -Voltaire
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Spock
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Re: A Possible Reason for No Alien Sightings
Of course-maybe the distance doesn't suck-if it protects us from bad aliens.
David Quammen (my favorite popular conservation writer) in "Monster of God" said that the saddest thing ever (even worse than bad aliens etc) would be if we are alone.
In addition to the "Space" book I am also reading Quammen's "Heartbeat of the Wild" and he mentions a major African wildlife migration that may not have been known to science until the early oughts-IOW-the Bored and its earlier iterations might be older than this knowledge.
Michael Fay (of Megatransect and Megaflyover fame) spotted an antelope migration (during the megaflyover) of maybe millions of kob and other antelope from the South Sudan to Ethiopia-not sure if science knew of the migration prior to that.
I had previously read about it in a book on land grabs in Africa and the risk to this migration.
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jarnon
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