Kepler may have found Earth-sized planets in habitable zone

Paging Van Huyten Industries...

(But there are a few of those in the running. :D)

Anyway, speculation is fun. People still read Heinlein, and he was wrong way more often than not.

Hail Martin Septim!

God, I'm so sick of them naming everything after what children think would be a good name. Children come up with stupid names, like "Curiosity". Oooo, real creative, that.

They should do more internet polls, but I think that Colbert's little stunt with the ISS module has turned them off to the idea.

Basically, they did a poll to name the next ISS module, and made the mistake of leaving a space for a "write-in". Colbert found out about the poll, and this is what happened:

Although they ultimately decided to pick their own title and ignore the poll, NASA gave Colbert a consolation prize after he wont he popular vote: they named a treadmill after him, and even designed a special logo for it featuring Colbert's face.

edited 5th Dec '11 2:10:03 PM by MyGodItsFullofStars

It would be more productive and more realistic to speculate what kind of tech we'll use to get there than what society will spring up when we get there. That's like trying to hit a bull's eye with a .22 off the deck of a carrier from the Pacific Ocean to Central Europe... while blindfolded.

Edit: Shush, you. A schoolgirl named Pluto, and it was good.

edited 5th Dec '11 2:14:24 PM by USAF713

I am now known as Flyboy.

PLUTO IS A PLANET! I SHALL BURN YE WHO DISAGREE.

Ahem.

Well, I don't see the problem. I mean, the main problem actually, is funding, and public opinion.

Well, we can always ignore the public, so really we just need da monies.

"We" are the public. But the rising demand for suborbital jetsetting with guys like Virgin Galactic is an excellent way to pump money into a niche market like space travel.

edited 5th Dec '11 2:27:26 PM by DomaDoma

Hail Martin Septim!

They should have Nasa do it's job or experiments, and PAY THEM RIGHT. They could test cost-effective space travel stuff, and the government could give them more money.

I'm baaaaaaack

That's the thing: the government doesn't have any incentive to be cost-effective - no one will be out a government job if they go over budget - and given that the head of NASA stated that the bureau's primary goal was to remind the international community of its scientific achievements, the fact that they're still studying space at all caught me flat-footed. More money won't help if it's going to stupid places.

Hail Martin Septim!

Fuck Generation Ships, Faster-Than-Light Travel baby! The neutrino thing recently is throwing a hell of a spanner in Einstein's relativity theories.

Or how about the slow way, except that we use medicine to extend the human life-span such that 600 years is only a one or maybe two generations?

One neutrino moving at just barely FTL—and unconfirmed at that—does not equate to "we will be like Star Trek in a century."

I am now known as Flyboy.

That much screwing with the G-nome can't have anything good result.

I'm baaaaaaack

It's a simple fix, for the most part. We age because our telomeres degrade over time, and because we accumulate mutations to our genetic structure. All that is needed for longevity is to slow down this process somehow, likely by introducing new custom-made enzymes into our cells - a technological feat that we are already getting close to achieving.

Also, there's a perception that in order to bio-engineer something, you have to remove/fiddle with existing DNA. Not so - you simply splice some new code in. Codes can also be designed to turn on and off with environmental triggers, so if there's a negative side effect (or you decide that photosynthesis just isn't your thing), you can easily shut it down using a simple pill.

What part of "you don't rewrite genomes when you do genetic engineering" don't you guys understand? All you are doing is giving a cell the ability to build a new protein, and to do that all that is required is to splice in a new line of code in between existing codes (which doesn't mess with anything - its like adding an extra sentence to a paragraph, not adding extra letters to a word). You can even design this new code to turn on and off with the right chemical signals. It is harmless, even routine.

edited 5th Dec '11 3:24:24 PM by MyGodItsFullofStars

Let's not take any moves out of Rapture's playbook, please.

Genetic engineering is untrustworthy enough as it is, without rewriting whole genomes because you think you can kill aging...

I am now known as Flyboy.

This is Humanity! We do not let "just barely FTL" stop us! FTL as possibility is bred into our very souls. We will find a way.

TTGL is a great show, Tom, but not for its adherence to natural laws.

Hail Martin Septim!

I'd put more faith in cryogenics honestly.

Share it so that people can get into this conversation, 'cause we're not the only ones who think like this.

The natural laws are supposed to be our playthings, not our limits. It is our destiny as a species.

Right, well, even if we can do it—which is a dubious possibility at best—it certainly won't be within our lifetimes, Tom.

If it is, I'll put a tophat on and set myself on fire.

I am now known as Flyboy.

Video or it didn't happen

Self-thumped for off-topic squick

edited 5th Dec '11 3:44:03 PM by DomaDoma

Hail Martin Septim!

I'm reminded of Jared Diamond's Collapse and the ruins of now-extinct civilizations that ignored their natural limits.

Share it so that people can get into this conversation, 'cause we're not the only ones who think like this.

^^^^ Never discount the "impossible". 100 years ago nobody would believe you if you said Man set foot on the Moon. 100 years from now people may wonder why we thought FTL was impossible.

edited 5th Dec '11 3:45:11 PM by MajorTom

Deal.

Edit:

@Tom,

Agreed. However, it's pointless to speculate when the current available evidence doesn't support it happening.

If you'd said in 1850 that we'd be on the Moon by 1950, they would have told you that you're crazy, and for them and their knowledge, they'd be right. We won't know what we can do until we do it.

Sadly.

edited 5th Dec '11 3:47:48 PM by USAF713

I am now known as Flyboy.

My money's on Science Marches On and Science Marches On hasn't been stopped yet.

Yeah, the thing about Science Marches On is that we don't get to say in what direction it marches. We'll come up with cool shit, no doubt, but what's to say that FTL is the cool shit we'll come up with?

Share it so that people can get into this conversation, 'cause we're not the only ones who think like this.