| Author |
|
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135154
|
| Posted: 16 October 2025 at 11:48am | IP Logged | 1
|
post reply
|
|
The Guardian I’ve been saying this for years!
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Petter Myhr Ness
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 02 July 2009
Location: Norway
Posts: 4137
|
| Posted: 16 October 2025 at 7:44pm | IP Logged | 2
|
post reply
|
|
I like the simplicity of the theory.
I think we like the idea of these advanced alien cilivisatons because it gives us hope that we too one day may develop the technology to leave our Solar system, perhaps even the galaxy.
But odds are that will never happen. We're stuck here, for good and bad. This is where human life evolved, and this is the environment we need to survive.
Edited by Petter Myhr Ness on 16 October 2025 at 7:44pm
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135154
|
| Posted: 16 October 2025 at 7:59pm | IP Logged | 3
|
post reply
|
|
There are so many diverse elements that need to align just right for this to happen. Distance. Technological synchronization. Even just finding us!Remember, every light year out is a year back in time. So a civilization 200 LY away might be at exactly the same technological level we are, but we would be “seeing” them at American Civil War level—ie, not at all. We are not alone—but we might as well be.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Jim Lynch
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 August 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 652
|
| Posted: 19 October 2025 at 1:47pm | IP Logged | 4
|
post reply
|
|
I keep hoping somewhere, some civilization scoffed at physics, smashed relativity, and invented quantum warp drive and will soon bring it to Earth.
Instead, there’s a being on planet Remulac posting on their iPad-equivalent about why those aliens from Earth keep not showing up.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135154
|
| Posted: 19 October 2025 at 3:31pm | IP Logged | 5
|
post reply
|
|
An oft overlooked response to the Fermi Paradox! Why aren’t they here?Why aren’t we there?
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Evan S. Kurtz
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 04 July 2022
Location: Canada
Posts: 190
|
| Posted: 19 October 2025 at 11:30pm | IP Logged | 6
|
post reply
|
|
It always disappoints me when our brightest scientists reach the conclusion that advanced alien life would be a threat to us, because if we were that advanced, it’s what we would do. Maybe that’s actually just a good indication that we aren’t that far along yet.
If anything, we have learned that our model of constant growth and increased consumption doesn’t work, that it’s most likely impossible to become a space-fairing species whilst utilizing that model, and I expect other life forms to have adapted a more balanced approach. If we ever manage to do that, we just might be surprised to learn that alien life has been out there the whole time, waiting for us to figure it out.
Anyway, does anyone have thoughts on what might be the rarest, most valuable resources on our planet? I’m pretty sure the true answer isn’t what you might expect.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Koroush Ghazi
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 25 October 2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 1672
|
| Posted: 20 October 2025 at 6:13am | IP Logged | 7
|
post reply
|
|
Common sense?
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
e-mail
|
| |
Mikael Bergkvist
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 29 May 2025
Location: Sweden
Posts: 25
|
| Posted: 20 October 2025 at 8:07am | IP Logged | 8
|
post reply
|
|
Sorry. It double posted. Dont know what happened.
Edited by Mikael Bergkvist on 20 October 2025 at 8:10am
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Mikael Bergkvist
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 29 May 2025
Location: Sweden
Posts: 25
|
| Posted: 20 October 2025 at 8:08am | IP Logged | 9
|
post reply
|
|
I dont doubt there is life out there, but like on earth, who knows how big the time window for intelligence is? To me it seems like it took 4 billion years for it to appear, and now its mostly already gone.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135154
|
| Posted: 20 October 2025 at 4:02pm | IP Logged | 10
|
post reply
|
|
That window is the biggest problem. The further away They are, the more the time frame has to be adjusted.Caught a clip of Carl Sagan on Carson, talking about Earth being surrounded by a bubble about 30 light years in radius, since at that time the earliest transmissions we'd sent out were about 30 years old. And, of course, those transmissions fade pretty fast. Within 100 light years they would be virtyally undetectable, except with powerful receivers that were specifically looking for them. Same in the other direction. We have to look at the right time, in the right direction, scanning for signals we cannot even be sure our equipment could detect. It's not like we're going to accidentally pick up their version of STAR TREK. And if we're talking about ship-to-ship communications, our chances are even smaller. Evokes the existential dilemma: we're alone in the universe, life has no meaning, death is inevitable. Carpe diem!
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135154
|
| Posted: 20 October 2025 at 7:03pm | IP Logged | 11
|
post reply
|
|
In the grocery store a while ago I picked up ARE WE ALONE?, a point-of-purchase magazine from the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC. All kinds of tidbits about space and its mysteries. Only this is a reissue of what the publishers identify as a “favorite”. Which means a lot of the “mysteries” covered HAVE been solved. The WOW! signal, for instance. But one big annoyance springs from sloppy editing. On page 39 they mention our old pal, the Face on Mars, first seen by Viking 1 in 1976. Debunked by the Mars Global Surveyor in 1998, they say, offering a high-resolution picture of what turned out to be nothing more than a strangely eroded plateau. Except……..the accompanying photo is the original, from ‘76! Conspiracy nuts, go nuts!!
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
