AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!

[StealthwHealth]

Since a basic principle of matter (when placed within certain environments) is to evolve and adapt (increasing levels of complexity), then one would expect that on each planet then the basic elements would do the same thing.

One would expect life forms to evolve and eventually reach some form of self-awareness (consciousness). If environmental conditions were right, then this is fairly certain.

Given that they did not destroy themselves (as we have been trying to do since we organized into social groups), then this evolution over time - might lead to a level of intelligence we can only imagine.

If you are interested in just how far our current capability can evolve, you need to read the book Prodigy, about William James Sidis.

Sidis could read the New York Times at 18 months and had reportedly taught himself eight languages (Latin, Greek, French, Russian, German, Hebrew, Turkish, and Armenian) by age eight.

He was admitted to Harvard at age 11. At age 9 he lectured to 100 of the worlds top Physicist on the 4th dimension and most of them could not understand his explanation.

He eventually could speak over 40 languages. He had perfect total recall - he remembered everything he read and saw down to the smallest detail.

He could walk into a library, walk through the stacks, come outside and tell you where every book was located and the books on either side of it.

By the age of 12 he was more advanced in mathematics than anyone currently living.

This is what our brain is capable of, and although some of that capability make be structural, most of it is chemical. Once we crack the chemical code every human will have the opportunity to be brighter than most of the people living today.

If we can evolve this far in a few hundred thousand years, think what might happen on a planet far, far away where intelligent life may have been evolving for a billion years.

Interesting. Will have to check out that book as well as the one JD mentioned.

From just peeking at Sidis' page on Wiki, it seems he was shunned by our society for thinking "differently". I don't want to speculate too much. I'll wait & read the book.

 

[weltweite]

So does anyone know if there are theories on how we could travel faster (Not speed of light but close to it)

:lightbulb:I know we don't have that technology now, but I'm always interested to hear theories on how it may one day be possible.

 

[tkav1980]

So does anyone know if there are theories on how we could travel faster (Not speed of light but close to it)

:lightbulb:I know we don't have that technology now, but I'm always interested to hear theories on how it may one day be possible.

well relativity allows for wormholes, and allows for the manipulation of space-time.

Google Alcubierre metric i.e. warpdrive. the math is solid.

 

[pumpkinhead]

So does anyone know if there are theories on how we could travel faster (Not speed of light but close to it)

:lightbulb:I know we don't have that technology now, but I'm always interested to hear theories on how it may one day be possible.

the problem with traveling at the speed of light, is everyone else will age faster then you (theory of relativity)... you could travel very close to the speed of light using anti-matter for propulsion, but the problem with anti-matter is in order to develop about 1 tsp of anti-matter it would bankrupt the entire world. So that leaves us with warp travel....warp travel would be neccessary in order to travel at or past the speed of light by bending space, but would have to form a "Warp bubble" so you do not age slower then everone else. After all it would suck to take a 5 month trip at light speed, and when you get back, everyone else has aged over 500years..

there are three very sound theories to travel..but yet, still many problems with each.

 

[The Dude]

I remember reading somewhere that our galaxy was a relatively young galaxy with relation to others that had been discovered in the universe. I'm not sure how that conclusion was drawn... maybe the current status of our sun?? Either way I believe any extraterrestrial contact would probably not work out too well for us. We can't get along with each other and find a way to live without destroying our planet. Aside from that why would any alien race want to have anything to do with us other than exterminate us?? Of course that's making a lot of assumptions as to the actual basis of life of any extraterrestrials. The possibilities are endless. Theoretically they could be sitting next to any of us at this moment and we simply can't perceive their presence.

 

[Cosmicdrifter]

the problem with traveling at the speed of light, is everyone else will age faster then you (theory of relativity)... you could travel very close to the speed of light using anti-matter for propulsion, but the problem with anti-matter is in order to develop about 1 tsp of anti-matter it would bankrupt the entire world. So that leaves us with warp travel....warp travel would be neccessary in order to travel at or past the speed of light by bending space, but would have to form a "Warp bubble" so you do not age slower then everone else. After all it would suck to take a 5 month trip at light speed, and when you get back, everyone else has aged over 500years..

there are three very sound theories to travel..but yet, still many problems with each.

I've read about relativity and quantum mechanics many times, but I still cannot get my mind around the basic concept. It is completely counter-intuitive, just as the big-bang theory includes the concept that there was no time before that event.

Within the concept of infinity, one is led to believe that given this may be the 1 billionth universe in a string of creations and implosions and given an infinite future, this same thread may be created again trillions and trillions of year in the future or trillions and trillions of years ago it may have happened before.

 

[tkav1980]

I've read about relativity and quantum mechanics many times, but I still cannot get my mind around the basic concept. It is completely counter-intuitive, just as the big-bang theory includes the concept that there was no time before that event.

Within the concept of infinity, one is led to believe that given this may be the 1 billionth universe in a string of creations and implosions and given an infinite future, this same thread may be created again trillions and trillions of year in the future or trillions and trillions of years ago it may have happened before.

The big bang theory does not conclude that there was no time before the big bang, the inherent problem is that as you extrapolate the equations backwards through time, the equations lead to a singularity at t=0. this means the space time curvatures become infinate and seperate into 2 entities. simply the math breaks. however when adding up to 11 total dimensions the singularity can be worked around. not solved but worked around so to speak.

the idea behind bent space propulsion although mathematically sound,has tons of inherent problems, not the least of which is your inability to "turn it off" at your destination since your, in essence, disconnecting yourself from the rest of the universe.

the last idea you propose, the "big crunch" as it was called, has pretty much been written off by all the physists. the evidence points to the universe expanding forever to the point where even atoms are ripped apart because space has expanded so much, eventually leading to a vast empty entropic universe with nothgin but energy spread evenly thruout. more of a "big rip".

 

[Johnny Smiles]

i think my brain is bleeding:ac:ion-sm

you are well read Tkav. i find most of this interesting but at the same time it seems pointless. makes me want to play with my daughter and not worry about such complicated things lol.
-JS

 

[bmf4life]

Wonder if i can get some beach side property there??? lol

 

[StealthwHealth]

i think my brain is bleeding:ac:ion-sm

you are well read Tkav. i find most of this interesting but at the same time it seems pointless. makes me want to play with my daughter and not worry about such complicated things lol.
-JS

hehe I feel ya JS. Makes me appreciate the simple things which we take for granted in life that much more.

 

[Liphted]

The big bang theory does not conclude that there was no time before the big bang, the inherent problem is that as you extrapolate the equations backwards through time, the equations lead to a singularity at t=0. this means the space time curvatures become infinate and seperate into 2 entities. simply the math breaks. however when adding up to 11 total dimensions the singularity can be worked around. not solved but worked around so to speak.

Good ol' M-theory. Excruciatingly painful to grasp the mathematics; beyond my capabilities admittedly. Differential manifolds, cohomology, noncommutative geometry. These are seriously advanced areas that need guidance from someone (e.g. an advisor) when dealing within the foundations of the theory. There is just not a series to follow in upper level mathematics needed for M-theory. These are not your basic back of a napkin calculations. And let's be honest, there is no intuition associated with these topics. To grasp it is to understand the language in which it's conveyed - math.

If I remember correctly (haven't dabbled much with it as of late) there are issues with using more than 4 space-time dimensions however. Issues with singularities being consequences of classical instabilities when working in higher dimensions. Also, the lack of predictable outcomes is quite alarming from a theory. I guess what I'm getting at is that I'm not so convinced M-theory is the last wish of Einstein. In fact Hawking recently postulated there will never exist a unification.

For anyone who is interested in one of the best books, I feel, to introduce you through advanced topics without contrived analogies to 'soften' the physics, check out The Road to Reality : A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe (Penrose). Be warned this is not a weekend page flipper - over 1100 pages of deep detail. If you've never been exposed, or had an interest in learning, some higher level mathematics I would skip it however.


tkav, you don't think it was a bit presumptuous that one of the lead scientists claimed, with 100% certainty, that life would exist on this planet?

 

[Cosmicdrifter]

Good ol' M-theory. Excruciatingly painful to grasp the mathematics; beyond my capabilities admittedly. Differential manifolds, cohomology, noncommutative geometry. These are seriously advanced areas that need guidance from someone (e.g. an advisor) when dealing within the foundations of the theory. There is just not a series to follow in upper level mathematics needed for M-theory. These are not your basic back of a napkin calculations. And let's be honest, there is no intuition associated with these topics. To grasp it is to understand the language in which it's conveyed - math.

If I remember correctly (haven't dabbled much with it as of late) there are issues with using more than 4 space-time dimensions however. Issues with singularities being consequences of classical instabilities when working in higher dimensions. Also, the lack of predictable outcomes is quite alarming from a theory. I guess what I'm getting at is that I'm not so convinced M-theory is the last wish of Einstein. In fact Hawking recently postulated there will never exist a unification.

For anyone who is interested in one of the best books, I feel, to introduce you through advanced topics without contrived analogies to 'soften' the physics, check out The Road to Reality : A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe (Penrose). Be warned this is not a weekend page flipper - over 1100 pages of deep detail. If you've never been exposed, or had an interest in learning, some higher level mathematics I would skip it however.


tkav, you don't think it was a bit presumptuous that one of the lead scientists claimed, with 100% certainty, that life would exist on this planet?

You and tkav have made some wonderful observations; unfortunately neither I nor few others on the board understand advanced mathematics at a level that would make your contributions assessable.

I envy people who have a math aptitude, for that reason; it makes understanding "reality" as a quantifiable experience rather than a strictly spiritual one. Most of us will never understand how speed changes time; to us, time is a way of measuring sub-atomic events using mega-level indicators - aging; incremental cellular deterioration.

Because physics and cosmological theory eventually assume philosophical propositions - the main body of work no longer contributes to the answers. I know Penrose, Hawkins, and the other major cosmologist of our time theorize about the answer to questions like - what existed before the big bang; was this the first or the 1000th in a long history of universes, issues of scale - like in the movie "Men in Black" where a galaxy was within a marble sized bobble - the answers are more philosophical - without mathematical proofs.

So much of life's experience, particularly the liberating insights that would make us all wise - will forever remain hidden. The concept of consciousness explained empirically by E.O. Wilson in Consilience and by Julian Jaynes in his book The Origins of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind still eludes the average persons understanding.

So in spite of our best efforts, an ultimate understanding of ourselves - in the sense of understanding reality is unobtainable. I think Shakespeare has one line by Puck in the play "A Midsummer's Night Dream" that sums it up nicely: "We well know who we are, but not who we may be."

 

[tkav1980]

Good ol' M-theory. Excruciatingly painful to grasp the mathematics; beyond my capabilities admittedly. Differential manifolds, cohomology, noncommutative geometry. These are seriously advanced areas that need guidance from someone (e.g. an advisor) when dealing within the foundations of the theory. There is just not a series to follow in upper level mathematics needed for M-theory. These are not your basic back of a napkin calculations. And let's be honest, there is no intuition associated with these topics. To grasp it is to understand the language in which it's conveyed - math.

If I remember correctly (haven't dabbled much with it as of late) there are issues with using more than 4 space-time dimensions however. Issues with singularities being consequences of classical instabilities when working in higher dimensions. Also, the lack of predictable outcomes is quite alarming from a theory. I guess what I'm getting at is that I'm not so convinced M-theory is the last wish of Einstein. In fact Hawking recently postulated there will never exist a unification.

For anyone who is interested in one of the best books, I feel, to introduce you through advanced topics without contrived analogies to 'soften' the physics, check out The Road to Reality : A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe (Penrose). Be warned this is not a weekend page flipper - over 1100 pages of deep detail. If you've never been exposed, or had an interest in learning, some higher level mathematics I would skip it however.


tkav, you don't think it was a bit presumptuous that one of the lead scientists claimed, with 100% certainty, that life would exist on this planet?[/QUOTE]


first bolded part. Cal Tech, UNLV, City university of new york, University of penn, Princeton university, Temple University Tokyo campus, CERN, MIT, NASA JPL Laboratories. thats all i can think of doing direct research on string/M-Theory. Kip thorne teaches at Cal tech, Ovrut and University of penn, Kaku at city university of new york, and i forget the name of the professor at princeton.

im half way through this book, and that has taken me 6 months wiht a physics degree. Penrose says you can skip over the math but i have to disagree, theres entire chapters that are completely useless without understand the math he's talking about.


second bold. i agree 100% with you IF thats what he said. im sure the media didnt blow that out of proportion:banghead:



Also when it comes to einsteins dream of a grand unified theory of everything im going to side with Burt Ovrut and Kip Thorne on this one and believe that all of the laws of the universe can be explained in one beautiful yet so far elusive equation. now experimentally this idea that M-theory is correct will depend on the LHC. IF, and this is a big if, they create micro black holes which evaporate at the rate that hawking predicts, the strings exist. it has to do with the way the particle pairs behave at the event horizon, the negative particle falling through and the positive particle escaping. This is probably the most exciting time in human history for scientific advancement.



P.S. Lipthed, theres another book that pokes even more holes in string and M-theory Sammich over at IM hooked me up with it. PM me when you get a chance and ill send you the link as the title escapes me right now.

 

[ICU11b]

Whats amazing is Hawkings had to do all this in his head due to not having use of his hands. Watched a documentary on this exact thing last night. Finally something good on TV.

 

[J_Diggs]

I have to say I love the arrogance of most scientist...."life can't exist without water"...says who? they have found life forms that can thrive in acidic enviroments, and what they call "water bears" that are a simple life form that can survive in the vacum of space....

There's liquid methane on Titan (moon of saturn), with a dense atmosphere. who is to say other life forms don't use methane like we use water?

untill we actually start funding nasa , instead of taking funds away, we will never know. Some of the most usefull items we use on a daily basis came from the space program.

but in all reality how stupid are we? sending signals into space saying, "here we are" .... we better hope anyone that responds is friendly, because if they can get to us, they are already far superior.

Water bears...tardigrades! Ahaha. I thought these things were so cool when I first read about them. Actually still think they're amazing.

These little guys can revert to a dry state and when in this state can resist storage in liquid nitrogen, contact with mineral acids, organic solvents, radioactive radiation and boiling water. Then, after being tormented with any or all of these tests, they are still able to return to life with only a small drop of water. Very cool!