Science and Technology Thread

[Penguin4784]

Aliens

[shafnutz05]

Really fascinating read:

http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/fermi-paradox.html

Cool scientific hypothesis (the Great Filter, that is)

[Shyster]

Very interesting. Group Two, Possibility 5 has been the subject of at least two science-fiction books I've read in recent years.

[count2infinity]

http://www.vocativ.com/culture/science/ ... -dinosaur/

saweeeeeeet... One of my biggest pet peeves is when some know-it-all chimes in with "you know brontosaurus isn't actually a dinosaur..." It's happened only a couple times in my life, but now my pain is over.

[LeopardLetang]

Really fascinating read:

http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/fermi-paradox.html

Cool scientific hypothesis (the Great Filter, that is)

Great link. Caused me to read a bunch more posts there including "what makes you you" and AI intelligence ones. Thanks

[Kraftster]

Really fascinating read:

http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/fermi-paradox.html

Cool scientific hypothesis (the Great Filter, that is)

Great link. Caused me to read a bunch more posts there including "what makes you you" and AI intelligence ones. Thanks

How about this one: http://waitbutwhy.com/2013/08/putting-t ... ctive.html

[Z'MaattaU]

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/7023134

[Robot B9]

Really fascinating read:

http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/fermi-paradox.html

Cool scientific hypothesis (the Great Filter, that is)

Great stuff. Love the thinking.

Of course, this raises a key question for our nonreligious brethren:

The theories in that article are all loaded with hypotheticals and "this is probably wrong , but". If they still appeal to you, what makes you disregard religious aspects so soundly when there is historical documentation vs. these lines of reasoning that are mostly sci-fi?

[tifosi77]

Really fascinating read:

http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/fermi-paradox.html

Cool scientific hypothesis (the Great Filter, that is)

Great stuff. Love the thinking.

Of course, this raises a key question for our nonreligious brethren:

The theories in that article are all loaded with hypotheticals and "this is probably wrong , but". If they still appeal to you, what makes you disregard religious aspects so soundly when there is historical documentation vs. these lines of reasoning that are mostly sci-fi?

I don't see it as much of a paradox, because - if our understanding of physics is correct - it doesn't really matter if there are trillions of other life-viable planets out there.... they are still really far away. We could exist as a species for a billion more years before we have any contact with extra-terrestrial life.

It's also human-centric to believe that our notion of life and intelligence is the only version of it out there in the universe.

[columbia]

Yeah you get into some crazy formula of:

probability of alien race having the technological ability to reach our solar system & probability of alien race actually driving their spacecraft in the direction of our solar system & probability of this happening in the past, as opposed to 5 billion years from now, etc.

tl;dnr I'm not expecting us to run across ET any time soon.

[shmenguin]

Somewhere in the universe an alien race is invading a nearby planet. We'll never see it. But it's happening somewhere.

[tifosi77]

Somewhere in the universe an alien race is invading a nearby planet. We'll never see it. But it's happening somewhere.

And by the time we do see, it will be several million years in the past.

[PFiDC]

I think there are 2 possibilities if alien life visits Earth.

1) They die of laughter because we are still using fossil fuels/leave us alone because we are obviously going to kill each other
2) They recognize us as a future threat (if we even manage to live that long) and destroy us quickly

[Shyster]

Assuming no constraints, SpaceX will be launching the CRS-6 resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) today at 16:33 Eastern time. The unmanned Dragon spacecraft is carrying more than 4,300 pounds of supplies and payloads. This mission will also feature another attempt to land the Falcon 9's first stage on the Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (a/k/a the SS Just Read the Instructions). Because this is a NASA mission, you can watch the launch on NASA TV (http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/) in addition to SpaceX's web page (http://www.spacex.com).

[Shyster]

Thus far, everything is green for launch, including the weather. It also sounds like the weather is pretty decent for where the Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship is waiting.

[tifosi77]

I think they just announced weather is a no go. Countdown scrubbed at t-minus 2:48.

[Shyster]

Yeah, so close. One of the weather rules is that anvil clouds (basically thunderstorms) cannot be within a certain distance, and it looks like a nearby storm just managed to drift into that radius. Because the launch window to the ISS is instantaneous (i.e., the rocket must launch exactly on time to the second), they can't wait for the storm to pass and any delay means an automatic scrub.

[tifosi77]

I clicked on the live stream at t-minus 3 minutes........ managed to get all of 12 seconds in.

[Shyster]

I clicked on the live stream at t-minus 3 minutes........ managed to get all of 12 seconds in.

Eh, you didn't miss much. All of the interesting stuff starts at T=0.

Today's weather was supposedly a 60% go for launch, but the weather for tomorrow is looking even worse at 50%. Not sure when the next launch window would be after that. I've read that the 15th is no-go for launch.

In other space news, United Launch Alliance unveiled the Next Generation Launch System, which will eventually replace both its Delta IV and Atlas V rockets. The first stage will feature two Blue Origin BE-4 rocket engines burning liquid methane and liquid oxygen. The upper stage will initially be the tried-and-true Centaur upper stage (in use since the 60s), but will eventually be replaced by an Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage with greater capabilities. Up to six solid rocket boosters can be attached for more thrust at launch. ULA held an online naming contest for the new rocket, and the winning name is Vulcan. I bet the recent passing of Leonard Nimoy had something to do with that.

[LITT]

A new theory proposes that early in the formation of the solar system Jupiter first spiraled in close to the Sun and then was pulled back to its current orbit by the formation of Saturn:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... -life.html

Part of this theory is that Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars formed from the remnants of earlier and much more massive rocky planets that were squashed by Jupiter on its trip. One of the predictions of this theory is that Earth-like planets with modest atmospheres might be very rare because they would only form in solar systems like ours, namely, solar systems where a second major gas giant manages to pull the first gas giant back away from the star.

This seems like a bunch of scientists got together, put a bunch words on the wall, and threw darts to see what the new "theory" is

[count2infinity]

I went to a conference last summer... a most of the professors that were there all went and bought a bottle of whiskey and they all sat around drinking discussing science. Probably one of the best ways of coming up with new ideas.

[tifosi77]

T-minus 2 minutes.

[Shyster]

Today's primary mission for SpaceX went flawlessly, and the unmanned Dragon spacecraft is on its way to the ISS. The first stage landed on the drone ship but "excess lateral velocity" caused the stage to tip over. It's not clear yet whether it tipped over and stayed on the deck or tipped over and fell off the barge.

[Shyster]

Chase-plane video of the landing of the Falcon 9 first stage:



As Elon Musk said, it looks like there was too much lateral movement. The Falcon 9 swings pretty far to the left to correct that lateral movement, and it looks like the stage is still swinging back at the right at the time it touches down on the ASDS. At that point, it looks like the top of the stage is leaning to the left, and I bet the next few frames would show the stage topping over to that side.

[PFiDC]

I watched the launch and I was amazed at how fast it got to space. I mean, 3-4 minutes? That's incredible.