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Science is Drokking Fantastic Because...

Started by The Legendary Shark, 21 July, 2011, 11:05:57 PM

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TordelBack

#1275
Good stuff, Sharky!  That Hicks segment always reminds of the Kim Stanley Robinson Science in the Capital environmental SF trilogy, where the mind-boggling financial demands of sustainable solutions to climate change-driven disasters  facing Our Heroes seem completely unattainable... until they are compared to the annual military budget, and are revealed as surprisingly modest.

That, and that Jem not-of-and-the-Holograms song.

The Trappist news is great, and only the beginning.

The Legendary Shark

Only the beginning indeed. With research and development of propulsion systems like Starshot and antimatter thrusters, amongst other exciting ideas, already underway, it's still just about possible that I may get to see the first images from another star system in my lifetime - if I'm really, really lucky and look after myself really, really, really well. I never thought I'd ever get to see images of Pluto - so, fingers crossed!

As telescopes improve, however, maybe I'll get to see a fuzzy blob orbiting Proxima, maybe even a fuzzy blue blob, as ideas like the Starshade (hopefully) come to fruition in the coming decades. (For an idea concerning a truly impressive telescope idea, check out the Megatelescope!)

Even SETI is getting some very clever ideas. Remember the old sci-fi idea of self-replicating Von Neumann Probes? Well, now they're thinking about virtual Von Neumann Probes,  where instead of having physical devices replicate and propel themselves through the galaxy, electromagnetic signals are initially transmitted where their signaling properties are designed to be amplified and replicated using natural stellar and physical processes. Such natural processes might include gravitational lensing to refocus signals and using stellar lasers or masers to amplify a given signal.

Science truly is drokking fantastic!
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TordelBack

Still be 78 years roundtrip even for light, never mind adding the time for getting something physical there to send a signal on its 39-year journey back... Even Starshot would take several centuries, plus the time to actual develop and build one.

Only chance us lot have of seeing images *from* Trappist 1 is if there's someone there and they (coincidentally) start sending them to us. Images *of* it, that's another matter...

Hawkmumbler


The Legendary Shark

Starshot's researchers envisage accelerating a microprobe to around 20% of lightspeed, which could get it to Proxima in 20 years. Of course, at that kind of speed (equivalent to the Moon's orbit around the Earth every six seconds) the probe's not going to be able to stop for a proper look around and will hurtle through the system in just a few hours but the possibilities for some snapshots arriving back on Earth just over four years later are properly mouthwatering. I'm 50 now, so if we can stop wars and spend our resources more wisely within the next 25 years, I might just get to see actual images from another solar system by my 99th birthday.

Yeah, yeah, I know - I'm an inveterate optimist!
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TordelBack

Apologies Shark, thought you were talking about Trappist. Yeah, Proxima Centauri is a massive longshot, but just possible. Switched. As I'm still holding out for a second view of Haley's Comet, I'll join you in your optimism.

The Legendary Shark

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The Legendary Shark

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TordelBack


The Legendary Shark

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JayzusB.Christ

"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

von Boom

That means we can look forward to having chippies on Mars!

The Legendary Shark

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Hawkmumbler

Those are...my god...those are on the other side of out solar system! What a time to be alive!