We Are On The Verge of Interstellar Flight...

Too much people, too much weapons and too little ressources. I would love to see more human space travel but i doubt this will happen in the next centuries. Except.. something revolutionary breakthroughs in technology and the human mind would happen. Long way to go.

a reply to: MeanMinistry

Look at the technological marvels and revolutionary breakthroughs Humanity has produced in the last 100 years alone. Our technological prowess is increasing dramatically as the decades pass, and will incress exponentially if and when we broach the singularity.

Is it really that hard to imagine that over the next 100 years we will find a solution to our energy demands, solve or at least alleviate our social problems/religious indifference and possibly create the technology that will take us to the stars?

Nice thread Slayer but I won't be holding my breath.

Too much division amongst this planet with no end in sight. Too many psychopaths in power accumulating all the wealth and resources and distributing it in the way only they want.

This very day the elite, the rich, could fix the entire world's problems. Poverty could be non-existent. But instead we have oil rich Islamic monarchs, or Gas rich oligarchs, or Commercially rich entrepeneurs, or economically rich republics....all working towards furthering their wealth, their resources, or military might....doing the bidding of the selfish, not the selfless.

We do not deserve, in this current time, to reach the stars. I don't have the solutions to fix these issues.....nor do I have hope that things will change without some incredibly large catastrophic event that is totally out of the control of even the most powerful people on this planet. But that said event would most certainly include mass deaths of us, the common people, and I fear those who we want rid of will be able to avoid said event...and so even afterwards the potential problematic cycle may continue.

Eh...it's depressing analyzing current and past events and trying to somehow see something better for the future. It seems we as a species seem wholly incapable of recognising our power, and we as common people fail to see our strength in numbers enough to do something about the current status quo around the world.

Give me an alien invasion, ELE....just something that would unsettle those rich psychopaths.

a reply to: MerkabaMeditation

That stupid-great movie from a great, not stupid book.

The part in that intro where she fades and then pops back saying "I forgot to tell you..." drives me crazy with it's clumsy idiocy... what a shame. Why is it that great sci fi is so often ruined by idiot filmmakers? But the cackling little girl-witch dancing with the knife at the end is classic... in a way, heh...

Oh and from all I've heard and can piece together, it's quite likely we have interstellar travel and have for some decades... unbelievable as that seems.

LOL

I'll believe it when I see it. I have no problem believing the suggestion that humans WILL TRY to achieve interstellar travel. It's just that if things actually work the way most of the big minds think they do, it's virtually impossible.

Oh, I think we MIGHT eventually make it to a couple of the closest stars but FTL travel (or even close to light speed travel) is a lot more far fetched than people think.

What is more likely (IMO) is we'll start tinkering around with stuff we don't completely understand in the quest to achieve stuff like this and really screw up.

a reply to: SLAYER69

As long as gravity is a theory instead of fact, we are no closer to "interstellar" flight than when Einstein first wrote special relativity.

a reply to: Helious

IKR, even electricity is still classed as a phenomena.

I suspect it too Baddogma. I think we are way ahead in the knowledge to make this move but our warring nature is why we are going slow. For one thing, IF we have the tech to go out there now and share it with the public there could be severe consequences that are like an opening of Pandora's box. We have psycho's who have power now who might unleash real shock and awe for affect and not to share the prosperity. Imagining what would happen if they were to get their hands on the type of tech that going to deep space would require.

Physicists sure hated unleashing Nuclear bombs on the world but the choices were kill or be killed and if the Axis powers had gotten it 1st we all know what would have happened to country's who didn't surrender. They would not have stopped with Japan as the US did. Proceed with caution is the mantra now, I hope. Otherwise, we need to get out there now before some idiot destroys the planet with weapons.

originally posted by: Helious
a reply to: SLAYER69

As long as gravity is a theory instead of fact, we are no closer to "interstellar" flight than when Einstein first wrote special relativity.

I find it interesting that there is some proof of gravity but the experiments that had clocks at different speeds on Earth as compared to the ones in orbit is a clue we are not ready to define gravity and a theory it will remain. What it really means, is beyond me but i am thankful that it holds us onto the planet.

a reply to: SLAYER69

Not tomorrow, next month or even next year, most likely not even within my lifetime but on the whole of human history, we will soon, comparatively speaking, travel among the stars.

Unless you are older than I; you will probably see the very first "starships". Not that they will be any "great shakes", but
, still "starships".

Today, we have field propulsion, artificial gravity, and a sort of warp drive. While these things are still in their infancy, technologies can grow very fast...less than 50 years ago the micro computer was non-existent...today we have 64bit powerhouses...in our phones!

Our super computers, based on the same microprocessor technology that didn't exist 50 years ago can complete 100's of trillions of computations per second.

All of the fundamental elements for such technology already exists...so...I expect to see the first "crude" starships before I pass, and if not...it won't be much longer...

I'm 69...

a reply to: BrianFlanders

I tend to agree with you, FTL may likely be impossible and LS as well. I have read that even if the Alcubierre drive works, one techanical issue with warp bubbles is that the temperature inside the warp bubble is so hot from Hawking radiation, 5M(?) 5k(?) degrees F that nothing could survive.

The story of the dimming star, KIC 8462852, fascinates me. While everyone is trying to dismiss the alien theory, a year or so ago, they searched galaxies to look for this type of artificial light reduction and said they could not find it. This seems to be exactly the signature that would indicate advanced (very advanced) life. But, I also wonder if this is a sign that very advanced life is also home bound to their star and can't leave it. Therefore, they are expanding their world with a Dyson swarm because there is no feasible means to leave. If that is the case, there technology is likely good enough that they know earth is habitable. They may have even sent probes here and know life is here. But, if communication is limited to light speed, they would not yet know our level of advancement.

Perhaps when they understand we have reached the nuclear age, they will send a message to us, which would be about 3,000 years from now to tell us who they are, the limits on travel and how to survive by making greater use of our star. If we can reach the starts, I think it will take 1,000 years to accomplish this.

100-200 hundred years to have a working full time colony on Mars. By that I mean self sustaining. 300-500 hundred years to send probes and receive data from nearby stars to identify 5 or 6 planets that should be targeted for a visit. either because they have sustainable life, but not intelligent life on the planet or the planet can clearly support life. 200 - 300 years to put together a mission that is successful. In my view, we haven't started working on 1, full time colony on Mars until we have the first human land there. Then the 1,000 year time line starts. Also, we need to develop the technology to send probes that have a turn around time of 300 - 500 years. That technology does not exist. We also need telescopes that are capable of identifying the targets much more precisely. Perhaps that is only 30 - 40 years away....But, 100 years as the OP suggested is wildly optimistic. 50 years has almost passed since the moon landing and we have not progressed since.

Mars is geometrically harder than the moon and the stars are unfathomably harder. I really don't think we have been physically visited by aliens. I allowed for the possibility of probes above. My bet is that interstellar is impossible for carbon based life due to radiation, temperature issues etc. Rather, interstellar travel will be limited to artificial life, albeit, the future of the human race is likely a hybrid with machines and perhaps if we accept that as human, then it will occur.

Nah, nah...

1st question: Why should we do that?

2nd question: There's only a very few individuals who could actually do that... But a very low chance for the select few that could successfully do that without any drawbacks.

So, chances is very low for quite the fact of many drawbacks of human nature. It's like getting our needs is a number one drawback. If we wish to successfully do interstellar travel then we might as well have to resolved our drawbacks first before even committing interstellar travel.

Just because we can imagine it doesn't mean we would do it. For now, keep dreaming.

originally posted by: Tristran
In other words, the elite have finally got the balls to be real men and admit that us peasants could have been travelling the stars decades ago.

Its going to be interesting to see how the people react when they find out that technology has been kept in the dark 18th century whilst the elite military (black ops) have traversed the stars since World War 2 with the Vrill ships using clean everlasting energy.

Heads will roll.

Been playing too much call of duty I'd wager. Care to offer up any evidence? I'd ask for proof but I won't ask you to do the impossible, as we both know there isn't a shred of it.

a reply to: SLAYER69

It was spoken about before by Michio Kaku, he speaks of the various timelines of projected supposed time it may take to reach those heights. We will reach these heights, I am sure of that myself. Question should arise whether or not those heights have already been reached. I remember hearing about the blackbird being built in Area 51 and which pretty much put it on the map for the public eye, they explained that this plane was built somewhat 50-60 years before this point and at this point it was VERY advanced tech. So I always take new tech as being 60 years behind itself. So our yearning for knowing what is really going on, well we would have to be part of the 1% to get that inside knowledge or praise some major breakthrough with hackers discovering info soon. Either way I think our entire history is not what it seems, there is holes in our history and it does not add up to our current position in the timeline. Therefore, whatever happened to this information, who holds the real details. Those I would think are the ones in true power and know truly our origins. Follow the money I suppose, as money is an obvious construct of position of power. I think by the time something global happens, sadly to say, it will be too late. The 1% will already have left to their interstellar getaways.

a reply to: SLAYER69

"The right tool for the job" When we wanted to reach the highest peak, we developed the wherewithal, We wanted to fly, we've did it, We wanted to not just sail the oceans but submerge beneath them, done that as well. Split the Atom? Sure, been there, done that too.

This goes to illustrate that for us as a species at least, nothing can be considered impossible. With the right tool for the job, and the will to accomplish a goal, we absolutely can and will achieve anything we can imagine, even if and however many times a vocal minority or even majority shout 'impossible', cannot be done, never in a million years...because quite apart from a million years being a very long time, as you have pointed out, a mere 200 years is a very long time from a developmental perspective.

If we dicide to, we most certainly will find, engineer, stumble upon a way...we always do.

a reply to: SLAYER69

I think even if we do manage those speeds to make it to other stars. Out biggest challenge will be random space debree. There's so much out there we can't see that dodging things at that speed 100% won't be possible. The smallest stone becomes a landmine if you hit it. Unless you have some UFO technology and that's a wholenother ball game.

a reply to: MeanMinistry

For interstellar travel (I don't believe in it) we need a moon base?

Where is that moon base they promised us some 50 years ago?

www.evawaseerst.be...

a reply to: SLAYER69

Exponential growth. That is the key.

Compare the last 100 years to the prior 1000. Compare the last 10 to the prior 1000.

It took us what, 80,000 years to domesticate animals and create an environment where we could even start developing anything beyond spear points and the atlatl?

Then another how long before the wheel was given occasion to come about? Its like the beasts of burden that gave rise to the wheel. And the plow.

Its been an incredibly slow march to get us to where we are today. Bootstrapping ourselves took enormous effort, and millenia to just make the tiniest advances. And now we sit on the edge of explosion. We are measuring our advances in months now, not decades, or years. And the advances are enormous in comparison (think of computer processors). The things you say won't happen in your lifetime....won't happen only because someone is pulling on the reins. we are on the dawn of an entirely new (and foreign) era in Earth's history. The kind of change that will result in the creation of a new human eventually.

See M.T. Keshe's patents, videos, and textbooks with his unifying physics theory that explains intelligently many mysteries in science if one takes the time to study it. He is a modern N. Tesla and is proving it.

Times change but people don't. Good to see you still doing good work Slayer.


Spike Spiegle