We May Be Alone In The Milky Way After All (says Brian Cox)
Discussion
KareemK said:
jbudgie said:
KareemK said:
If you apply Occam's Razor to the Fermi Paradox you get your answer which is roughly in line with Brian Cox's.
Yes, but Cox was only talking about the Milky Way, not the universe.
So am I.
jbudgie said:
KareemK said:
jbudgie said:
KareemK said:
If you apply Occam's Razor to the Fermi Paradox you get your answer which is roughly in line with Brian Cox's.
Yes, but Cox was only talking about the Milky Way, not the universe. So am I.When you expand that to the Universe then I'd say the inter galactic distances involved pretty much explain that situation even if they exist by the bucket load in Andromeda etc.
jbudgie said:
RobDickinson said:
Why does the Milky Way appear as a curve in the photo ?Is it because of the lens used ?
cold thursday said:
The thing that I struggle with is the concept of "Nothing"
As in "Nothing existed before the big bang".
So there was Nothing (no time,space, matter...... etc)
Then there was this "Big Bang" and the universe existed and started expanding.
Expanding into what? When you blow up a balloon, it expands into the space around itself. But if there is no space outside the uninflated balloon, if there is nothing, what would it expand into?As in "Nothing existed before the big bang".
So there was Nothing (no time,space, matter...... etc)
Then there was this "Big Bang" and the universe existed and started expanding.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Expanding into what? When you blow up a balloon, it expands into the space around itself. But if there is no space outside the uninflated balloon, if there is nothing, what would it expand into?
This is what does my head in. We are so used to the concept of things consisting of something, down to a subatomic level, what can be beyond that?TwigtheWonderkid said:
cold thursday said:
The thing that I struggle with is the concept of "Nothing"
As in "Nothing existed before the big bang".
So there was Nothing (no time,space, matter...... etc)
Then there was this "Big Bang" and the universe existed and started expanding.
Expanding into what? When you blow up a balloon, it expands into the space around itself. But if there is no space outside the uninflated balloon, if there is nothing, what would it expand into?As in "Nothing existed before the big bang".
So there was Nothing (no time,space, matter...... etc)
Then there was this "Big Bang" and the universe existed and started expanding.
KareemK said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
cold thursday said:
The thing that I struggle with is the concept of "Nothing"
As in "Nothing existed before the big bang".
So there was Nothing (no time,space, matter...... etc)
Then there was this "Big Bang" and the universe existed and started expanding.
Expanding into what? When you blow up a balloon, it expands into the space around itself. But if there is no space outside the uninflated balloon, if there is nothing, what would it expand into?As in "Nothing existed before the big bang".
So there was Nothing (no time,space, matter...... etc)
Then there was this "Big Bang" and the universe existed and started expanding.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Ahhh...quantum foam. It's so obvious when you think about it.
But then I looked it up
dude Kareem was righthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_foam
"Quantum foam is theorized to be the 'fabric' of the Universe, but cannot be observed yet because it is too small. Also, quantum foam is theorized to be created by virtual particles of very high energy. Virtual particles appear in quantum field theory, arising briefly and then annihilating during particle interactions in such a way that they affect the measured outputs of the interaction, even though the virtual particles are themselves space. These "vacuum fluctuations" affect the properties of the vacuum, giving it a nonzero energy known as vacuum energy, itself a type of zero-point energy. However, physicists are uncertain about the magnitude of this form of energy."
I'm still none the wiser
Edited by cold thursday on Saturday 25th October 00:09
tight fart said:
cold thursday said:
The thing that I struggle with is the concept of "Nothing"
As in "Nothing existed before the big bang".
So there was Nothing (no time,space, matter...... etc)
Then there was this "Big Bang" and the universe existed and started expanding.
I've always thought that the universe has probably done it all before, expanding to it runs out of steam then contracting As in "Nothing existed before the big bang".
So there was Nothing (no time,space, matter...... etc)
Then there was this "Big Bang" and the universe existed and started expanding.
to a singularity, then bang it starts all over again.
Then the mind boggles and I see what's on TV or the net....otherwise there 's a real danger of brain hurt... as in my brain hurts.
One final question. Why are we here?
.... and not over there ...
Quatum Foam protagonists say that there is and never has been such a thing as 'nothing'.
No matter how 'Empty' the vacuum of space appears it is actually filled with quantum foam and quantum foam has always existed even prior to the big bang when there was no 'space'.
Yes, I know, I can't get my head around it either
No matter how 'Empty' the vacuum of space appears it is actually filled with quantum foam and quantum foam has always existed even prior to the big bang when there was no 'space'.
Yes, I know, I can't get my head around it either
KareemK said:
jbudgie said:
KareemK said:
jbudgie said:
KareemK said:
If you apply Occam's Razor to the Fermi Paradox you get your answer which is roughly in line with Brian Cox's.
Yes, but Cox was only talking about the Milky Way, not the universe. So am I.When you expand that to the Universe then I'd say the inter galactic distances involved pretty much explain that situation even if they exist by the bucket load in Andromeda etc.
RobDickinson said:
There is almost certainly other inteligent life out there in our galaxy never mind universe.
As said we have been producing radio waves for ~100 years and most of those are so weak they wont really be detectable outside our own solar system. Now we have moved over to digital for most transmissions they are hard to tell apart from noise. So perhaps a window of 20-50 years we would be spotted. An incredibly small area of the MW.
The observable universe may not be the limit of what is there, its just we cant see further because on that scale , light travels very very slowly.
Even at the speed of light the spectacle we see as the galactic core is 27,000 years in the past. Think what humans were doing (or not) 27,000 years ago! Where will we be in another 27,000 years?
The extremely hard thing is discovering and communicating with other life.
Oh one more thing, for life as we understand it to come into being we need a certain abundance of elements that wouldnt have been around for a large chunk of the universes history, thse need baking in supernova etc so its likely inteligent life anywhere is a relativly (last couple billion years) recent thing.
Whatever, I love the idea that somewhere in my images is another being looking up at our patch of sky.
Milford by robjdickinson, on Flickr
Would it be possible to have a 1920x1080 download of this for my desktop pic Rob? Stunning picture!As said we have been producing radio waves for ~100 years and most of those are so weak they wont really be detectable outside our own solar system. Now we have moved over to digital for most transmissions they are hard to tell apart from noise. So perhaps a window of 20-50 years we would be spotted. An incredibly small area of the MW.
The observable universe may not be the limit of what is there, its just we cant see further because on that scale , light travels very very slowly.
Even at the speed of light the spectacle we see as the galactic core is 27,000 years in the past. Think what humans were doing (or not) 27,000 years ago! Where will we be in another 27,000 years?
The extremely hard thing is discovering and communicating with other life.
Oh one more thing, for life as we understand it to come into being we need a certain abundance of elements that wouldnt have been around for a large chunk of the universes history, thse need baking in supernova etc so its likely inteligent life anywhere is a relativly (last couple billion years) recent thing.
Whatever, I love the idea that somewhere in my images is another being looking up at our patch of sky.
Milford by robjdickinson, on Flickr
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