Though it's not entirely a scientific opinion, I believe we still have much to learn about natural law. I read recently about a book published in German in 1931 titled "A Hundred Authors Against Einstein". My point is that consensus is not what determines scientific theory. Scientists must always consider evidence first and be willing to change their theories and opinions as new evidence comes along. We've seen this happen even in our own lifetimes (at least some of us more senior humans) with, for example, the idea that Black Holes can actually exist in nature. Einstein himself did not think they could actually exist in nature despite their being predicted by his theories. Will we someday discover evidence of scientific principles that supersede Relativity just as Relativity superseded Newtonian mechanics? We'll just have to wait and see. Scientists at the Large Hadron Collider are still searching for particles beyond the Higgs Boson. I love living in the golden age of astronomy and physics. -----Original Message----- From: Utah-Astronomy [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of utah-astronomy-request@mailman.xmission.com Sent: Saturday, February 21, 2015 8:44 AM To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Subject: Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 144, Issue 21 Send Utah-Astronomy mailing list submissions to utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to utah-astronomy-request@mailman.xmission.com You can reach the person managing the list at utah-astronomy-owner@mailman.xmission.com When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Utah-Astronomy digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: To call or not to call. That is the question. (Joan Carman) 2. Re: To call or not to call. That is the question. (Wiggins Patrick) 3. Re: To call or not to call. That is the question. (Dave Gary) 4. Re: To call or not to call. That is the question. (M Wilson) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2015 02:34:13 -0500 (EST) From: Joan Carman <jcarman6@q.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] To call or not to call. That is the question. Message-ID: <1280152685.1398624.1424504053062.JavaMail.root@md30.quartz.synacor.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 I'm with Hawking on this one, and not just as a yes (wo)man. I've wondered along those lines since the made for television "V" movies made way back in the (cough cough) 70s. I swear "Independence Day" stole their alien ships from the V movies. Besides the dangers go back to "pod people." Gah, just remembered the name of the movie "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." We may not be sentient enough for some alien races. Didn't Chuck post about a scifi story where earthlings were "meat" a while ago? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Wiggins Patrick" <paw@getbeehive.net> To: "Astronomy Utah" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Friday, February 20, 2015 10:11:26 PM Subject: [Utah-astronomy] To call or not to call. That is the question. Should We Call the Cosmos Seeking ET? Or Is That Risky? http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/call-cosmos-seeking-risky-2895084 2 Opinions? patrick _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options". ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2015 00:43:12 -0700 From: Wiggins Patrick <paw@getbeehive.net> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] To call or not to call. That is the question. Message-ID: <A19A227D-6738-47F7-88CA-B40D94F54D5F@getbeehive.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii On 21 Feb 2015, at 00:34, Joan Carman <jcarman6@q.com> wrote:
Didn't Chuck post about a scifi story where earthlings were "meat" a while ago?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIufLRpJYnI Though I prefer "giant bags of mostly water" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAlqp0_a0tE Grins, patrick ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2015 07:03:58 -0700 From: Dave Gary <davegary@me.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] To call or not to call. That is the question. Message-ID: <D012D54E-2BCE-4DFE-B3DB-C69AD5FBD168@me.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 With what we know about galactic distances I think it?s a moot point discussing the scenario. It?s akin to asking, ?If I stand on a ladder am I closer to Moon?? Technically, yes, practically, not a chance. Who cares what we beam out into the void. We?ll never get a chance to see these aliens. Likely, our generation would never get a chance to respond to them. People, even the smart ones, fail to remember the enormous distances involved. We?ve had probes out since the late ?70s and they?re just now passing heliopause. I don?t care what intelligence these aliens possess, they will bump up against physical reality just like everyone else. Within space-time nothing travels faster than light. Getting a massive object to that limiting velocity is not possible. Going any slower doesn?t get one very far in this universe. This is assuming we are dealing with the lifetime of a biologic organism, a pretty safe assumption. Let?s see, what multicellular organism on Earth could make an extended voyage (say two to three thousand years with no technical difficulties (highly unlikely), which, by the way, won?t get one very far even at the speed of light). Oh, yeah, a bristlecone pine. The last time I checked bristlecone pines aren?t great conversationalists nor are they concerned about planetary conquest. As a species we?ve never been visited by aliens nor are we likely to. Throw those signals out into space, put the return address. No one will deliver a reply for a very long time, if ever. They, certainly, will not come in person. This is purely an anthropocentric view, but what?s the point of conquering if one can?t be there in person to reap the reward? This would be a real bummer for a ?galactic Viking?. I love science fiction as much as anyone. However, one must always remember, at least as concerns intergalactic or intragalactic space travel, that it is just fiction. Dave
On Feb 21, 2015, at 00:43, Wiggins Patrick <paw@getbeehive.net> wrote:
On 21 Feb 2015, at 00:34, Joan Carman <jcarman6@q.com> wrote:
Didn't Chuck post about a scifi story where earthlings were "meat" a while ago?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIufLRpJYnI
Though I prefer "giant bags of mostly water"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAlqp0_a0tE
Grins,
patrick _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy
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------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Sat, 21 Feb 2015 15:43:31 +0000 (UTC) From: M Wilson <astro_outwest@yahoo.com> To: Utah Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] To call or not to call. That is the question. Message-ID: <1209568393.5989346.1424533411225.JavaMail.yahoo@mail.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Judging from history amongst us humans here on Earth, it would depend on which had the most advanced civilization. ?If ours was superior, no problem, we would most likely be the ones doing the dominating. ?If their's is the superior one, watch out!! From: Wiggins Patrick <paw@getbeehive.net> To: Astronomy Utah <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Friday, February 20, 2015 10:11 PM Subject: [Utah-astronomy] To call or not to call. That is the question. Should We Call the Cosmos Seeking ET? Or Is That Risky? http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/call-cosmos-seeking-risky-2895084 2 Opinions? patrick _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options". ------------------------------ Subject: Digest Footer _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com https://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php ------------------------------ End of Utah-Astronomy Digest, Vol 144, Issue 21 ***********************************************