Is any of the technology in stargate possible?

[thekillman]

Well, perhaps I am being a bit harsh. It was just way too simplistic and it missed the point behind the history of technological development and the factors involved in it. Just like Star Trek's version of evolution. It doesn't lead to intelligent life and then to Q as if it is a natural predetermined course (barring divine intervention...)

If the Roman Empire had divided into smaller yet stable competing nation states,

1: Nah, the whole "dark ages = dumb people" is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, since they're essentially regurgitating 16th century (or so) propaganda. Double irony points since it was the intellectual elite.

2: I just read Proxima/Ultima, two really good sci fi books which include a bit of alternate history. Ultima deals with a Roman and Mayan alternate history where the Earth indeed advanced a lot faster, but it also led to much more intense pollution and war. And more use of Kernels but that was a big plot point of the entire series i won't delve in. Pretty awesome books though.

[jfarrell327]

When talking about FTL being impossible, I'd point you to this Killman:

I take Michio Kaku's word for FTL travel over yours.

[thekillman]

When talking about FTL being impossible, I'd point you to this Killman:


I take Michio Kaku's word for FTL travel over yours.

Please, at least give me a time stamp of the actual, relevant part.

EDIT: ok i watched it when i was bored and i still don't see your supposed proof. In fact, i wonder if you are aware what it's even about.

Kaku's correct to assume that we shouldn't be arrogant and think we're the apex predator of the universe. In fact, it's a notion based upon the Apes and Angels Argument. The A/A argument is that human civilization is only a thin sliver of the giant pillar that is our history, and that if one were to project an equal amount of time forward and picked any random century, or even millenium, you'd either end up with aliens far below (apes) or far above (angels) us.

Kaku's also correct that alien technology -of the Angel kind- would be so far ahead of us that all bets are off, and that indeed it's stupid to assume we could just detect that or even understand that it's alien technology at all.

How this plays into the idea that FTL is possible is a connection i'm not making. As i said, it only makes sense that we use our knowledge as it is now. How things look a century from now is irrelevant. And from what we know the idea of FTL is dead, all that's left is the official doctor's call. Our modern concepts of FTL are based upon a century old theory. There's no guarantee that a more fundamental theory does -or does not- allow FTL. Kaku's correct on that too: we are very aware of the fact that we understand matter and energy very well, but that that's only 6% of the universe. Dark Matter and Dark Energy make up the rest and we have no clue what that's like.


But once again: dealing with what aliens can do, and our own realities, are two very different things. Wherever we look we have to deal with the very harsh realities of science and that harsh reality, however inconvenient, is that FTL is a pipe dream.

Lastly, is this video from 1920? "the discovery of Quantum Mechanics 5 years ago". Really? QM stems from the early 1900's. It's close to a century old.

[Anja]

I'm no engineer or scientist (except biology) but the satellites floating around in our galaxy prove that interstellar travel is possible - unmanned of course.
IMO the inhabitants of Earth (if it's still inhabitable then) in 100/200 years will have to deal with very different problems than with the idea of dating some alien in another solar system or another galaxy.
Satisfying the basic needs of those who are still there will be a challenge we cannot imagine unless we all start to treat our planet much better from now on - even better if we had started yesterday.
Maybe all these inventions will be made some day - what for? To ruin another planet in another solar system?

[thekillman]

I'm no engineer or scientist (except biology) but the satellites floating around in our galaxy prove that interstellar travel is possible - unmanned of course.

Of course it's possible. The problem is the impracticality.

Maybe all these inventions will be made some day - what for? To ruin another planet in another solar system?

No, we will eventually learn our lessons and not ruin another planet. Because we either learn our lessons or die out.

[aretood2]

Here's a fun easy to follow video on interstellar travel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzZGPCyrpSU

As far as FTL technology...still no answer on that. But interstellar travel there are some great ideas. Some of which are only a lifetime away, others are still far into the future by at least hundreds of years.

[thekillman]

But interstellar travel there are some great ideas. Some of which are only a lifetime away, others are still far into the future by at least hundreds of years.[/COLOR]

The great challenge with interstellar travel isn't the technological side, but rather the economical side. You could send a whole lot of rockets around the solar system for every ship sent to a nearby star. We can still get a lot of information from (much cheaper!) telescopes, and there's no real need anytime soon to really send a rocket anywhere.

You would essentially need someone that says "well we're just going to do it".

[aretood2]

The great challenge with interstellar travel isn't the technological side, but rather the economical side. You could send a whole lot of rockets around the solar system for every ship sent to a nearby star. We can still get a lot of information from (much cheaper!) telescopes, and there's no real need anytime soon to really send a rocket anywhere.

You would essentially need someone that says "well we're just going to do it".

The technologies discussed in the video would be better suited for interplanetary travel as opposed to interstellar. But yes, they did hint at the vast amount of resources needed and thus the only motivation would be our impending doom.

[Anja]

No, we will eventually learn our lessons and not ruin another planet. Because we either learn our lessons or die out.

Not necessarily, if doom is impending all available money and brainpower would go into the development of interstellar-capable ships - no time left for learning any lessons!

[thekillman]

Not necessarily, if doom is impending all available money and brainpower would go into the development of interstellar-capable ships - no time left for learning any lessons!

The very act would require us to learn lessons. An interstellar craft -assuming we don't have any extreme breakthroughs anytime soon- would be a Generational ship which itself would require knowledge of how to properly run a community indefinitely.

[Anja]

The very act would require us to learn lessons. An interstellar craft -assuming we don't have any extreme breakthroughs anytime soon- would be a Generational ship which itself would require knowledge of how to properly run a community indefinitely.

An interstellar craft would be filled with those people who provided the money!!!

[Energizer_Vs_ZPM]

1: Nah, the whole "dark ages = dumb people" is a bit of a pet peeve of mine

I remember watching a programme on TV 2 or 3 years ago that actually proved the opposite - the colder the climate the more intelligent the locals tend to be as they have to solve problems to survive.

Quite how that works with Russia is beyond me... LOL ... and the americans don't tend to be very smart yet come up with the most lethal forms of warfare ever seen - in a hot climate.

Anyhow this program showed an experiment with two different birds of the same species - one from a warm climate and one from a cold. Each bird was in a plastic box. At the bottom of each box was another plastic box with a live worm inside but there was a piece of plastic over the whole.

The bird from the colder climate which was used to having to pick and scratch for food would simply pick the plastic out of the way - repeatedly. The bird from the warmer climate couldn't achieve the same goal.

As much as I dislike the UK and its stone age politics of "the poor must pay", it does seem to be one of the brighter countries the world has. Never trust the british... we tend to think in some really screwed up ways (just google operation mince meat)

[thekillman]

I remember watching a programme on TV 2 or 3 years ago that actually proved the opposite - the colder the climate the more intelligent the locals tend to be as they have to solve problems to survive.

Well there's an obvious connection between temperature and work done: if you've ever had to do work in 30-40 degrees Celsius, you'd introduce siesta's as well. Beyond a certain temperature it simply becomes too hot to work hard. In the cold, however, hard work is always welcome.

An interstellar craft would be filled with those people who provided the money!!!

Yea if they did that, they wouldn't make it beyond the edge of the solar system. Also, if we want to actually design and build such a craft in any reasonable amount of time, say goodbye to any concept of money or ownership.

You don't have to believe me: there's a documentary called Evacuating earth by discovery channel which discusses the possibility of Earth developing an interstellar craft in 70 years while under a cosmic threat of certain annihilation. Without a significant population of scientists, engineers and biologists, it wont go anywhere.

[thekillman]

I remember watching a programme on TV 2 or 3 years ago that actually proved the opposite - the colder the climate the more intelligent the locals tend to be as they have to solve problems to survive.

Well there's an obvious connection between temperature and work done: if you've ever had to do work in 30-40 degrees Celsius, you'd introduce siesta's as well. Beyond a certain temperature it simply becomes too hot to work hard. In the cold, however, hard work is always welcome.

An interstellar craft would be filled with those people who provided the money!!!

Yea if they did that, they wouldn't make it beyond the edge of the solar system. Also, if we want to actually design and build such a craft in any reasonable amount of time, say goodbye to any concept of money or ownership.

You don't have to believe me: there's a documentary called Evacuating earth by discovery channel which discusses the possibility of Earth developing an interstellar craft in 70 years while under a cosmic threat of certain annihilation. Without a significant population of scientists, engineers and biologists, it wont go anywhere.

Space is cold, harsh and extremely unforgiving. Having cash won't change that.

[Anja]

Space is cold, harsh and extremely unforgiving. Having cash won't change that.

But having cash would increase the chance of getting on board intergalactically!!!!