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The Search For Starivores, Intelligent Life That Could Eat the Sun

Posted by Soulskill on from the it's-life-jim-but-not-as-oh-god-it's-eating-the-sun dept.

sarahnaomi writes: There could be all manner of alien life forms in the universe, from witless bacteria to superintelligent robots. Still, the notion of a starivore — an organism that literally devours stars — may sound a bit crazy, even to a seasoned sci-fi fan. And yet, if such creatures do exist, they're probably lurking in our astronomical data right now.

That's why philosopher Dr. Clement Vidal, who's a researcher at the Free University of Brussels, along with Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology Stephen Dick, futurist John Smart, and nanotech entrepreneur Robert Freitas are soliciting scientific proposals to seek out star-eating life.

4 of 300 comments (clear)

  1. Starivore? by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is "Black Hole" not fancy enough anymore?

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    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:Starivore? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Astrophage

    2. Re:Starivore? by LQ · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Astrophage

      Or stellavore if you prefer Latin to Greek.. But "starivore" is an abomination. if you're going to make up new compound words, you should stick to the same language for each component. "Star-eater" would be ok.

    3. Re:Starivore? by Hognoxious · · Score: 5, Funny

      if you're going to make up new compound words, you should stick to the same language for each component.

      I agree, a man on the television said so.

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      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."