Excellent point, and one that I have made repeatedly when this topic comes up. We haven't heard anything yet, because we are the first to emerge, at least in our region of space.
The universe is 14B years old, and our solar system is something like 4B years old. Our system could only have formed after at least one prior generation of hotter, simpler stars went nova and seeded the ubiquitous hydrogen and helium clouds with heavier elements. More likely, it took 2 rounds to make sufficient quantities and allow them to cool down into stable bodies.
And that doesn't even mention some of the remarkable circumstances around our particular planet that created a stable environment. The planetary impact that split earth open and created the moon also let huge quantities of molten iron sink to the core, forming a spinning magnetic shield that guards against radiation. The moon itself stabilized our orbit and throws off other bodies that might collide. Jupiter has done much to sweep the inner solar system of debris.
It's certainly likely that there are other planets like ours out there somewhere. But this combination of lucky events and relatively early planetary stability is probably rare.
Call it the blurker hypothesis.
Think about it. The universe is maybe 14b years old. Our own planet is about 4b years old. For Earth to form, there had to be a giant dust cloud full of iron and other heavy elements, which can only have come from novae/supernovae. So at least one generation of stars had to form, burn out, explode, cool to ash, and then reform into new gravity wells to form this solar system.
Since this one is about 4b years old, and can be expected to make it another 4b or so, then that leaves a tidy 10b years for a previous star cloud to seed our local region of space. Seems like just enough time.
So we haven't seen other intelligent life yet because we are among the first ones to emerge from the ash...
I for one am sorry to see our floppy disk overlords go. Not that I use them anymore, but there are many memories. I remember running Ultima on my Apple II from a bunch of floppies and marveling at how much data you could store on such a small item. I remember getting a second floppy drive and thinking life was great. And more recently, I remember finding an Apple II emulator and an archive of old Apple II software stored as disk images. Even found my old high school buddy's shareware game -- still had his "if you like this game, send me $10" message!
Maybe someone should check Professor Hathaway's house. Those crazy college kids might have swapped a chip again...
"...everybody wants to rule the world..."
First, we put all the scientists on one planet, except the "political scientists" (read Historiographers), who we put on another planet. Then, we let the terrorists blow up the known galaxy in a civil war, and send our boys back in to create an enduring civilization! Science wins!;-)
We need all the tubes we've got to build the internets out of...
Re:Foreign vs. Domestic does not matter
on
Saving U.S. Science
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· Score: 2, Insightful
It's not just about importing talent. It's also about exporting jobs. If a US engineer must earn $80k to stay afloat, and an Indian engineer can work for $20k, then the $60k savings in many cases is enough to overcome the distance and cultural barriers.
It's not that I oppose immigration of foreign talent. Quite the opposite -- my parents are immigrants. I just think the playing field is distinctly skewed now, and it will HURT our competitiveness long-term, not help it.
Many who favor globalization think the solution for the american worker is to simply get re-trained, but trained as what? If the professional jobs are all vanishing, then no amount of training is going to help!
I think a solution is going to have to span everything -- massive increases in govt support for education and research, responsible controls on immigration and outsourcing, and some attempt to identify WHO is benefitting from the brain drain and get them taxed to reflect the cost they are putting on our society.
Wow, this is a perspective on the american brain-drain I had never considered before. I have already quoted snippets of your post on other boards. Thank you for posting this!
Slashdot Mirror
Looks like that's where the Combine is going to put the new Citadel...
Excellent point, and one that I have made repeatedly when this topic comes up. We haven't heard anything yet, because we are the first to emerge, at least in our region of space. The universe is 14B years old, and our solar system is something like 4B years old. Our system could only have formed after at least one prior generation of hotter, simpler stars went nova and seeded the ubiquitous hydrogen and helium clouds with heavier elements. More likely, it took 2 rounds to make sufficient quantities and allow them to cool down into stable bodies. And that doesn't even mention some of the remarkable circumstances around our particular planet that created a stable environment. The planetary impact that split earth open and created the moon also let huge quantities of molten iron sink to the core, forming a spinning magnetic shield that guards against radiation. The moon itself stabilized our orbit and throws off other bodies that might collide. Jupiter has done much to sweep the inner solar system of debris. It's certainly likely that there are other planets like ours out there somewhere. But this combination of lucky events and relatively early planetary stability is probably rare.
Call it the blurker hypothesis. Think about it. The universe is maybe 14b years old. Our own planet is about 4b years old. For Earth to form, there had to be a giant dust cloud full of iron and other heavy elements, which can only have come from novae/supernovae. So at least one generation of stars had to form, burn out, explode, cool to ash, and then reform into new gravity wells to form this solar system. Since this one is about 4b years old, and can be expected to make it another 4b or so, then that leaves a tidy 10b years for a previous star cloud to seed our local region of space. Seems like just enough time. So we haven't seen other intelligent life yet because we are among the first ones to emerge from the ash...
Can't we get a whatcouldpossiblygowrong tag on this post? Please?
I for one WELCOME BACK our Rock and Roll OVERLORDS!!!
I rode the dotcom roller coaster more times than I care to admit. I for one will not be leaving my stable fortune-500 job anytime soon...
At least our dust is getting smarter...
I for one welcome our tiny dust-like robot overlords!
I for one welcome our female internet-using overlords!
I for one am sorry to see our floppy disk overlords go. Not that I use them anymore, but there are many memories. I remember running Ultima on my Apple II from a bunch of floppies and marveling at how much data you could store on such a small item. I remember getting a second floppy drive and thinking life was great. And more recently, I remember finding an Apple II emulator and an archive of old Apple II software stored as disk images. Even found my old high school buddy's shareware game -- still had his "if you like this game, send me $10" message!
Maybe someone should check Professor Hathaway's house. Those crazy college kids might have swapped a chip again... "...everybody wants to rule the world..."
Check out the big brain on dbatkins! ;-)
First, we put all the scientists on one planet, except the "political scientists" (read Historiographers), who we put on another planet. Then, we let the terrorists blow up the known galaxy in a civil war, and send our boys back in to create an enduring civilization! Science wins! ;-)
I wonder how these robots will experience the Blue Screen of Death. Perhaps they will be given lasers, to help humans understand?
We need all the tubes we've got to build the internets out of...
It's not just about importing talent. It's also about exporting jobs. If a US engineer must earn $80k to stay afloat, and an Indian engineer can work for $20k, then the $60k savings in many cases is enough to overcome the distance and cultural barriers. It's not that I oppose immigration of foreign talent. Quite the opposite -- my parents are immigrants. I just think the playing field is distinctly skewed now, and it will HURT our competitiveness long-term, not help it. Many who favor globalization think the solution for the american worker is to simply get re-trained, but trained as what? If the professional jobs are all vanishing, then no amount of training is going to help! I think a solution is going to have to span everything -- massive increases in govt support for education and research, responsible controls on immigration and outsourcing, and some attempt to identify WHO is benefitting from the brain drain and get them taxed to reflect the cost they are putting on our society.
Wow, this is a perspective on the american brain-drain I had never considered before. I have already quoted snippets of your post on other boards. Thank you for posting this!
The plan is to stay in Iraq until the last helicopter leaves the embassy rooftop...