It is beautiful to read about such a scientific achievement, the technology involved and the vision of the scientists that implement it. From the results obtained an article is written that appeals to "the man in the street" and light-years are converted into xx trillion miles. After that you get to the comment section and this is just depressing. We need to return to proper science articles even in the poplar press and general web sites and if some people are not able to follow they have a choice: get informed or stay ignorant.
Most comments here assume air/oxygen breathing aliens to colonise space. There could be intelligent life that is severely disadvantages with regard to space travel. Intelligent fish, for example would have to launch a water filled container in orbit for their space programme, not to mention the challenge to create rocket engines under water. Furthermore, they would probably not even have an astronomy programme since they do not see the stars. Metals or anything else that needs fire for creation or production would be off limits. They could still be intelligent, have great communications, philosophies and art and culture but we'll never hear from them, SETI or not.
Other aliens could be breathing different gasses or need lower/higher temperature bands. It could well be that Jupiter or Saturn have been colonised fat millennia without us knowing it. They are simply not interested in those oxygen atmosphere planets and too introverted to contact other civilisations that don't fall within their range of ideal living conditions.
As we progress our communications become more focussed and/or cable based. There are much fewer aerials on today's roof-tops since most TV signals are sent by cable. There could be advanced civilisations that refrain from using radio signals altogether and we will not detect anything from them.
The iPod was first, the store came later. The iPod was successful because of an elegant hardware-software integration and not because you can buy and legally download music.
On top of this iPods are sold worldwide while the store can only be accessed from a few select countries, further skewing the "average" calculation...
iPods and other gadgets should be mandatory since they will train pedestrians to get used to those silent electric vehicles that are about to hit the streets...
Slashdot Mirror
"...The curious thing that birds, dinosaurs and mammals all have in common is the placement of the legs underneath the body..."
There were animals with legs on the back of their bodies but they found themselves extinct shortly after
It is beautiful to read about such a scientific achievement, the technology involved and the vision of the scientists that implement it. From the results obtained an article is written that appeals to "the man in the street" and light-years are converted into xx trillion miles. After that you get to the comment section and this is just depressing. We need to return to proper science articles even in the poplar press and general web sites and if some people are not able to follow they have a choice: get informed or stay ignorant.
Most comments here assume air/oxygen breathing aliens to colonise space. There could be intelligent life that is severely disadvantages with regard to space travel. Intelligent fish, for example would have to launch a water filled container in orbit for their space programme, not to mention the challenge to create rocket engines under water. Furthermore, they would probably not even have an astronomy programme since they do not see the stars. Metals or anything else that needs fire for creation or production would be off limits. They could still be intelligent, have great communications, philosophies and art and culture but we'll never hear from them, SETI or not.
Other aliens could be breathing different gasses or need lower/higher temperature bands. It could well be that Jupiter or Saturn have been colonised fat millennia without us knowing it. They are simply not interested in those oxygen atmosphere planets and too introverted to contact other civilisations that don't fall within their range of ideal living conditions.
As we progress our communications become more focussed and/or cable based. There are much fewer aerials on today's roof-tops since most TV signals are sent by cable. There could be advanced civilisations that refrain from using radio signals altogether and we will not detect anything from them.
The iPod was first, the store came later. The iPod was successful because of an elegant hardware-software integration and not because you can buy and legally download music.
On top of this iPods are sold worldwide while the store can only be accessed from a few select countries, further skewing the "average" calculation...
iPods and other gadgets should be mandatory since they will train pedestrians to get used to those silent electric vehicles that are about to hit the streets...