Hacker News Reader

Comment by Batsu | Hacker News Reader

It's a shame we'll probably never come across intelligent life, unless some incredible developments are made in traveling space.

The Drake Equation ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake_equation ) estimates between 1 and 10 intelligent life forms in our galaxy. The unmanned probe Voyager 1 is the furthest Earth born object that we have radio contact with (probably without, as well) and was launched in late 1977. It has traveled less than 2 thousandths of a light year. The nearest star (other than the sun) is over 4 light years away, and our galaxy is something crazy like 100,000 light years across. The nearest similar galaxy is the Andromeda galaxy which is 25,000,000 light years away.

In other news, I just recently finished an astronomy course.

View on HN

Well, you never know. If the universe really is holographic and we can find a way to move within that, then locality might come to seem like a quaint concept. I had a near-death experience some years back which left me with the gut feeling that our space is embedded within 5 dimension. It was pretty strange, but that's another story. For about 5 minutes after I came round I could see around things. If you think that sounds weird, you shoulda seen it from my side.

I am fascinated, please tell us more.

Some say that the Drake Equation has too many variables that are impossible to even guess, let alone estimate. For example, here's a great article: http://www.crichton-official.com/speech-alienscauseglobalwar...

I never understood how exactly one figures out these three:

f_l = the fraction of the above which actually go on to develop life

f_i = the fraction of the above which actually go on to develop intelligent life

f_c = the fraction of the above which are willing and able to communicate

For f_l, we've got a sample size of one. For all we know, life as we know it might be a fluke which has an infinitesimal probability of occurring.

Yes, but I guess, either we meet the aliens, or we will make our own. (Assuming we do not go extinct.)

Infinitesimal is pretty large when considered in the context of infinity.

We do have theoretical technologies that could propel a ship or probe at speeds more reasonable for interstellar travel. We could certainly build them if we did something dramatic like cutting the US defense budget in half and putting the money towards space exploration. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_pulse_propulsion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetoplasmadynamic_thruster

The Drake Equation is missing something. If humans were to go extinct in, say, 100,000 years (arbitrary), the earth still has plenty of time left to evolve another intelligent species. That cycle could repeat itself dozens of times over the course of a planet's lifetime. The Drake Equation doesn't model this concept of "multiple windows of opportunity".

right, now ok, if it takes 25 million light years, and and in 40 years that voyager apparently only travelled 1 thousands light year away. How on earth,do they know how far it is? Can the telescope travel extend our sense faster than the light can travel? Because if not, then surely it would take 25 million years for us to find out how far it is? And if you will be lazy and ask me to wikipedia it, ave got an exam tomorrow :P. But it seems quite puzzling to me, puzzling enough to perhaps disregard the numbers.

As for how big I feel? Ohh gigantic, bigger than the sun, I contain so many cells, and these cells contain so many cells and they probably contain so many cells, I am a giant universe so giant that I have within me so many universes.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com