In my opinion! Let the beatings commence. Be gentle.
Awww...(((((Group hug!)))))
More and more, I suspect your position is probably true, Cracker. For one thing, consider how darned expensive it is just to escape Earth's atmosphere.
Oy vey.
Are there enough resources on this planet to even, and "simply," colonize Mars, while also powering our homes, vehicles, etc?
But I was thinking about it today, and my thoughts were very congruous with Josh's and Scoopicman's.
I asked, how many people in the twelfth century even imagined that future generations would invent a flying machine (the airplane), let alone the
747-400 which today routinely carries hundreds of people (up to 660) around the globe?
But, I suppose, not many people in the eleven hundreds C.E. (or B.C.E., for that matter) even guessed that the Earth is a globe.
How 'bout that?
I enjoy pondering things like that. Maybe it makes me a square, but if that doesn't give someone a sense of "wow," then I don't know what should.
I've heard (read) conversations on this forum, I think, and elsewhere, at least, in which folks posted statements that said, in effect, that science and technological advances have gotten so far that there's not likely to be much or any significant change in either human understanding of the universe or in their technology. It does seem rather like that. It may be true. But that would be unprecedented. I love that graph(?), visual aid you posted, Scoopicman. It says a lot. It may be, and I hope so, that thinking that we've reached the pinnacle of scientific understanding is premature and myopic...and it may prove to be an ahistorical position to hold. What I mean is, the historical record, the precedent, does not seem to predict it. Well, I'm sure there's plenty of room for debate and consideration there.
It really does seem that scientists (on the television shows, anyway) have established that light speed travel is impractical. And even if it isn't, it would still be ridiculously slow given the vast distances involved. So, short of someone inventing wormhole technology or warp drive, our species won't be zooming around the universe. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't think in terms of centuries or millenia. (Or more!).
Indeed, for now, as far as colonizing space goes, it seems we should think in terms of very slow, gradual movements. So, short of the invention of practical wormhole travel, perhaps future generations will be able to colonize "the rest" of the solar system with "small moves." Perhaps that will mean only Mars, if it's the only one suitable for it. Then, perhaps only after generations of people learning how to, and refining how to, travel and live further out, but within, this solar system, will they have what it takes to venture out of this solar system, probably in multi-generational ships and then hopefully to other solar systems.
So, yeah, maybe we dreamers have to forget about the fun and convience of zipping around the universe as portrayed in
Star Trek or
Star Wars when it comes to imagining real world space travel. But when it comes to real world space travel, I'm guessing that multi-generational efforts may still be possible, as portrayed in a film like
Pandorum.
Cosmic rays seem to be the most challenging "known unknown." That's why I continue to say that it comes down to innovators learning how to create, control, and maintain magnetic fields. Technology innovators should look in our own backyard for guidance. It's the Earth's magnetic field that protects us and our atmosphere from cosmic rays, right? I love the idea of terraforming. But it's long bugged me that no one ever addresses the problem of lacking a magnetic field to protect the atmosphere that you might create on another planet.
What about genetic engineering? The possibilities seem both frightening and wonderful. With it perhaps future generations will quash disease. And, hey, might it help artificially adapt humans to space travel and colonization? Maybe it could help ameliorate, prevent, or address DNA or tissue damage caused by exposure to cosmic rays. We have no less than the great intelligence of Stephen Hawking who has written that he believes that the species will be altering itself (in such ways?).
Also, what about
Star Trek and
Star Trek-like shields? It seems clear to me that what you want to achieve is something like the ability to create a strong magnetic field around your space vessel or habitat. Or, perhaps some sort of electro-magnetic-hybrid field. Hybrid with what I have no idea. But until it's shown that it's impossible or impractical for humans to master magnetic fields or some sort of magnetic-hybrid field technology, I'm disinclined to write space travel and space colonization off.
Sorry, that's rather long, but I felt like writing.
For anyone who had the patience and who took the time to read that, thank you.
=)
) tiny rock pellets the size of sand to peas traveling tens of thousands of miles per hour zipping through the hull of someone's improbable-craft are gonna destroy anything inside like a shotgun to a carton of eggs. You wanna be an egg? I don't.
Some people think that the government has already tapped into alien tech found at the Roswell crash.
