The Astronomy Thread

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Lambourne

Lambourne

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Shower thought: simulation hypothesis solves the Fermi paradox.

Must say I balked at the idea of the simulation hypothesis at first but a technological path to a simulated reality appears to be coming into view and I find the idea harder to dismiss.
 
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pharmakos

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Lambourne said:
Shower thought: simulation hypothesis solves the Fermi paradox.

Must say I balked at the idea of the simulation hypothesis at first but a technological path to a simulated reality appears to be coming into view and I find the idea harder to dismiss.
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I wouldn't say it solves it. Bostrom's Simulation Theory paper makes the argument by saying the opposite of the "maybe we're alone in the universe" line of thought -- stating that each simulated universe will contain multiple civilizations who become technologically advanced enough to simulate a universe. Simulation Theory could still be accurate if humans are alone in the universe, but it becomes a lot less likely, since our civilization needs to not destroy itself before it advances to the point where it can simulate universes. And we seem to be a long way off from that, both in terms of technology and in terms of long-term survival of the species.
 
Lambourne

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It solves it insofar as that we see no evidence of alien civilizations because the particular simulation we are in does not have aliens. What's actually happening in the "true reality" is unknowable which is kind of the problem with the whole simulation argument in the first place. There's more answers to the Fermi paradox (think we have a thread on it somewhere) but it's a possible answer.
 
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Sanrith Descartes

Sanrith Descartes

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Starship is planning to test all 30+ engines today (I think its today or this week).
 
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pharmakos

pharmakos

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Lambourne said:
It solves it insofar as that we see no evidence of alien civilizations because the particular simulation we are in does not have aliens. What's actually happening in the "true reality" is unknowable which is kind of the problem with the whole simulation argument in the first place. There's more answers to the Fermi paradox (think we have a thread on it somewhere) but it's a possible answer.
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The Fermi Paradox thread was started by me :)

And yeah it is a possible solution, I just don't think it's probable. A little too anthropocentric for my taste... It's taking a step backwards to "the Earth / humanity really IS the center of the universe!" and maybe it's just me but that doesn't sit well with me haha.
 
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Lenardo

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another thing to think about scale wise of us not finding shit...

lets ASSUME (i know) most life on planets in this galaxy evolved at ABOUT the same time scales as Earth.

WE have had radio waves for HOW LONG? 120 years roughly?

so even with matching evolution and tech development, we would only be able to get signals from a sphere 120 light years in diameter.. a very SMALL area of the galaxy

the galaxy is 100 thousand light years across. so say life developed radio tech at the galaxy core 30k years ago, the signal will not reach us for another 15ish thousand years.... never mind other galaxies. we are talking billions and billions of light years.

that is the problem. SCALE vs the speed of light/radio waves
 
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Cybsled

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Radio signals from Earth are also thought to degrade as they get farther out from the source, much like the water ripples created from a stone you throw into a pond. It is hypothesized that after around 2 light years or so, they become almost indistinguishable from background radiation
 
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pharmakos

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A better "where is everybody?" question isn't "where are all the radio signals?" but rather "where are all the Von Neumann probes?"
 
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Cybsled

Cybsled

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Even if a civilization made self-replicating probes, it would be supremely reckless to create them with no limits.

An unintelligent self replicating probe would be considered a danger if not limited. You’d basically have a “grey goo” nightmare scenario

Likewise, an intelligent self replicating probe would be dangerous for the same reasons

Funnily enough, the tv show Lexx showed this nightmare scenario with the self replicating robot arm probes. Once they become numerous enough, they are even able to use their combined mass to siphon away stellar materials to allow it to be cooled and turned into more probes. Eventually they consume all matter in the known universe and the heroes trick the probes into destroying themselves by making them all chase them, which concentrates the mass and causes the Great Crunch
 
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meStevo

meStevo

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33 engine static fire imminent.



Edit: The static fire - 31 engines, as one the team shut down before the test, and one shut down on it's own, but Musk said it was enough to get to orbit. Good test.

 
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C

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Shameless plug - my cousin wrote the piece of the engine control software that redistributed throttle and let the test fire continue despite that one engine failing to light.
 
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pharmakos

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Cybsled said:
Even if a civilization made self-replicating probes, it would be supremely reckless to create them with no limits.

An unintelligent self replicating probe would be considered a danger if not limited. You’d basically have a “grey goo” nightmare scenario

Likewise, an intelligent self replicating probe would be dangerous for the same reasons

Funnily enough, the tv show Lexx showed this nightmare scenario with the self replicating robot arm probes. Once they become numerous enough, they are even able to use their combined mass to siphon away stellar materials to allow it to be cooled and turned into more probes. Eventually they consume all matter in the known universe and the heroes trick the probes into destroying themselves by making them all chase them, which concentrates the mass and causes the Great Crunch
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Damn why I have I never watched Lexx? That sounds great haha
 
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Cybsled

Cybsled

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Lexx is awesome. It’s basically an insane German TV show set in a fucked up sci-fi setting

The thing I mentioned about the arms lasts for like an entire season as a background plot until it comes to a head as they continue to multiply
 
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Edaw

Edaw

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Cybsled said:
Lexx is awesome. It’s basically an insane German TV show set in a fucked up sci-fi setting

The thing I mentioned about the arms lasts for like an entire season as a background plot until it comes to a head as they continue to multiply
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That guy doing 4k upscales of Farscape needs to do the same thing for Lexx. Great show. Fucking weird as hell.
 
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pharmakos

pharmakos

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Yeah I am a big Farscape fan, and often heard Lexx mentioned in the same breaths as Farscape. But the few times I stumbled on it when it was on air back in the day it always just seemed like a sexploitation thing. Perhaps I misjudged because that's a very cool plot for a 26 year old sci-fi show.
 
Cybsled

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The 1st season was on Cinemax and had nudity. Then Syfy picked it up and they had to stop that, although they kept most of the sex-centric stuff even if they couldn't show anything
 
MusicForFish

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Cybsled said:
The 1st season was on Cinemax and had nudity. Then Syfy picked it up and they had to stop that, although they kept most of the sex-centric stuff even if they couldn't show anything
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The whole series is on YouTube for free w/ads. Even with the lower quality it's still very watchable.
 
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