Topic: Earth like planet discovered 20 light years away

[Lieutenant_Q]

Interesting.  Back to the age of sail essentially.  Amazing how things come full circle.

[Stormbringer]

Interesting.  Back to the age of sail essentially.  Amazing how things come full circle.

i added a couple of links. sail. and like sailing it is possible to tack against the wind here too. but i think the fusion engine would provide thrust if needed outside a star system. but remember no friction means once accelerated the thing needs no thrust except for manuevering.

[Fedman NCC-3758]

Good to see you back Stormy.


Earth like eh.   They have oil?   

TY  . Dunno about oil

Well let's hop to it mister and find out.  There's a brand new world out there just waiting to be plundered.

I love being a capitalist.   

[E_Look]

Seriously, I'd rather suspect that iron ore, rare metals and minerals would be stuff that possible future space freighters would haul back to Ea... uh, Io Colony.

[Stormbringer]

Seriously, I'd rather suspect that iron ore, rare metals and minerals would be stuff that possible future space freighters would haul back to Ea... uh, Io Colony.

Don't know about iron ore but other strategic minerals. titanium and rare earths... and of course diamonds and gold. and dilithium. don't forget dilithium...

[E_Look]

I think for the foreseeable future, even if or especially if we have "warp drive", Man will still use mucho amounts of iron.

[Stormbringer]

I think for the foreseeable future, even if or especially if we have "warp drive", Man will still use mucho amounts of iron.

true but so far as i know we are not in any shortage of iron for the foreseeable future, but we definitely need rare earths and other elements.

[Skaren]

In the year 2015 they will launch a telescope named Darwin, it will be able to analyse the composition of the atmospheres of planets in orbit around far away stars.

This should shed a lot of light on if life is out there.  They say life leaves a fingerprint in the atmosphere of planets.

Ya like you have tell that to us,....  burn it, burn it, burn it,....  Getting warm around here eh ?


Darwin info site:
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/area/index.cfm?fareaid=28

[Stormbringer]

In the year 2015 they will launch a telescope named Darwin, it will be able to analyse the composition of the atmospheres of planets in orbit around far away stars.

This should shed a lot of light on if life is out there.  They say life leaves a fingerprint in the atmosphere of planets.

Ya like you have tell that to us,....  burn it, burn it, burn it,....  Getting warm around here eh ?


Darwin info site:
http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/area/index.cfm?fareaid=28

actually the signs we expect based on the one example we have and have more to do with isotpic distribution rations of normal O2, carbon, nitorgen and so on to radioactive variants. chlorophyl can also be detected at stellar distances by similar means. so *if* life on other planets prduce similar isotopic ratios then we can detect carbon based life. but this would not necessarily detect life not sufficiently similar to our own. say if there are alternate evolutionary paths to life in silicon or a third substance hypothesiszed to be chemically flexible enough to create biology on which (i cannot remember the name of) then i don't think those forms of life would be detectable through the same signatures.

[Skaren]

I agree Storm,.. in fact our own Earth started with a very different life.  Oxygen was killer to it.  As other creatures (algae, I think) arose that that algae gave off O2 as a waste product, and changed the atmosphere into such a state that it killed off the original inhabitants.

And who says man cannot change the atmosphere,...  must not know Earths ancient ancient history.

I had not known they will be able to pick out stuff to that level of detail.  To think this is only the first generation of this type of telescope.  Image in a hundred years when the space based beasts can see a thousand times more atmospheric detail.  Hell they may be able to pick up on cow farts 

[Stormbringer]

I agree Storm,.. in fact our own Earth started with a very different life.  Oxygen was killer to it.  As other creatures (algae, I think) arose that that algae gave off O2 as a waste product, and changed the atmosphere into such a state that it killed off the original inhabitants.

And who says man cannot change the atmosphere,...  must not know Earths ancient ancient history.

I had not known they will be able to pick out stuff to that level of detail.  To think this is only the first generation of this type of telescope.  Image in a hundred years when the space based beasts can see a thousand times more atmospheric detail.  Hell they may be able to pick up on cow farts 

 I recall a article on detection of the signature of chlorophyl a while back. notthat they had butthat the next generations of telescopes could. but as to isotpes and stuff pertaining to the analysis of gases at such distances... they already can to a very limited degree with what we have now. only if the circumstances are right. the next generation should increase that capability.

[Tus-XC]

i think goal #1 should be first colonize mars before we tink about colonizing another planet 20 light years away.  Simply put we need the expiernce.  so in my book Phase one is colonize the moon and mars.  This allows us to build a foundation of knowledge that we can build off of.  It also allows us an opprutunity to see if we develop any tech break throughs through neccesity (hey its the mother of all invention, and them mars and lunar colonits will have some things that will need to be solved).  Phase 2 could be more colonizing, or if we are ready to take the big leap then go for this planet.

[Stormbringer]

i think goal #1 should be first colonize mars before we tink about colonizing another planet 20 light years away.  Simply put we need the expiernce.  so in my book Phase one is colonize the moon and mars.  This allows us to build a foundation of knowledge that we can build off of.  It also allows us an opprutunity to see if we develop any tech break throughs through neccesity (hey its the mother of all invention, and them mars and lunar colonits will have some things that will need to be solved).  Phase 2 could be more colonizing, or if we are ready to take the big leap then go for this planet.

while there may be other good reasons for doing Mars first expeerience in colonization is probably not one of them. if our telescope spying and or probes detect a breathable atmosphere coupled with a magnetic field/ionosphere then the difference between the two are so great that Mars is like colonising hard vacuum and the other is like colonizing australia.

Mars should be done. not least of reasons is that it is much closer. but it is likely that the only knowledge Mars would impart appliocable to colonizing a more earth like planet would be getting there and psychology and logistics.

[Nemesis]

Colonizing an "Earth like" planet may have issues that are usually glossed over. 

1/ incompatible biochemistry. Even if it has a basis in amino acids they don't have to be the same ones or can be isomers of them.  This leaves us unable to eat native foods and even our plants may not be able to be grown.  The local foods could even be toxic.

2/ Assume an identical chemical basis.  How about allergies?  There could easily be ubiquitous biological materials that are universal allergens to earthly life.  Remember that allergies range from annoying to fatal.

3/ If we can live there and eat the local foods we might easily and accidentally import (or export to Earth) a disease or vermin that can just destroy much of the local ecology.  Imagine for example a mouse that earthly predators just ignore reproducing without limit and destroying the ecology of the Earth.  Australia has had problems like this.

I'm sure that there are more but these are just off the top of my head.

[Stormbringer]

Colonizing an "Earth like" planet may have issues that are usually glossed over. 

1/ incompatible biochemistry. Even if it has a basis in amino acids they don't have to be the same ones or can be isomers of them.  This leaves us unable to eat native foods and even our plants may not be able to be grown.  The local foods could even be toxic.

2/ Assume an identical chemical basis.  How about allergies?  There could easily be ubiquitous biological materials that are universal allergens to earthly life.  Remember that allergies range from annoying to fatal.

3/ If we can live there and eat the local foods we might easily and accidentally import (or export to Earth) a disease or vermin that can just destroy much of the local ecology.  Imagine for example a mouse that earthly predators just ignore reproducing without limit and destroying the ecology of the Earth.  Australia has had problems like this.

I'm sure that there are more but these are just off the top of my head.

The primary considerations for colonization would be atmosphere, temperature and magnetic field and ionosphere. we would not send them there to rely on the local flora and fauna. they would take agricultural plants, animals and genetic samples or at least sequence maps. ifthe plants could not adapt to the native environment then self contained habitats would be constructed to provide the plants and animals a simulation of an earth environement. soil could be sterilized chemically altered and the inoculated with earth bacterial fungi and even earth worms. uv lighting could be used if the stars spectra was incorrect.

[Don Karnage]

i heard of the planet but i taught it was 50 000 light years away?

anyway how old is it?

there might be no evolve life there or not like we know it?

or all the politician come from that planet, that would explain why are the so stupid  (invasion plan)

[Stormbringer]

i heard of the planet but i taught it was 50 000 light years away?

anyway how old is it?

there might be no evolve life there or not like we know it?

or all the politician come from that planet, that would explain why are the so stupid  (invasion plan)

20.5 LY away. IIRC

[Fedman NCC-3758]

   Face it.  We are  alone.   

[Skaren]

Yep,...  we are alone

and furthermore,...   we are at the center of the universe, all other bodies in the heavens orbit us.  We are all there is.  I feel grand about myself and rather important,....

Oh wait that was 400 years ago.   

[Fedman NCC-3758]

When the Borg contact you, please let the Dyna members know first.

Much appreciated.