Topic: =/\= some interseting news i found today

[stoneyface]

first up in  weird trek news. those silly auzzies are at it again by introducing a cave tour presented in klingon! the cave was mentioned in a next generation episode. article here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/27/2965059.htm

next some great news about the earth like planets that may be in our galaxy...
one of the leading kepler observatory scientists has said that there have been as many as 140 candidate planets classified as "earth-like" may have been found. good article. read it here: http://news.discovery.com/space/kepler-scientist-galaxy-is-rich-in-earth-like-planets.html

this next one is interesting and ironic based on sirgod's post. it is another quantum physics topic this time dealing with the fermi paradox which deals with the existence of intelligent civilizations that may be out there. an awesome read and not really hard to understand with a basic understanding of physics. read it here: http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/25501/

finally an article dealing with one of my favorite places on earth. i am talking about the LHC collider of course! the collider will be taken offline for the entire year of 2012 (insert 2012 apocalypse theory comment here) for repairs. many expect the downtime to exceed a year but i am optimistic that the LHC crew can get what is needed done in that year. read the article here: http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/07/worlds-biggest-particle-physics-.html

[Nemesis]

There do seem to be underlying assumptions in the Fermi paradox that might well help to explain it.

1/ All intelligent species will in time become a technologically advanced tool user.

Consider that there are limitations a species might have that could keep it technologically primitive no matter how intelligent. 

Examples of animals that if intelligent would be limited:
Dolphins and other cetaceans - no manipulator limbs. 

Elephants - limitations of the trunk that would make fire for example more difficult to handle and only one limb means much more cooperation to make or use even simple tools. 

Octopi - purely aquatic means no fire.  As I recall they also are solitary and don't have much of a long term memory.  A solitary predator might well be unable to advance far technologically while still having what it takes to kill of any competitors that show up and begin to use tools. 

Koala bears -  tightly bound to one food type that is limited in geographic spread.

2/ That we are typical in the rate at which Earth evolved intelligence.  What if we are among the first to evolve who COULD be technologically advanced?  WE might be the "Great Galactic Elders".

3/ The leap to space is based partially on gravity.  It is beginning to appear that the Earth is pretty small and low in gravity to have all the required components for life and to be able to maintain them long enough for complex life to evolve let alone intelligence.  Evolving on a Super Earth might well have advantages but also limitations. Developing flight and spaceflight under 3-7 gravities is a LOT harder.   A high dense atmosphere might well block the stars and planets and keep astronomy from being developed until quite late.  Hard to aspire to colonize the stars and planets when you don't even know they exist.

4/ Sensory limitations.  We have sight.  A species that evolved to use sound instead would again not know the stars and planets existed until quite late. 

5/ Extinction events.  We have some suppositions but what if they are in fact galaxy wide?  A race might just have time to begin reaching for the stars when the "event" hits and knocks out their civilization and maybe their species. 

6/ Resources.  A species might well take too long to reach for those interplanetary resources and deplete the planetary resources that they need to do so and cause a civilization to collapse back to the stone age and be unable to emerge again.

I'm sure there are more but I'm out of time. 

[knightstorm]

Octopi - purely aquatic means no fire.  As I recall they also are solitary and don't have much of a long term memory. 

Actually, they do have long term memory, and some species have demonstrated tool use.  The problem is that cephlapods only live for a few years.

[Sirgod]

On the cave story, Sheesh, Spelunking is hard enough to pronounce in English , esp. with an Okie accent, Can you imagine Saying "
I saw the Stalagmite while Spelunking after hitting my head on a Stalactite " In Klingon?

Stoneys friends would be yelling at me "Your A Kilingon not a Pirate!" as It would sound a lot like the Arrgh after a while.

Stephen

[stoneyface]

lol @ sirgod's last post

good post nemesis, i agree with knightstorm tho, there have been some amazing observances from the cephalapod world dealing with memory and even tool use. (i worship cthulu so GO 'PODS!) they have been observed in the wild using coconut halves as armor/shelter and camouflage. right now research is trying to find how extensive this is across the species. don't count out the cetaceans, they have been observed doing some very high level psuedo-tool use such as scrapping squid along the bottom to remove the cuttle-bone and sonic attacks. don't forget the phrase "so long and thanks for all the fish!)