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#16 Fabbrizio

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Posted 11 February 2015 - 01:50 PM

Speaking of the Big Bang and expansion of the universe, according to a recent publication, there might not have been a Big Bang at all. If they turn out to be right, not only will we have established that the Universe didn't have a beginning but simply "always was", but we'll have solved the problems of dark mater and dark energy. And of course, this means the Universe won't have an "end" in the way we think of currently. Exciting stuff, if it can be verified. It would throw modern cosmology on its head, to say the least.

 

It would be the scientific equivalent of taking the world's largest file cabinet, opening all the drawers and turning it on its head, if it were to be verified. Infinites are a bit upsetting to think about, too, so I doubt it will be readily accepted. I was about to raise several objections when I saw this, before realizing none of those objections were valid.



#17 Russ

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Posted 11 February 2015 - 04:01 PM

They may be hard to think about, but when the alternative is "There was nothing and then something appeared in the nothingness", well, both are pretty hard to wrap your head around. I'm really interested in seeing what happens with this though. Part of me hopes they turn out to be right, but part of me almost hopes we don't have to throw out years of understanding. More hoping for the former though. Either way, it'll be exciting for sure.

#18 strike

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Posted 11 February 2015 - 05:14 PM

I just had an hour long discussion with my science teacher talking about if there is ether. We figured out that if there was and the universe is expanding (which it is) there would be red shift in every direction from every point.

I HIGHLY doubt that article is right as it starts with a finite area of the universe. Why? What was the logic behind that???

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#19 Tree

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Posted 11 February 2015 - 11:02 PM

I watch documentaries about space all the time. The universe is infinitely fascinating, and I love hearing of new discoveries. Stars are also one of my favorite things, soooooo~, yeah. I like astronomy.



#20 Chris Miller

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Posted 12 February 2015 - 11:38 PM

I've been into astronomy, and especially exoplanets since I can remember.

 

http://armageddongam...rrestrial-Skies


Edited by Chris Miller, 12 February 2015 - 11:50 PM.

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#21 Eddy

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Posted 13 February 2015 - 06:29 AM

I said this on IRC the other day, but damn Chris, those images look out of this world (get it? Out of this world? I'll stop...) Seriously speaking, I love those shots.



#22 David

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Posted 20 March 2015 - 04:44 PM

Well, it's been a while since a post was made in this topic. Let's break that fact. :)

 

I know that the solar eclipse was today, though I live in North America so I didn't get to see it (and in any case it was cloudy where I lived). Did anyone witness it and if they did, how was it?


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#23 Eddy

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Posted 21 March 2015 - 05:38 AM

I wish I could witness the solar eclipse, but sadly I didn't get to see it due to all the clouds surrounding my area of London. People could've seen the eclipse in Greenwich (east London), but I was too late >_>

 

Either way, it would've been amazing to see the eclipse but oh well. I blame weather conditions lol


Edited by Eddy, 21 March 2015 - 05:39 AM.

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#24 Shane

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Posted 21 March 2015 - 07:43 AM

Well of course I never got to see it. Lately, I have been looking into astronomy. It's confusing in some parts, other parts it's really cool and mind blowing. It still isn't my favorite subject, but I can see it being there, as it already is there.

Anyways, most people should know that I'm really into astronomy and anything related to the universe and because of that, I really want to become an astronomer when I get older.

tl;dr I love astronomy

<Eddy> I was about to say Earth was the 4th planet

:P
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#25 Eddy

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Posted 21 March 2015 - 07:46 AM

<Eddy> I was about to say Earth was the 4th planet

:P

Hey, I may be a rising astronomer but I still make mistakes lol


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#26 LinkFan212

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Posted 21 March 2015 - 10:17 AM

Yet again, LinkFan joins late again!

 

Anyways, I too am interested in it, but not enough to study it. I'm more interested in thinking that there is some type of life out there. I mean seriously, MILLIONS...TRILLIONS of galaxies, and are we truly the only ones? I mean, is that logical at all? If God wants it to be, then yes probably, but who knows, there could be humans billions of light years away from us, thinking the exact same thing! Or they could you know...just be cavemen going psycho. :P Even though the Bible (Yes, I am bringing a bit of Christianity into this...plz don't kill meh) says that God just made Adam and Eve here on Earth, did he maybe make some other Adam and Eve on an earth billions of light years away from us? It's just a matter of opinion and skepticism on the person. Either way, it would be amazing if there was more life out there, it'd just show that we're not the only ones! :D 


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#27 Fabbrizio

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Posted 21 March 2015 - 11:35 AM

While the Fermi Paradox points out that advanced extra-terrestrial societies are unlikely, it still leaves the possibility of less developed organisms similar to plants, insects, fungi, and almost certainly a plethroa of microbes. Even a single microbe found on a planet outside earth would yield astounding information for understanding abiogenesis and the conditions it requires. Whoever maps the first extra-terrestrial genome better have a pretty cool name.
 
The odds of extra-terrestrial life drop significantly when you bring eukaryotes into the picture, but if we're just asking about microbial organisms, I would bet actual money that there's a terrestrial exoplanet containing microbes within a thousand light-years from us (for scale, that radius would be a very small fraction of our galaxy. EDIT: I just did the math. It's 1/15000th of our galaxy, roughly).

Edited by Fabbrizio, 22 March 2015 - 12:35 AM.

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#28 Russ

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Posted 22 March 2015 - 01:43 PM

While the Fermi Paradox points out that advanced extra-terrestrial societies are unlikely, it still leaves the possibility of less developed organisms similar to plants, insects, fungi, and almost certainly a plethroa of microbes.

Wait, does it? My understanding is that the Fermi Paradox points out that the odds of advanced extra-terrestrial societies existing are likely, and the paradox is "Well why haven't we heard from any of them yet?"

#29 strike

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Posted 22 March 2015 - 07:38 PM

Abiogenesis is incredibly stupid. It literally means spontaneous generation! Literally!!!!! If scientists can't do it in a lab, and have literally no clue how it could happen, how do they except me to believe in it???

The Fermi paradox is what Russ said. But it is a very easily solved paradox. If life arises by sheer chance the chance is wildly small so that we're probably not in the light cone of a civilized species.

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#30 Fabbrizio

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Posted 22 March 2015 - 10:34 PM

The Fermi paradox is what Russ said. But it is a very easily solved paradox. If life arises by sheer chance the chance is wildly small so that we're probably not in the light cone of a civilized species.

Except that it's not necessarily by "sheer chance". About two years ago, a paper suggested that, to grossly abridge a very long story, the ability of organic compounds to trap heat in the form of chemical energy means that thermodynamics encourages life, rather than discouraging it as was previously thought.

 

Disclaimer: I just got done with a rough shift at work and my brain is barely here, so if that made no sense, feel free to correct me.


Edited by Fabbrizio, 22 March 2015 - 10:40 PM.



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