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The Universe Within 12.5 Light Years

(www.atlasoftheuniverse.com)
266 points algorithmista | 3 comments | | HN request time: 0.425s | source
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stephc_int13 ◴[] No.45145686[source]
When the Fermi Paradox was first posited, scientists and engineers seemed to believe that interstellar travel was soon to be technologically achievable, a few decades, maybe centuries for the less optimistic. Progress around space propulsion has kind of stalled since then and we should maybe question the possibility of interstellar travel as this would give an easy but unpleasant answer to the famous paradox.
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shireboy ◴[] No.45145776[source]
Right- “where are all the aliens?” is answered by either “they don’t exist” or “they do but physics of the universe prevent them from moving between solar systems.”
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VladVladikoff ◴[] No.45146004[source]
This feels very defeatist to me. Technology continues to advance, exponentially. And there are hypothetical ultra fast space travel technologies that we haven’t yet been able to fabricate but could theoretically in the future. e.g. Alcubierre warp drive.
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1. nirav72 ◴[] No.45146708[source]
More like technology evolves in spurts. Huge gains within a specific area for 2-3 decades and then only small incremental advancements for the next 2-3 decades.
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2. justinator ◴[] No.45146816[source]
More like technology evolves during global wars.

Fixed that for you. Rev up those stealth fighters!

3. nobody9999 ◴[] No.45154822[source]
>More like technology evolves in spurts. Huge gains within a specific area for 2-3 decades and then only small incremental advancements for the next 2-3 decades.

I'd expect that the time scales between spurts, while getting shorter over the past 350 years or so, were generally much, much longer.

We first started using stone tools more than 2.5 million years ago. We didn't start effectively using fire for another 500-750k years.

It was another 1.75 million years before we began harvesting seasonal "crops" we identified in our nomadic travels, and another tens of thousands of years before we founded permanent agricultural settlements.

Doing so (and the food surpluses enabled by such) allowed for specialization and R&D into stuff that wasn't directly related to food production.

That really kicked off a technological spurt, which included writing -- a technology that was, perhaps, the biggest step forward, until Liebniz/Newton's Calculus.

Given the immaturity of our current understanding of physics (Standard Model/General Relativity), biology (DNA research) and the like, it seems we're likely to continue without another spurt for quite some time.

I, of course, could be wrong. But since history is often a good guide to the future, I don't think so.