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Astronomers want public funds 21:34 - Feb 16 with 7076 viewsNewcyBlue

For intelligent life search.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51223704

Incredible!

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Astronomers want public funds on 21:38 - Feb 16 with 4684 viewspointofblue

Obviously decided they can't find it on Earth.

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Astronomers want public funds on 21:44 - Feb 16 with 4671 viewsNewcyBlue

Astronomers want public funds on 21:38 - Feb 16 by pointofblue

Obviously decided they can't find it on Earth.


I was going to make a joke about Brexiteers but decided against it.

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Astronomers want public funds on 21:46 - Feb 16 with 4664 viewsjeera

Under 30 quid. Just add telescope - pop them out to space. How hard can it be?


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Astronomers want public funds on 21:47 - Feb 16 with 4663 viewsMullet

Astronomers want public funds on 21:44 - Feb 16 by NewcyBlue

I was going to make a joke about Brexiteers but decided against it.


It'd have gone over their heads presumably.

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Astronomers want public funds on 22:20 - Feb 16 with 4613 viewsMercian

Looking for life in the galaxy is like looking for one needle in every haystack in the world. It's (possibly) there somewhere but finding it is so remote it is not worth the bother.
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Astronomers want public funds on 07:13 - Feb 17 with 4498 viewsBlueBadger

Astronomers want public funds on 21:44 - Feb 16 by NewcyBlue

I was going to make a joke about Brexiteers but decided against it.


WEE DUNT WONT NE MARHSANS CUMIN HEER AN STEELIN ARE JUBS

I'm one of the people who was blamed for getting Paul Cook sacked. PM for the full post.
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Astronomers want public funds on 07:48 - Feb 17 with 4465 viewsStokieBlue

Astronomers want public funds on 22:20 - Feb 16 by Mercian

Looking for life in the galaxy is like looking for one needle in every haystack in the world. It's (possibly) there somewhere but finding it is so remote it is not worth the bother.


This is nonsense. You don't find something if you don't bother looking.

We have a very good idea of the conditions that are likely required for life and we have a large number of extrasolar planets, many within the habitable zone off their parent star.

SETI now is much more focused on viable targets than the random scattergun approach you are suggesting. When the James Webb telescope is launched we might even be able to directly image exoplanets and then use spectrometry to analyse the composition of the atmosphere to see if the signs of life are there.

It's almost certainly there, the numbers are too stacked for it not to be. We should be funding the search and looking hard as it would be a profound day if it's discovered

100m is wasted on much worse endeavours all the time.

SB

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Astronomers want public funds on 08:19 - Feb 17 with 4438 viewsGuthrum

Astronomers want public funds on 07:48 - Feb 17 by StokieBlue

This is nonsense. You don't find something if you don't bother looking.

We have a very good idea of the conditions that are likely required for life and we have a large number of extrasolar planets, many within the habitable zone off their parent star.

SETI now is much more focused on viable targets than the random scattergun approach you are suggesting. When the James Webb telescope is launched we might even be able to directly image exoplanets and then use spectrometry to analyse the composition of the atmosphere to see if the signs of life are there.

It's almost certainly there, the numbers are too stacked for it not to be. We should be funding the search and looking hard as it would be a profound day if it's discovered

100m is wasted on much worse endeavours all the time.

SB


Not suggesting for one minute we shouldn't look. But while the numbers are stacked in one direction by the size of the universe and the number of possible planets, they are tilted the other by the low chances of another form of intelligent life coinciding with us timewise and by just how far we can see.

Good Lord! Whatever is it?
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Astronomers want public funds on 08:46 - Feb 17 with 4419 viewshampstead_blue

Astronomers want public funds on 07:48 - Feb 17 by StokieBlue

This is nonsense. You don't find something if you don't bother looking.

We have a very good idea of the conditions that are likely required for life and we have a large number of extrasolar planets, many within the habitable zone off their parent star.

SETI now is much more focused on viable targets than the random scattergun approach you are suggesting. When the James Webb telescope is launched we might even be able to directly image exoplanets and then use spectrometry to analyse the composition of the atmosphere to see if the signs of life are there.

It's almost certainly there, the numbers are too stacked for it not to be. We should be funding the search and looking hard as it would be a profound day if it's discovered

100m is wasted on much worse endeavours all the time.

SB


Agreed.

Not giving it is a rather 'flat earth' policy.
We have a duty to reach out.

Science is it. Without good science we would know zip. You've got to press on and on. Keep going.
Stopping good science is akin to giving up.

In the big scheme of things, £100m is loose change. Dp it.

Assumption is to make an ass out of you and me. Those who assume they know you, when they don't are just guessing. Those who assume and insist they know are daft and in denial. Those who assume, insist, and deny the truth are plain stupid. Those who assume, insist, deny the truth and tell YOU they know you (when they don't) have an IQ in the range of 35-49.
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Astronomers want public funds on 09:35 - Feb 17 with 4378 viewsStokieBlue

Astronomers want public funds on 08:19 - Feb 17 by Guthrum

Not suggesting for one minute we shouldn't look. But while the numbers are stacked in one direction by the size of the universe and the number of possible planets, they are tilted the other by the low chances of another form of intelligent life coinciding with us timewise and by just how far we can see.


I don't think that's true.

Even very conservative numbers entered into the Drake equation give around 10,000 active civilisations just in our galaxy. It's not a perfect measure but it's a decent start.

Then you have the fact that civilisations don't have to overlap in order for us to confirm life exists. If a star is 500,000 light years away they could have come and gone eons ago but the signature of life would only be arriving to us now. They could have persisted for 100,000 years - we simply don't know.

"low chances of another form of intelligent life coinciding with us timewise"

There is no evidence either way for this assumption though. You can make a guess with probabilities but it comes back to the conservative estimates for the Drake equations (which as I said is far from perfect).

It's a small amount of money - we should look.

SB

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Astronomers want public funds on 09:59 - Feb 17 with 4362 viewsOxford_Blue

Astronomers want public funds on 21:47 - Feb 16 by Mullet

It'd have gone over their heads presumably.


Remainers are living on a different planet if they think whinging and sniping will make any difference ....
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Astronomers want public funds on 10:02 - Feb 17 with 4363 viewsfooters

What if these aliens turned out to be extremely attractive and amorous? I bet people would think it worth their money then. But these are the little things people just don't think about.

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Astronomers want public funds on 10:03 - Feb 17 with 4358 viewsPhilTWTD

Astronomers want public funds on 10:02 - Feb 17 by footers

What if these aliens turned out to be extremely attractive and amorous? I bet people would think it worth their money then. But these are the little things people just don't think about.


Or decent footballers, I bet Premier League clubs would put a few quid into the venture that being the case.
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Astronomers want public funds on 10:05 - Feb 17 with 4337 viewsfooters

Astronomers want public funds on 10:03 - Feb 17 by PhilTWTD

Or decent footballers, I bet Premier League clubs would put a few quid into the venture that being the case.


Are you suggesting that Brazilians are from outer space?

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Astronomers want public funds on 10:08 - Feb 17 with 4318 viewsWeWereZombies

Astronomers want public funds on 22:20 - Feb 16 by Mercian

Looking for life in the galaxy is like looking for one needle in every haystack in the world. It's (possibly) there somewhere but finding it is so remote it is not worth the bother.


Thirty years ago Carl Sagan suggested that the Voyager 1 turned a camera around and take an image of the Solar System it had left behind, in a ray of sunlight one pixel showed up - a pale blue dot:

'Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilisation, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbour life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known'

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Astronomers want public funds on 10:10 - Feb 17 with 4313 viewsPhilTWTD

Astronomers want public funds on 10:05 - Feb 17 by footers

Are you suggesting that Brazilians are from outer space?


Only player I can recall who was claimed to be from outer space was Welsh.
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Astronomers want public funds on 13:02 - Feb 17 with 4213 viewsBrixtonBlue

Astronomers want public funds on 22:20 - Feb 16 by Mercian

Looking for life in the galaxy is like looking for one needle in every haystack in the world. It's (possibly) there somewhere but finding it is so remote it is not worth the bother.


Wow. Imagine where we'd be if every scientist who took on something a bit difficult said "it's not worth the bother"!

An added point is that we've discovered/invented lots of things due to space exploration. It's not simply about looking for signs of life out of curiosity with no side benefits.

I bet Bloots will downarrow this.
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Astronomers want public funds on 13:04 - Feb 17 with 4213 viewsBrixtonBlue

Why is this incredible? We absolutely should be funding this.

In fact finding a habitable planet (that we can also get to) is of the utmost importance given how much we're fecking up this planet.

I bet Bloots will downarrow this.
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Astronomers want public funds on 13:08 - Feb 17 with 4205 viewsfooters

Astronomers want public funds on 13:02 - Feb 17 by BrixtonBlue

Wow. Imagine where we'd be if every scientist who took on something a bit difficult said "it's not worth the bother"!

An added point is that we've discovered/invented lots of things due to space exploration. It's not simply about looking for signs of life out of curiosity with no side benefits.


Indeed. Modern flasks are directly linked with the Apollo 11 space mission, for example.

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Astronomers want public funds on 13:10 - Feb 17 with 4203 viewsr2d2

Astronomers want public funds on 21:44 - Feb 16 by NewcyBlue

I was going to make a joke about Brexiteers but decided against it.


Why do you feel the need to even make the remark? Trying to gain points with your mates on here no doubt?!
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Astronomers want public funds on 14:49 - Feb 17 with 4136 viewsNewcyBlue

To clarify for dollers, I believe this to be incredible that we are doing this. My incredible remark was not to be mistaken for incredulity at the money.

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Astronomers want public funds on 15:33 - Feb 17 with 4082 viewsBlueBadger

Astronomers want public funds on 13:10 - Feb 17 by r2d2

Why do you feel the need to even make the remark? Trying to gain points with your mates on here no doubt?!


I think he decided against it precisely because delicate flowers like you would react exactly like this and couldn't be doing with the drama.

I'm one of the people who was blamed for getting Paul Cook sacked. PM for the full post.
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POTY on 15:39 - Feb 17 with 4065 viewsDyland

Astronomers want public funds on 10:08 - Feb 17 by WeWereZombies

Thirty years ago Carl Sagan suggested that the Voyager 1 turned a camera around and take an image of the Solar System it had left behind, in a ray of sunlight one pixel showed up - a pale blue dot:

'Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilisation, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbour life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known'


"Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves."

That's almost Lovecraftian :)

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POTY on 15:44 - Feb 17 with 4050 viewsStokieBlue

POTY on 15:39 - Feb 17 by Dyland

"Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves."

That's almost Lovecraftian :)


Sagan was an excellent science communicator, especially for the period when it was far more unusual.

SB
[Post edited 17 Feb 2020 15:44]

Avatar - IC410 - Tadpoles Nebula

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POTY on 15:44 - Feb 17 with 4047 viewsWeWereZombies

POTY on 15:39 - Feb 17 by Dyland

"Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves."

That's almost Lovecraftian :)


Thanks, I should make it absolutely clear though that these are not my words (would that I could write even a hundredth as well as that) but Sagan's and from his 'Pale Blue Dot':

https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/1816628-pale-blue-dot-a-vision-of-the-huma

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