collapse

* Recent Posts

Re: "Christ Is King" by SirPalomides
[Today at 04:12:49 pm]


"Christ Is King" by Altair
[Today at 01:09:34 am]


Re: Cill Shift Schedule by SunflowerP
[Yesterday at 11:04:57 pm]


Re: Stellar Bling: The Good, the Bad, the OMG! by SunflowerP
[March 21, 2024, 11:21:37 pm]


Re: Spring Has Sprung! 2024 Edition by SunflowerP
[March 21, 2024, 10:24:10 pm]

Author Topic: We Are Not (or Have Not Been) Alone  (Read 3129 times)

Altair

  • Staff
  • *
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Location: New York, New York
  • *
  • Posts: 3752
  • Country: us
  • Total likes: 937
  • Fly high and make the world follow
    • View Profile
    • Songs of the Metamythos
  • Religion: tree-hugging pagan
  • Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his
We Are Not (or Have Not Been) Alone
« on: June 11, 2016, 08:29:59 pm »
From the pages of the NY Times, no less:

Yes, There Have Been Aliens


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/opinion/sunday/yes-there-have-been-aliens.html

"given what we now know about the number and orbital positions of the galaxy’s planets, the degree of pessimism required to doubt the existence, at some point in time, of an advanced extraterrestrial civilization borders on the irrational"

Note to my neighbors: I'm on to you!
The first song sets the wheel in motion / The second is a song of love / The third song tells of Her devotion / The fourth cries joy from the sky above
The fifth song binds our fate to silence / and bids us live each moment well / The sixth unleashes rage and violence / The seventh song has truth to tell
The last song echoes through the ages / to ask its question all night long / And close the circle on these pages / These, the metamythos songs

RandallS

  • Site Admin
  • *
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Location: NE Ohio
  • Posts: 10311
  • Country: us
  • Total likes: 296
    • View Profile
  • Religion: Hellenic Pagan
Re: We Are Not (or Have Not Been) Alone
« Reply #1 on: June 11, 2016, 11:00:53 pm »
Quote from: Altair;192534
"given what we now know about the number and orbital positions of the galaxy’s planets, the degree of pessimism required to doubt the existence, at some point in time, of an advanced extraterrestrial civilization borders on the irrational"

The article is a bit misleading. It talks about number of stars/planets in our galaxy thus implying the results are the number of tech civilizations that have arisen in our galaxy when the result according to the actual paper is for the observable universe -- a much larger area. Current estimates are around 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe.

Still, this shows we are very unlikely to have been the first.
Randall
RetroRoleplaying [Blog]: Microlite74/75/78/81, BX Advanced, and Other Old School Tabletop RPGs
Microlite20: Lots of Rules Lite Tabletop RPGs -- Many Free

Dragonoake

  • Master Member
  • ******
  • Join Date: Jan 2012
  • Location: Arkansas
  • Posts: 328
  • Country: us
  • Total likes: 9
    • View Profile
Re: We Are Not (or Have Not Been) Alone
« Reply #2 on: January 24, 2017, 11:35:22 pm »
Quote from: Altair;192534
Yes, There Have Been Aliens


In the words of Carl Sagan, “We live on a hunk of rock and metal that circles a humdrum star that is one of 400 billion other stars that make up the Milky Way Galaxy which is one of billions of other galaxies which make up a universe which may be one of a very large number, perhaps an infinite number, of other universes. That is a perspective on human life and our culture that is well worth pondering.”

victoreia

  • Sr. Master Member
  • *******
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Location: Honolulu, HI
  • Posts: 923
  • Country: us
  • Total likes: 9
    • View Profile
  • Religion: disorganized something
  • Preferred Pronouns: she/her
Re: We Are Not (or Have Not Been) Alone
« Reply #3 on: February 01, 2017, 08:08:50 pm »
Quote from: Dragonoake;201833
In the words of Carl Sagan, “We live on a hunk of rock and metal that circles a humdrum star that is one of 400 billion other stars that make up the Milky Way Galaxy which is one of billions of other galaxies which make up a universe which may be one of a very large number, perhaps an infinite number, of other universes. That is a perspective on human life and our culture that is well worth pondering.”

 
And paraphrasing from the movie "Contact" (based on a novel of the same name, written by Sagan) "If we're not alone, that's an awful waste of space."

(...I wonder if they intended that pun or not?)
Do. Or do not. There is no try.  --Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back

We are star stuff. We are the universe, made manifest. --Ambassador Delenn, Babylon 5

Mind how you go. -- Granny Weatherwax

Tags:
 

Related Topics

  Subject / Started by Replies Last post
1 Replies
1539 Views
Last post June 27, 2012, 05:50:24 pm
by RandallS
8 Replies
1565 Views
Last post July 06, 2012, 06:22:57 pm
by DancesWithHorses
4 Replies
1418 Views
Last post October 13, 2012, 09:02:08 pm
by Castus
7 Replies
3027 Views
Last post August 21, 2014, 02:25:46 am
by TheElegantShadow
8 Replies
2620 Views
Last post July 26, 2016, 11:42:10 pm
by milkeyedmender

* Who's Online

  • Dot Guests: 208
  • Dot Hidden: 0
  • Dot Users: 0

There aren't any users online.

* Please Donate!

The Cauldron's server is expensive and requires monthly payments. Please become a Bronze, Silver or Gold Donor if you can. Donations are needed every month. Without member support, we can't afford the server.

* Shop & Support TC

The links below are affiliate links. When you click on one of these links you will go to the listed shopping site with The Cauldron's affiliate code. Any purchases you make during your visit will earn TC a tiny percentage of your purchase price at no extra cost to you.

* In Memoriam

Chavi (2006)
Elspeth (2010)
Marilyn (2013)

* Cauldron Staff

Host:
Sunflower

Message Board Staff
Board Coordinator:
Darkhawk

Assistant Board Coordinator:
Aster Breo

Senior Staff:
Aisling, Allaya, Jenett, Sefiru

Staff:
Ashmire, EclecticWheel, HarpingHawke, Kylara, PerditaPickle, rocquelaire

Discord Chat Staff
Chat Coordinator:
Morag

'Up All Night' Coordinator:
Altair

Cauldron Council:
Bob, Catja, Chatelaine, Emma-Eldritch, Fausta, Jubes, Kelly, LyricFox, Phouka, Sperran, Star, Steve, Tana

Site Administrator:
Randall

SimplePortal 2.3.6 © 2008-2014, SimplePortal