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"There are more galaxies in the Universe than even Carl Sagan ever imagined"

Duxxy3

Duxxy3

Member
Oct 27, 2017
21,684
USA
If there is intelligent life outside of this world, I am increasingly convinced that humanity (and this planet) will cease to exist looooooooong before we ever make contact.

I hope that we're not the only intelligent life in the universe and I hope that some of that life can find others. But it's such an unbelievably large amount of space, that I don't know if will ever happen.
 
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Gravidee

Gravidee

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,357
I think at this point perhaps the reason we haven't had formal contact with outside races yet isn't because they're not out there, but because there has been no opportunity to reach us because there are so many other planets, systems and galaxies in existence that we're basically lost within it all.
 
ConfusingJazz

ConfusingJazz

Not the Ron Paul Texas Fan.
Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,884
China
Space is really big...


20130115_radio_broadcasts.jpg
 
blackhawk163

blackhawk163

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,209
What a thread to fall into, just as adiago for strings started playing . Reminds me of Homeworld. That being written, the news of this is outstanding.

Also even if we could travel at a near light speed, the space in between galaxies are expanding at a faster rate the further they move away from us. Leaving any potential travelers stranded in the absolute darkness of space time.
 
Septy

Septy

Prophet of Truth
Member
Nov 29, 2017
4,081
United States
That's just unfathomable. There could be advanced species on the other side of the universe dominating multiple galaxies. And we'd never know about it.
 
Zeliard

Zeliard

Member
Jun 21, 2019
10,943
More than that is something he and many others had an inkling of but never knew for sure: there are a fuckton of planets, and even potentially habitable rocky ones in the goldilocks zone (as distinct from planets and moons not in that zone which might be entirely capable of supporting life, like our own Saturn's Enceladus).

The first exoplanet was discovered only a few years before his death. As of now we've discovered over 5,000 and it's estimated that every star has at least one planet orbiting it.
 
choog

choog

Member
Oct 27, 2017
618
Seattle
We are also inside something like a light-speed bubble. We can only sense things that were 13.7 billion years away. The universe is much bigger, but we have no idea what is there outside our bubble.
 
Chaos2Frozen

Chaos2Frozen

Member
Nov 3, 2017
28,022
I think it's wild that humans could even figure out how big all this is.

Or at least a reasonable estimate base on available data and logic.
 
astroturfing

astroturfing

Member
Nov 1, 2017
6,449
Suomi Finland
just one galaxy is a completely ridiculous thing to exist.

just imagine all the endless planets and moons here in the Milky Way alone, if you could visit them all, how would you feel..?
 
Rosebud

Rosebud

Two Pieces
Member
Apr 16, 2018
43,494
Sonix said:
I probably phrased it poorly. What I meant is that both billions and trillions are both essentially "unbelievably large numbers" for humans
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Stygian said:
I agree, numbers like 20 trillion and 20 billion both represent concepts that are staggeringly difficult for the human mind to comprehend.
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Wonder if this is a kind of defense mechanism... I think it would be terrifying if we could truly understand how we don't matter lol
 
VariantX

VariantX

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,880
Columbia, SC
Twenty trillion Galaxies...and each one could be filled with hundreds of billions to trillions of stars with countless more worlds orbiting them. And really, Im just saying words to represent values I literally cannot comprehend.
 
Netherscourge

Netherscourge

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,903
There's Gek, Vy'keen and Korvax out there waiting for us.

Just need to upgrade our Warp Engines.

Go farm some plutonium peeps.
 
Zeliard

Zeliard

Member
Jun 21, 2019
10,943
VariantX said:
Twenty trillion Galaxies...and each one could be filled with hundreds of billions to trillions of stars with countless more worlds orbiting them. And really, Im just saying words to represent values I literally cannot comprehend.
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At some point the numbers become stupid.

Just find me some alien squids like in Europa Report before I perish. I'm cool with alien bacteria too.
 
Vex

Vex

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,213
Anyone else just wish we could scream really loud and have aliens find us to meet us? Why won't they visit us :'c ?
 

Deleted member 8257

Oct 26, 2017
24,586
I dont care what math says. We are alone in this universe.
 
GameAddict411

GameAddict411

Member
Oct 26, 2017
8,513
ConfusingJazz said:
Space is really big...


20130115_radio_broadcasts.jpg
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This is actually misleading because signals actually loss attenuation the further the receiving end. So the effective range is significantly smaller than even 100 light years. It could go higher but it has to be a focused beam towards a specific location. Basically useless of we want anyone out there to hear it by discovery.
 
Tohsaka

Tohsaka

Member
Nov 17, 2017
6,791
Stuff like this is neat to hear, but it's kinda hard to care too much since we'll never travel to any of those planets (if they're even still there), nor will any of their possible inhabitants make contact with us.
 
gozu

gozu

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,312
America
The only logical course of action is to fall on our knees and worship the universe as a God.

Trillions of galaxies means countless intelligent species. What an awe-inspiring thing.

Truly backs up my theories about God, the universe and possible meaning of life.
 
Earthboundstarman

Earthboundstarman

Member
Dec 15, 2017
658
That's uncomprehensible in size, like at that point does even matter if the universe is truly infinite or not? Would we even begin to understand the nature of what the universe is and why it allows us to observe it? If a higher power did create it just for us lowly beings than why bother to make it so vast when we would have no hope of exploring all of it? Like i think need a drink lol
 
Zeliard

Zeliard

Member
Jun 21, 2019
10,943
Earthboundstarman said:
That's uncomprehensible in size, like at that point does even matter if the universe is truly infinite or not? Would we even begin to understand the nature of what the universe is and why it allows us to observe it? If a higher power did create it just for us lowly beings than why bother to make it so vast when we would have no hope of exploring all of it? Like i think need a drink lol
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It's true that at some point the numbers just become like whatever to the human mind. It's going to be hard enough just to get to the next solar system or try to contact one, and that's right next door, a block away.

When you tell me there are trillions of galaxies in the observable universe and then tell me that there may be countless universes, it's cool and all, but it's way too abstract to care about much.

Let's just focus on the good ol' Milky Way.
 
bounchfx

bounchfx

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,654
Muricas
universe is so fuckin sick

and yeah chances are theres other folks out there typing the same kind of shit to each other in their own way also talkin about the scope of this space
unfathomable truly. so awesome, in the literal sense of the word
 
Niosai

Niosai

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,919
Duxxy3 said:
If there is intelligent life outside of this world, I am increasingly convinced that humanity (and this planet) will cease to exist looooooooong before we ever make contact.

I hope that we're not the only intelligent life in the universe and I hope that some of that life can find others. But it's such an unbelievably large amount of space, that I don't know if will ever happen.
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It's entirely possible that's already happened! In fact, it's entirely possible that some distant alien race(s) has discovered a way to travel vast distances in a reasonable amount of time and only hasn't found us because of just how vast space is.
 
Frank

Frank

Member
Oct 25, 2017
735
I just watched a PBS Spacetime video that talked about the dangers of interstellar travel. Extreme radiation, cosmic rays, micro meteoroids that would annihilate anything moving at significant speed.

It suggests that the solution to the Fermi paradox is that everyone stays home.
 
Hyun Sai

Hyun Sai

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,562
Frank said:
I just watched a PBS Spacetime video that talked about the dangers of interstellar travel. Extreme radiation, cosmic rays, micro meteoroids that would annihilate anything moving at significant speed.

It suggests that the solution to the Fermi paradox is that everyone stays home.
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If it's their last video, it says at the end that's it's difficult but doable to overcome the hazards though.
 
LinkStrikesBack

LinkStrikesBack

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,348
Earthboundstarman said:
That's uncomprehensible in size, like at that point does even matter if the universe is truly infinite or not? Would we even begin to understand the nature of what the universe is and why it allows us to observe it? If a higher power did create it just for us lowly beings than why bother to make it so vast when we would have no hope of exploring all of it? Like i think need a drink lol
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In a practical sense, it doesn't really matter if the universe was only the milky way, let alone any larger, no life on Earth is ever making it outside the solar system, let alone further.
 
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