Space Forum / Astronomy / December 2006

Dear peacefulspirits:

Let's hope we are not the best the Universe has to offer.

Why?  If they have the equivalent of "The Prime Directive"...

Rape is such a dirty word.  Pillage and loot are much less
emotionally laden, yet still convey the meaning.  Oh, and not
just "our own planet", but our children's planet too.

David A. Smith

Who said *we* were intelligent?
*I* am intelligent, and maybe *you* are intelligent,
but *we* are merely the dominant great apes.
*We* elect politicians who kiss babies, but *I* do not.
*We* believe what we are told to believe, but *I* do not.
*We* are no better than a flock of sheep, all bleating
the same tune, but *I* am not a sheep.
The Lord is your Shepherd, YOU are a sheep.

*You* can be part of *we* if you choose, but do not include
me as part of *us*.
Also, your ability to correlate the number of stars with
communication demonstrates a lack of intelligence on your
part. If *I* knew about *us* I wouldn't go near *us* with
a 10-foot barge pole with a sanity inspector on the end,
and that includes you, fuckhead.
*plonk*

Um,

How?

Sure Star Trek, and even decent Science Fiction, has ships pushing a
button, spending a little time, and arriving at a different star
system. But there is good reason to doubt that faster than light travel
is even possible -- not just for humans, but for any maerial particle.

(Hint: FTL travel in one reference frame is travel back in time in
another reference frame.)

Having the universe hold many star systems doesn't mattter. What counts
is the number of star systems within reach of any intelligent beings.
That is a very low number if you require travel times less than 10,000
years.

Check out Darla and her pop saucer mothership in alt.astronomy.  Alas,
only Chu'k has received messages from her in his head.  No one else
has seen any lately.

Saul Levy