Everything Geek goes here...

[PiKA2001]

So I tried to save some money by going to Autozone and getting aftermarket Rain-X wipers for my rig at a cost of $24 but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO it doesn't fit exactly right and I'm too nit-picky to allow that! I was then forced to go online and order the special Bosch wipers that are made for Land Rovers for a cool $77. I wonder if I can return the opened wipers?

[PiKA2001]

I hope they release this on the PS network, looks like my kind of game!


http://devour.com/video/limbo/

[ms_gwyn]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

I hope they release this on the PS network, looks like my kind of game!


http://devour.com/video/limbo/

Reminds me slightly of Braid which I still need to finish playing through....it puzzles me...

*pun intended

[PiKA2001]

Originally Posted by ms_gwyn

Reminds me slightly of Braid which I still need to finish playing through....it puzzles me...

*pun intended

Another good option for those that have an Xbox and a PC.

I have a PS3 and a Mac

[cheerfulgreek]

okay, so I was watching a little Deep Space Nine last night. I think it would be so cool to get even deeper with alien imagination. I mean, I know that Holllywood screenwriters aren't scientists or astrophysicist, or anything like that, I mean, that's expected. It's just that I think it would be so cool and amazing if there was a new series of Star Trek that focused more on alien biology. It's just that in the previous episodes, they seem more directed towards alien culture, and not alien biology. It's just that almost all alien species encountered by crew members are humanlike, and they all speak English...lol. Oh, and when I was watching, one of my classmates was watching it with me, and she asked me do I believe that UFOs have been coming to Earth ...Umm, no. I just told her that our galaxy alone is much too vast. In order to even attempt to find intelligent alien life forms elsewhere in the universe, we would have to look among over 400 billion stars, or so in our own galaxy to find a planet or moon that could support life. I mean, say that "aliens" were directed to look in the direction of our Sun, what's the probability even then that they would discover our existence. I just told her that life has existed on Earth for about 4 billion years, I mean, since it formed. Yet only in the past half century or so have we been transmitting any signals of our existence. I just think and I'm convinced that the chances of discovering our existence would be about 1 in 100 million, based on the millions and billions of stars, galaxies, and planets. And this applies only if they knew exactly where to look. UFOs are so fake.

[Drolefille]

They only speak English due to the Universal Translator.

I like Babylon 5 for good well-developed alien culture and physiology.

[PiKA2001]

Originally Posted by cheerfulgreek

Oh, and when I was watching, one of my classmates was watching it with me, and she asked me do I believe that UFOs have been coming to Earth ...Umm, no. I just told her that our galaxy alone is much too vast. In order to even attempt to find intelligent alien life forms elsewhere in the universe, we would have to look among over 400 billion stars, or so in our own galaxy to find a planet or moon that could support life. I mean, say that "aliens" were directed to look in the direction of our Sun, what's the probability even then that they would discover our existence. I just told her that life has existed on Earth for about 4 billion years, I mean, since it formed. Yet only in the past half century or so have we been transmitting any signals of our existence. I just think and I'm convinced that the chances of discovering our existence would be about 1 in 100 million, based on the millions and billions of stars, galaxies, and planets. And this applies only if they knew exactly where to look. UFOs are so fake.

I don't think it's too far off. You can't assume that any sort of alien life is on the other side of the universe, they could well be within our own "neighborhood". Any sort of alien species could have thousands to millions of years on us in the sense of bio and technological evolution, who knows what sort of technology they have developed during that time.

[Animate]

I rooted my Vibrant! lets see what fun I can have.

[cheerfulgreek]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

I don't think it's too far off. You can't assume that any sort of alien life is on the other side of the universe, they could well be within our own "neighborhood". Any sort of alien species could have thousands to millions of years on us in the sense of bio and technological evolution, who knows what sort of technology they have developed during that time.

I agree with you, PiKA, but I don't believe it's within our own solar system. It's just that I think it might have already been done, if it has been done. I mean, I definitely don't believe that we're the only intelligent life in the entire universe. I mean, I don't even think we're the only planet with intelligent life in our entire galaxy. I think that would be really arrogant to think that we are. I would really be surprised if we were. It's just that in order to look for intelligent life forms, you kind of have to ask how life could ever evolve in the first place? Is basic life common? Is it mostly water and carbon based? And based on what you said about bio and technological evolution, does it need billions of years to develop like Earth needed, or can it develop in a fraction of time? I mean that is if the conditions are optimal. Those kinds of questions are what we need to be asking ourselves before we even can guess what kind of planets and/or moons to explore. You're right, we don't know what technology they've developed, it's just that if any intelligent alien life forms have tried to communicate with us, I just think they may have already tried. How do we know they haven't? We don't. Like, let's just say for the sake of debate, that humans are the only species in the history of life on Earth to evolve high-level intelligence. If life on Earth offers any measure of life elsewhere in the universe, then intelligence has to be rare. And I'm just giving an estimate, but there's probably been more than 10 billion species in the history of life on Earth. And with that, I would expect no better than about 1 and 10 billion to be as intelligent as we are, not to mention the odds against the intelligent life having an advanced technology and a desire to communicate through space. And I know you are aware of how vast space is. It's huge, and growing as I type. So, on a chance that such a civilization exists, radio waves would probably be the communication band of choice, I mean there could be another way, it's just that I'm sayig that way because of their ability to get through all of the gases and dust clouds. But humans on Earth have only understood how this is done for less than a century. More depressingly put, for most of human history, had aliens tried to send radio signals to us, we would have been incapable of receiving them. It's just that for all we know, the aliens have already done this and concluded that there was no intelligent life on Earth. So, I would think, right now, that they would be looking elsewhere, if they're looking at all.

I mean, think about it. Our life on Earth, intelligent or otherwise, requires us to hold the existence of liquid water as a prerequisite of life elsewhere. I mean, a planets orbit shouldn't be too close to its host star, otherwise the temperature would be too high, and the planets water content would vaporize. Nor should the orbit be too far away either, or else the temperature would be too low and the planets water content would freeze. It's just that conditions on the planet have to allow the temperature to stay within the 180 degree F range of liquid water. I like to compare our search for ET intelligent life forms to Goldilocks and the three bears, the temperature has to be just right. But seriously, while the distance from the host star is so important for the existence of life as we know it, other factors matter too, such as a planets ability to trap stellar radiation. Venus is a perfect example of this. PiKA, I know what you mean, it's just that I think it's a lot more to it than just that. I don't believe we're anywhere near being close, simply because we're barely advanced enough to leave Earth's atmosphere, and I'm not talking about space probes. If we consider the possibility that we might be somewhat primitve among the universe's other intelligent life-forms, (if there is any) however rare they might be, then I just think the best we can do at this point, with the technology we currently have, is to keep alert for signals sent by others. It's just that it's far more expensive to send, than to receive them. And if we do discover other intelligent life forms, or they discover us, we won't be around to see it. I don't think we will. Space is much, much too vast.

Sorry so long, but I really get into this. I just love astronomy.

eta: holy crap, after I pressed submit, I was like "this is long" lol

[aephi alum]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

They only speak English due to the Universal Translator.

I like Babylon 5 for good well-developed alien culture and physiology.

Agreed. I'm watching B5 right now - it's one of my favorites. "We have six...... well, we have six." And of course Ivanova's sex scene - LMAO

It's interesting to see how different sci-fi TV series handled the issue of aliens speaking different languages. On B5, all the major characters spoke English as a second (or third or whatever) language, although it was made clear that most non-humans didn't learn English. I also liked the touch that the Minbari had three primary languages - most alien races have just one, although we humans speak many different languages. Star Trek had universal translators. Farscape had translator microbes. Stargate SG-1 had Daniel Jackson, I guess (the reason everyone spoke English and could understand each other was never explained to my satisfaction - why would your average Goa'uld or Jaffa bother learning English?). It's interesting to see the creativity behind the "how do we make sure that everyone, including the audience, understands what an alien character says?" question.

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by aephi alum

Agreed. I'm watching B5 right now - it's one of my favorites. "We have six...... well, we have six." And of course Ivanova's sex scene - LMAO

It's interesting to see how different sci-fi TV series handled the issue of aliens speaking different languages. On B5, all the major characters spoke English as a second (or third or whatever) language, although it was made clear that most non-humans didn't learn English. I also liked the touch that the Minbari had three primary languages - most alien races have just one. Star Trek had universal translators. Farscape had translator microbes. Stargate SG-1 had Daniel Jackson, I guess (the reason everyone spoke English and could understand each other was never explained to my satisfaction - why would your average Goa'uld or Jaffa bother learning English?). It's interesting to see the creativity behind the "how do we make sure that everyone, including the audience, understands what an alien character says?" question.

SG-1 was pretty intentionally "whups learned English real quick screw that plot point"

And yeah B5 was mostly about diplomats. You just assumed that amongst themselves they spoke their own language and they showed it to you enough for you to get the point.

[Psi U MC Vito]

Originally Posted by cheerfulgreek

Oh, and when I was watching, one of my classmates was watching it with me, and she asked me do I believe that UFOs have been coming to Earth ...Umm, no. I just told her that our galaxy alone is much too vast.

You never heard of the Fermi Paradox then?

[cheerfulgreek]

Originally Posted by Psi U MC Vito

You never heard of the Fermi Paradox then?

Yep. I have, and I don't necessarily totally disagree with it. Have you ever seen "What the bleep do we know?" It's a really cool documentary that kind of elaborates on something like this. I really don't believe aliens have been travelling to Earth. At least not now. I mean, if they are, I think they've already done it. But another part of me thinks that they don't have the technology to explore space like that. It's just too big and everything is so far apart. I really get into quantum theory because it's pretty much based on the idea that there is a probability that all possible events, no matter how crazy or silly, might occur. I mean, how do we know parallel universes don't exist? I guess that's one reason why I'm so intrigued with black holes. Oh, and this reminds me. Vito, I'm not sure if you're into the Twilight Zone, but I remember in one episode, there was this guy who woke up only to find that his wife doesn't recognize him. She screams at him to leave before she calls the police. When he wanders around town, he finds that his lifelong friends also don't recognize him, as if he never existed. Finally he visits his parents' house, but they too claim they've never seen him before. They told him that they've never even had a son. Without friends, family or a home, he just drifts around town, eventually falling asleep on the park bench, like a homeless guy. When he wakes up the next day, he finds himself back in bed with his wife. However, when his wife turns around, he's shocked to find out that she's not his wife at all, but instead, she's this strange woman he's never seen before. That was probably one of the best ones I've seen. I'm just bringing this up because maybe a single quantum event can separate two worlds, one in which you live as a normal, productive citizen, and another that is exactly identical, except that you were never born. And to be able to travel between these worlds is within the laws of physics. I mean, I know the probability of it happening is pretty small. It's just that the universe is so big, and so weird, that quantum theory gives us a picture of the universe much stranger than we've ever imagined. I mean, just think about it, our galaxy is smaller than a grain of sand compared to everything else that make up the universe. So, imagine how small that makes Earth. I'm open to a lot of things, it's just that I can't see why other intelligent life forms would be travelling here, or even know of our existence. And if by chance they have, I just think it's already been done.

[Drolefille]

What the Bleep do we know... is not good science.

[PiKA2001]

You listen to too much Coast to Coast!