Clipmarks | Space colonization Clips

Space Colonization -Our Future or Fantasy?

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 01:24:19 GMT

clipped by: A53GG4

Space Colonization -Our Future or Fantasy?

Humans have always been fascinated by the idea of space travel. Some even believe that colonizing new planets is man’s best hope for the future. The popular idea is that we’ll eventually need some fresh, unexploited new worlds to inhabit.

In a recent Galaxy post we wrote that Stephen Hawking, world-celebrated expert on the cosmological theories of gravity and black holes who holds Issac Newton's Lucasian Chair at Cambridge University, believes that traveling into space is the only way humans will be able to survive in the long-term.

"Life on Earth," Hawking has said, "is at the ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster such as sudden global warming, nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus or other dangers ... I think the human race has no future if it doesn't go into space."

Another of his famous quotes reiterates his position that we need to get off the planet relatively soon.

Tags: science

Wernher von Braun's Blueprint for Space (1950s)

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 02:02:53 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman

Clip Source: www.paleofuture.com

This clip from the DVD History of Spaceflight outlines Wernher von Braun's vision for the colonization of space. Be sure to check out footage of von Braun from the rarely seen film Challenge of Outer Space.

[Video]

General Introduction - OA ClipSeries

Fri, 02 May 2008 14:54:44 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator
clipper's remarks: In this post-singularity, post-scarcity world, any goal a sapient being can name, any goal that doesn't violate the laws of physics, or fall apart under its own inconsistencies, can be achieved. But that doesn't mean all problems have been solved...

Clip Source: www.orionsarm.com

General Introduction

It is ten thousand years in the future. Civilization spans the stars, and humanity has branched into myriad directions. Godlike ascended intelligences personify and overshadow vast interstellar empires, while while lesser factions seek to craft their own dominions through colonization of the frontier and sometimes even intrigue and conquest. Trillions of sentient beings exist across billions of cubic light years - on the surface of planets, in giant orbital habitats, in domes and blueskies on moons and comets, and in space ships. But beyond the safety of the human-friendly worlds of the Civilized Galaxy, beyond the post-scarcity angelnetted nanotopias of limitless abundance and freedom from harm, adventure awaits those prepared to risk all.

Tired of old fashioned science fiction which is little more than today's (or yesterday's) world with space ships and ray guns? If so, the universe of Orion's Arm might be for you!

Tags: intro, oa, orionsarmproject, clipseries, science fiction, scifi, worldbuilding

Robin Hanson on the "Great Filter"

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:37:50 GMT

clipped by: Aribeth
clipper's remarks: there is a "Great Filter" along the path between simple dead stuff and explosive life. The vast vast majority of stuff that starts along this path never makes it. In fact, so far nothing among the billion trillion stars in our whole past universe has made it all the way along this path.... [O]ne or more of these steps is much more improbable than it otherwise looks. If it is one of our past steps, such as the development of single-cell life, then we shouldn't expect to see such independently evolved life anywhere within billions of light years from us. But if it is a step between here and a choice to explode that is very improbable, we should fear for our future.... Optimism (as defined here) regarding our future is directly pitted against optimism regarding the ease of previous evolutionary steps. To the extent those successes were easy, our future failure to explode is almost certain...

Clip Source: econ161.berkeley.edu

The Great Filter - Are We Almost Past It?

Robin Hanson argues that either (a) our emergence as intelligent humans on the earth was very, very, very improbable and unlikely, but that our future (at least in terms of expansion of human-settled habitats throughout the universe) is bright, or (b) emergence as intelligent humans on the earth was relatively easy, but that our future is dim (and perhaps that our extinction is all but guaranteed).

The Great Filter: Consider our best-guess evolutionary path to an explosion which leads to visible colonization of most of the visible universe:

1. The right star system (including organics)
2. Reproductive something (e.g. RNA)
3. Simple (prokaryotic) single-cell life
4. Complex (archaeatic & eukaryotic) single-cell life
5. Sexual reproduction
6. Multi-cell life
7. Tool-using animals with big brains
8. Where we are now
9. [Interstellar] Colonization explosion

The Great Silence implies that one or more of these steps are very improbable;

Tags: theory, science, space colonization, biology, evolution

Alien sociology

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:37:47 GMT

clipped by: dakotayii
clipper's remarks: Colonization? A hunt for additional living space? If the former is something aliens do, then they won't wait to hear from us before doing it. The British, after all, didn't begin their colonization of Australia because they had intercepted some aboriginal communications
Other suggestions about why they might visit include forestalling competition in the Milky Way marketplace, proselytizing, or just learning more about us. It's not clear that any of these goals requires "killing us," of course, but the logic is wobbly anyway. Any beings that actually could come here will be far beyond us in technological accomplishment. Imagine if you could visit the Neanderthals. Would you worry about commercial competition? Would you give them bibles? Remember: these are (nearly) the same species as you are. The aliens won't be. I dare say you wouldn't try convincing porpoises to join your church.

and the reason I say - we got MILK.

Clip Source: www.space.com

Taking our cue from Tinseltown, I note that most cineplex sentients come to Earth either to solve some sort of ugly reproductive crisis or simply to take over the planet. The former doesn't make any sense whatsoever. You can't breed with creatures at the zoo, despite the fact that most of the base pairs in the inmates' DNA are identical to yours (note that this is a biological incompatibility, and not just zoo regulations).

Taking over the planet would only make sense if there were something really special about our world. The best guess of the exoplanet specialists is that the number of Earth-size planets in our galaxy exceeds tens of billions. That doesn't sound like our hunk of real estate is terribly privileged.

They won't come here to mine our minerals, either. The entire universe is built of the same stuff,

Colonization?

lebensraum

If the type of world that can support life is rare, then you don't have to worry about nearby extraterrestrials. There won't be any

Tags: humor

Moon Colonization and Sovereign Rights: NASA vs The Lunar Embassy

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 13:28:39 GMT

clipped by: aliensplicer
clipper's remarks: This is rather interesting, especially since it appears NASA doesn't give them much credence.

Clip Source: fox.phoenix.az.us

It appears that NASA’s Moon colonization project, currently planned for around 2020, may tread on the sovereign rights of the Galactic Government and the property rights of everyone who has purchased Lunar property from the Lunar Embassy.

Tags: nasa, moon, lunar embassy, property, property rights, space, exploration

A Survival Imperative for Space Colonization

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 16:11:28 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

In 1993, J. Richard Gott III computed with scientific certainty that humanity would survive at least 5,100 more years. At the time, I took that as reason to relax, but Dr. Gott has now convinced me I was wrong. He has issued a wake-up call: To ensure our long-term survival, we need to get a colony up and running on Mars within 46 years.

If you’re not awakened yet, I understand. It’s only prudent to be skeptical of people who make scientific forecasts about the end of humanity. Dr. Gott, a professor of astrophysics at Princeton, got plenty of grief after he made his original prediction in 1993. But in the ensuing 14 years, his prophetic credentials have strengthened, and not merely because humanity is still around.

Dr. Gott has used his technique to successfully forecast the longevity of Broadway plays, newspapers, dogs and, most recently, the tenure in office of hundreds of political leaders around the world

He bases predictions on just one bit of data

how long something has lasted already

Tags: science, forecast, space colonization, mars, humanity

TOP 10 TRANSHUMANIC TECHNOLOGIES

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 16:32:11 GMT

clipped by: thefoxalmighty
clipper's remarks: Simply Amazing...

Clip Source: www.acceleratingfuture.com

10. Cryonics. (Not cryogenics, that’s something else.)

Cryonics is the high-fidelity preservation of the human body, and particularly the brain, after what we would call death, in anticipation of possible future revival.

9. Virtual reality.

The above image may look like a photo, but it’s actually a screenshot from the game Crysis

8. Gene therapy/RNA interference.

Gene therapy replaces bad genes with good genes, and RNA interference can selectively knock out gene expression. Together, they give us an unprecedented ability to manipulate our own genetic code

7. Space colonization.

6. Cybernetics.

Can you spot the cyborg in this picture? You’re looking right at him! It’s Michael Chorost, the man who was born almost deaf but now can hear, thanks to a cochlear implant

5. Autonomous self-replicating robotics.

4. Molecular manufacturing.

3. Megascale engineering.

2. Mind uploading.

1. Artificial General Intelligence.

Tags: technology, science, future

Top 10 Transhumanist Technologies

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 01:30:38 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

Clip Source: www.acceleratingfuture.com

Transhumanists tend to take a longer-than-average view of technological progress, looking not just five or ten years into the future but twenty years, thirty years, and beyond.

Cryonics. (Not cryogenics, that’s something else.)

Virtual reality.

Gene therapy/RNA interference.

. Space colonization.

Cybernetics.

Autonomous self-replicating robotics.

Molecular manufacturing.

Megascale engineering

Mind uploading

. Artificial General Intelligence.

Tags: science

Top 10 Transhumanist Technologies

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 15:34:19 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: fascinating, read it all at the source

Clip Source: www.acceleratingfuture.com

Top 10 Transhumanist Technologies Thursday, Jul 12 2007

Transhumanists advocate the improvement of human capacities through advanced technology. Not just technology as in gadgets you get from Best Buy, but technology in the grander sense of strategies for eliminating disease, providing cheap but high-quality products to the world’s poorest, improving quality of life and social interconnectedness, and so on. Technology we don’t notice because it’s blended in with the fabric of the world, but would immediately take note of its absence if it became unavailable. (Ever tried to travel to another country on foot?) Technology needn’t be expensive - indeed, if a technology is truly effective it will pay for itself many times over.

10. Cryonics.

Virtual reality.

Gene therapy/RNA interference.

7. Space colonization.

Cybernetics.

Autonomous self-replicating robotics.

Molecular manufacturing.

Megascale engineering.

Mind uploading.

Artificial General Intelligence.

Tags: science, technology, transhumanism, future, human improvement, social interconnectdness

Space Colonization not a part of our future ?

Sat, 23 Jun 2007 22:36:38 GMT

clipped by: Djiezes

Clip Source: sentientdevelopments.blogspot.com

Charlie Stross's recent post, The High Frontier, Redux, in which he argues that space colonization is not in our future

He says,

This is not to say that interstellar travel is impossible; quite the contrary. But to do so effectively you need either (a) outrageous amounts of cheap energy, or (b) highly efficient robot probes, or (c) a magic wand. And in the absence of (c) you're not going to get any news back from the other end in less than decades. Even if (a) is achievable, or by means of (b) we can send self-replicating factories and have them turn distant solar systems into hives of industry, and more speculatively find some way to transmit human beings there, they are going to have zero net economic impact on our circumstances (except insofar as sending them out costs us money).

Tags: future, space, space travel, stross, debate, scifi

mars in 15-20 generations... Yay!

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 17:00:26 GMT

clipped by: baloojunk
clipper's remarks: i wanna go too, lets look up freeze drying

Clip Source: www.popsci.com

The interests of the Mars Society—an organization with the overarching goal of colonizing Mars—tend to elicit snickers from non-space fans. Why talk about building homes on Mars when we have problems on Earth like war, bird flu, AIDS and global warming? To the Mars enthusiast, these scourges simply count among the reasons to ditch this rock and head for the Red Planet.

Click here for an illustrated guide to Zubrin’s six-step plan for inhabiting Mars.

Tags: mars, colonization, outer space

NASA plans city on the moon

Mon, 11 Dec 2006 05:26:01 GMT

clipped by: mpass057
clipper's remarks: and I know just who to send there

Clip Source: content.techrepublic.com.com

From the Earth to the moon and beyond. NASA announced plans to establish a base on the moon and make it into a permanent city by 2024. Crews of four astronauts are expected to work on the base, a week at a time, beginning around 2020.

To cover the costs, NASA is planning to keep its current budget of $17 billion and use the money saved by scrapping the space shuttle program. The space agency plans to coordinate commercial and international assistance with the program. It consulted 13 space agencies from different countries while formulating the initial plan.

One of the main goals of the project is to establish a stepping off point for human exploration and colonization of Mars.

An artist's illustration shows one of the first structures landing on the moon.

Tags: nasa, moon, astronaut, space

Timetable for Moon colony announced

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 14:10:49 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: finally!

Clip Source: space.newscientist.com

Timetable for Moon colony announced

NASA plans to permanently occupy an outpost at one of the Moon's poles, officials announced on Monday.

The first four astronauts will land for a short visit in 2020, but it will take until at least 2024 to prepare for "a fully functional presence with rotating crews", said Scott Horowitz, associate administrator for the exploration systems mission directorate.

It has taken NASA nearly three years to get to this point in their planning, following President George W Bush's announcement of his "vision" for exploring the Moon and Mars).

Clip Source: mail.google.com

Clip Source: space.newscientist.com

In April 2006, representatives of NASA and 13 other space agencies met to plan themes and objectives for an exploration strategy – essentially why to return to the Moon and what to do there. (NASA videos relating to the six themes decided upon are available.)

The planned base on the Moon is now a key part of the strategy. But NASA will not be going it alone. "It is critical we have international participation and commercial participation," says NASA deputy administrator Shana Dale, although no agreements are yet in place.

"The US will build the transportation infrastructure," said Dale. NASA will also provide initial capabilities for communications, navigation, and operation around the base. But the US is seeking help from other countries and private corporations in other areas, including the lunar habitation modules, power, logistics and robotics.

The first full-scale test of the new US Ares 1 rocket is set for 2009 using a dummy second stage. An active second stage will be tested until 2012, and the launcher will not fly with a human crew until 2014, four years after NASA plans to ground the shuttle fleet.

Tags: science, space, colonization, moon, nasa

US plans permanent base on Moon

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 05:51:59 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: New colonization begins...

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

US plans permanent base on Moon

Man first set foot on the Moon in 1969

US space agency Nasa has said it plans to start work on a permanently-occupied base on the Moon after astronauts begin flying back there in 2020.

The base is likely to be built on one of the Moon's poles and will serve as a science centre and possible stepping stone for manned missions to Mars.

The US has already said it plans to build a new lunar spacecraft to succeed the last Apollo mission in 1972.

Funds will be moved from space shuttle flights, due to be scrapped in 2010.

The structure of the base and the exact duties of the astronauts stationed there have not been decided.

Tags: space, moon, lunar missions, nasa, science