A Derail Thread

[Kiera Clutterbuck]

The methane burp is coming.

[kali Wylder]

8 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

Our time doesn't have to run out though. Otherwise everything we have accomplished, moon landings, space stations, NASA... all of it is a waste.

We can survive if we just stop being so wasteful. Go back to making things that last lifetimes and can be repaired without costing more than a new one so we aren't using up our resources on land fills. Planetary resources are finite.

Agreed, we could change.  But I don't think we will.  Most folks are too short sighted and greedy and there are so many more of them than the few who willingly embrace change. It's quite possible I'm a pessimist, it goes hand in hand with my chronic depression.

As for reincarnation.  Matter cannot be created or destroyed, it just changes form.  So yeah, the molecules of me will go on forever, but the consciousness of me is rather unlikely to survive. I'd love to be wrong about this mind you.  We'll see.

Edited July 8, 2019 by kali Wylder
ETA about reincarnation

[Selene Gregoire]

14 minutes ago, kali Wylder said:

Agreed, we could change.  But I don't think we will.  Most folks are too short sighted and greedy and there are so many more of them than the few who willingly embrace change. It's quite possible I'm a pessimist, it goes hand in hand with my chronic depression.

As for reincarnation.  Matter cannot be created or destroyed, it just changes form.  So yeah, the molecules of me will go on forever, but the consciousness of me is rather unlikely to survive. I'd love to be wrong about this mind you.  We'll see.

Precisely.

I would't mind being star dust again. 

[Lindal Kidd]

7 hours ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I walked my dogs in the rain this morning, and they caught a possum while on leash!

If you come back as your dog, do you want to be intact, or spayed/neutered?

Like I said, Huskies are INSANE!  Nice work, by the way.

I wanna be intact.  No matter what, dogs are always optimistic and hopeful, but no need to push it.

[Love Zhaoying]

6 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said:

Like I said, Huskies are INSANE!  Nice work, by the way.

I wanna be intact.  No matter what, dogs are always optimistic and hopeful, but no need to push it.

Thanks!

[Lindal Kidd]

3 hours ago, kali Wylder said:

Humans had a good run, but our time is running out and mother nature is sick of us.  We'll be replaced by something else, most likely insects. I give us another 50 years if we're lucky, but I feel real bad for the last generation, they are gonna have it really tough

Geeze, pessimistic much?

"The world is drowning in plastic garbage!" .... "Scientists develop new strain of plastic eating bacteria".

"Global warming is inevitable!" .... "A recent study shows the most effective way to halt global warming is to plant more trees".

"We're running out of resources!" ... "The metals and other resources in the Solar System are a trillion times more than humanity needs."  (Of course, this one comes with its own potential downside.  If we brought all the gold, iron, and other metals in just one asteroid back to earth, it'd crash the economy.  But that one has its solution, too...expand the economy off the planet.)

"We can't meet the demand for power, and if we did, it'd kill the planet!" ... "Two new California solar power/battery storage facilities bring costs per kWh below nuclear, coal, natural gas".

A few centuries ago, the forests of England had nearly all been cut down for firewood, building materials, and charcoal.  The English didn't freeze in the dark, they went on to develop coal, steam, and the Industrial Revolution.  There are always problems.  There are always solutions!

Edited July 8, 2019 by Lindal Kidd

[Love Zhaoying]

2 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said:

A few centuries ago, the forests of England had nearly all been cut down for firewood, building materials, and charcoal.  The English didn't freeze in the dark, they went on to develop coal, steam, and the Industrial Revolution.  There are always problems.  There are always solutions!

And pollution / smog isn’t as bad as it used to be, say in the 1970’s!

[Selene Gregoire]

16 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said:

"We're running out of resources!" ... "The metals and other resources in the Solar System are a trillion times more than humanity needs."  (Of course, this one comes with its own potential downside.  If we brought all the gold, iron, and other metals in just one asteroid back to earth, it'd crash the economy.  But that one has its solution, too...expand the economy off the planet.)

Ummm... this is from my previous post.

Quote

I haven't forgone the possibility of colonizing another planet in our solar system. In fact I strongly believe it will be necessary to do so at some point if Homo sapiens sapiens (or whatever we will be called at that point)  are to survive. The problem is the planet is overloaded and because we have become a throw away society we are using up our resources at a rate that will prevent any asteroid mining for more because there won't be enough materials (if any) to build the ships that will be needed.

And yes it will happen if we keep using resources up and throwing them away. It's not like the earth can replace the mined out metals over night. Recycling isn't going to be enough. Those ships are going to need to be larger than anything man has built so far. And since there needs to be more than one... and it will all have to come from this planet before we can get to the asteroids. If we use up what we have before we make it to point we are building those ships... no going to the asteroids. No going anywhere. Not even Mars or the Moon. 

[BelindaN]

Until commercial flying and global trans-shipments by giant diesel container ships is curtailed, there's little hope. 

Way too much greed and vested interests.

[Love Zhaoying]

1 minute ago, BelindaN said:

Until commercial flying and global trans-shipments by giant diesel container ships is curtailed, there's little hope. 

Way too much greed and vested interests.

I misread this as, “giant, flying diesel container ships”. Steampunk!

[Lindal Kidd]

3 hours ago, Selene Gregoire said:

Ummm... this is from my previous post.

And yes it will happen if we keep using resources up and throwing them away. It's not like the earth can replace the mined out metals over night. Recycling isn't going to be enough. Those ships are going to need to be larger than anything man has built so far. And since there needs to be more than one... and it will all have to come from this planet before we can get to the asteroids. If we use up what we have before we make it to point we are building those ships... no going to the asteroids. No going anywhere. Not even Mars or the Moon. 

Quite true, and I missed your post, sorry!  Some have noted that there is an inflection point; a point past which our remaining resources are too scant to permit us to get off the planet to go get more.  Here's hoping we get busy before we get to that point!

[Zeta Vandyke]

14 hours ago, kali Wylder said:

Humans had a good run, but our time is running out and mother nature is sick of us.  We'll be replaced by something else, most likely insects. I give us another 50 years if we're lucky, but I feel real bad for the last generation, they are gonna have it really tough

I'm convinced humanity will find solutions to current problems (and will probably create new problems as we go). But even if not and we truly mess up, we need a mass extinction event to get rid of humanity, we wont just die out completely, humans are very adaptive.

 

16 hours ago, Selene Gregoire said:

The problem is the planet is overloaded and because we have become a throw away society we are using up our resources at a rate that will prevent any asteroid mining for more because there won't be enough materials (if any) to build the ships that will be needed.

I am far from an expert, but I believe currently Aluminium is used for spacecraft (and aircraft) hull creation? Luckily there's still for centuries worth of that left.

The big waste and pollution is something from the last 150 years maybe? That's not very long on a humanity timeline. And we are now already focusing big time on renewable energy, recycling, clean fuel alternatives and so on. We recognize the problems and work on solution. Will not be done in a day, but if I look around me, I see electric cars all over the place (will get one myself in a few months), solar fields, windmill parks and so on, and that's just some things that are visible for someone with no idea how it all works. Companies are stimulated to become "greener" here by government too.

Now if only the governments of the big polluting countries will get into their heads too that pollution is a thing (China, USA, India?) and the citizens will realize too that the environment is more important than for example having a big ass 4x4 car that drinks more gasoline than I drink wine on a Saturday night

I'm positive about our future myself!

[BelindaN]

Mass stupidity is humanities greatest threat. I guess we all play a part in that.

By overusing plastic, by wanting a huge SUV, by flying somewhere warm to sit by a pool for a week, and so on.

Our council has recently adopted better recycling. We now have a large wheeled bin for glass, foil, and plastic packaging. We can fill that in two weeks, just two of us.

Oh and for the record, we don't fly!!!

[Selene Gregoire]

6 hours ago, Zeta Vandyke said:

I am far from an expert, but I believe currently Aluminium is used for spacecraft (and aircraft) hull creation? Luckily there's still for centuries worth of that left.

What about the gold used in the electronics, the computers? And all the other metals used in the making of ALL the parts needed for one space craft? A ship isn't just it's hull. There is also the problem of fuel. And the fact that using metals for shielding against GCR (Galactic Cosmic Radiation) is about the worst thing you can do.

https://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/gettingtospace/16sep_rightstuff.html

Now if we can just keep a certain political party from hamstringing NASA again, as they are wont to do, we might have half a chance.

[Zeta Vandyke]

4 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

What about the gold used in the electronics, the computers? And all the other metals used in the making of ALL the parts needed for one space craft? A ship isn't just it's hull. There is also the problem of fuel. And the fact that using metals for shielding against GCR (Galactic Cosmic Radiation) is about the worst thing you can do.

https://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/gettingtospace/16sep_rightstuff.html

Now if we can just keep a certain political party from hamstringing NASA again, as they are wont to do, we might have half a chance.

haha well like I said, I'm no expert, far from so I can only guess.

But considering we send people to the moon with computers way less powerfull than a modern day cell phone (or even USB drive) the rate of technology advancement, kinda makes everyone now guessing about what we will use or need in the future. I don't think fossil fuel will be a thing either though, more something like Ion Thrusters or even more advanced new techy stuff. Im actually very excited about what will happen in this field the coming years, being quite a sci-fi geek

Very much agree with the politics keeping their hands off from NASA. I'm glad there are other nations and even companies now with space programs though. IMO its one of the most important and essential science fields.

[Raspberry Crystal]

5 minutes ago, Zeta Vandyke said:

we send people to the moon with computers way less powerfull than a modern day cell phone

I'm fairly sure they took slide rules, for early days space missions.

[Selene Gregoire]

22 minutes ago, Raspberry Crystal said:

I'm fairly sure they took slide rules, for early days space missions.

They did. And the onboard computers were more complex than what many have been led to believe. 

Then there is all the metals/materials used in testing prototypes that is scraped or stored for museums to display, not used in the actual ships. I could go on and on but this really isn't the place for that.

[Love Zhaoying]

My dad was manager of the project to create the Mercury trainer, fun fact.

[LittleMe Jewell]

Random fun fact I read today:

It is illegal to own just one guinea pig in Switzerland because they get lonely.

[Love Zhaoying]

25 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

Random fun fact I read today:

It is illegal to own just one guinea pig in Switzerland because they get lonely.

So, if you own 2 and one dies, you have to get another? You will be continually owning guinea pigs, unless they both die!

[Rolig Loon]

10 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

So, if you own 2 and one dies, you have to get another? You will be continually owning guinea pigs, unless they both die!

If one dies, you have two choices: (1) get another guinea pig or (2) get a cat.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

38 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

Random fun fact I read today:

It is illegal to own just one guinea pig in Switzerland because they get lonely.

I've heard the same thing about fancy rats -- although not that there is a law anywhere dictating that they have company.

What if one just opens an SL account for the lonely ones instead? They can make virtual guinea pig friends, in a nice guinea pig community in-world!

[Selene Gregoire]

4 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

I've heard the same thing about fancy rats -- although not that there is a law anywhere dictating that they have company.

What if one just opens an SL account for the lonely ones instead? They can make virtual guinea pig friends, in a nice guinea pig community in-world!

Now you're just trying to make the rest of us guinea pigs resentful. 

[MoiraKathleen]

3 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

What if one just opens an SL account for the lonely ones instead? They can make virtual guinea pig friends, in a nice guinea pig community in-world!

Which would probably be in Bellisseria.  I can't remember seeing so many different animals and animal groups in one area before. 

[Scylla Rhiadra]

7 minutes ago, moirakathleen said:

Which would probably be in Bellisseria.

I'll be careful not to run over them with my scooter.