Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Beyond “Fermi’s Paradox” II: Questioning the Hart-Tipler Conjecture
universetoday.com ^ | Paul Patton

Posted on 04/10/2015 11:52:04 AM PDT by BenLurkin

The argument claiming that extraterrestrials don’t exist was actually proposed by the astronomer Michael Hart, in a paper he published in 1975. Hart supposed that if an extraterrestrial civilization arose in the galaxy it would develop interstellar travel and launch colonizing expeditions to nearby stars. These colonies would, in turn, launch their own starships spreading a wave of colonization across the galaxy.

How long would the wave take to cross the galaxy? Assuming that the starships traveled at one tenth the speed of light and that no time was lost in building new ships upon arriving at the destination, the wave, Hart surmised, could cross the galaxy in 650,000 years.

Even allowing for a modicum of time for each colony to establish itself before building more ships, the galaxy could be crossed in two million years, a miniscule interval on a cosmic or evolutionary timescale. Hart asserted that because extraterrestrials aren’t already here on Earth, none exist in our galaxy.

Hart’s argument was extended by cosmologist Frank Tipler in 1980. Tipler supposed that alien colonists would be assisted by self-reproducing robots. His conclusion was announced in the title of his paper ‘Extraterrestrial intelligent beings do not exist’.

Why is it important that Hart’s argument wasn’t really also formulated by the eminent Enrico Fermi? Because Fermi’s name lends a credibility to the argument that it might not deserve. Supporters of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) want to search for evidence that alien civilizations exist by using radio telescopes to listen for radio messages that extraterrestrials may have transmitted into space. Interstellar signaling is vastly cheaper than a starship, and is feasible with technology we have today.

(Excerpt) Read more at universetoday.com ...


TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS: enricofermi; fermiparadox; fermisparadox; franktipler; harttiplerconjecture; michaelhart; xplanets
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-68 last
To: attiladhun2

That is opinion, not fact.


61 posted on 04/11/2015 2:17:41 PM PDT by Louis Foxwell (This is a wake up call. Join the Sultan Knish ping list.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 60 | View Replies]

To: Louis Foxwell
Its not an opinion that there will be crop failures as world temps drop. It is not an opinion that human beings are twisted and the elites who run business, politics, finance, etc. are monumentally ignorant fools, and that the current crop of scientists are little more than lick-spittle bureaucrats.

Now you might believe everything is going to be hunky-dory, that we are going to be drinking free bubble-up and eating rainbow stew, but you are doing yourself, and more importantly, your loved ones a disservice. The world is headed for long-term economic and social collapse for more reasons that I have time to go into now. A least be open to the fact that the proverbial doo-doo is about to hit the fan, and there is probable no remedy for it.
62 posted on 04/12/2015 1:06:24 PM PDT by attiladhun2 (The Free World has a new leader--his name is Benjamin Netanyahu)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 61 | View Replies]

To: attiladhun2

What is going to hit the fan is leftist tyranny. All the problems you describe are the product of institutional corruption. That will end shortly. The mad children have been given their best chance to take over and they have utterly destroyed themselves. Wait and see what hits the fan.


63 posted on 04/12/2015 1:24:04 PM PDT by Louis Foxwell (This is a wake up call. Join the Sultan Knish ping list.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 62 | View Replies]

To: Louis Foxwell

I’ve been waiting and it hasn’t happened yet because it won’t happen. We are being overrun with foreigners who don’t give a tinker’s damn about freedom, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights or anything else but open borders, EBT cards, and other government “freebies.” They out-number and out-vote the patriots. When it all comes apart, they will form the nucleus of an incompetent and oppressive one-party state, which will be hard-pressed to maintain even a sliding standard of living. Such a regime will need only dole out a few loaves of bread and a few lumps of coal every month to keep their constituents content. I have serious doubt such a regime will have even the inclination to fund vast space exploration projects.


64 posted on 04/12/2015 1:46:55 PM PDT by attiladhun2 (The Free World has a new leader--his name is Benjamin Netanyahu)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 63 | View Replies]

To: attiladhun2

I have no interest in living in your world.


65 posted on 04/12/2015 3:05:13 PM PDT by Louis Foxwell (This is a wake up call. Join the Sultan Knish ping list.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: Louis Foxwell

That’s obvious. What are you going to do when this whole thing collapses in on itself? Retreat to Roddenberryland and commune with Spock?!


66 posted on 04/14/2015 12:27:01 PM PDT by attiladhun2 (The Free World has a new leader--his name is Benjamin Netanyahu)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 65 | View Replies]

To: attiladhun2

Not everything will collapse. There remains the authority of the Lord who reigns forever.


67 posted on 04/14/2015 12:39:00 PM PDT by Louis Foxwell (This is a wake up call. Join the Sultan Knish ping list.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 66 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin; KevinDavis; annie laurie; Knitting A Conundrum; Viking2002; Ernest_at_the_Beach; ...
Note: this topic is from 04/10/2015. Thanks BenLurkin. I find neither Fermi's Paradox nor the H-T Conjecture compelling.
 
X-Planets
· join · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post new topic · subscribe ·
Google news searches: exoplanet · exosolar · extrasolar ·

68 posted on 12/07/2018 12:08:26 PM PST by SunkenCiv (and btw -- https://www.gofundme.com/for-rotator-cuff-repair-surgery)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-68 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson