[LibWhacker]

Oh, what the heck? I can't resist posting this. There are just too many Freepers who either like scifi, or Poul Anderson, or Fermi's question, or physics, or cosmology, or astronomy, or space, or interstellar travel, or Von Neumann probes, or SETI.

Then there are the Freepers who just like to drop in to say, "Neener, neener, neener, scientists are a bunch of pseudo-intellectuals poopy heads who don't know nothin'." You can always count on them.

So if I don't get more than four replies, I'll be really surprised.

[SERKIT]

If you study cosmology and cosmetology, do you end up with stars in your eyes?

[mdmathis6]

neener neener!

(sorry couldn’t resit) ;)

[mdmathis6]

neener neener!

(sorry couldn’t resist) ;)

[Flag_This]

I read several of his books when I was a kid. I loved “Three Hearts and Three Lions,” “The High Crusade,” and several of the Flandry series. I’m sure I read several more, but it’s been a long time...

[DaxtonBrown]

I think the data breakdown problem is not such a big deal as evidenced by DNA and its ubiquity - though genes change, they tend to remain functional through many millions of years.

[Gadsden1st]

You need to change your “or”s to “and”s, then you got me. I’m not an either\or person.

[ScreamingFist]

Even if it takes one or two million years for a civilization to develop and use interstellar travel, that is but a blip in terms of the 13.7 billion year age of the universe.

I love "what if's"! What if all the current civilizations in the universe started at exactly the same moment, I.E. The Hand of God? Maybe it's a race, like Starcraft.........

[Brilliant]

“So if I don’t get more than four replies, I’ll be really surprised.”

Yeah.... I don’t think you’re going to have to ask the question “Where are they?”

BTW, I just don’t believe it is practical to travel more than a light year or two at best, and that there is no intelligent life within several hundred light years at best. So Fermi’s Paradox never bothered me.

[Psycho_Bunny]

It's difficult for me to imagine God leaving the entire universe just to humanity.

At the same time, I think the Drake Equation was wildly....wildly optimistic.

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it turned out that our nearest technological neighbor was in another galaxy....and that we'll never meet them nor be aware of their existence.

[Mister Da]

As long as there is curiosity, the bubbles will always expand.

[Ransomed]

Poul Anderson is just fantastic. His good buddy Jack Vance, in my opinion one of the best writers ever, is still kicking. I think he’s 93!

Freegards

[Old Student]

“There are just too many Freepers who either like scifi, or Poul Anderson, or Fermi’s question, or physics, or cosmology, or astronomy, or space, or interstellar travel, or Von Neumann probes, or SETI.”

Let us not forget those for whom it is “and” not “or”. ;)

OS

[The Comedian]

The-Federation-is-basically-confined-to-Alpha-quadrant-and-the-Borg-are-in-Delta ping.

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[SuziQ]

Ping!!

[oldtimer2]

After about 60 years of reading and thinking, I am convinced we are alone. By the way, are you aware that most pulp science fiction from the 40's and 50's are now public domain and can be read online? Try this link:

Free speculative fiction online

I have found many stories that I read in High School 1951 -1955

[Moonman62]

long before this has happened, the sphere of exploration will include so many stars that the data flow from them saturates the processing capacity of the present civilisation.

I guess he never heard of Moore's law. If hardware can keep up with the glop from Microsoft, then it can keep up with interstellar expansion.

[Dryman]

Thanks for the Post. I enjoy Poul Anderson and have just picked up again a collection of some of his stories.

A question I wanted asked is...

What if we are the First one to develop? At some point, something has to be # 1.

[SunkenCiv]

thanks LibWhacker.

Did hunter’s infrared camera capture images of UFO?
latimes | August 26, 2010 | Kelly Burgess
Posted on 08/28/2010 1:33:16 PM PDT by JoeProBono
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2579303/posts