Considering our continued and increasing dependence on interconnected databases, some of us, like the soldier shown here, may be there already.
Posted on 02/15/2007 7:41:09 AM PST by jmcenanly
Albuquerque, N.M. – Fifty years after the dawn of the space age, hundreds of people have flown into space. A dozen of those left their boot marks on the Moon’s surface, and several nations now are planning to send astronauts back to the Moon and then beyond. So you would think the expansion of humanity ever deeper into the Cosmos is a sure bet.
But the notion that human explorers are destined to become an interstellar species is far from a sure thing as far as Roger Launius is concerned.
More likely, humans, and the machines they use to explore space, are going to evolve together in ways that are hard to predict at this early stage in the opening of the space frontier, said Launius, an eminent space historian and chair for the Division of Space History at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington.
Multi-Planet Species
Speaking to a crowd of space professionals at the Space Technology and Applications International Forum (STAIF 2007) in Albuquerque Feb. 14, Launius said humans are destined to become a multi-planetary species, but that word may take on a whole new meaning as time evolves.
Given that there will be the first child born on the Moon, as well as Mars, will that person be a Homo sapien, he asked. Could the differences of gravity, radiation exposure mean those children would be unable to return to Earth?
“I think that’s problematic,” Launius said, and in some respects might this be an evolutionary road not unlike that taken by amphibian creatures that departed their water world to become land creatures.
“There is the possibility of the evolution of human species into something different,” Launius said.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Considering our continued and increasing dependence on interconnected databases, some of us, like the soldier shown here, may be there already.
Ping.
Yes, I've read Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy, too. ;)
Resistance is futile....you shall be assimilated
YOUR MOVE CREEP!!!
I'm glad I won't be here.
"Would you like plasma with your nanobites?"
My favorite book
about attempting to mix
men with machines is:
Aww, come on! Where are the Jeri Ryan pixs?
Thanks for the tip- I liked the two Crichton novels I've read so far (State of Fear, Airframe).
A person with a cochlear implant, that brings sound from an external sources, converts it into electrical impulses, and transmits it directly into the cochlea of the ear could rightly be termed a cyborg. Many people now have these devices, most notably this guy.
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.