02 MAR 2015 by ideonexus
Embrace the Cosmic Perspective
At least once a week, if not once a day, we might each ponder what cosmic truths lie undiscovered before us, perhaps awaiting the arrival of a clever thinker, an ingenious experiment, or an innovative space mission to reveal them. We might further ponder how those discoveries may one day transform life on Earth.
Absent such curiosity, we are no different from the provincial farmer who expresses no need to venture beyond the county line, because his forty acres meet all his needs. Yet if all ...Folksonomies: purpose perspective
Folksonomies: purpose perspective
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notes03 MAR 2014 by ideonexus
The Religious Disquiet Concerning Extraterrestrial Life
These two articles reflect some religious disquiet at the prospect of contact with ETI.
When faced with an alien civilization of enormous powers and the likelihood that they are not even approximately human, the differences that divide us on Earth are likely to seem increasingly trivial and irrelevant. At least for many people, Aere should be a real decline in ethnocentrism and xenophobia and a major upsurgence of an identification with the human species and the planet Earth. Warring tribes ... 1 notes
notesReligious difference will seem trivial when faced with non-human intelligence.
24 DEC 2013 by ideonexus
Many Factors Combine to Allow Life on Earth
As we look at planet Earth and the factors that enabled us to be here, we quickly realize that our planet is very special. Here’s a short list: the long-term existence of a protective and oxygen-rich atmosphere; Earth’s axial tilt, stabilized by a single large moon; the ozone layer and the magnetic field, which jointly protect surface creatures from lethal cosmic radiation; plate tectonics, which regulates the levels of carbon dioxide and keeps the global temperature stable; the fact that...
1 Marcelo Gleiser's argument that the many favorable factors that produce life on Earth mean life could be very rare in the Universe.
01 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Carl Sagan Summarizes Evolution of Life On Earth
Eventually, many billions of years ago, a molecule was formed that had a
remarkable capability. It was able to produce, out of the molecular building blocks
of the surrounding waters, a fairly accurate copy of itself. In such a molecular
system there is a set of instructions, a molecular code, containing the sequence of
building blocks from which the larger molecule is constructed. When, by accident,
there is a change in the sequence, the copy is likewise changed. Such a molecular
system – ...Folksonomies: evolution big history
Folksonomies: evolution big history
From molecules competing for materials, to life, all the way up to humans.
01 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
We Will Retrieve Pioneer 10
Pioneer 10 is the first interstellar spacecraft launched by mankind. It was also
the fastest spacecraft launched, to the date of its departure. But it will take eighty
thousand years for Pioneer 10 to reach the distance of the nearest star. Because
space is so empty, it will never enter another Solar System. The little golden
message aboard Pioneer 10 will be read, but only if there are interstellar voyagers
able to detect and intercept Pioneer 10.
I believe that such an interception may occ...Folksonomies: space exploration astronomy
Folksonomies: space exploration astronomy
1 notes
notesAs it has 80,000 years until it reaches the nearest star, we will overtake it, which will be like Columbus being overtaken by an aircraft carrier.
01 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
Thinking About Aliens Stretches the Imagination
The virtue of thinking about life elsewhere is that it forces us to stretch our
imaginations. Can we think of alternative solutions to biological problems already
solved in one particular way on Earth? For example, the wheel is a comparatively
recent invention on the planet Earth. It seems to have been invented in the ancient
Near East less than ten thousand years ago. In fact, the high civilizations of Meso-
America, the Aztecs and the Mayas, never employed the wheel, except for children's t... 1 notes
notesThe possible life that could evolve in other environments is an imaginative treasure chest.
(TODO: The wheeled organisms described here appear in the Amber Spyglass by Pullman)
05 JUN 2011 by ideonexus
Humans Don't Have Roots
In the very largest way of looking at planet Earth's socioeconomic-evolution events, we must observe
that humans are designed with legs and not roots. Yesterday, humanity developed temporary roots as it
cultivated its life-support food root-grown on the land. The metals made possible metal canning of food
and mobilization of machinery. Today, all of human existence depends on the swift, world-around
intercommunication system operating at 186,000 miles per second. We have transformed reality f... 1 notes
notesThrough science, we are evolving to become more free, free from biological roots and free from Capitalistic chains, where ownership of real estate holds us down.
01 JUN 2011 by ideonexus
GRUNCH
There is no dictionary word for an army of invisible giants, one thousand miles tall, with their arms
interlinked, girding the planet Earth. Since there exists just such an invisible, abstract, legal-contrivance
army of giants, we have invented the word GRUNCH as the group designation--"a grunch of giants."
GR-UN-C-H, which stands for annual GROSS UNIVERSE CASH HEIST, pays annual dividends of
over one trillion U.S. dollars.
GRUNCH is engaged in the only-by-instrumentsreached-and-operated, en...Folksonomies: environmentalism sustainabillity
Folksonomies: environmentalism sustainabillity
1 notes
notesAcronym for the forces preventing human progress and sustainability for their own selfish gain.
01 JUN 2011 by ideonexus
Capitalism Derides the Human Invention
When individuals shunt the comprehensive cosmic regeneration into
exclusive advantaging of only their own survival and enjoyment and
succeed in prolonged local short-circuiting of cosmic regenerativity,
they disqualify the invention "human" as a reliable function of
regenerative Universe. They are just as irresponsible in the cosmic
system as the company employees who pocket the cash register contents
for their own account. This is cosmically true of a childless
multimillionaire maneuvering h... 1 notes
notesWealthy people reducing the survivability of their fellow humans work under the false assumption that there are insufficient resources for everyone on Earth.
