This video reel of the univers really make one feel tiny in the scheme of things
-
Enjoy XS650.com? Consider making a donation to help support the site.
XS650.com receives a small share of sales from some links on this page, but direct donations have a much greater impact on keeping this site going.
WTF pictures
- Thread starter gggGary
- Start date
The vast scale of the cosmos mocks our imaginations.
Or as Dudley More said, 'Makes you feel small and insignificant.' And as Peter Cook replied, 'Must make you feel particularly small and insignificant, Dud?'
Or as Dudley More said, 'Makes you feel small and insignificant.' And as Peter Cook replied, 'Must make you feel particularly small and insignificant, Dud?'
We're all just bacteria in the giant Petri dish...
MikeyDeepXS
Livin’ in XS
Kind makes a guy wonder how we can even estimate such distances.
Like how do we know how big our galaxy is or what it might look like from our observation point inside of it
Like how do we know how big our galaxy is or what it might look like from our observation point inside of it
Let's just say; the science isn't settled yet.Kind makes a guy wonder how we can even estimate such distances.
Like how do we know how big our galaxy is or what it might look like from our observation point inside of it
This almost borderlines on religion.
Imagine a world far far (really fucking far) where there is sentient life. Do they have systems of government and faith in unseen gods and goddesses? Do they war and kill over space on their world?
When I think of just how massive our universe is (or so I've been led to believe), I cannot help but wonder if there are life forms out there so advanced, they can see us from billions of miles away, and are simply observing us.
Like I said, bacteria in a Petri dish. Unaware of the fullest extent of our own surroundings. Killing and ravaging each other over miniscule differences as so fucking miniscule as the color shirt a guy is wearing.
Imagine a world far far (really fucking far) where there is sentient life. Do they have systems of government and faith in unseen gods and goddesses? Do they war and kill over space on their world?
When I think of just how massive our universe is (or so I've been led to believe), I cannot help but wonder if there are life forms out there so advanced, they can see us from billions of miles away, and are simply observing us.
Like I said, bacteria in a Petri dish. Unaware of the fullest extent of our own surroundings. Killing and ravaging each other over miniscule differences as so fucking miniscule as the color shirt a guy is wearing.
Last edited:
Measuring distance with parallax isn't settled science?
If you've been following astronomy there's not much in the universe that's not being rethunk with the new data that's coming from the JWSP.Measuring distance with parallax isn't settled science?
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/whats-on-the-milky-ways-far-side/
Gives you some of the ways they have been able to look.
Many of these "search" techniques are quite new. There will be others found and like all scientists, the future folk will smile and chuckle at the crude "beliefs" twenty first century science fostered. Just as we now look back at nineteenth century facts and limits with a bit of informed hindsight.
The inviolability of the speed of light is being challenged, as is the size of the universe.
Last edited:
I'll just pick that out as a for instance....
The speed of light is not being challenged. It's a hard fast measurement.
What is being challenged is our means of measuring it... or I should say the accuracy of our measurement.
I'll give you a for instance that's sums up "scientific hindsight."
When I left the F111's in '94, they were getting new digital INS's (Inertial nav). With ring laser gyro's, their error rate was less than 1 tenth of 1 degree per hour!
The INS it replaced was built using 1960's tech for Polaris class subs. Used on an airplane, it's error rate was measured in miles of drift per hour. That's several orders of magnitude of improvement.
And now today, engineers would chuckle at the dated tech used in the 1994 ring laser INS. Because todays INS can send a missile through a bunker door from thousands of miles away.
Yes, technology improves every day. Sometimes in leaps and bounds, and sometimes it's incremental. It's constantly challenging us to rethink the "knowledge" of 30 yrs ago.
Your original comment was the measuring distance to stars is not settled science. I disagree, measuring distance using parallax is a tried and true method. The science is settled. What's questionable is the accuracy. Just like my INS analogy, the means of measuring the accuracy of angles has improved several orders of magnitude since scientists first told us that Alpha Centauri was 4 light years away way back in 1833. We can now calculate that down to 4.37 light years away. One day in the future we'll be able to measure it down to 4.37XXXXX light years away.
Science improves every day, turning some older thoughts on it's head... but the basic laws of physics haven't change... measuring distances to stars is a settled science. But the accuracy of those measurements isn't settled, it improves every day.
Interesting article! I remember reading a long time ago something that stuck with me. There was a part about us being in this galaxy with billions of stars and it said ,with all of those stars surrounding us, why isn’t it blindingly bright on our planet 24 hours a day? And the answer was….space dust obscuring the light. I’d never heard that thought again until just now.
From the article you referenced,
“If our galaxy were just made up of stars, we’d be able to see clear across it. But it’s also filled with dust: tiny grains of rocky or sooty material created when massive stars die, blown out in a vast wind that expels the grains into space. Billions of these stars over billions of years have choked the Milky Way with dust, filling it with opaque clouds, blocking our sight line and limiting our view.”
Hmmmm…..Pretty much everything in my life has a beginning and an end. When I start thinking about the universe and space in general , if there is an end, then what's on the other side of that ? Thanks to all above for giving me a headache .
Measuring the size of our galaxy isn't as simple as measuring distance to a given star. The far side of OUR galaxy is rather hard to see. Cuz well the center of the galaxy is in the way. Just what is in the center of galaxy is being revised also.
Not saying we don't know the speed of light but some recent papers are exploring the possibility that the speed of light in a vacuum may not be fastest thing possible. (it's all relative ;^) )
Whether the universe will continue expanding or will begin to contract is being debated.
Was the big bang a single event or is it more of a local phenomenon?
https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/physics/big-bang-theory-overview
The science underpinning the concepts of Dark Energy and Dark Matter is questioned.
It's all over my head and will probably sort it's self out without my help.
Why pay less for a nice comfortable chair when you can pay more for backaches and mistakes passed off as intentions???
I couldn't believe this shit. People actually pay money for this?
It doesn't even come standard with a cushion!
I couldn't believe this shit. People actually pay money for this?
It doesn't even come standard with a cushion!
Last edited:
Just to boggle things a bit more and put our sun into perspective
An article on the suns eliptical orbit in our galaxy said it had done 20 orbits so far in it's life time, roughly 4.5 Billion years
It will do another 22 before it's life cycle ends in this form
An article on the suns eliptical orbit in our galaxy said it had done 20 orbits so far in it's life time, roughly 4.5 Billion years
It will do another 22 before it's life cycle ends in this form
We're all made up of bits left over when a star from an earlier generation blew itself to smithereens.
Neutrons, protons and crutons.
Sounds like the three most abundant elements in the universe...
Hydrogen, opinions and stupidity.
