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San Francisco, 12:48 AM
Wed Nov 11
27 posts in the last 24 hours

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of Grey_Area Grey_Area
    05/15/09

    In reply to SETI Picks Up Regular Laser Pulse Emanating From Space
    ATTENTION ALL R.O.A.C.H. Personnel:


    The initial test of the Astrophysicist-Confusing Reverse Laser has been successful. Project Sanjit Death Ray is proceeding according to plan.


    Thank you all for the great work. Please join us in Submarine Pen #4 after your shift for pizza and beer.

     Reply
    Grey_Area was starred Grey_Area was unstarred
    Image of Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
    05/15/09

    @Grey_Area: R.O.A.C.H.: hooray beer!
     Reply
    Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was starred Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
    Image of tetracycloide tetracycloide
    05/15/09

    In reply to SETI Picks Up Regular Laser Pulse Emanating From Space
    "Any kind of communication would likely be distinguished from background noise by coming in repeated or non-random patterns."


    forgive my ignorance, but why would this be a good assumption? there are plenty of inorganic processes that display repeating or non-random patterns.

     Reply
    tetracycloide was starred tetracycloide was unstarred
    Image of John John
    05/15/09

    @tetracycloide: And most of them are known and factored into the equations. When I worked for a lab team looking for Gamma Ray pulses from celestial bodies, certain patterns were looked for, and also tested for, since they didn't always obviously emerge.
     Reply
    John was starred John was unstarred
    Image of beercheck beercheck
    05/15/09

    @John: "And most of them are known.."


    Careful.

     Reply
    beercheck was starred beercheck was unstarred
    Image of goldfarb goldfarb
    05/15/09

    In reply to SETI Picks Up Regular Laser Pulse Emanating From Space
    X-Men Origins : Wolverine Workprint - Return To Sender.
     Reply
    goldfarb was starred goldfarb was unstarred
    Image of Mount_Prion Mount_Prion
    05/15/09

    In reply to SETI Picks Up Regular Laser Pulse Emanating From Space
    It's a slow-working death beam--more like a malaise beam--that's been wrecking the economy and people's hopes.
     Reply
    Mount_Prion was starred Mount_Prion was unstarred
    Image of madjeweler madjeweler
    03/17/09

    In reply to Science Could Stand To Learn From Science Fiction
    Lois McMaster Bujold posited a very sensible societal way of integrating cloning technology ethically and responsibly. There were also examples of criminals misusing the technology and exploiting people. Having those scientists read some of her Vorkosigan novels couldn't hurt the general discourse.


    She also thought of using technology to grow parts of animals for meat in a "nice, clean vat" and explained how this fit into an ethical society, so I was surprised (I should know better, I know) at the uproar of, "Oh, yuk, creepy!" when PETA announced its contest to come up with a similar technology.

     Reply
    madjeweler was starred madjeweler was unstarred
    Image of Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
    03/17/09

    @madjeweler: To be fair, LMB didn't think of it -- it's been postulated for decades; I vividly remember the big chunk o'chicken in a Fred Pohl novel from the 50's.


    My reaction against the contest was just b/c "oh, yuk, creepy!" is my reaction to PETA.

     Reply
    Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was starred Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
    Image of Jamal Dominic Barr Jamal Dominic Barr
    03/17/09

    In reply to Science Could Stand To Learn From Science Fiction
    We're all adults and remain in charge of our thinking facilities right--- at least I bloody well hope so. But even if you're not, you can think, correct? Reason for my previous accentuation is to bring all of you up to speed with an undeniable truth: Scientist, at least the theoretical ones, don't know their asses from their elbows, but unfortunately, the masses who knows even less, follow them regardless allowing them to fool feed them any silly banter.


    I'm not barking creationism since it is considered to be fool speak, but scientist is so far up the buttocks of science fiction, it is the scifi authors who needs to take ideas from them (the theoretical scientist). These morons say to the masses, 'there is no creator and here's why', THEY SPEW: big bang, planck constant, cosmic chaotic principals (though the universe spews symmetry) and all other forms of random events. Yet the universe doesn't behave that way, light only goes 185,000 miles a second and so on and so forth. There is no way to accelerate the speed of light, except (say the stupid theoretical hypocrites) a few seconds after the big bang. Nonsense right? 'No' you say,'it must have happened.' Yet you can never prove that, just like for now, I can't prove that God exist beyond the obvious (Universal constant and the existence of human life) but, neither can those lying bastards prove the big bang, but yet they're given kudos and every one applauds them for a job well done, even though it is based on a lie that cannot be proven. the dune series was the best of the best, the prequels not so much, but the sequels were massively brilliant. All of dune's concepts make far more sense and is even more feasible than theoretical scientist, but of course you would say God doesn't exist and will never exist, but, they now (those lying bastards who perhaps watched too much SG1) say we live in an infinite universe and continual perpetual big bangs and other universes or 'branes' sodomizing ours and the energy released is converted by some mysterious force into: all that we know causing, another big bang. And they say God is nonsense. Black energy, Black matter, no way they could prove them and their excuse is, we can't prove it exist, but it must exist. And yet a creator is impossible?


    It is a pity Dune never spoke of an actual point of creation, because then I'd use that as a more believable event than the absolutely philosophical nonsense these people follow. Physics is proven theories, Philosophy is an unprovable ideology, which requires more faith than proof. But according to most numb nuts, there is no God and we all came from our universe being sodomized by another one, philosopher kings indeed.

     Reply
    Jamal Dominic Barr was starred Jamal Dominic Barr was unstarred
    Image of psthmn psthmn
    03/17/09

    @Jamal Dominic Barr: I have a special hate for idiots who precede their spouting of creationism by any other name with a fake denouncement of the bullshit that comes right after.
     Reply
    psthmn was starred psthmn was unstarred
    Image of Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
    03/17/09

    @psthmn: You actually read that? My eyes glazed over. But good for you on calling him out.
     Reply
    Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was starred Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
    Image of Sproing Sproing
    03/17/09

    In reply to Science Could Stand To Learn From Science Fiction
    Why is that sheep not looking up?


    Is it because it's electric?

     Reply
    Sproing was starred Sproing was unstarred
    Image of Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
    03/17/09

    @Sproing: + many.
     Reply
    Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was starred Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
    Image of Daveinva Daveinva
    03/17/09

    In reply to Science Could Stand To Learn From Science Fiction
    The reality is, scientists are usually very bad ethicists (and vice versa).


    Ethics without science is religious superstition-- science without ethics is, well, damn scary.


    Not because science itself is scary-- it's just science, it's just learning how the world works-- it's the *applied* science part that rightly worries folks.


    Everyone needs to talk to each other, it's as simple as that.

     Reply
    Daveinva was starred Daveinva was unstarred
    Image of LittleDragon LittleDragon
    03/17/09

    @Daveinva: When I started at my current job a co-worker told me a joke


    A company is highering an engineer. They have three aplicants come in for interviews.

    The first is a fresh from college kid. At the end of the interview they ask the kid "Whats 2+2?"

    Kid says "4".


    Next they interview a person with a masters. At the end of the interview "whats 2+2?"

    The master replies "well I have heard as high as 5 and as low as 6"


    At last they interview a PhD and at the end, the same question.

    The PhD engineer leans forward and says "What would you like it to be?"


    It was funny until I started to see just how true the last part was. I still have my fresh from college ethics and lets just say, they don't work in the modern work place.

     Reply
    LittleDragon was starred LittleDragon was unstarred
    Image of psthmn psthmn
    03/17/09

    @LittleDragon: But isn't that exactly how you want your engineers?


    Apollo 13 anyone? "Gentlemen, you 4 hours to connect this round filter to this square socket!"

     Reply
    psthmn was starred psthmn was unstarred
    Image of LittleDragon LittleDragon
    03/17/09

    @psthmn: There is a difference between connecting a round filter to a square hole and lying about reality. If an engineer tells some one that some thing will do something that it won't people can and do die. Just look at all the schools that collapsed in China. I am an engineer. If you want me to find a way to make a circle fit a square, I will do that. But I will not just say it will because you want me to. Think about the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. The powers that be ignored the requests of engineers to examine the wing for damages. In that situation it was the PTB's taking the "what ever you want it to be" approach. If the engineers had taken that approach, it would have been their faults.

    As an engineer, I am very concerned that if I mess up something, some one could get hurt or die. I will not tell my boss "what ever you want it to be", I will find a way to MAKE it what ever he wants it to be.
     Reply
    LittleDragon was starred LittleDragon was unstarred
    Image of Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
    03/17/09

    @LittleDragon: So that wasn't the scientists/engineers' fault, it was the politicians.


    The people who go around judging what "should" be done with science and putting up the laws of ethics.


    Quis custodes, etc.


    Also, morality is completely possible without religion -- indeed, we all know plenty of examples of immoral behavior that's sanctioned by religion.

     Reply
    Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was starred Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
    Image of ♥AntiSocialSocialite♥ ♥AntiSocialSocialite♥
    02/27/09

    In reply to We Could Be Discovering Earthlike Planets By 2013
    There's life out there - I know it - but we won't be able to reach or contact them (in my lifetime), so it's kind of a bummer to even look for Earthlike Planets, imo.


    Say we find LOTS of them - we'll know they're there and won't be able to do anything about it. It's like dangling a carrot on a stick attached to a rabbits head. So cruel.

     Reply
    ♥AntiSocialSocialite♥ was starred ♥AntiSocialSocialite♥ was unstarred
    Image of Mathmos Mathmos
    02/27/09

    @BeccaSaurus Rex: I'll die a little more content knowing they're there. And perhaps we'll be able to detect spectral signatures characteristic of life or some such.
     Reply
    Mathmos was starred Mathmos was unstarred
    Image of rufustfyrfly rufustfyrfly
    02/27/09

    @Mathmos: Or maybe we'll figure out where to point our satellite dishes so we can watch some awesome alien reruns
     Reply
    rufustfyrfly was starred rufustfyrfly was unstarred
    Image of ♥AntiSocialSocialite♥ ♥AntiSocialSocialite♥
    02/27/09

    @rufustfyrfly: HOPEFULLY those things will happen, but unless they started sending transmissions in our direction millions of years ago, we're not going to get them anytime soon - if light takes that long to travel to where the closest Earthlike planet MAY be, any other signals really don't even have a shot. Maybe they're more advanced than we are and can reach us though... who knows?
     Reply
    ♥AntiSocialSocialite♥ was starred ♥AntiSocialSocialite♥ was unstarred
    Image of Mav Mav
    02/27/09

    In reply to We Could Be Discovering Earthlike Planets By 2013
    Too bad we'll all be destroyed the year before so won't be able to enjoy this.
     Reply
    Mav was starred Mav was unstarred
    Image of Grey_Area Grey_Area
    02/27/09

    In reply to We Could Be Discovering Earthlike Planets By 2013
    About time we start finding some smaller, cooler planets. The big doofuses so far are really annoying. Mouthbreathers, everyone of them.
     Reply
    Grey_Area was starred Grey_Area was unstarred
    Image of Dormouse: Corporate Tool Dormouse: Corporate Tool
    02/27/09

    In reply to We Could Be Discovering Earthlike Planets By 2013
    many of these Earthlike worlds could turn out to have our alien cousins on them.


    What? I can't have sex with my cousin!

     Reply
    Dormouse: Corporate Tool was starred Dormouse: Corporate Tool was unstarred
    Image of Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H.
    02/27/09

    @Dormouse: Corporate Tool: If it's your second cousin (or third or farther), it's okay.
     Reply
    Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was starred Evil Tortie's Mom: R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
    Image of Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H. Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
    02/27/09

    In reply to We Could Be Discovering Earthlike Planets By 2013
    How about we make it 2013ish just to be safe.

    [io9.com]
     Reply
    Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H. was starred Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H. was unstarred
    Image of tetracycloide tetracycloide
    12/10/08

    In reply to "Earth Stood Still" Science Advisor Reveals All
    it's quite ironic that john cleese would ask that question only to have it answered by an astronomer with a series of statements quite similar to the ones made in the galaxy song.
     Reply
    tetracycloide was starred tetracycloide was unstarred
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