Awhile back, I wrote a post related to living on Mars. Today I came across an article promoting a book entitled,
“The Next 500 Years: Engineering Humanity for Life After Earth.”
I have no plans to purchase the book, but I did read the article … and thought some of my blog visitors might find it interesting.
Here’s the lead-in:
HUMANITY’s long-term prospects are weak, at best. If we don’t all kill each other with nuclear weapons, a planet-killing asteroid can’t be too far off. And anyway, the sun itself will (eventually) expand, obliterating all traces of life in our system. Let’s not even get started on pandemics.
As if awareness of our own mortality hasn’t given us enough to fret about, we are also capable of imagining our own species’ extinction. Once we do that, though, are we not ethically bound to do something about it?
Apparently this fellow thinks in the far distant future we will have the ways and means to carve out our place somewhere in the universe.
Maybe.
Maybe not.
One thing’s for sure — his outlook for such a venture is most definitely ambitious!
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Image by Mk_al from Pixabay
Nan's Notebook 
If we’re the type to stand a chance of killing each other off, won’t we still be capable of that wherever we go? Our survival may depend upon of being dropped off no more than two at a time on a series of habitable planets , a long way away. They’d better start the journey while the pairs are no more than babies unless the vulcans have given us access to the Warp Drive. Live Long and Prosper.
Hugs
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By then we’ll no doubt have figured out Star Treks’ method of “travel.”
Beam me up, Scottie! (Or down … or across … or wherever!)
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You make a good point … human nature is not likely to change, and we humans are a greedy, self-focused lot overall. I’ll just stick with my original plan to return as a wolf … I’ve had enough of humans to last me a lifetime or 5.
Cwtch
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Agreed.
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This planet in its present condition would be a decent place to live, except for those damn humans.
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I have to drive on the interstate for 30 minutes to a meeting in about two hours. I’m not worried, but it is dangerous. It only takes one idiot. There will be hundreds of them out there.
500 years from now? I can’t even force myself to think about it.
I read the other day that Andromeda and the Milky Way will overlap (crash into each other) in several billion years. Now that can keep ya awake a night. 🙂
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I don’t even want to return to Planet Earth as a human, let alone a desolate, dark place like Mars! Nope, I shall return as a wolf in the Canadian wilds where I can roam free of the greed and arrogance of the human species! 🐺
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Until some American comes along in a plane or helicopter and shoots you with a high-powered rifle using a powerful scope. Canadian hunters cannot use such tactics, for which I am glad, though I would like to see all hunting banned forever, including by indigenous peoples! But why can rich Americans be allowed to use such inhumane tactics, as long as they are willing to pay richly for the privilege. This “law” never ceases to amaze me!
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I don’t plan to make my den in the U.S., but in Canada, or perhaps across the pond.
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Yes, but you still have to avoid the American plane hunters that pay to shoot Canadian wildlife using weapons and methods that are illegal if Canadians use them. I guess I did not make that clear.
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Ahhhh … then perhaps I’ll have to come back on the other side of the big pond.
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I wish you well, wherever you end up.
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Nan, humans do not deserve the stars unless they can learn how to be good citizens. We are far from that right now, and will probably be no closer in 500 years. Fortunately for the rest of the universe, speed of light travel will never be made possible, let alone some kind of warp drive.
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Hello Rawgod. I disagree with you on your idea that faster than light travel is possible. Just the idea that the universe is moving apart at a greater speed than light can travel is proof that we do not understand space speeds yet. By the limit of light speed that shouldn’t be able to happen, yet it is. So they think dark energy is a cause, but we don’t know yet what it is? While I do not understand the physics involved serval particles have already been shown to do it. The fact is our understanding of the universe is based on what we knew a few minutes ago and is not limited to what we will know or understand in the future as time progresses. Heck things like transporter tech from the 1960’s Star Trek has been done on the micro scale. Again I don’t understand the jargon well, but each development builds one the last and creates the newest. Anyway somethings to ponder on, right. Hugs
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I have pondered, and taken all kinds of things under consideration, but a microscopic iota travelling at light speed, or higher, does not mean we can construct a big enough ship to move it at light speed. The energy required to do so would be astronomical, no pun intended. I may be wrong if dark energy can be harnessed, but to do so might require being in interstellar space to do so.
But mostly I am thinking about the human psyche. We are not built to withstand such speeds, to say it nicely.
But hey, humans are going to try, if they outlive our present dangers and threats. I hope we don’t. For all our intelligence, we are the stupidest beings known.
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Very good, Scottie. We need to keep in mind that we were once bottom-feeding mud suckers in some swamp. Now we sit at the top of the food chain. We thrive on the accumulated knowledge of the ages. Whether we want to or cannot recognize it, every living thing is evolving or becoming a dead branch.
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I think our species’ ability to avoid extinction, self-extinction included, is determined as history has pointed out multiple times to us, by how we accurately perceive ourselves AND how well we can be a species with exceptional Eusociality skills/behaviors and Superorganism skills/behaviors. At least thirteen species on Earth have achieved these INVALUABLE survival skills/behaviors for hundreds of thousands or millions of years. But humanity, we primate Homo sapiens have not, not even close! We have a long, long, LONG way to go to become truly eusocial, truly egalitarian, truly caring and empathetic enough to be selfless.
Nonetheless, we certainly DO have the intelligence level to do it and collaborate together in order to avoid Earthly, suicidal, or Cosmic extinctions. We do! In fact, we’ve had the blueprint for several or many decades, but astonishingly we have too many minority groups/individuals that go unchallenged by the majority and therefore dictate our species’ fragile, uncertain future.
At this moment we do know unequivocally that if a superior extra-terrestrial intelligence arrived on Earth and they examined, compared, contrasted all the pros and cons of ALL species on Earth? There is NO WAY they’d be interested in primate Homo sapiens! They’d soon ask “Take us to your Queen Ants and all ant colonies. Or to the bee, wasp, hornet nests because THEY’VE been doing what it takes to thrive for each other for many thousands or millions of years already. Period. What have we Homo sapiens done for each other in the last 2-3 centuries? HAH!!!
If we do not begin to move/colonize another planet within our solar system or some other nearest system/galaxy, all indications point to extinction just like the dinosaurs. LOL 😄
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Hello Professor. As always your intelligence and knowledge is inspiring and amazing in its depth. But may I point out you missed other species that survived for millions of years that are not hive minded, such as sharks. They are a singular species preferring to be separate from each other. I am sure if I did a search there would be others? Maybe it is the destiny of us angry apes to be another. Hope all is well for you. Hugs
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Ah, you are too kind Scottie. But thank you Sir. ❤️ I’m not a moron, I do know that. But I’m also not the smartest hammer in the bag either. 😄 😉
Please, you and R be safe, okay!?
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Oh! Your mention of other species are spot-on! Sorry, in my haste forgot to say that my Friend. 😉
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I think that’s rather imaginary thinking, at least for now. But all the great advancement started from imagination, right?
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Nan, I am reminded of the pop song “In the year 2525” by Zager and Evans. The first two lines (with apologies to women as the lyrics belies their toughness) start off the concept:
“In the year 2525, if man is still alive
If woman can survive, they may find…”
What interests me about these apocalyptic movies or video games of the future, it is usually portrayed as a nuclear holocaust result. What will likely do us in is our inability to feed and provide water to inhabitants of the earth. On a Ted talk a few years ago, an expert on population growth said something like if we consume like the average Rwandan, the earth can support 15 billion people. If consume like the average North American, the earth can support about 2 billion. We are at 7 billion now. Of course, that may not even consider us choking off the fish populations with plastic.
Keith
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Well, since the earth is flat and the stars are only night lights God has placed in the sky overhead, there really is no “space” for us to ever travel to. Therefor, or only hope is to embrace JEEESSUUSSS!!!! And have him welcome us into Heaven when we die! See, Nan, I bet you thought Evangelical, Flat-Earth/Young Earth Christians had nothing useful to offer us.
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Of course! Now why don’t others see this? I mean, it’s sooo obvious! 😈
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😆😆😆
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Truly Inspired observation.
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Hello Nan. On this post I am forced to quote some one I dislike greatly. “… because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know.” which was said by Donald Rumsfeld.
Nan the truth is this, humans destroy their habitat, are selfish for their own wants, and we have a hard time seeing the future. Yes eventually even the sun and earth will perish but that really is not the point because stretch it out long enough and the universe goes in to cold death, everything dies. But for a more understandable time scale and possible future the stuff I have read is that it is more likely we will find a way to transfer our minds, consciousness, what we are into a computer type mind and mechanical body with abilities we have yet to discover. It is the eternity humans always wanted with one big draw back, at that point we can no longer procreate, we will not produce more humans. That is what I have been reading, not what I want. Hugs
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Time 🕚 will tell …
Of course, the question is — will any of us be here to see it happen? 😛
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No
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We have about five billion years to have this all figured out and to have moved our domicile, not just to another planet, but to another solar system. That is the time scientists have determined that our sun will gobble us up.
We have not consciously contributed to our evolution in the past, but beginning with this generation we now have some of the tools that may help us along the way. The exponential development of technology since the creation of the electronic computer is a constant reminder that the human can realize its dreams. Gene splicing and/or CRISPR are things that will help us to have some active influence on our evolution. Overcoming diseases and the effects of aging will lead to and more productive and longer life spans.
I think we are beyond the idea that some supernatural spiritual being is going to save us from ourselves. Even if that kind of thinking is redirected toward the possibility that some alien life will find us and see fit to help us survive, we have to know that believing and hoping themselves do not make things happen. Imagine it and do it.
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Hello Cagjr. I admire the way you reason. “Imagine it and do it.” is such a powerful statement of humanity, it almost balances our destructive natures. I wonder if we will use our abilities to make things as they were in the past, make our selves different in the future, or to move leaving our mess behind us? I sit here in a bad thunderstorm realizing that if not for my home I wouldn’t survive out in it as well as the animals that are out in it. Where do they hide up, stay warm in the cold hard rain, stay above the flooding even under ground? For all humans have technologically accomplished, we humans are not very well suited to survive in the “wild”. Hugs
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