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Are we alone?
aeon magazine ^ | 6/25/13 | Caleb Scharf

Posted on 06/26/2013 5:40:58 AM PDT by LibWhacker

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To: LibWhacker
Good read; thanx for posting it.

The question of whether humankind is alone in the Universe as a life form raised to the level of intelligence to inspect the Universe fascinates people who want to know the 'why' of life. But there are clues to be found in places not in the realm of 'Science', like in the fifth chapter of Daniel, the Old Testament. The Universe is stranger than we can even imagine, much less inspect. I happen to believe there is a dimension as real as dimension Space or dimension Time which I call the dimension of Life-Force. There may even be a dimension of Spirit.

None of these speculations preclude The Creator for them all. Space is a volume in which variable expressions of linear, planar, and point reside. Dimension Time is also a volume. We have been created --as we are now, in these bodies-- to generate a virtual map of present time, or planar time if you will. Our sensing mechanism receives information from the Universe, as if linear rods of time are arriving on our sensory grid, to be processed for meaning by our mind which uses our physical brain as a tool. The mind may exist in a dimensional mix which is different from our physical body, but is never the less a place, a where/when with time and space characteristics.

We haven't figured out that such a reality exists, yet, much less how the soul of life accesses our physical bodies in order to use that physical thing to gather and process data.

21 posted on 06/26/2013 9:27:07 AM PDT by MHGinTN (Being deceived can be cured.)
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To: jboot
Don't bet your life savings on that assertion. In the mid seventies, I spent a very interesting evening over beers talking to two professors at the Univ. Of Ala. Huntsville who taught third and fourth level courses on electro-gravitics. Youtube the name Bod Blackmun. By merely putting two neodymium magnets together, he was able to reduce the acceleration of a free-falling object.

And one last hint: Northrup developed gravity reducing 'assists' for conventional stealth aircraft technologies under study way back in the late sixties.

22 posted on 06/26/2013 9:37:35 AM PDT by MHGinTN (Being deceived can be cured.)
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To: MHGinTN

That name is BOYD Blackmun, as best I recall.


23 posted on 06/26/2013 9:40:07 AM PDT by MHGinTN (Being deceived can be cured.)
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To: MHGinTN

Oops! That would be BOYD BUSHMAN. Sorry about that; in too big a hurry.


24 posted on 06/26/2013 9:41:55 AM PDT by MHGinTN (Being deceived can be cured.)
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To: MHGinTN

I’m waiting for more to be published on the topic before I consider it more closely. Something with so much potential for profit should have an army of physicists jostling for grants to study it. It doesn’t.


25 posted on 06/26/2013 9:47:51 AM PDT by jboot (It can happen here because it IS happening here.)
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To: LibWhacker

To quote Steely Dan, “Any world that I’m welcome to, is better than the one I come from.”


26 posted on 06/26/2013 9:48:58 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: jboot
"Something with so much potential for profit should have an army of physicists jostling for grants to study it. It doesn’t." Sorry, a very flawed premise.

It is the profit potential which drives the secrecy. Also, the global oil industry does not want their control over this planet to be threatened by an energy source which does not depend upon oil or coal. There is advanced technology which is being controlled by the military industrial complex, which has gone well beyond freedom of scientific discovery, so the potentials are not in the public venue for 'physicists to seek grants'.

27 posted on 06/26/2013 10:05:41 AM PDT by MHGinTN (Being deceived can be cured.)
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To: jboot

God the Father, God the Son, God theHoly Spirit....triune.
Jesus redeemed us here, on this planet, once and for all. There are no others.


28 posted on 06/26/2013 10:45:35 AM PDT by ImaGraftedBranch (...By reading this, you've collapsed my wave function. Thanks.)
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To: ImaGraftedBranch
God the Father, God the Son, God theHoly Spirit....triune.

Agree. In what way can this be seen as precluding extraterrestrial life?

Jesus redeemed us here, on this planet, once and for all. There are no others.

A seemingly invalid inference. How does one follow the other? Specifically, how does the redeeming work of Jesus for mankind preclude the existance of extraterrestrial life? It is worth noting that the redeeming work of Jesus has no impact on the state, work or fate of the angels. This is an indication that God governs at least one class of nonhuman entity under a different dispensation than mankind.

29 posted on 06/26/2013 11:02:27 AM PDT by jboot (It can happen here because it IS happening here.)
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To: jboot

He met with two of the apostles, along with Moses and Elijah, on the mount. Please...I could go on, but I don’t have to reach for the truth. It’s in the bible. You are reaching....


30 posted on 06/26/2013 7:38:07 PM PDT by ImaGraftedBranch (...By reading this, you've collapsed my wave function. Thanks.)
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To: ImaGraftedBranch
If you don't feel the need to explain yourself, that is OK. But with all due respect, I don't think I'm the one that is reaching.
31 posted on 06/27/2013 3:42:27 AM PDT by jboot (It can happen here because it IS happening here.)
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To: jboot

You are correct. I am reaching, and you are not....for the bible.


32 posted on 06/29/2013 12:18:47 PM PDT by ImaGraftedBranch (...By reading this, you've collapsed my wave function. Thanks.)
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To: Aqua225
Still very dangerous and very fuel intensive.

Fuel is cheap, rocket stages are not. Recovering them and reusing is a good step in lowering costs, even if that stage is only reused a few times. Spacex almost completed a soft powered landing of their first stage. When the stage approached the water, it was spinning so much that the center engine cut off prematurely. So the recovery test was partially successful. This was the first time an orbital first stage performed a controlled and powered re-entry

33 posted on 10/10/2013 8:12:42 PM PDT by R7 Rocket (The Cathedral is Sovereign, you're not. Unfortunately, the Cathedral is crazy.)
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To: jboot
Clarke's Space Elevator from "The Fountains of Paradise" is an elegant solution to the problem of getting into orbit. The advent of nanomaterials has made Clarke's vision seem far less preposterous.

Carbon nanotube sheets that can be used for a space elevator ribbon can also be used to make inflatable pressure-fed SSTO rocket stages that are reusable. A much more cheaper alternative that can be utilized by private entrepreneurs instead of a huge centralized project that a space elevator would be.

34 posted on 10/10/2013 8:20:00 PM PDT by R7 Rocket (The Cathedral is Sovereign, you're not. Unfortunately, the Cathedral is crazy.)
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To: LibWhacker

i am aone, there isnot now elwe in the room.


35 posted on 10/10/2013 8:21:28 PM PDT by Rebelbase (Tagline: (optional, printed after your name on post))
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To: ImaGraftedBranch
God the Father, God the Son, God theHoly Spirit....triune. Jesus redeemed us here, on this planet, once and for all. There are no others.

You're a good example of the neutered opposition. You gave us Todd Akin and Kent Hovind. No thanks.

36 posted on 10/10/2013 8:28:28 PM PDT by R7 Rocket (The Cathedral is Sovereign, you're not. Unfortunately, the Cathedral is crazy.)
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To: R7 Rocket
SSTO is a great idea that logically comes first before any "mega-lift" system. But there are size limits to consider. Eventually there will be a need for payloads massing thousands of tons (and potentially much, much more.) The expense of launching thousands (hundreds of thousands, millions) of light components and assembling them in orbit eventually outpaces the expense of an "elevator".

Eventually we will need to move the means of production off-world to rid ourselves of the entire issue of gravity.

37 posted on 10/11/2013 6:42:21 AM PDT by jboot (It can happen here because it IS happening here.)
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To: jboot

This issue is analogous in respect to the semi-truck vs cargo train debate.


38 posted on 10/11/2013 1:43:19 PM PDT by R7 Rocket (The Cathedral is Sovereign, you're not. Unfortunately, the Cathedral is crazy.)
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To: R7 Rocket

The more fuel you bring the more fuel you to have to burn to move it.

It’s about energy density. We need an extremely small power unit that can outclass our most powerful rockets by many orders of magnitude.

Till that happens, space will be the province of governments and very deep pocketed individuals. Additionally with rocket tech, it’s hard to overlook the fact your riding a controlled explosion. Imagine trying to get flight insurance.

I believe humans will own space eventually, but it won’t happen with petroleum based fuels. I suspect we are missing fundamental physics on gravity and magnetism. The rate we are developing thinking machines, we may eventually create an entity that can see the solution, or maybe the next bored patent clerk will have an Epiphany.


39 posted on 10/11/2013 7:16:21 PM PDT by Aqua225 (Realist)
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To: Aqua225

Fuel is cheap. Relatively small rocket companies have demonstrated this already. Most of the cost is either a massive white government elephant or replacing a rocket stage every flight. The fact that Spacex nearly recovered a first stage using a controlled re-entry and soft landing is quite significant and historical.


40 posted on 10/11/2013 7:21:50 PM PDT by R7 Rocket (The Cathedral is Sovereign, you're not. Unfortunately, the Cathedral is crazy.)
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