Posted on 07/28/2015 5:37:59 AM PDT by Kaslin
NASA has discovered the answer to all of our problems. It is another planet, a possible twin to Earth that could theoretically sustain life.
This revelation could be bigger than Columbus "discovering" America, or Lewis and Clark finding the Northwest Passage.
It offers the possibility of starting over. Hasn't the thought crossed the mind of every adult of a certain age that if we could time travel back to our youth and know what we know now, we would not have made the mistakes we made?
The first step in boldly going where no one has gone before is to re-name the planet. Kepler-452b won't do. How about Krypton? That name is already widely known as the fictional planet from which Superman came, thus giving it cultural standing. Steven Spielberg could make a film about our new second home. ET might even be there to welcome us.
Then we have to figure out a way to get there. Kepler-452b is 8,400 trillion miles away. Using present technology it would take 25.8 million years to get there. To reach the planet, people would have to reproduce in space, creating multiple generations of descendants. How would the new arrivals find materials to build anything? We'd be starting over like cavemen, though that should not deter us. Early pioneers didn't give up when they encountered obstacles.
What is really interesting is that Kepler-452b is not the only planet with an environment thought capable of sustaining life. The Kepler spacecraft has found more than 4,000 planets in the so-called "Goldilocks Zone," meaning they have temperature ranges that could support at least plant life and possibly more advanced life forms.
This could be the solution we have been looking for. Republicans and Democrats could have planets of their own, which could settle once and for all the argument over whether big or small government is best; not that one would be able to convince the other, even if verifiable proof could be presented. The same goes for global warming proponents and climate change deniers.
Criminals would have their own planet where they could prey on each other instead of the rest of us, thus "solving" the crime problem. And the gun control crowd could inhabit a planet where all guns would be banned, though sticks and stones, mankind's first weapons, would remain. It would be left to the peace-loving citizens of "gun-free-opolis" to work things out amongst themselves, but they would have achieved their ultimate goal -- no guns.
There is just one overarching challenge for those who might like to travel to this new world. How do you solve the problem of human nature? Travelers would take that nature with them, as illustrated in William Golding's classic novel "Lord of the Flies" in which a group of children crash on a remote tropical island and, cut off from civilization, slowly turn into savages.
Russian entrepreneur Yuri Milner recently announced a $100 million, 10-year project to search for intelligent life in the universe. Stephen Hawking, the physicist, has signed on to work with him. They are wasting their time and money. However, given the lack of intelligence on Earth, I can't blame them for looking elsewhere.
Did Lewis and Clark discover the Northwest Passage?
[It offers the possibility of starting over.]
That’s already been done through Jesus Christ. (John 3:16)
Meanwhile we’ve been stuck in low Earth orbit for years and years.
‘Find’ or ‘discover’? You could take twelve guys and just suggest they hike west until they hit the ocean and just return, and they would have achieved the same results. I think Lewis and Clark did have unusual leadership qualities that enabled the entire team to survive and return....where statistically...the odds weren’t in favor of the whole team making it.
In the case of Kepler-452b, when we do finally get there (I’m assuming it’ll happen within 150 years)....I suspect we will find a dinosaur-heavy planet, with few human species there, and this will bring up this odd comparison by the experts.
Earth is ‘lucky’ in some form of way with various meteors which hit and helped to kill off the dinosaurs and enable men to gain the upper hand.
Then the question will be asked....will we help to eradicate Kepler-452b dinosaurs....to allow their human species to thrive and get ahead in 20,000 years? Naturally, this will be the pro-dino camp and the anti-dino camp here on Earth will debate this to the ninth degree. If you think we have arguments now on things...just imagine this type of debate going on and how you’d reach some conclusion.
The left doesn’t want humans to occupy Earth, why would they want humans to occupy Kepler-452b, or anywhere else? They’d complain about Kepler-452b-warming. Not at first. It would be Kepler-452b-cooling, then Kepler-452b-warming... and then Kepler-452b-Climate-change.
The only way the left agrees to explore, would be if there are muslims or Kepler-452b-transgenders on Kepler-452b.
Hmmm. I always understood the Northwest Passage to be a mythical water route from the interior of North America to the Pacific Ocean.
Might Kepler-452b have Amazonian-style women....seven foot tall and be highly desired by Earthling men?
Its hard to keep reading after that, as "Multiple generations" is about as great an understatement as is possible.
Until we can go faster, or this solar system becomes uninhabitable, its not going to happen. No one wants to live their entire lives with the sole purpose of transporting DNA.
In a lot less than 25.8 million years, I would think it would be possible to terraform both Venus and Mars, not to mention colonizing Antarctica (a lot less challenging than a space colony).
Not to crap on finding other solar systems, but until we can achieve speeds of at least 0.5xC, I can't get too excited.
I thought NASA used up all it's money promoting Global Warming.
The Russians are ferrying Americans to the Space Station, because we don't have the assets to do it.
Then the question will be asked....will we help to eradicate Kepler-452b dinosaurs....to allow their human species to thrive and get ahead in 20,000 years? ...................................... Worried about Dinosaurs? I see it more like Earth Invades Kepler-452b. For all we know they may call themselves Mongo, and their emperor Ming, unlike the native American Indians, will not welcome us as Gods.
Their progeny will be very happy there and we will have rid ourselves of a useless 1/3 of the population.
What to have against hairdressers?
There is a lot of deception going on here.
Idiot reporter. How about use real astronomical units. How many light-years distant is it? That can help us put it into perspective of other 'nearby' astronomic objects.
Nothing, as such.
Just paraphrasing Douglas Adams.
Tell the dems that the Sun is habitable and wish them bon voyage.
You expect “warp drive” in 150 years? If it’s even possible at all, that’s a rosy estimate.
Well, if a light year is about 5.9 trillion miles, then this would be about 1.4 light years away.
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