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So, if you aren't watching The Universe series on the History Channel, you should be because it is AWESOME (also available onDemand, though I think the History of the Big Bang episode isn't anymore, which is a shame because that was supercool). But, this week we have holes in the universe and alien planets. This? This is my squee face.
Holes. In the universe. Black holes, wormholes, white holes...EEEEEEE. How shocked was I to learn that of all my shows that have such things the Stargate universe is the closest to the reality of how we might use them someday? That's a little disconcerting. Not that they mentioned Stargate. Nooooooooo. Point of pop culture reference was Contact which, what's up with that? And there was a whole section on the possibility of time travel that didn't mention Doctor Who once, for shame. Ahem, anyway. Yeah, wormholes. Theoretically possible, very cool, totally unstable and not so good for travel unless an outside force stabilizes them. Phooey. Also proof that math and physics geeks have the most fun of all. Seriously, they get to sit in rooms and go "Hey, dude...what if you could rip open time and space and leap through it and warp the fabric of reality? Lets pretend with math!" Theoretical physics is fanfic with numbers. All it's missing is the porn.
I'm also pleased to learn that when that inevitable moment comes that our sun finally gets sick of us squatting and lays the smackdown, or another galaxy comes along and eats us for lunch, that there's actually a pretty good possibility that there are other planets we might set up shop on. I mean, okay, so far all we've found are super huge gas giants that do stuff like whip around on weird orbits and have winds of 6,000 miles an hour, and some freaky ass lumps with water so heavy it crystalizes and a few random rocky planets that are orbiting neutron stars (yes, the flashy lights look cool but the radiation that would cook you inside out within minutes, not so much). The point is, the reason we've only found these things is that we are lame. Seriously, when it comes to finding alien planets we are Ug in the cave congratulating ourselves on how awesome this newfangled fire thing is. But what we do know is that if this is here then there's a good chance that is there. Meaning planets bopping along in the habitable zones of stars. And while there are days that the prospect of the eventual extinction of humanity is a downright cheery thought, it might be a tiny bit cool if we managed a bit of interstellar migration first. Eventually we're goners one way or the other, so I can mantain excitement at the prospect of living on alien worlds while remaining soothed by the knowledge that, even then, we're still too tiny to make fuckall difference in the overall outcome.
Oh science, how are you so awesome?
Holes. In the universe. Black holes, wormholes, white holes...EEEEEEE. How shocked was I to learn that of all my shows that have such things the Stargate universe is the closest to the reality of how we might use them someday? That's a little disconcerting. Not that they mentioned Stargate. Nooooooooo. Point of pop culture reference was Contact which, what's up with that? And there was a whole section on the possibility of time travel that didn't mention Doctor Who once, for shame. Ahem, anyway. Yeah, wormholes. Theoretically possible, very cool, totally unstable and not so good for travel unless an outside force stabilizes them. Phooey. Also proof that math and physics geeks have the most fun of all. Seriously, they get to sit in rooms and go "Hey, dude...what if you could rip open time and space and leap through it and warp the fabric of reality? Lets pretend with math!" Theoretical physics is fanfic with numbers. All it's missing is the porn.
I'm also pleased to learn that when that inevitable moment comes that our sun finally gets sick of us squatting and lays the smackdown, or another galaxy comes along and eats us for lunch, that there's actually a pretty good possibility that there are other planets we might set up shop on. I mean, okay, so far all we've found are super huge gas giants that do stuff like whip around on weird orbits and have winds of 6,000 miles an hour, and some freaky ass lumps with water so heavy it crystalizes and a few random rocky planets that are orbiting neutron stars (yes, the flashy lights look cool but the radiation that would cook you inside out within minutes, not so much). The point is, the reason we've only found these things is that we are lame. Seriously, when it comes to finding alien planets we are Ug in the cave congratulating ourselves on how awesome this newfangled fire thing is. But what we do know is that if this is here then there's a good chance that is there. Meaning planets bopping along in the habitable zones of stars. And while there are days that the prospect of the eventual extinction of humanity is a downright cheery thought, it might be a tiny bit cool if we managed a bit of interstellar migration first. Eventually we're goners one way or the other, so I can mantain excitement at the prospect of living on alien worlds while remaining soothed by the knowledge that, even then, we're still too tiny to make fuckall difference in the overall outcome.
Oh science, how are you so awesome?