Don't Tell The Aliens We're Here, Stephen Hawking Says; They Might Not Be Friendly

[Hoofbite]

what if you travelled through time and ended up back at the Planet of the Apes?

Be just about the same as going to the Sacamano family reunion.

 

[Gzus]

Take them 200 years according to us. According to them it wouldn't be long at all provided they are moving close to the speed of light.

I agree you'd have to be moving close to the speed of light, but 200 years according to us so we won't have to worry about it. Maybe our grandchildren or great grandchildren will have to worry about it, but not us. And using wormholes might be plausible but that's assuming that they would know how to use a wormhole to do so. Even then they'd have to wait for our 200 year old response to their 200 year old message, so wormhole would only cut the trip by a third.

 

[Jon88]

I agree you'd have to be moving close to the speed of light, but 200 years according to us so we won't have to worry about it. Maybe our grandchildren or great grandchildren will have to worry about it, but not us. And using wormholes might be plausible but that's assuming that they would know how to use a wormhole to do so. Even then they'd have to wait for our 200 year old response to their 200 year old message, so wormhole would only cut the trip by a third.

What do you think these UFOs are that have been seen since the dawn of man?

I think they've been visiting for thousands of years.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Dir De Dirrrr!!!

 

[SultanOfSix]

I think Hawking has been watching too much science fiction. Perhaps he just saw "Independence Day".

 

[DFWJC]

Take them 200 years according to us. According to them it wouldn't be long at all provided they are moving close to the speed of light.

He meant 200 years IF they were traveling the speed of light... and if they were 200 light years away.

 

[DFWJC]

Be just about the same as going to the Sacamano family reunion.

exactly

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Be just about the same as going to the Sacamano family reunion.

Which is way better than your reunion. Which would consist of you, your gay father and all his gay friends LOL

 

[ScipioCowboy]

Here's a very rough estimate for determining alien invasion potential:

1) Determine the length of time (in years) humans have been capable of sending radio signals. This number is T.

2) Determine the distance (in light years) between Earth and the nearest planet capable of supporting life. This number is D.

3) Work the following equation:

D * 2 - T = the minimum number of years before any potential alien invasion

 

[Hoofbite]

He meant 200 years IF they were traveling the speed of light... and if they were 200 light years away.

I'm not even sure how close I am to this. Probably not close at all, I don't know about this stuff.

From what I think I remember, time "slows down" as you approach the speed of light. So relative to us here on earth, the aliens in the space ship would experience time much shorter than what we would experience.

So, going fast enough the aliens in the spaceship would experience a relatively short amount of time (say like 1 year) when compared to us (maybe 200 years).

I think a light year is actually intended to be a measure of distance, not time.

Really confusing stuff and I'm probably nowhere close on the idea.

But, if I kind of have the right idea I think this is the biggest problem with space travel. If you go on a trip of any significant distance, you return to your home in a year way later than when you left.

 

[vta]

Why does everyone assume that life elsewhere is any more advanced than we are?

Or even more interesting, since we can't even get along with the species we're already familiar with, why go searching for someone else to treat like **** and make war with?

 

[Eskimo]

Hawkings point is a legitimate one in that any alien civilization that came to visit us must be vastly technologically superior to us and could very easily destroy us and plunder our planet.

I too would ascribe to the notion that we shouldn't be broadcasting our whereabouts.

 

[Jon88]

Hawkings point is a legitimate one in that any alien civilization that came to visit us must be vastly technologically superior to us and could very easily destroy us and plunder our planet.

I too would ascribe to the notion that we shouldn't be broadcasting our whereabouts.

There have been reports of crashes and hundreds of thousands of sightings.

IOW, they know we're here.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

There have been reports of crashes and hundreds of thousands of sightings.

IOW, they know we're here.

You are so weird.

 

[Jon88]

You are so weird.

It's the truth. Some people just don't want to hear it.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

It's the truth. Some people just don't want to hear it.

If they were willing to pay me money. I would care.

 

[vta]

It's the truth. Some people just don't want to hear it.

Why would anyone care to deny it?

 

[Jon88]

Why would anyone care to deny it?

I think it's been denied in this thread.

 

[Gzus]

A light year is a term of both distance and time. A light year is a distance that takes a year to traverse if traveling at the speed of light. It will take more than a year to traverse that distance when traveling slower than the speed of light. And 200 light years is the closest planet that falls within the goldilocks zone, which is the distance which a planet has to be from the sun to sustain life (too far the planet is too cold, too close the planet is too hot, goldilocks zone is just right). So if there was alien life on a planet out there the closest possibility would be 200 light years from us. If they will visit us, I doubt it's any time soon b/c they don't know we're here w/o contact. The probability of them stumbling on us is 1:infinity b/c the universe is infinite and continues to grow.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

He hasn't seen Independence Day.

But I think he is watching "V".

Any aliens coming here would take hundreds of years to get here. So even if we make contact with them it'd take em probably 200 years to get here, so I ain't worried.

Well, not exactly.
There are so many possibilities that "we" dont know what is possible. We ain't that smart.... yet.