this dangerous universe
2010-Aug-30, Monday 10:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mellowtiggerThey come in all religions. I call them "white lighters", those happy people who imagine a tranquil, peaceful future if only we noisy humans would accept it. Life, ubiquitous though it may be, is still fragile. I find no evidence that the wider universe is any more forgiving than our own little planet.
Life here on Earth is vicious. Plants wage chemical warfare against insects and other plants. Animals kill and eat other animals... while the prey is still alive and protesting vigorously. Parasites literally suck the life out of their hosts. Microbes take advantage of everything in whatever state of health or disrepair.
Even the inorganic matter poses a threat to us.
This wonderful video belongs on http://www.InformationIsBeautiful.net/ for its elegance. It shows the ever-growing sum of our knowledge about objects near us in space. Click to go to YouTube and watch the video in HD resolution (up to 1080p) that includes a calendar date as time progresses from 1980 to 2010.
The Earth is the 3rd planetary body in orbit around the sun. As that third dot circles the sun (as each year passes), watch as new asteroids are added to our knowledge. Watch the bursts of knowledge appear as money is spent on observation time. Watch the expanding reach of these bursts as money is spent on new technology. Watch as scientific inquiry illuminates the dangerous whirlpool in which we so tentatively live. Just watch.
Looking away from the bright sun, our instruments peer cleverly into the darkness to find lumps of rock hurtling through the heavens. Which one, we are left to wonder, will fall into our tiny planet and cause another immediate catastrophe? A permanent feature at http://spaceweather.com/ is the asteroid chart that shows the near-misses scheduled to approach us in the coming weeks.
The universe is not kind; it always demands entropy. Local, temporary order is exactly that: local and temporary.
Life here on Earth is vicious. Plants wage chemical warfare against insects and other plants. Animals kill and eat other animals... while the prey is still alive and protesting vigorously. Parasites literally suck the life out of their hosts. Microbes take advantage of everything in whatever state of health or disrepair.
Even the inorganic matter poses a threat to us.
This wonderful video belongs on http://www.InformationIsBeautiful.net/ for its elegance. It shows the ever-growing sum of our knowledge about objects near us in space. Click to go to YouTube and watch the video in HD resolution (up to 1080p) that includes a calendar date as time progresses from 1980 to 2010.
The Earth is the 3rd planetary body in orbit around the sun. As that third dot circles the sun (as each year passes), watch as new asteroids are added to our knowledge. Watch the bursts of knowledge appear as money is spent on observation time. Watch the expanding reach of these bursts as money is spent on new technology. Watch as scientific inquiry illuminates the dangerous whirlpool in which we so tentatively live. Just watch.
Looking away from the bright sun, our instruments peer cleverly into the darkness to find lumps of rock hurtling through the heavens. Which one, we are left to wonder, will fall into our tiny planet and cause another immediate catastrophe? A permanent feature at http://spaceweather.com/ is the asteroid chart that shows the near-misses scheduled to approach us in the coming weeks.
The universe is not kind; it always demands entropy. Local, temporary order is exactly that: local and temporary.
no subject
Date: 2010-Aug-30, Monday 04:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-Aug-30, Monday 04:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-Aug-30, Monday 04:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-Aug-30, Monday 04:54 pm (UTC)*disappointed sigh* It's so disheartening, this need to point out the obvious to people who rely on magical sky faeries to create the universe we populate, interfering daily in our lives. We deserve better than the gods have given us. If we want better, we can forge it ourselves. Facing the universe as it really is, though, is too repulsive for many (most?) minds. The universe, as I reiterate, is harsh.
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Date: 2010-Aug-30, Monday 10:42 pm (UTC)1) Even though the animation shows a very dense asteroid field, it is still mostly empty space. But all it takes is for one to hit us.
2) Just think of all the raw material those asteroids represent. Maybe some day the whole of humanity will realize it's continued survival will depend on going out there and harvesting those resources. A dangerous occupation to be sure, one many will be willing to embark on, and one possible cure for alleviating the growing unemployment issue.
3) Would it be better to mine the asteroid field than to mine the Earth? Maybe it is in our best interest to mine the field and leave the Earth for living on?
4) Maybe it's the purpose of intelligent life to bring order to the universe? To make it "safer"? A very long term goal to be sure. :o)
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Date: 2010-Sep-01, Wednesday 02:49 pm (UTC)(re #4, so today's post)
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Date: 2010-Sep-01, Wednesday 09:26 pm (UTC)My understanding was that the reason China has control of the market in REMs is because they were aggressive in short selling and forced companies in other countries to go under. One of the advantages of having a country backing an industry I guess. The capitalists must be pissed off at the commies for taking control of a market. :oP