Semi-OT: We will go to Stars.

[Slick]

Logically, if we could get there to establish the colony in the first place, it shouldn't take much longer until we could make a round trip. But, yeah, that's why places like Austrailia have so many unique creatures.

The non-humans are different too. j/k

Slick.

[oleg]

Originally posted by dumbluck:
I see only one problem with the whole concept of establishing remote colonies that will never exchange population (ala remote seeding ships). That problem is called Evolution. When a population of critters is cut off from the main population of critters, the two populations evolve along different path. Eventually, the splinter critters aren't critters anymore, they're creepy crawleys, or what have you.

So if HUMANS establish remote colonies in other starsystems WITHOUT the ability to travel back and forth fairly regularly, those remote colonies will eventually not even be human colonies anymore. They'd be aliens!

Evolution requires the driving external pressure for the survival of the fittest. Progress in technology excused humans from the general natural order. Even primitive Stone age technology freezed our evolution for 400K years now - there were no changes in our nature since

[DarkHorse]

Originally posted by oleg:
QUOTE]Evolution requires the driving external pressure for the survival of the fittest. Progress in technology excused humans from the general natural order. Even primitive Stone age technology freezed our evolution for 400K years now - there were no changes in our nature since

Evolution still happens; as a small example, we are slowly doing away with wisdom teeth. It just happens a little more randomly without the natural selection pressures.

[DarkHorse]

Originally posted by oleg:
Screw FTL, genetic engeeeniring is our bright and shiny future

You might want to tell that to these people.

[Phoenix-D]

Originally posted by DarkHorse:
Evolution still happens; as a small example, we are slowly doing away with wisdom teeth. It just happens a little more randomly without the natural selection pressures.

Actually without natural selection (which we DO still have) it happens completely randomly. Especially if you get populations small enough for genetic drift to be a factor.

[geoschmo]

If we accept the assumption that FTL travel and communication is absolutly impossible (I don't, but you obviously don't want to argue about it. ) then I highly doubt that we as a species will ever travel beyond our solar system. The distances are just too great. And what reason would we have to go? There is plenty of things right here in our solar system to explore and plenty or room for colonies. Why spend decades or centuries travelling to another system when you can spend months or years and stay close by.

Even if you could expand the human life span to thousands of years, who wants to spend hundreds of years in the void between the stars? Very boring. And it would be an astronomical risk to go that far out with no hope of rescue if your ship broke down. And it hard to keep a complex mechanical device like a spaceship functioning that long while carrying everything with you you need to make repairs.

Perhaps if we make long distance contact with some alien race we'll want to meet them up close. But the distances would be so great it just wouldn't be practical.

[astruskustuvas]

who said that FTL travel must be in real space Star Trek, Star Wars or B5 FTL trevel is possible

if i only could find that damn book..........