To answer your question, I imagine there are several million Earth-like planets in the Milky Way, and that's a very conservative estimate. Combine that with the fact that 100 billion other galaxies each harbor several million Earth-like planets, and you're left with that familiar feeling of overwhelming smallness that cosmology so typically imparts us with. This is in our observable universe alone; there are likely other galaxies and who-knows-whats outside of our visible horizon in the universe, not to mention the infinite multiverse hypothesis. I like to say that when it comes to space-time and civilizations, there's too much space and not enough time... that is, the distances separating intelligent life are so daunting that it requires a species to reach a technologically mature level prior to their ability to make contact with other species. It's probably safe to assume that with technological maturity comes ethical maturity, which is why I find the beloved scenario of aliens attacking Earth for its resources pretty outlandish. Great production, thanks for spreading the gospel of science!
Couldn't agree more. Anthropologists call this tendency "Flinstoning" (i.e., projecting our past onto the future). :-) nothing makes me happier!which is why I find the beloved scenario of aliens attacking Earth for its resources pretty outlandish.
Great production, thanks for spreading the gospel of science!
Great work all! Some questions: 1. What kind of information will we be receiving from the James Webb space telescope? Will we be receiveing information that is valuable immediately or we will have to wait for some time? 2. Who is mixing the sound for these? I feel like they keep getting better. The sound effects in this one really add to the enjoyment of watching. Nice work ! 3. What is the process like for creating these? Cadell, do you record the audio first then give it to the animator or is it collaborative throughout? As for the question you pose, do I think that there are many exoplanet's like Earth? Given the grandeur and seemingly infinite nature of space, I have to believe that there are many. I think Sagan was right (and I just saw him raise his hands and give a "woo-hoo" in my minds eye).
1. From a past blog post on The Advanced Apes: We'll also be able to get a better understanding of what astronomers currently call the "dark ages" which is a period between the release of the cosmic microwave background radiation and the first galaxies/stars. 2. We have a audio studio recording the sound - but if this one is the best than the sound production is getting worse - because this was the first video we made! 3. Creatively I do the research/writing/storyboard - I discuss this with Lish and then she takes over - asking questions and getting some feedback throughout the animating process - but mostly she just creates her vision of what the script inspires! Then we record the audio last.However, when the JWST (successor to the Hubble Space Telescope) is launched in 2018, we will be able to directly detect exoplanets within 25 light-years of our star system. This means that if Kopparapu and others are correct we are going to be able to see images of other earth-like planets in the 2020s.
Frankly on some videos the audio effects are a bit overwhelming. I don't remember precisely but a few weeks ago I remember thinking the sounds effects were way overdone and it distracts from the main point. I'll try finding the exact clip that made me think that when I get home.
I think we are still being incredibly self-centered in our thinking. All of our definitions of what life is, what is possible, what is intelligence, etc are based around our collective selfish notion of what we know. But there could be some crazy forms that live, think and communicate but do it in a way that is completely unrelated and unfathomable to how we define "live", "think", and "communicate". They could do so in environments or with chemical/biological compositions unknown to us. They could be more massive or itty bitty - so much so that can't fathom it and we don't have words for it. They could live complete lives or millions of lives in time spans as short as a nanosecond or as long as a bazillion years. Everything is relative to us. Again, self-centered. The closest way I've been able to think about it without completely boggling my mind and resorting to reality TV is through 1 and 2
I've always had this question without a good place to ask it: how do we know that everything beyond our solar system isn't distorted? All these distances and large numbers of stars are immense distances from us. Could it be possible that we experience a distorted view of the universe due to spinning around in the Milky Way, for example? Or have the telescopes (e.g. Voyager) provided us with answers on that topic? theadvancedapesI think we are still being incredibly self-centered in our thinking. All of our definitions of what life is, what is possible, what is intelligence, etc are based around our collective selfish notion of what we know.