Alien conspiracys

[BWF89]

If you believe in Alien conspiracys this site has alot of info on the subjectmatter.

http://www.aliensthetruth.com/

[oddabe19]

If you believe in Alien conspiracys this site has alot of info on the subjectmatter.

http://www.aliensthetruth.com/
I am a realist when it comes to this issue...

.... i am also religious.... that said....

I believe...
1. Area 51 is a military base that tests new technology... that's it. I believe they test high tech weapons and the such, that's it.
2. I believe the Universe has an end.... we just can't see it. That said, I believe there are millions of galaxies... but none with life.
3. If there were aliens, why haven't they devouered us? Why haven't they made themselves known? Why this why that?
4. I believe (all science set aside) that Earth was created just for us... (science back in) by all physical and biological means, Earth SHOULD be one massive hot blob, that can't support any source of life what soever... point being this... Earth is special only for us, only place that supports life.
5. I believe Roswell was a place where experimental aircraft (possibly early Blackbird style) crashed, that's it.
6. I believe the "lights in the sky" have an explination other then 'OMG!!! A1i3Ns!!!'
7. With so many private sattilites and the couriosity of the liberal media and the fact that people will do anything if enough money is offered, i believe it is nearly impossible to hide anything now adays.

Eitherway, it was good reading. :-)

[Mr. Electric Wizard]

I've been to the alien museum in Roswell, NM, and I've gotta say It was really, really hokey...
Not a whole lot of supportive evidence. People just see what they want to see...

[izmaelis]

Yes, universe isn't endless, but there are so many planets and the mathematical possibility that life exists somewhere is really huge.

[BWF89]

The universe probably doesn't end. Sure there might be a point if you got out far enough that there is no longer any matter and just empty space but I don't think that if your in a spaceship that you'll just hit an invisible wall and that's the end.

[BWF89]

2. I believe the Universe has an end.... we just can't see it. That said, I believe there are millions of galaxies... but none with life.
So if im in a spaceship going in 1 direction for X amount of years I'll hit an invisible wall and that's the end of the universe?

[joeljkp]

7. With so many private sattilites and the couriosity of the liberal media and the fact that people will do anything if enough money is offered, i believe it is nearly impossible to hide anything now adays.

The curiosity of the liberal media? What about the conservative media? And the middle-of-the-road media? The objective media? Amateur media? Professional media?

On second thought, why not just say 'media'?

[KingBahamut]

BWF89, is that Thunder Bomber from Total A on your avatar?

[poster_nutbag]

So if im in a spaceship going in 1 direction for X amount of years I'll hit an invisible wall and that's the end of the universe?

You would actually end up back where you started. The universe is curved in a similar way to the surface of a balloon.

[oddabe19]

The curiosity of the liberal media? What about the conservative media? And the middle-of-the-road media? The objective media? Amateur media? Professional media?

On second thought, why not just say 'media'?
conservative media (i.e. Fox News) tends to go with the government, Liberal media tends to their own way (for the most part).

It's also a generic term, from my understanding.

[BWF89]

BWF89, is that Thunder Bomber from Total A on your avatar?
Yes it is. I've gotten comments about that from people on a couple of forums.

I don't play it anymore but I still have the origional CD's and the 2 expansion packs (Battle Tactics and The Core Contingency).

EDIT: Didn't mean to double post about where the end of the universe is thing. I hit QUOTE when I ment to hit EDIT.

[Ubunted]

Yes, universe isn't endless, but there are so many planets and the mathematical possibility that life exists somewhere is really huge.
Damn straight.

Yes, the odds of our planet existing are slim, but there are many, many, MANY other planets and stars out there, and I refuse to accept that not one of them supports some kind of life, be it primitive or advanced.

And as for why we haven't been contacted yet - well if I were an alien, I sure wouldn't want any part of this planet in its current state.

[KingBahamut]

Yes it is. I've gotten comments about that from people on a couple of forums.

I don't play it anymore but I still have the origional CD's and the 2 expansion packs (Battle Tactics and The Core Contingency).

EDIT: Didn't mean to double post about where the end of the universe is thing. I hit QUOTE when I ment to hit EDIT.

Hahaha, I thought for a long time I was the only one that kept an actually running copy of the game. Cedega runs it like a charm, and I still have a server full ( totala folder on my ftp ) that has all the old 3rd party units that were made a long ways back.

Both expansions.....and Im praying for Supreme Commander to be all the better. Its Screenshots look scarey.

[BWF89]

Hahaha, I thought for a long time I was the only one that kept an actually running copy of the game. Cedega runs it like a charm, and I still have a server full ( totala folder on my ftp ) that has all the old 3rd party units that were made a long ways back.

Both expansions.....and Im praying for Supreme Commander to be all the better. Its Screenshots look scarey.
I heard about Supreme Commander a month or so back. Do you know if it'll run on Cedega?

[KingBahamut]

BWF I can not believe that Chris (Taylor for those who dont know) wouldnt at least make that facilitable. The game looks incredible, and if hes really trying to revamp his work from CaveDog, I think hell do it.

The way I understand it, the really big big unit , you have to keep from intermingling with the smaller ones, because the big ass ones will stamp on and destory the little guys....thus its intricacy.

I am also to understand that the micromanagement aspect has been taken out utterly. Much as was seen with Rise of Nations, but to an even greater extent.

There will be many GWoS Members (my clan -- I founded in 1997), will be tagged for playing this behemoth of a game.

[BWF89]

Chris Taylor also helped create the PS2, Xbox, and PC game called The Thing which is a sequel to John Carpenters 1982 film. I was probably 75% done with the game but stopped playing it for awhile then a defunct Playstation Demo Disc from Official Playstation Magazine wiped out my memory cards.

But it's a great game and you should pick it up.

Lets continue this discussion on AIM and try not to get offtopic like we just did. I added your name to my buddylist.

[TristanMike]

FYI, though there are many beliefs about the size of the universe and if there is some sort of "wall" or something at the end, A very popular thought on this is that the universe folds in upon itself like a "Möbius Strip" better represented as an infinity symbol.

For those who don't know what a Möbius Strip is, basically it's a continuous strip of something that will allow you to travel in a straight line but in 1 pass, cover both sides. Take a strip of paper and twist it 180 degrees and attach the ends. Take a pencil and start drawing a straight line in one direction, when you come to where you started, you'll notice that you've traveled both sides of the paper. This seems to me to be a very plausible explanation on the shape and make-up of the universe.

As far as believeing in Aliens and them visiting.

First, I would think it selfish to assume we are the only "life" in the absolutely massive, seemingly never ending universe.

Second, if there were intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, what's to say that they are in the same or greater developmental stage of life as we are.

Third, this is the biggie, space travel to very distant places is, I think, a virtual impossiblity. Let's assume for a moment that there are such things as "Aliens" (not the movie), and they are at a much higher level of development than we are. The closest galaxy to us - [Remember that our Solar System is just a smaller part of a larger galaxy, The Milky Way(the galaxy, not the candy bar)] - is M31 - Andromeda Galaxy(again, the galaxy, not the tv show) which is appox. 2900 kly (kilo-light years) away from us, so that's about 3 million light years. That is to say that if I shone a beam of light here on earth, it would take about 3 million years for that beam of light to get to the edge of the Andromeda Galaxy. Now......light travels at the speed of 300,000 kilometers/sec, THAT'S PRETTY FREAKING FAST! So even if we had the ability to travel at the speed of light it would still take about 3 million years, give or take a few light years, just to get there.....do you really think, that Aliens, are gonna travel at OVER 3 million light years to visit US!? Do you really think we've got the time? I don't.

Don't mean to bog you down with a buch of scientific mubo-jumbo, just a few things to mull over in the 'ole noodle if you like. I'm facinated by the universe, maybe a little too much :razz:

[KingBahamut]

Somebody Find Ford and Zaphod. I wanna hear the story about the Resturaunt that hangs out down there.

=)

[SKLP]

FYI, though there are many beliefs about the size of the universe and if there is some sort of "wall" or something at the end, A very popular thought on this is that the universe folds in upon itself like a "Möbius Strip" better represented as an infinity symbol.

For those who don't know what a Möbius Strip is, basically it's a continuous strip of something that will allow you to travel in a straight line but in 1 pass, cover both sides. Take a strip of paper and twist it 180 degrees and attach the ends. Take a pencil and start drawing a straight line in one direction, when you come to where you started, you'll notice that you've traveled both sides of the paper. This seems to me to be a very plausible explanation on the shape and make-up of the universe.

As far as believeing in Aliens and them visiting.

First, I would think it selfish to assume we are the only "life" in the absolutely massive, seemingly never ending universe.

Second, if there were intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, what's to say that they are in the same or greater developmental stage of life as we are.

Third, this is the biggie, space travel to very distant places is, I think, a virtual impossiblity. Let's assume for a moment that there are such things as "Aliens" (not the movie), and they are at a much higher level of development than we are. The closest galaxy to us - [Remember that our Solar System is just a smaller part of a larger galaxy, The Milky Way(the galaxy, not the candy bar)] - is M31 - Andromeda Galaxy(again, the galaxy, not the tv show) which is appox. 2900 kly (kilo-light years) away from us, so that's about 3 million light years. That is to say that if I shone a beam of light here on earth, it would take about 3 million years for that beam of light to get to the edge of the Andromeda Galaxy. Now......light travels at the speed of 300,000 kilometers/sec, THAT'S PRETTY FREAKING FAST! So even if we had the ability to travel at the speed of light it would still take about 3 million years, give or take a few light years, just to get there.....do you really think, that Aliens, are gonna travel at OVER 3 million light years to visit US!? Do you really think we've got the time? I don't.

Don't mean to bog you down with a buch of scientific mubo-jumbo, just a few things to mull over in the 'ole noodle if you like. I'm facinated by the universe, maybe a little too much :razz:
Maybe they could make .. wormholes? :grin:

[TristanMike]

Maybe they could make .. wormholes? :grin:hmmmmm, wormholes, the only problem is getting into the wormhole, if one were to occur, the shear force of the black hole could crush the earth into something the size of a marble so we wouldn't stand much of a chance, but supposing we did get into the black hole, we couldn't get out to the white hole as they are only 1 way. That sucks.

One idea that's being kicked around these days is the notion of Anti-gravity. It is believed that when the Big Bang happened, the universe expanded from pretty much nothing, that is to say a very small, VERY dense ammount of matter, to pretty much the size it is today. This happened in all of about .000001 or 10(^-6) seconds. NOW THAT'S REALLY REALLY FAST, if only we could harness that! It expanded so fast because of this Anti-Gravity. If I'm not mistaken, some schools of science are starting to believe that gravity actually pushes us off of the earth, and it's this anti-gravity that's really keeping us here.

It's some pretty mind bending stuff.

[KingBahamut]

Not nearly as mind bending as feeling like your a Sofa or a SockPuppet that vomits Yarn.
=)

[BWF89]

The closest galaxy to us - [Remember that our Solar System is just a smaller part of a larger galaxy, The Milky Way(the galaxy, not the candy bar)] - is M31 - Andromeda Galaxy(again, the galaxy, not the tv show) which is appox. 2900 kly (kilo-light years) away from us, so that's about 3 million light years.
Why would aliens have to come from another galaxy. Most likely the aliens would come from neighboring solar systems or somewhere in our own galaxy.

EDIT: And by neighboring I mean like somewhere in our general area of the galaxy.

[PeP]

So if im in a spaceship going in 1 direction for X amount of years I'll hit an invisible wall and that's the end of the universe?
no you are to slow, you wouldn't touch it before the big crunch ...

[BWF89]

no you are to slow, you wouldn't touch it before the big crunch ...
I was just saying in theory if you could get there in time. But not all scientists agree that a big crunch will even happen


However, recent experimental evidence (namely the observation of distant supernovae as standard candles, and the well-resolved mapping of the cosmic microwave background) have—to most scientists' considerable surprise—shown that the expansion of the universe is not being slowed down by gravity, but instead, accelerating, suggesting that the universe will not end with a Big Crunch, but will instead expand forever. (The evidence of an accelerating universe is considered conclusive by most cosmologists since 2002.)

[TristanMike]

Why would aliens have to come from another galaxy. Most likely the aliens would come from neighboring solar systems or somewhere in our own galaxy.

EDIT: And by neighboring I mean like somewhere in our general area of the galaxy.Not absolutely positive, but I think sceintists are pretty sure, aside from actually jumping in a spaceship and vistiting them, that none of the planets in our own galaxy support life currently, that's not to say that at one time they didn't, they just don't now. And still, it's way too far to travel and with the cost of gas these days......

[BWF89]

Not absolutely positive, but I think sceintists are pretty sure, aside from actually jumping in a spaceship and vistiting them, that none of the planets in our own galaxy support life currently, that's not to say that at one time they didn't, they just don't now.
Scientists still aren't sure that Earth is the only body that supports life in our solar system. Let alone the whole galaxy.

Take Jupiter's moon Europa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_%28moon%29) for example. Benieth it's mainly solid ice surface scientists believe that there is a liquid ocean heated by tidal activity. And where theres water there could be life.

[TristanMike]

Scientists still aren't sure that Earth is the only body that supports life in our solar system. Let alone the whole galaxy.

Take Jupiter's moon Europa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europa_%28moon%29) for example. Benieth it's mainly solid ice surface scientists believe that there is a liquid ocean heated by tidal activity. And where theres water there could be life.Oh yes, I should have said intelligent life.

[super]

The closest galaxy to us - [Remember that our Solar System is just a smaller part of a larger galaxy, The Milky Way(the galaxy, not the candy bar)] - is M31 - Andromeda Galaxy(again, the galaxy, not the tv show) which is appox. 2900 kly (kilo-light years) away from us, so that's about 3 million light years. That is to say that if I shone a beam of light here on earth, it would take about 3 million years for that beam of light to get to the edge of the Andromeda Galaxy. Now......light travels at the speed of 300,000 kilometers/sec, THAT'S PRETTY FREAKING FAST! So even if we had the ability to travel at the speed of light it would still take about 3 million years, give or take a few light years, just to get there.....do you really think, that Aliens, are gonna travel at OVER 3 million light years to visit US!? Do you really think we've got the time? I don't.

true, but only for inanimate objects or creature with no sense of time. Einstein's relativity theory still stands. time slows the faster you go, so those moving at the speed of light would travel instantly. :-P

- on the whole aliens theory? just imagine me laughing hysterically :-P

[PeP]

I was just saying in theory if you could get there in time. But not all scientists agree that a big crunch will even happen
sorry I forgot the smiley... :-)

BTW, if the big bang then big crunch theory is correct it sets a limit to the end of the universe: it is a sphere centered like the universe, it's radius is lifetime_of_the_universe*light_speed_in_void: not even the first photon can reach that.

[macgyver2]

4. I believe (all science set aside) that Earth was created just for us... (science back in) by all physical and biological means, Earth SHOULD be one massive hot blob, that can't support any source of life what soever... point being this... Earth is special only for us, only place that supports life.
I'm curious, where did you come across the "hot blob" earth idea? Respectfully, there really isn't any scientific backing for the statement that our planet is special just for us. At the same time, I realize that I can't point to another "habitable" earth-like planet in another system at this point in time. However, just because other "habitable" planets don't exist in our knowledge-base does not mean that they don't exist at all.

There has been a lot of theoretical work in this area. One of my former profs works on a project called the Sun-in-Time. He and the others involved with the program look for stars that match up with what the sun would have been like at various eras in the past and what the sun will be like in the future. Along with that he works on what the early earth was like and how it might have become what it is today. Very interesting stuff... Anyway, while what we see around us today may have required an elaborate combination of processes to form (our planet forming the distance it did from the Sun, Jupiter being where it was, possibly even the make-up of the surrounding ISM at certain points in the past), it was in no way necessarily a one-time thing. Even if it's very rare to get a "habitable" earth-like planet...there are a lot of stars out there. Even at, say, 1 in 1 billion...that's 100 such planets in our galaxy...times 100 billion galaxies (at best estimate). Of course, then you get into how likely would it be for advanced life to form (and survive...either planetary changes like large impactors or ice ages...or themselves), and so on.

Anyway, I'm probably rambling a bit. What it comes down to is that yes, our planet is the only place that supports life that we know of. We don't know everything...not even close! In the near future, that might change. There are a few missions planned/in preparation that are intended to look for earth-size objects around other stars. One of them is called Terrestrial Planet Finder (http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/TPF/tpf_index.html). One of the goals of TPF is to actually image earth-size planets around other stars. Really cool stuff.

Now then, time for me to get back to watching Sci-Fi's Stargate SG-1 Monday night marathon. ;)

As an aside, oddabe19, nice to meet a neighbor! :) I live in northeastern Maryland, only about an hour from Lancaster. My girlfriend lives north of Reading...nears Pottsville.

[BWF89]

Of course, then you get into how likely would it be for advanced life to form (and survive...either planetary changes like large impactors or ice ages...or themselves), and so on.
Theres actually a formula that deals with the statement you just made and it goes something like:

Number of planets in the galaxy:
Number of planets that could be habitible:
Number of planets life has formed on:
Number of planets that has sentenient life:
Number of planets where the sentenient life has reached a point to where it can transmit radio signals:
Number of planets that life hasn't been wiped out by nuclear war:
Number of planets that life hasn't been destoryed by asteroids:

And scientists can put their own numbers into the equasion so the answer is different depending on who you ask.

Does anyone know what the formula I posted above is called?

[TristanMike]

Theres actually a formula that deals with the statement you just made and it goes something like:

Number of planets in the galaxy:
Number of planets that could be habitible:
Number of planets life has formed on:
Number of planets that has sentenient life:
Number of planets where the sentenient life has reached a point to where it can transmit radio signals:
Number of planets that life hasn't been wiped out by nuclear war:
Number of planets that life hasn't been destoryed by asteroids:

And scientists can put their own numbers into the equasion so the answer is different depending on who you ask.

Does anyone know what the formula I posted above is called?The Drake Equation??

[xmastree]

3. If there were aliens, why haven't they devouered us? Why haven't they made themselves known? Why this why that?
Why should they? Have we devoured them? Have we made ourselves known? Actually we have in a way, There was that probe we sent, but that's a tiny bottle in a huge ocean. Our radio waves are being sent out all the time, so are theirs (if they have any) That's what SETI is all about. Even if there was life out there (and fr the record, I think there must be), then might be no more advanced than we are.


4. I believe (all science set aside) that Earth was created just for us...It's been around a lot longer than we have.

[TravisNewman]

Sorry, I know I'm a few pages behind, but this quote applies about the topic of liberal media. It's from The Best Page In The Universe. Please note that some of what he says I don't agree with-- it IS a satire site after all:

Liberal Media: Whiny, bitching, cry-baby conservatives (panickedthumb's note: not all conservatives fit this description, and some liberals do. This is what I meant above) love to prattle on and on about the "liberal media." To be fair, except for FOX News (Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, John Gibson, Neil Cavuto, Steve Doocy, E.D. Hill, Brian Kilmeade, Brit Hume), Clear Channel, Laura Ingraham, Dr. Laura, Rush Limbaugh, Hugh Hewitt, Ann Coulter, Newsmax, G. Gordon Liddy, Michael Reagan, Michael Savage, The New York Post, Sinclair Broadcast Group (WLOS13, Fox 45, WTTO21, WB49, KGAN, WICD, WICS, WCHS, WVAH, WTAT, WSTR, WSYX, WTTE, WKEF, WRGT, KDSM, WSMH, WXLV, WURN, KVWB, KFBT, WDKY, WMSN, WVTV, WEAR, WZTV, KOTH, WYZZ, WPGH, WGME, WLFL, WRLH, WUHF, KABB, WGGB, WSYT, WTTA), David Horowitz, Rupert Murdoch, PAX, and MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, they're right.

[macgyver2]

Theres actually a formula that deals with the statement you just made and it goes something like:

Number of planets in the galaxy:
Number of planets that could be habitible:
Number of planets life has formed on:
Number of planets that has sentenient life:
Number of planets where the sentenient life has reached a point to where it can transmit radio signals:
Number of planets that life hasn't been wiped out by nuclear war:
Number of planets that life hasn't been destoryed by asteroids:

And scientists can put their own numbers into the equasion so the answer is different depending on who you ask.

Does anyone know what the formula I posted above is called?

The Drake Equation??
Yup, no need for the question marks...good call. It's not really science, though, as BWF89 said anyone can put whatever numbers they want in. Some are more justifiable than others, but there's still a lot of handwaving.

[izmaelis]

Let's look at it from the other side.
Imagine you watching at a bee hive. Do you know how to communicate with bees? I think that you don't. Those creatures don't really understand what you want to say if you are saying anything. They can feel you close, but they can't explain who you are and etc.
Maybe humankind is like those bees in a bee hive. They can feel that something exsists, but still can't understand how, where, why.

[maxol]

This is the kind of idea put forward by the philosopher Colin McGinn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_McGinn) which has been dubbed New Mysterianism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mysterianism) (after the band).

It sounds a little hippy but it's actually rigorous philosophy proposing that certain problems will never be explained or at the least cannot be explained by the human mind at its current evolutionary stage.

[Lovechild]

Might I suggest http://podcast.seti.org - their excellent podcast regularly debunks UFO claims as well as other irrational behaviour.

See also www.badastronomy.com for why we did land on the moon and other space hoax debunkings.

In reason

[Biltong (Dee)]

Y'know if there was intelligent life out there, why in the hell would they have flown over the continental US in order to be 'shot down'?
Even in the 50's our American cousins had sharp eyes and long ears, and to have been anywhere close would have been worse than dumb.
Africa, on the other hand...
Hells teeth - they could have landed, erected a mini city and experimented for days. No one would have known, and in the 50's African air-traffic control was almost non-existent.

Even today air traffic control over Africa is almost non-existent, so they could still be at it, and no one would know... :-)

[Kvark]

The Milky Way is 100 000 lightyears in diameter and if it is possible to travel faster then light then we'll have to throw much of our science in the trash can. So if there is another intelligent civilization in the same galaxy and they manage to see that the Earth is habitable they will have to travel for a couple thousand years to get here.

Would you send a small team of spies who will stay hidden somewhere in the outher rim of the solar system and do secret raids to the planet to adopt and experiment on local creatures and whatever else the alien visit rumours say. And then after thousands of years you get a report from the scouts?

I think if aliens exist and at the same time as us in the billions of years the universe has existed and are close enough to see that Earth is habitable and would spend tousands of years to come here. Then it's safe to assume they would bring half their civilization to build permanent cities on the planet right away when they finally arrive. We would have noticed that.

[Kernel Sanders]

IMHO, its very naive to think that we're alone in the universe, or that planets need to be similar to ours to support life.

We breath oxygen because we evolved on a planet with an oxygen atmosphere. Why shouldnt a lifeform that evolved on a planet with an argon based atmosphere breath argon for example?

Also, due to the infinate nature of the universe, if just 50% of it supported life, that life would be pretty spread out and be at varied stages of development.

Therefore, we could all be hundreds of years from each other, even at the speed of light?

[RavenOfOdin]

conservative media (i.e. Fox News) tends to go with the government, Liberal media tends to their own way (for the most part).

It's also a generic term, from my understanding.

I wouldn't say conservative media is aligned with the government. Unless you take the views of FOX News to be that of the entire Republican party, not much really exists to support that statement. As to liberal media, they have their own agenda.


Sorry, I know I'm a few pages behind, but this quote applies about the topic of liberal media. It's from The Best Page In The Universe. Please note that some of what he says I don't agree with-- it IS a satire site after all: . . .

Just goes to show you, people take what they agree with and automatically dismiss the rest.

Now as to the main topic of this post:

I'm not very into the whole "alien conspiracy" idea, for these reasons.

1. I don't believe that aliens are among us. If they were, don't you think we'd know it already? A statement used as a catch-all to debunk conspiracies is "there are too many people in the world to keep a secret this large." . . .it may not fit all situations, but for this one I believe its true. Should they have decided to come here and settle, they wouldn't have called the Weekly World News or National Enquirer and asked for an exclusive photo-op.

2. I don't believe the government is working with aliens, either alive or dead. The people who sit there and say Area 51 is the headquarters of the "New World Order" are laboring under false information at best, and nuts at worst. The people who say we've descended from the species of serpents that are behind the "New World Order" are f***ing out to lunch. End of story. Full stop.

3. I don't believe E.T. has been sitting in Area 51 for 50+ years twiddling his glowing thumbs.

4. Area 51 is being used for something. We don't know what that something is. There isn't a sign on it that says - to paraphrase Pulp Fiction - "Dead alien storage." Just because secret craft fly from a military installation doesn't make it extraterrestrial in nature.

5. Something happened at Roswell. Sure. You don't just recant a story in the haphazard manner that the Air Force did without having something to hide. But there has been too much speculation/misinformation going around to give an opinion on what happened and expect it to be right.

6. We have enough conspiracies to deal with when it comes to religious history and NSA spying.

7. We can't scan the stars reliably for any answer from E.T. communication. We'd be lucky to get anything back, even if it were scattered radio signals and not an intelligible conversation, in our lifetimes. SETI tried, and later on so did its civilian outgrowth, "Project Phoenix." They found nothing.

Please don't take this as an assertion that no intelligent life exists anywhere else in the universe. After all, since God is all-powerful, He can create more life somewhere out there and whenever He wants. I just don't believe we've run into it yet.

[therunnyman]

It never ceases to amaze me just how important we consider ourselves...

Me, I'd check out platypuses if I were an alien visitor. They've got it all: a beaver's tail, a duck's bill, poison barbs on its hind legs, fur, eggs (? maybe?), vision, smell, amphibiousness...%$@* bald bipeds, you know?

As for a "liberal media," the notion slays me. As a journalist, I can attest to the fact at least magazines and newspapers answer to the bottom line: advertising dollars. Periodicals are a business like any other, and, as such, will seek to preserve the staus quo. An example, I think from Noam Chomsky's _Manufacturing Consent_, is the fact even the New York Times won't come out against nuclear power/weaponry/etc. because GE is one of its major advertisers. Another example might be hemp/cannabis: DuPont hates that useful item, so you probably won't see too much op-edding about legalizing marijuana/hemp.

Seriously, if anything, the media is ultra-conservative. There's too much at stake to run around saying "Make healthcare available to all!" (Big Pharma) or "Study shows police to be inordinately aggrssive alpha-fe/males!" (local occupational army of the upper class).

runny

[Iandefor]

Einstein's relativity theory still stands. time slows the faster you go, so those moving at the speed of light would travel instantly. :-P Funny thing is, you can't actually accelerate to velocity c. The Lorentz transformation breaks down, and you start introducing imaginary numbers into the equations, which just stops making sense. You can get damn close, though. Anyways, even if you could accelerate to .99c, the time dilation would be so great, you couldn't possibly decelerate in time to hit Andromeda. Hell, you'd probably hit the space between galaxies, and not an actual galaxy itself, by the time you were slowed down enough.

Speaking of exobiology, has anybody read Rare Earth? The authors make a pretty convincing case for life being prevalent in the form of primitive monocellular life, but multicellular (ie, fungi, plants, animals) being exceedingly rare in the Universe.

[warp99]

I wouldn't say conservative media is aligned with the government. Unless you take the views of FOX News to be that of the entire Republican party, not much really exists to support that statement.

I hope you like reading about government bias in the media:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent

Sourced and verifiable on every detail. :D

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to their own facts." U.S. Senator Pat Moynihan

[ComplexNumber]

Originally Posted by super
Einstein's relativity theory still stands. time slows the faster you go, so those moving at the speed of light would travel instantly.
also, even if you get something as light as a garden pea approaching the speed of light, its mass approaches infinity.

[Iandefor]

also, even if you get something as light as a garden pea approaching the speed of light, its mass approaches infinity. Don't forget about length contraction!

As Michio Kaku put it, "You would be blissfully unaware that you were turning into an overweight, slow-witted pancake."

[ComplexNumber]

Don't forget about length contraction!

As Michio Kaku put it, "You would be blissfully unaware that you were turning into an overweight, slow-witted pancake." theres that as well. its like when matter get sucked into black holes. they elongate due to the immense gravitational pull and the acceleleration. heck, even light gets bent by the gravity of black holes

[warp99]

Seriously, if anything, the media is ultra-conservative. There's too much at stake to run around saying "Make healthcare available to all!" (Big Pharma) or "Study shows police to be inordinately aggrssive alpha-fe/males!" (local occupational army of the upper class).

The news it's ultra-conservative and just a big long advertisement: :mrgreen:

http://www.prwatch.org/fakenews/findings/vnrs

[RavenOfOdin]

I hope you like . . .

I hope you like knowing that you don't have to have so much as a pulse to use Wikis. That system is editable by everyone that browses the Internet.

If the verification comes from sites such as Capitol Hill Blue, I'll pass.

[warp99]

I hope you like knowing that you don't have to have so much as a pulse to use Wikis. That system is editable by everyone that browses the Internet.

If the verification comes from sites such as Capitol Hill Blue, I'll pass.

I hope you like reading the book Manufacturing Consent was the reference I was speaking about in my original post regarding sourcing and verification. Most readers here I believe would have seen that was the intented purpose, but to clear up any confusion about endorsing any Wiki here is another link:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375714499/sr=8-1/qid=1148916252/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-4161925-6253538?%5Fencoding=UTF8

Is this more to your satisfaction or do you have something against Amazon.com? :D

[RAV TUX]

I have one thing to say:

"IT'S A COOKBOOK !!!"

[warp99]

I have one thing to say:

"IT'S A COOKBOOK !!!"

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! :D