Arthur C. Clarke Interview from Lifeboat Foundation. I believe in infinite possibilities unlike the Wilhelm Reich.
JLC: Do you believe that there is life in the universe?
ACC: I think it is quite common. Probably even Mars had life before!
JLC: But how about really intelligent life?
ACC: Sure, and the proof is that they are not here! The best proof that there's intelligent life in the universe is that it hasn't come here.
JLC: When will we make contact with them?
ACC: Well, we are still searching for intelligent life here on Earth. Who knows? Who knows? I mean, it could be tomorrow! I don't believe it has happened yet because people could not keep quiet about it.
JLC: Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future of humanity?
ACC: I believe one should be optimistic because there is a chance of a good self-fulfilling prophecy. It is dangerous to be pessimistic because that could become a self-fulfilling prophecy, but a bad one. However, one should avoid being naively optimistic.
JLC: Do you think that time is linear or cyclical?
ACC: Everything that can happen will happen. There are billions of universes proliferating everywhere.
JLC: So, do you believe in parallel universes?
ACC: I don't "believe", but it is a possibility since in a practically infinite universe almost anything is theoretically possible to happen somewhere.
JLC: And, some of those parallel universes could have cyclical time?
ACC: Yes, yes. In one of those universes I shoot you now, you see, and we end this interview (laughing out loud).
Showing posts with label Space. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Space. Show all posts
3.24.2008
Doomsday Ark
Very interesting article from the Lifeboat Foundation.
IF civilisation is wiped out on Earth, salvation may come from space. Plans are being drawn up for a “Doomsday ark” on the moon containing the essentials of life and civilisation, to be activated in the event of earth being devastated by a giant asteroid or nuclear war.
Construction of a lunar information bank, discussed at a conference in Strasbourg last month, would provide survivors on Earth with a remote-access toolkit to rebuild the human race.
A basic version of the ark would contain hard discs holding information such as DNA sequences and instructions for metal smelting or planting crops. It would be buried in a vault just under the lunar surface and transmitters would send the data to heavily protected receivers on earth. If no receivers survived, the ark would continue transmitting the information until new ones could be built.
The vault could later be extended to include natural material including microbes, animal embryos and plant seeds and even cultural relics such as surplus items from museum stores.
As a first step to discovering whether living organisms could survive, European Space Agency scientists are hoping to experiment with growing tulips on the moon within the next decade.
According to Bernard Foing, chief scientist at the agency’s research department, the first flowers - tulips or arabidopsis, a plant widely used in research - could be grown in 2012 or 2015.
“Eventually, it will be necessary to have a kind of Noah’s ark there, a diversity of species from the biosphere,” said Foing.
Tulips are ideal because they can be frozen, transported long distances and grown with little nourishment. Combined with algae, an enclosed artificial atmosphere and chemically enhanced lunar soil, they could form the basis of an ecosystem.
Read the entire article at Times Online
IF civilisation is wiped out on Earth, salvation may come from space. Plans are being drawn up for a “Doomsday ark” on the moon containing the essentials of life and civilisation, to be activated in the event of earth being devastated by a giant asteroid or nuclear war.
Construction of a lunar information bank, discussed at a conference in Strasbourg last month, would provide survivors on Earth with a remote-access toolkit to rebuild the human race.
A basic version of the ark would contain hard discs holding information such as DNA sequences and instructions for metal smelting or planting crops. It would be buried in a vault just under the lunar surface and transmitters would send the data to heavily protected receivers on earth. If no receivers survived, the ark would continue transmitting the information until new ones could be built.
The vault could later be extended to include natural material including microbes, animal embryos and plant seeds and even cultural relics such as surplus items from museum stores.
As a first step to discovering whether living organisms could survive, European Space Agency scientists are hoping to experiment with growing tulips on the moon within the next decade.
According to Bernard Foing, chief scientist at the agency’s research department, the first flowers - tulips or arabidopsis, a plant widely used in research - could be grown in 2012 or 2015.
“Eventually, it will be necessary to have a kind of Noah’s ark there, a diversity of species from the biosphere,” said Foing.
Tulips are ideal because they can be frozen, transported long distances and grown with little nourishment. Combined with algae, an enclosed artificial atmosphere and chemically enhanced lunar soil, they could form the basis of an ecosystem.
Read the entire article at Times Online
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