The problem with planetary colonization...

[dswynne1]

I have two of them.

One, we assume that some distant planet would automatically support human life, if they happen to have "Earth-like" conditions. The thing is that we assuming that OUR bodies can handle being in an entirely different bio-sphere. Would we have to go through some sort of "therapy" in order to adapt?

And, two, would colonization disrupt the natural process of that world? Assuming that there is not any sentient life, would our presence prevent the development of sentient life on that world? And, if there are sentient life, but not as advanced, are there ethical considerations to be had? I can imagine a scenario, like in STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, our presence would be like that of the "Ancient Astronaut Conspiracy", where "aliens" intermingled with primitive humans to produce a more advanced version of humanity that we see today (yes, I am a fan of the old IN SEARCH OF... series ).

Anyway, just wondering...

 

[MacLeod]

What happened to other cultures during the era of colonisation?

 

[Kor]

What happened to other cultures during the era of colonisation?

Presumably, the Federation would only colonize planets that have been verified to be uninhabited, thereby avoiding repeating the wrongs of the past.

Kor

 

[MacLeod]

I might be mistaken but I thought this thread was about how we would colonise other planets not how the Federation would.

 

[dswynne1]

My question stems from the trailers of the new movie ALIEN: COVENENT. In one scene from the trailer, a member of the colonization party seems to be exposed by a spore of some kind. I would venture that with the varied biospheres, even Earth-like worlds could be problematic to humans. Last thing I want is human beings being considered to be an invasive species to these new worlds. Heck, even European colonization efforts poised risks, even w/o the human interaction...

 

[Kor]

I might be mistaken but I thought this thread was about how we would colonise other planets not how the Federation would.

Oops, I thought this was the "Trek Tech" forum.

Kor

 

[Dryson]

The gravity on an alien planet would have to be comparable to the gravity on Earth. Too much gravity and the body would collapse under the increased weight. To little gravity would result in the same conditions that astronauts experience while staying at the I.S.S.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Life on an alien world could well be deadly to Earth-based life if ingested or even touched and vice versa. There's no guarantee that DNA and the genetic code (GTCA) will be similar or that the equivalent of messenger RNA 3-letter nucleotide codons will encode the same amino acids and protein sequencing signals. Earth-based viruses and bacteria would probably have a hard time exploiting alien biochemistry as would their alien counterparts with Earth biochemistry. Trying to colonise a world that has indigenous life would be like dumping toxic waste on it. Neither biosphere would do well in the short term and in the long term, probably only one would survive.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

I have two of them.

One, we assume that some distant planet would automatically support human life, if they happen to have "Earth-like" conditions.

No one worth listening to actually "assumes" this. If you're sending people to colonize a planet, you've got a pretty good idea that your people will be able to survive there, unless by "Earth like conditions" you mean something other than oxygen, gravity, temperature, drinkable water, and soil that can support the growing of edible food.

The thing is that we assuming that OUR bodies can handle being in an entirely different bio-sphere.

No one assumes that either. The first people who try to colonize an alien planet would have to take some pretty extraordinary steps to make sure they CAN handle it or, if they can't, stay as isolated from it as possible.

And, two, would colonization disrupt the natural process of that world?

Unquestionably.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Ditto on changes. Even if we find a world that has conditions almost identical to Earth for supporting our species the moment we set foot on that world we will change it. The damage will have already been done.

So I think some rather extraordinary precautions would have to be invoked for such an endeavour, what I don't know but I think the moment we set foot on a pristine world we will have changed it, knowingly or not.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

It doesn't seem like a pressing problem compared to other things such as anthropogenic climate change. Existing treaties cover space exploration and exploitation but it would require an agency such as the UN actively to monitor off-world activities and enforce those treaties.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

It doesn't seem like a pressing problem compared to other things such as anthropogenic climate change. Existing treaties cover space exploration and exploitation but it would require an agency such as the UN actively to monitor off-world activities and enforce those treaties.

And how exactly could the UN enforce anything millions of miles from home?

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

And how exactly could the UN enforce anything millions of miles from home?

It couldn't, therefore the treaties are effectively worthless.

 

[publiusr]

My thinking is that that most exo-worlds are going to be real fixer-uppers with little more than protists if that. It isn't really so much as us ruining Pandora as reclaiming a super-fund site--maybe with phytoremediation..

 

[Spider]

Alien biology will probably either be deadly to our earth biology or completely inert. I doubt we'll find anyplace with multi-celled life on it that we can just move to without exterminating it. I can't see us living there without either changing human biology or the planets biology.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Alien biology will probably either be deadly to our earth biology or completely inert. I doubt we'll find anyplace with multi-celled life on it that we can just move to without exterminating it. I can't see us living there without either changing human biology or the planets biology.

Or the first one, the planet we visit changes us... Changes our biology by mere exposure.

 

[Dryson]

Do you really think that an alien civilization would care about the damages that it does when they set foot on Earth?

The doing damages to another planet is a joke and is a hypocritical excuse to not colonize another planet.

The Earth is part of a system that is much like a large hurricane. Every so often the hurricane rears up and demolishes areas on the planet thus changing the planet forever. Staying on Earth is like staying in your house when you know that the storm is going to demolish it. Eventually that storm is going to hit Earth and there will be no religious or superstitious reasons given to explain why hundreds of millions died when the Moon, another cull-de-sac just down the road away's was never developed and made into a community.

 

[Dryson]

Or the first one, the planet we visit changes us... Changes our biology by mere exposure.

Nature and evolution took millions of years if not hundreds of millions of years to develop our DNA chain.

The environment of a planet will not change our biology overnight or even in week's time.

If such change does take place within a few years of being on new planet that causes a biological change then the factor that caused the change in our DNA is cancer based like many of the other cell mutations that take place on Earth.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

Nature and evolution took millions of years if not hundreds of millions of years to develop our DNA chain.

The environment of a planet will not change our biology overnight or even in week's time.

If such change does take place within a few years of being on new planet that causes a biological change then the factor that caused the change in our DNA is cancer based like many of the other cell mutations that take place on Earth.

Probably, but I was thinking gradual changes over hundreds or thousands of years.

 

[scotthm]

My thinking is that that most exo-worlds are going to be real fixer-uppers with little more than protists if that. It isn't really so much as us ruining Pandora as reclaiming a super-fund site--maybe with phytoremediation..

I don't really think we would want to colonize any planet that had existing biology on it. It's too dangerous. Better to send an advanced party of robots to terraform a dead world, then send out the colonists after a few millennium.
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