Do you think it will ever happen?

[Hippokrene]

Do you think it will ever happen?

A great deal of science fiction is based on technology that seems to range from impossible to highly improbable. I'm interested in hearing the thoughts of my fellow forumites on a few issues near and dear to my Trekkie heart.

Provided the human race does not destroy itself, do you think that...
1. We'll ever encounter an intelligent alien race?
2. We'll ever create self-sufficient colonies on other planets?
3. We'll ever travel faster than light?
4. We'll ever 'transport' matter? (and if they did create a transporter, would you use it?)

 

[Neopeius]

Hippokrene said:
Do you think it will ever happen?

A great deal of science fiction is based on technology that seems to range from impossible to highly improbable. I'm interested in hearing the thoughts of my fellow forumites on a few issues near and dear to my Trekkie heart.

Provided the human race does not destroy itself, do you think that...
1. We'll ever encounter an intelligent alien race?

Odds suggest no

2. We'll ever create self-sufficient colonies on other planets?

I'd like to think so, but it's up to the will of the people. If we want to go, we will. If we don't, we'll remain flatlanders. The technology is there, the will is not.

3. We'll ever travel faster than light?

Yes, but probably not in any way yet dreamed.

4. We'll ever 'transport' matter? (and if they did create a transporter, would you use it?)

Not through "beaming" or anything like that. See #3.

 

[Trekker4747]

1. We'll ever encounter an intelligent alien race?

I think that is an almost certainty. There ARE alien civilizations out there. It may be centuries from now before it happens, but it will happen.

2. We'll ever create self-sufficient colonies on other planets?

I'm sure that will happen too. It'll be in our own system (Mars) it'll be an even longer time before we're able to do it on extra-solar planets.

3. We'll ever travel faster than light?

It'll never happen it is abosultley impossible for anything with mass to travel faster than light, nothing as small as an electron can do it. Providing things like wormholes, bending space and something like "subspace" exsists then it may be possible for us to travel great distances (making the time over distance traveled netting you a "faster than light" speed) but we will never ever move a spaceship beyond the speed of light (or even THE speed of light) because it is simply impossible.

4. We'll ever 'transport' matter? (and if they did create a transporter, would you use it?)

The ide of transporting matter is reasonably sound if not possibly prohibitively energy extensive (but assuming a society where energy is an abundance) but it wouldn't be beyond the mollecular resolution meaning we couldn't/wouldn't transport something like a living being nor should we because a "real" transporter wouldn't be able to preserve the original person (the person on the other end would be a clone.) Which means, no, I wouldn't use it.

 

[Ariadne]

Hippokrene said:
1. We'll ever encounter an intelligent alien race?

No. Here's hoping, though.

2. We'll ever create self-sufficient colonies on other planets?

Yes. I'm an optimist.

3. We'll ever travel faster than light?

No. It's possible somebody will find a hole in Einstein, I suppose.

4. We'll ever 'transport' matter? (and if they did create a transporter, would you use it?)

If it was safe, I'd certainly use it. I doubt it'll be created, though.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Hippokrene said:
1. We'll ever encounter an intelligent alien race?

No.

2. We'll ever create self-sufficient colonies on other planets?

Possibly on other planets in the Solar system...given enough time and better motivations than we have now.

3. We'll ever travel faster than light?

No.

4. We'll ever 'transport' matter? (and if they did create a transporter, would you use it?)

Nothing bigger than subatomic particles. No, I wouldn't use such a device.

 

[Bad Bishop]

Hippokrene said:
Do you think it will ever happen?

A great deal of science fiction is based on technology that seems to range from impossible to highly improbable. I'm interested in hearing the thoughts of my fellow forumites on a few issues near and dear to my Trekkie heart.

Provided the human race does not destroy itself, do you think that...
1. We'll ever encounter an intelligent alien race?

If you mean open contact, PROBABLY.

Individuals have been claiming encounters with beings of some sort for decades. At the moment, hard proof is elusive.

 

[Bill Morris]

1. We'll ever encounter an intelligent alien race?

Not unless we do something that impresses the Vulcans enough to warrant First Contact.

But if NASA ever gets the Terrestrial Planet Finder funded and operational, at least we'll know what nearby stars have planets that look capable of supporting life. That's doable in the short term if there is enough interest.

2. We'll ever create self-sufficient colonies on other planets?

We could do it on a small scale on the moon now if we really wanted to.

3. We'll ever travel faster than light?

Not necessary. At 95% lightspeed as measured by an outside observer, you are doing twice the speed of light by your own frame of reference. That's part of Special Relativity. But it requires antimatter, most likely.

4. We'll ever 'transport' matter? (and if they did create a transporter, would you use it?)

It's not necessary to do it Trek style. Send a Fax or go down a water slide. If you want to get more high-tech, and you can produce a force field that can be configured in an annular pattern, you can slide down that and in effect be beaming down as far as the thing can reach if you want to imitate Trek without being taken apart and hoping to rematerialize. Aircraft have emergency slides already. They just don't reach any farther than from a door to the ground.

 

[T'Bonz]

Do you think that...
1. We'll ever encounter an intelligent alien race?
---Honestly, no. Not sure if that is a good or a bad thing.

2. We'll ever create self-sufficient colonies on other planets?
---Not in my lifetime.

3. We'll ever travel faster than light?
---Not in my lifetime.

4. We'll ever 'transport' matter? (and if they did create a transporter, would you use it?)
---Possibly.
---Only if they get the bugs out first! But I doubt it'll be ready in time for me to use it. Maybe my kids or grandkids.

 

[Noname Given]

Do you think that...
1. We'll ever encounter an intelligent alien race?

A: Yes, If we survive for a few more centuries as a technological species; but not in my lifetime.

2. We'll ever create self-sufficient colonies on other planets?

A: Yes - I think we may have a self sufficient Moon base in my lifetime.

3. We'll ever travel faster than light?

A: Yes, and No. I think travel in 'normal space' will never go FTL; BUT we may discover how to warp/fold space (yes, that's what they do in Star Trek, bu physicists have said that IS theoretically possible); or use Black/Worm Holes to effectively move great distances in the Universe (effectively going at FTL speeds). But again, only if we survive, and feats like these will probably take many centuries, or a millennia or more to achieve.

4. We'll ever 'transport' matter? (and if they did create a transporter, would you use it?)

A: I think so, but again I think it's millennia down the road. As to the second part, no, I would never use it as since effectively, the original is in a sense destroyed; I think what would end up at the other end is more of a clone/copy; and it's actual consciousness different - thus my consciousness would effectively be dead/destroyed.