Thread: The Universe is more...

Originally Posted by dannyjenn

Originally Posted by Beck

Originally Posted by Terra-chan

I believe in life on other planets but not aliens.

An alien is a form of life on another planet; human or not. If it's foreign then it's alien. I may be getting picky with the word's denotation, but they're the same thing.

If the universe is truly infinite then the odds of other life, be it human-like or other, is high. It's not really possible to consider anything outside of our limited imagination, though -- Infinity itself is unfathomable. I've always found the concept of the Theory of Relativity so interesting. Like how the closer to the spead of light you travel, the slower you can age. It's so interesting how astronauts technically time travel (even if by an extremely miniscule amount) upon breaking our atmosphere.

I think by saying "I believe in life on other planets but not aliens." she either means that there's life on other planets, but it has never come to Earth (which "alien" sometimes implies), or she means that there's no stereotypical "aliens" as in, human-like life forms. Personally, I don't believe that there is any other life out there.
As for the "the faster you travel through space the slower you age"... I don't believe that at all. I know that they've done experiments by sending atomic clocks into space and whatnot, but that whole theory doesn't make any sense. And even if it is true, astronauts don't "time travel" any more than anyone else. We are all technically "time travelling" just by sitting here... the time now is in the future of what it was when we were born. Astronauts would be doing the exact same thing. Maybe their life spans are being extended by a few seconds or something... but that's not time travel in the sense of skipping ahead several years. And it would be impossible to travel into the past that way. It's really no more "time travel" than somehow cryogenically freezing yourself and waking up in the future.

No, it's not time travel in that sense. I agree with you. And it would be impossible to travel through time that way, to the extent of my knowledge. But the concept of "time" and how it's measured is something that we've created. The age we place on people is arbitrary, really; so is the time on the clock on your wall, or the date of your birth. Ultimately it's the difference in appearance over a period of changes that gives the effect of "time travel."

I look at it like this. The faster you travel (the closer to the speed of light) the less time it takes to travel a certain distance, or, the less time it takes to experience changes over a certain period. In comparison to standing on Earth (where yes, we are still moving, but not with as high of a velocity through space) we travel slower, thus take more time to travel said certain distance, or the more time it takes to experience changes over said certain period. When the astronaut lands back down on Earth, if you will, he has traveled the same distance but it didn't take him as long. Thus, I believe that the astronaut has experienced less change over less "time," slowing down his aging process, or his appearance, giving the allusion that he has "time traveled." But that's what I think. Because we know so little there is no right answer.

I always wondered myself.

I believe in beings, or life in other planets as some call it, since if we exist, surely some other species should exist. I find it absurd some don't believe in life in other planets, but that's only my opinion.

I was always fond of black holes and anything space related, and I always wonder how big the universe really is...and if it really has a shape.

Do any of you guys believe time travel can be possible? (Would it be awesome? :P)