Astrophysicist Gives us 50/50 Chance of making it to 2100

massive

Read all about our many paths to ultimate demise here: http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2007/07/sir-martin-rees.html
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Vlad Piranha wrote:

I'm offended that a zombie holocaust isn't on the list. It would be terrifying, sure, but it would be pretty sweet if you think about it.

Messy Recipe · Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 8:59 pm Post subject:

If I had to pick, I'd go with overpopulation because it's a simple matter to solve.
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ABC News wrote:

Birds can disable planes, Ostrom said, by flying into the engines and shutting them down.

Erwin Rommel · Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 9:20 pm Post subject:

Robot take-over, hands down.

I look at it this way - if we created them, they're a product of our intelligence. So what's the big deal? It's like a child taking over for a parent.

Plus, if computers are as smart as humans, we'll be entering technological singularity territory and there wouldn't be such a clean division between biology and technology.
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-=|CT|=-Descartes

Vlad Piranha · Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 10:42 pm Post subject:

I'm offended that a zombie holocaust isn't on the list. It would be terrifying, sure, but it would be pretty sweet if you think about it.

anonymousity · Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 11:19 pm Post subject:

I think it's gonna be nukes. I mean, they're there, it's just a matter of time before some of them go off. Unless someone invents the nano-nuke remover, like in Civ 2.
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♥♪!?

Special Jimmy · Posted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 11:24 pm Post subject:

Vlad Piranha wrote:

I'm offended that a zombie holocaust isn't on the list. It would be terrifying, sure, but it would be pretty sweet if you think about it.

Honestly, if I die before I get to kill a zombie any of the ways i've seen in movies (I.E. Baseball bat, chainsaw, axe, shotgun to it's face, a pair of scissors, a car, a pen, a crossbow, gasoline & match) I'll feel just a little bit cheated.

Well, if we're to be exterminated, I'd vote for the most dramatic and outrageous of ways.
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-=|CT|=-Special Jimmy

Wang Chung wrote:

MikeSty 22: they say Rome wasn't built in a day
MikeSty 22: but they never had the Fucking Cut Throats

RCSI · Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 12:20 am Post subject:

Death by black hole sounds like a quick way to die, which is what I prefer but seeing how this scenario is unrealistic I want to go out by a huge comet.
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Remove the lid of this barrel, for there be Rum inside!

Bunny · Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2009 12:30 am Post subject:

I want to see a black hole right before I die if that's even possible Razz

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Wang Chung · Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 2:56 am Post subject:

Whatever gives me enough time to get on here to be the last post.

I didn't RTFA but the title of this thread is just absurd.
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is now -=|CT|=- Frothy Mixture

Stealth · Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 1:25 am Post subject:

Well the proposed theory of black holes would mean that it'd actually be a slow death since according to some physicists, the closer you get to the center, the slower time travels. Get near the nearly approaching Zero and time stops. Then the stretching of matter, massive superheating, etc etc.

I'm lame because I'm one of those religious based guys. So none of this really concerns me.
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Motherfucking Triangles! Being all three sided n' shit, who do they think they are?!

Messy Recipe · Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 9:31 am Post subject:

If you're approaching the center of a black hole, time runs slower for you from the perspective of an outside observer. That means if you were watching someone fall into a black hole from a safe location, you would never see them actually make it in before the end of the universe.

From your own perspective, however, time runs normally. So you'd just fall right in at a normal speed. Also, from your perspective, time would run faster for things outside the event horizon, so while you would approach at normal speed, you'd see the outside universe run faster and faster and if you were somehow still alive just before you fall in, you'd see the end of the universe. But you wouldn't be alive because you'd resemble spaghetti by that time thanks to the tidal forces.

It's because a stronger gravity well makes time run slower for things inside it, relative to things outside. But the important bit is that you only notice the "relative" bit -- i.e., you'll never notice time being faster or slower for you, but you will see the difference compared to things elsewhere in the universe. Kinda like how you don't feel the speed at which you're whirling around the sun and the center of the galaxy, but you can see in in relation to everything else.

It's prolly like that because if your own time is running slower than everything else, it means your own perception of time is running slower too, but we can't really measure that so that bit's just a guess.
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ABC News wrote:

Birds can disable planes, Ostrom said, by flying into the engines and shutting them down.

Stealth · Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 4:05 pm Post subject:

Well, that pretty much sums it up better than I can remember it, but the whole time thing is a lost concept to me. I can't comprehend why it would appear to be going slow when in fact it's normal, yet everything outside appears fast. Just doesn't make any sense.
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Motherfucking Triangles! Being all three sided n' shit, who do they think they are?!

Messy Recipe · Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 6:30 pm Post subject:

Well....think of it like being on a train. The speed of the train is the rate at which time is passing. If the train goes faster, then you're going faster compared to everything that is not on the train with you -- so a car following alongside at a constant speed would appear to slow down. That's why speeding up time where you are makes stuff outside look slower, and vice versa.

For actually noticing time slowing down or speeding up, think of what happens if you walk around on the train. No matter how fast or slow the train's going, you still walk at the same speed compared to other stuff also on the train.

In short, the speed of the train, or the rate at which time passes, only makes a noticable difference when you compare it to stuff outside.
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ABC News wrote:

Birds can disable planes, Ostrom said, by flying into the engines and shutting them down.

Stealth · Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 7:10 pm Post subject:

But if we're on the train and say it's speeding up to appear faster, how can an observer on the outside of the train look at us as if we were passing slower at the same time?
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Motherfucking Triangles! Being all three sided n' shit, who do they think they are?!

Messy Recipe · Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 9:41 pm Post subject:

They couldn't -- the train example was more the opposite -- i.e. I used it with the train/time speeding up, while with a black hole it'd be slowing down.

So to compare more with the blackhole -- two trains going the same speed next to each other, and as you get closer to the black hole, your train slows down. The other train sees you slow down, but from your perspective it looks like the other train is speeding up.
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ABC News wrote:

Birds can disable planes, Ostrom said, by flying into the engines and shutting them down.