Torn’s Science Fiction, Technology, and Science: This Week 22–28 January 2023

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The Fermi Paradox

A few weeks ago, I began a discussion about the Kardashev scale.  The Kardashev scale builds levels of technology that represent advanced civilizations, mostly beyond our own. Given the technology scale, and speculation from science fiction, we can scale possible galaxy crossing times.

The galaxy crossing times can also be connected to a civilization’s colonization time for the galaxy.  Once we get those numbers, it becomes apparent that the colonization time is small compared to the age of the universe.  Enrico Fermi noticed that the galaxy crossing time is small compared to the relative age of the universe. Hence the paradox.  We should be in contact with aliens, but we aren’t. There’s more to the paradox, but at the most general — this is it.

In my article on the subject, It Starts With A Paradox, I discuss this in more depth.

Elizabeth Howell wrote an extensive article Is anybody out there? for space.com in December of 2021, that I highly recommend.

Another good article appears recently in Big Think, Where is Everybody? A new hope for solving the Fermi Paradox. It discusses the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) radio telescope, that may provide us a useful tool in answering this interesting science question.

Finally, this week.  I’d like to leave my readers with an interesting question: In science fiction where faster than light (FTL) travel is the norm, what is the most plausible means of discovery of other FTL capable civilizations?

 

This week’s discord chat

Week of Jan 22 2023 [22nd at 1 PM EDT (6 PM GMT), 25th at 9 PM EDT (26th 2AM GMT)]

The Fermi Paradox Torn’s Discord Server Currently Reading

The New Frontiers Series, Book One: The Ship by Jack L. Knapp

2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke

The Space Environment: Implications for Spacecraft Design — Revised and Expanded Edition by Alan C. Tribble

Lunar Sourcebook: a Users Guide to the Moon edited by Grant H. Heiken, David T. Vaniman, and Bevan M. French

Thunder Moon Tussle Trailer Thunder Moon Tussle by Torn MacAlester available on Amazon.com This Week’s Short Fiction by Torn MacAlester

This week, I offer the vignette Commander.

 

Fusion

Here is a surprise.  When would you expect that Fusion and JP Morgan to appear in the same sentence?

Fusion energy pioneer Tokamak hires JP Morgan for huge fundraising

Fusion

For more references and videos see my page: Fusion

 

Extrasolar Planets

 

Here is another example of a close orbiting ‘Earth like’ exoplanet in a video from Dr. Becky Smethurst.

 

Extrasolar Planets

Dust grains are the formation of planets.  Here is an effort to understand those grains:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230113145324.htm

For more references and videos see my page: Extrasolar Planets.

A new novel by Torn MacAlesterThe long awaited sequel to Thunder Moon Tussle : Mask of the Joyful Moon Coming Soon

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