Humans likely alone in universe, study reports

Unless it is shown that there never was nothing, as is suspected.

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141106-why-does-anything-exist-at-all

More and more things are leaning towards an eternal multiverse. And if not the argument becomes "nothing is inherently unstable", which begs the question, unstable due to what? Even in that argument there is the implication that something outside of space and time had to exist. It seems to be unavoidable that there never was truly nothing - only nothing in the sense that we understand. It is impossible to step outside of all space and time in mental constructs. We have no valid frame of reference.

 

Yes, but what's the point of focusing on planets such as Mars, and now the sun, apparently ( ) when there's no likelihood that homo sapiens will ever be able to populate them? If you want NASA to squander er, I mean spend your tax dollars on 'space exploration', at least expect them to have some purpose in mind? I need not repeat my scepticism about it all, but at least spare the thinking people of this world from being affronted daily by condescending pre-school waffle such as this . . . " NASA's Parker Solar Probe to Launch on Saturday, the First Spacecraft to Touch Sun" (to Touch Sun? ) and "'Full of mysteries' The probe is protected by an ultra-powerful heat shield that is just 4.5 inches thick" and "We will also be listening for plasma waves that we know flow around when particles move,"? and plenty more blah-blah ad nauseam in the article. Like I've said - it would have melted long before it reaches . . . do I really need to elucidate? We have the BBC to dumb us down - looks like NASA has been designated for the job over there. It's fake news, for goodness sake?

https://gadgets.ndtv.com/science/ne...day-the-first-spacecraft-to-touch-sun-1898768

 

There are some things humankind is destined never to understand nor comprehend, and the origin of the universe is one of them.

 

I can tell I have more work to do?

 

No, you should stop immediately, in fact, as you are really missing some important information. For one, the Sun does not actually have a proper "surface", as a rocky planet does. By "touch the sun", it is meant that the probe will get very close, even passing through the sun's equivalent of an atmosphere.

The probe will give us knowledge on how to predict "space weather", specifically, solar activity that affects the earth and our electronic devices on it.

 

That's quite a bold statement. What are the other things on your list? I imagine your list has lots of corrections. 150 years ago, controlled flight would have been on it. Pathogens, too.

 

I said "then we should expect varying forms of alien life to exist."

I'm not a 'life happening once person'...

 

Yes, I got that from your post. And, I agree with you.

It seemed to me you were going in that direction due to your acceptance of science rather than "god did it". I just wanted to add that a god-centric view also allows for life happening more than once.

 

Who the hell wants to know what the weather's like in deep space ffs? Well, apart from you, evidently! And if 'solar activity' happens it'll happen, and there's nowt we can do to stop it; so why on earth (no pun) must we obsess about drivel like this when those squillions of US dollars could be spent fixing roads and providing free health care for the entire population of the US? Don't you think that would make more sense?

 

They were the result of real science, not fake science.

 

Something tells me that there's going to be no meeting of minds on this?

 

Even now critical satellites are repositioned, turned, or shut down to avoid damage from solar flares. Knowing more about solar activity is key to this effort. What is the value of protecting satellites that monitor for attacks on the US? And learning about fusion is key to a potentially endless supply of energy. Solve the energy problem and we solve a thousand other problems in one stroke.

What makes a lot more sense it to tax the hell out of the uber rich. That would solve all of our financial problems in one stroke. We could pay off the national debt in a matter of years. But instead, righties cry about the poor multi-billionaires.

The NASA budget for solar exploration is a little over $3 a person.

 

Which must mean that the flares are already predictable, so WTF? And to repeat myself - this thing won't get anywhere near the effing sun. Jesus!

 

Scientists, governments, militaries, utility authorities, internet providers, cell carriers, and more, as solar activity can and does directly affect events on Earth. Are you proud of yourself for not being either able or willing to puzzle these things out for yourself? You seem to be prancing and preening.

 

The sun affects pretty much everything done by life on earth. It's our sole source of heat affecting our climate. It's the closest star we have to study. It's the radiation we have to deal with. It's one of the major problems facing any manned mission outside our magnetosphere.

NOT studying the sun would be just plain STUPID.

And, the "touch the sun" thing has already been explained to you.

 

I think we can all agree there is no human life on the Sun.

 

Yes, but we can't do anything about solar effing flares can we?? Jesus wept.

 

Nor ever will be - like Mars, with its own hostile environment, so WTF is the point of obsessing about going there? God I feel better for that!

 

Though I am aware that attempting to reason with or educate you on anything science or reality based is futile, I am going to do so regardless for the benefit of others who might be interested. Our star (and all others) radiates enormous amounts of particle debris at incredibly high speeds (Solar Wind) which can have adverse effects on humans and their technology. By studying this and understanding it we will be better able to protect against damage and possibly prevent great damage to infrastructure and future space Habitation/Missions. As the magnetic field of our planet is currently in fluctuation and it is our primary protection from these solar storms it is very important to know everything we can.

 

Of course we can. We can decide the best methods of shielding our equipment. We can compare the measurements taken by the probe to measurements taken here to see if we can more accurately predict the flares themselves and their effects on Earth.

 

Just bloody well switch it off during the flares. Don't make such mountains out of molehills fgs! This farce is going to cost zillions of your tax dollars and your country has a national debt of $21tr and rising - don't you care what will happen to your family and country if the Fed goes belly-up because of NASA's endless jollies?

 

if you're going to switch things off maybe it's a good idea to know when these solar events are going to occur, I imagine switching things off globally would cost the global economy billions more than NASA's yearly budget...

nasa budget $20 billion...usa military budget $610 billion...now which is the biggest threat to the national debt?...

 

Does anyone else find it just a little bit absurd that a Study can't actually present facts to back up their conclusion?

These things should be properly called Conjecture, not a Study. Unless they are able to travel at light speed, or better, faster than light and at least check out 10 other galaxies.

This is basically mental masturbation, nothing more than that. Without ever leaving the farm. ha ha

And so, I have to give it zero relevance. It should have been published in the National Enquier, where it belongs.

 

Was any U.S. government (taxpayer) funding provided for this study, and if so how much did it cost us?